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Prospective summer associates are leaning on career services offices, alumni networks, firm websites, popular online forums and increasingly AI to help them navigate the shifting landscape.
To capture the impact of these trends, Law360 Pulse's 2025 Summer Associate Survey included additional questions to cover application timelines, methods, and impacts on student well-being and academic performance.
Overall, the findings highlight both the increasing intensity and uncertainty of the modern summer associate hiring process.
But even as the strategy to secure a coveted summer associateship shifts, the law firms where students would most like to spend a summer have stayed largely the same. BigLaw remains a prime target for many aspiring lawyers.
Law360 Pulse will continue to follow the summer associates of 2025 in the second installment of the survey, which is set to go out in late summer and will explore students' social and work experiences at firms.
What Do Summer Associates Want? These Firms
As the competition to recruit future lawyers heats up, law firms are making summer associate offers earlier than ever. But even as the timeline shifts, law students' favorites have stayed largely the same, according to Law360 Pulse's 2025 Summer Associate Survey.Faster Pace, More Stress, On Path To A Summer Associate Gig
The path to securing a summer associate position at a law firm has changed significantly over the past few years, adding new pressures for students reaching for those coveted positions and new challenges for law firms trying to find top talent, according to Law360 Pulse's 2025 Summer Associate Survey.AI Is Uncharted Territory In Summer Associate Job Hunt
About 20% of law students used artificial intelligence to assist them with their summer associate job hunt, leaning on the new technology to help navigate new challenges and shifting timelines, according to Law360 Pulse's 2025 Summer Associates Survey.
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