News From The Harvard Law Record

Back in September, second-year students, anxious as always about on-campus interviews with law firms, got some comfort from the numbers, according to HLS Career Services director N. June Thompson.

"The job market really looks quite healthy," Thompson said.

Thompson said the job market has "crept up" for two or three years.

In the early 1990s, firms remained chastened from earlier tough times, she said. But in the last few years, employers have increased their hiring.

All cities are strong, especially New York, which Thompson called "the leading city for growth."

The number of organizations interviewing on campus this year is about the same as last year, Thompson said, with between 600 and 630 employers coming to the Law School.

Thompson broke this number down into 600 firms and 25 to 30 public interest organizations. In addition, McKinsey and Company and Merrill Lynch interviewed on campus, and other consulting firms and investment banks presented information to students.

The Big Cities New York provided the most interviewers. It is also the place to which the greatest number of graduating students go--about 20 percent of each class.

After New York come Boston and Washington D.C. Of the 527 graduates from 1995 who reported employment to Career Services, 157 worked in New York, 65 in Boston and 57 in Washington, D.C.

Other top cities include Chicago, which drew 30 students from the 1995 class, and Los Angeles, which took 42. Thompson warned that "San Francisco, as always, is tight."

"Every other student I see wants to work there" Thompson said. Among 1995 graduates, only 14 ended up in San Francisco.

Students last year averaged 22 on-campus interviews. Students seeking law firm jobs had more interviews than students seeking public interest positions.