Cooley Dials Down Recruiting Pressure Cooker for Summer Program

Silicon Valley-founded Cooley LLP is putting off hiring half of its incoming class for 2028, calling the pause a win for frazzled law students as well as the firm itself.

Cooley, known for its work for tech giants such as Meta and Uber, plans to hire around half of its incoming class for 2028 now, according to the firm. It will wait to fill the rest of the positions after students have more time in law school under their belt.

“It’s going to broaden the students that we’re able to see over time, rather than rushing to hire our entire entry level 2028 class now with 1Ls who don’t necessarily know what they want to do,” Carrie Wagner, Cooley’s chief talent officer, said in an interview.

Students are experiencing more pressure earlier in the Big Law recruiting cycle to land roles at elite firms, thanks to the waning influence of law schools in the process. This rush to recruit is resulting in more mismatches and stress for law students, schools, and firms. Cooley, which had to conduct layoffs in past periods of market volatility, sees opportunity in the chaos.

The firm is extending some offers this winter to first-year law students (1Ls) for the summer of 2027. It will then supplement by recruiting after students’ first year of law school, aiming to fill 30-40% of its class of 2028 after the initial 1L hiring spree, and use the overlooked 3L market to help complete its ranks.

Tricky Balance

Cooley said it doesn’t have specific target numbers and wants to stay flexible. The firm anticipates that its 2027 summer program will be roughly 30-40% smaller than in 2026, but that its incoming class of first-year associates in 2028 will be at least the same size, if not slightly larger, than previous classes.

Getting the number right is tricky. Big Law firms invest thousands of dollars in young talent—salaries start at $215,000 at top firms along with potentially thousands more in bonuses. Current recruiting methodology requires that firms determine incoming class sizes two years out, which can be dicey for those that are vulnerable to market cycles.

Cooley cut its headcount in 2022, after work stalled following record-high demand during the pandemic. The firm let go of 78 attorneys and 72 staff in its US offices. Cooley also offered incoming corporate associates the option to push back their start dates a year in exchange for $100,000 stipends.

“Our recruiting success proved to be misaligned with the unexpected economic downturn that has occurred and will likely persist well into the year ahead,” then Chairman Joseph Conroy said at the time.

Wagner says that past misalignment was not the catalyst for the shift, but that filling out the firm’s class of 2028 closer to real time will give the firm a better sense of need.

“I think this new approach will allow us to evaluate need closer to time of entry but certainly wasn’t driving this decision,” she said.

Inside the Pressure Cooker

Recruitment at law schools has dramatically transformed in recent years with power shifting from law schools to law firms.

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On-campus interviews became virtually obsolete in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now the nation’s top law firms open their applications for coveted summer associate positions to new law students in the fall of their first semesters.

Like other law firms, Cooley opened its application for its summer program in November. Firms operate on rolling timelines.

If students get an offer, they’re often given just days or weeks to decide whether to accept.

“This current process is yielding mismatches,” said Amy Mattock, assistant dean for career services at Georgetown Law School.

“We have seen an increase in the number of students who have reached out to us pretty early on in their summer experience to say this isn’t the right fit for me,” Mattock said.

New students unaware of changes in the recruitment process are finding themselves behind and without job prospects. Mattock said that her office is now ensuring that incoming students—a group now referred to as 0Ls—update their resumes before they hit campus in the fall.

There’s a lot at stake for law firms as well. Losing young lawyers leaves firms out on their investment and short staffed down the road.

Cooley’s new approach allows the firm to leave space for students as they gain more exposure and capture those that might have emerged from their 2L summer experience in 2027 thinking about doing something different, according to Wagner.

“We’re excited to get ahead of that, because I really do believe that’s where the market is,” she said. “If we look out five years from now, we’re going to see a hot 3L market,” she said.

The firm allows applicants to apply directly to practices areas.

Munger Tolles & Olson also rolled out a new summer program that offers a split summer, but doesn’t extend full-time offers at the end of the program. Students instead can apply for expedited consideration when they are ready, typically after their 2L summer or following a clerkship.

The challenge that lies ahead is letting students know that there is a 3L market because there hasn’t been one for so long, Mattock said.

“Students may still be worried that if they don’t land a 2L job by the middle of March of their 1L year that they’re out of luck,” Mattock said.