Survey: Employers Rescinding Job Offers In Response to COVID

Law grads across the nation are having their job offers rescinded – another stark reminder of the heavy impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A report by the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) found that 49% of law schools surveyed reported that some of their Class of 2020 grads had their post-graduate employment offers rescinded.

HOW SEVERE IS IT?

The NALP surveyed a total of 167 law schools.

Schools in the Southeast region were hit hardest with 61% reporting graduates with rescinded offers.

Additionally, the report finds that rescinded offers were reported most frequently in the private practice sector. 85% of schools that reported rescinded offers said private-sector employers had done so.

Experts say the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the legal industry heavily, with corporations taking a large hit as well.

“Corporations around the world have been hit hard, having to (hopefully) temporarily close facilities and deal with significant loss of revenue as individuals have reduced spending on non-essential items,” Sara Lord, Analysis Team Lead – Legal Markets at Bloomberg Law, writes. “The result is expected to be increased pressure on in-house legal departments to cut costs, including compensation and outside counsel expenses.”

OTHER FINDINGS

The NALP report also found that 69% of law schools that offer post-graduate fellowship funding reported that their funding for the Class of 2020 was flat in comparison to the Class of 2019, with only 13% of schools reporting increased funding.

Additionally, 50% of law school CSOs experienced budget cuts from March 15 – June 30, 2020, with 58% anticipating budget cuts for the upcoming year from July 2020 to June 2021.

The pandemic has affected nearly every law school in the nation, including prestigious institutions such as Harvard Law.

“This global pandemic, which has caused unprecedented disruption and displacement, is expected to be even worse,” John Manning, dean of Harvard Law, says in a press release. “As Harvard’s leaders have made clear, every revenue source we depend on – including the endowment and tuition, as well as philanthropy, executive and continuing education, and research support – will be under enormous pressure for the foreseeable future.”

Sources: National Association for Law Placement, ABA Journal, Harvard Law, Bloomberg Law

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