Law school timeline

Plan ahead to ensure you get a job after law school.

1L year

August 2022 – Start of fall semester

“During the ﬁrst semester we advise students to focus on their studies and then to research employers as time permits.”

Jason McCann, Associate Director of Career Services, Harvard Law School

Fall 2022 – Early engagement events

Schools might put on early engagement events for students to meet law firms. Different schools have different approaches and timescales to introduce students to employers.

winter2

December 2022 – Fall exam period

January 2023 – Spring OCIs

A much smaller program than fall recruiting, but more likely to include government and public interest organizations.

“In their ﬁrst semester students should look at their style of learning but in the second it’s imperative to talk about different practice areas and make the most of networking opportunities. People don’t necessarily need to know they want to go into project ﬁnance, but it’s wise to distinguish between litigation and corporate and ﬁnd something you enjoy.”

Rebecca Bradley, Director of Proffesiona; Development at Foley & Lardner

“Here at Cornell we have a series of programs during spring term where ﬁrms visit law schools to talk about their practice area.”

April/May 2023 – Spring exam period

June 2023 – Most students get grades back

1L Summer

July/August 2023 – Bidding for OCIs

Students can bid on between 20 and 50 employers using Symplicity.

“Recruiters call this period ‘The Compression’. There’s increased market pressure for recruiters over about three weeks and every ﬁrm wants to secure callback interviews at the same time."

Jason McCann, Harvard

"Because of the compressed time frame of on-campus interviews, some large ﬁrms do a small amount of ‘precruiting’ in the summer to connect with candidates – and sometimes make offers ahead of OCIs.”

Lois T. Casaleggi, Associate Dean for Career Services, University of Chicago Law School

Summer internships

Large ﬁrms tend to hire very few ﬁrst year students. Careers Advisors at Cornell told us:

“Positions with federal judges are very popular for ﬁrst year interns. We also see a lot of people going to in-house legal departments, government services, the US attorney’s ofﬁce and nonproﬁts.”

2L year

August/September 2023 – 'Fall recruiting' - OCIs

“Many students will have had their initial interviews and a good percentage will have had callbacks before their second year even begins.”

Cornell

August/September/October 2023 – Callback interviews / Offers received

In most cases students can keep a maximum of ﬁve choices open for up to 28 days.

“Typically offers follow callbacks fairly quickly; usually within two weeks.”

Jason McCann, Harvard

January 2024 – Spring term

MPRE (Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination) held in March, August and November – most students take this after they've completed their PR (professional responsibility) class.

2L summer

Summer 2024 – Summer programs at law firms

These usually last from six to twelve weeks.

We heard: “Firms now realize the value of allowing summers to get their hands dirty with real tasks; that approach demonstrates how you will actually react under certain circumstances.”

Hiring partners conﬁrmed: “Throwing people into the mix seems to work out best for everyone involved.”

3L year

Fall 2024 – begin planning for the Bar Exam

Throughout – work on Bar application

May/June 2023 – Commencement!

Take Bar Exam!

Next, read our guide to OCIs and callback interviews, or learn about the latest recruitment trends in our interview with Jim Leipold of NALP.

Fall 2021 – Early engagement events

Students can bid on between 20 and 50 employers using Symplicity.

A much smaller program than fall recruiting, but more likely to include government and public interest organizations.