President Donald Trump’s government hiring freeze is really doing a number on lawyers’ career prospects. Not only have third-year law students’ permanent job offers been revoked and summer internship programs been canceled, but government agencies are now pulling out of law school recruitment events for future legal roles.
As noted by Bloomberg Law, government agencies have decided to skip attending public interest career fairs and recruiting events hosted by at least three law schools. Here are some additional details:
More than a dozen agencies withdrew from a public interest career fair hosted by New York University’s law school on Thursday and Friday, according to a NYU spokesperson. The annual event saw more than 1,700 job seekers from 20 law schools at last year. Multiple agencies also skipped a Jan. 24 law student recruiting event organized by Georgetown University and George Washington University, according to two people familiar with the situation.
Nikia Gray, NALP’s executive director, worries that because these jobs have suddenly disappeared out from under hopeful law students, they may never go on to become lawyers. “For some of these students, the fact that these jobs were pulled may make the difference of whether they ever become a practicing attorney or not,” she said. “This is happening at a really critical juncture in their career development.”
Meanwhile, Biglaw and boutique law firms are eager to recruit from this pool of would-be government lawyers, with firms like Morgan Lewis, Quinn Emanuel, Elsberg Baker & Maruri, and Elias Law Group offering receptive messages of hope that there are still jobs available for them. “We have been in touch with career services offices at various law schools to help facilitate placements that are a good fit for both the candidates and our firm,” said William Burck, global co-managing partner of Quinn Emanuel. Elisabeth Frost, litigation chair of Elias Law Group, echoed Burck’s thoughts, saying, “[W]e hope other firms and legal employers will similarly do what they can to help give these new lawyers meaningful opportunities to start their careers.”
Best of luck to all aspiring government lawyers who have been left out in the cold by Trump’s hiring freeze.
Trump Hiring Freeze Has Agencies Ditching Law School Recruiting [Bloomberg Law]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.