Big Law’s Pushy Recruiting Pressures First-Semester Students

The biggest law firms’ intensive recruiting of first-year students has spread to smaller rivals, with some making offers even before first-semester grades are in.

The firms are pushing students to decide months into the school year where they will spend their next two summers and likely start full-time legal careers, said Anne Heaviside, a Houston legal recruiter. The firms, who she declined to name, are giving students two weeks or less to respond to offers, she said.

“Those firms are being super aggressive,” Heaviside said in an interview. “It’s insanity,” Elizabeth Bangs, assistant dean for student affairs at The University ...