Hiring fully returned to pre-pandemic levels, and average compensation continued on its upward trajectory, at summer associate programs at New Jersey law firms and branch offices.

A group of 16 bellwether firms have brought on a total of 77 summer associates this year, according to a Law Journal survey. That’s a slight increase from last year’s total (74 hires). But it’s a markedly higher total than the 61 New Jersey hires in 2020, and the exact same number of associates brought on at those same firms in 2019.