Law is a mature profession and an immature industry. Nowhere is the immaturity more evident than in the way in which we recruit talent.
The process by which law firms recruit from law schools fails to serve the interests of law students, law schools or employers. The enabler of this system is NALP, an organization founded decades ago as the National Association for Law Placement. It now refers to itself as the “Association for Legal Career Professionals.” This is fitting since “Legal Career Professionals” primarily benefit from its existence. Designed beneficially as an organizational meeting place for law schools and employers, with law students as the beneficiaries, it has taken on an institutional life of its own and lost sight of its laudable mission.
