The first semester of law school used to be about getting acclimated to law school itself. Students could focus on exploring the opportunities the profession has to offer, getting involved on campus, learning how to be a professional and, of course, studying and achieving good grades on final exams.

However, an arms race among law firms to lock down top talent earlier and earlier—thanks to the pandemic-driven de-emphasis on fall on-campus interviews, or OCIs—has Big Law firms effectively asking law students to make decisions about post-graduate employment before the end of their first semester.