<p>Plus the sabbatical backlog. Some firms offered current associates a portion of their pay to go do something else for a year. When that year is up, most of those associates will also be returning. Add to that the fact that the percentage of big law firm associates leaving for in-house jobs is probably going to be depressed for a while; corporate legal departments aren’t hiring at the same rate. </p>
<p>I think it’s unrealistic to think that people entering law school now and especially current 1Ls aren’t going to be affected by this. They may not be deferred but summer associate classes will be smaller and firms won’t hesitate to withhold offers.</p>