Like their bigger competitors, midsize law firms have hired fewer associates since the recession. Still, hard times have proven a boon in one sense: They can hire from a rather more prestigious applicant pool than they could have in the past.
Graduates from Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Stanford Law School and Columbia Law School have fanned out their employment searches in the tight job market, and many firms with 100 to 200 lawyers are welcoming associates who might have passed them over in better economic times.
