AM Law Daily provided some encouraging news Friday in a preview of the upcoming summer hiring season. According to its reporting, summer associate class-size is expected to show significant increases in some cases among the more prestigious firms.
Cravath, Swaine & Moore, which has a summer class size of 23 now, is expected to increase its hiring to around 75 for next summer. The story notes how Cravath “shocked the market” when it slashed its summer class size from 123 in 2009 to this year’s low number.
The number of summer associates at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom fell from 225 in 2009 to 79 this year, but that number could jump back to over 100.
While still not at the levels from before the cuts, the AM Law Daily notes that the increases are “a modest jump, but modest jumps are what pass for good news these days.”
Ropes & Gray could go over 100 summer associates after having 82 this year. Jones Day expects to increase its summer class from the 124 of this year and Proskauer Rose will hold steady.
None of this is official, however, as much of the information for the story is based largely on anonymous sources.