Originally published on New Jersey Law Journal
Mark Silow was quoted in the New Jersey Law Journal article "Summer Programs Still in a Drought." While the full text can be found in the May 27, 2013, issue of New Jersey Law Journal, a synopsis is noted below.
Summer hiring at New Jersey law firms dropped 3.2% in 2013 and for most firms, exhibited no signs of rebounding from a stagnant past four years. The reason for the dip in hiring stems largely from law firms reduced recruitment of law graduates since recovering from the recession. While revenues and profits have rebounded, firms still aren't sold on bringing on large numbers of first-year lawyers that must be trained.
While hiring across the state dropped, Fox Rothschild was one of at least five programs whose number of summer hires grew. Aside from the benefit of gaining familiarity by having summer hires, Mark Silow says retention rates are much higher for those who started as summer associates.
The summer program "instills a sense of loyalty" and "serves as a screen" to separate out candidates who don't fit the bill, Silow says. "Our view is, if we made it through the toughest periods and it worked, it's going to continues to work for us."
Fox has had a steady if not huge summer program in New Jersey. It has five total recruits in its Roseland, Princeton and Atlantic City offices, compared with four last year and three in 2011.
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