Morgan Lewis won't have interviews, internships
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius L.L.P. of Center City, citing downward pressure on rates and reduced demand in some practice areas, said that it would not conduct on-campus interviews this year and that it had canceled next year's summer internship program.
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius L.L.P. of Center City, citing downward pressure on rates and reduced demand in some practice areas, said that it would not conduct on-campus interviews this year and that it had canceled next year's summer internship program.
Summer internships typically lead to job offers, and students interview for those positions in the summer following their second year of law school.
The Center City law firm had already announced that it would defer start dates by one year for first-year lawyers scheduled to join the firm in the fall. Instead, they have been offered $60,000 stipends while working in government positions or for public interest organizations. That is less than half what they would have been paid had they joined the firm on schedule.
Although the firm has a class of 90 summer interns this year, they too will be deferred for one year following their law school graduations in 2010.
The firm-wide hiring partner, Eric Kraeutler, told law school deans of the decision not to conduct interviews for summer internships in a letter in which he explained that taking on a new class of interns would make it more difficult to make job offers to students already in the hiring pipeline.
The changes were outlined in a firm-wide video conference on Tuesday by chairman Fran Milone. Milone said that, in addition to the interview and hiring changes, the firm would seek to move away from regimented salary increases for associate lawyers and more closely tie compensation to performance.
