Updated April 2022

To promote fair and ethical practices for the interviewing and decision-making process, Cornell Law School has adopted the following standards for the timing of offers and decisions:

A. General Provisions

  1. All offers to Cornell Law School students should remain open for at least two weeks after the date of the offer letter unless the offers are made pursuant to Sections B or D below, in which case the later response date will apply.
  2. Students are expected to accept or release offers or request an extension by the applicable deadline. Offers that are not accepted by the offer deadline expire.
  3. A student should not hold open more than five offers of employment at any one time. For each offer received that places a student over the offer limit, the student should release an offer no later than three business days after the receipt of the excess offer. Students are encouraged to hold open no more than three offers of employment within 14 days of receiving their first offer.

B. Summer Employment Provisions for Second- and Third-Year Students

Recognizing that the needs of smaller offices can vary greatly from the needs of larger offices who recruit our students, employers participating in the August Job Fair are expected to abide by the following offer timing guidelines:

  1. Employers offering summer associate positions to students in an office with a summer class size of 11 or more 2L students in the prior year should leave those offers open for at least 21 days following the date of the offer letter, or 21 days after the first day of the August Job Fair, whichever is later. Offers made after September 15 for the following summer should remain open for at least two weeks after the date of the offer letter.
  2. Employers offering summer associate positions to students in an office with a summer class size of 10 or fewer 2L students in the prior summer should leave those offers open for at least 14 calendar days following the date of the offer letter or until September 30, whichever comes first.
  3. If an employer makes an offer to any student before the beginning of Cornell Law School’s August Job Fair, through a resume collection or prior relationship, that offer should not expire until at least 21 calendar days following the first day of Cornell Law School’s August Job Fair. Cornell’s August Job Fair will be held August 3-6, 2021.
  4. Employers are asked to include the expiration date and any reaffirmation requirements of the offer clearly in the offer letter. Students should follow the reaffirmation terms of any offers which they receive. 

C. Summer Employment Provisions for First-Year Students

  1. To position law students to be as successful as possible, their efforts during the Fall semester of law school should focus on their studies rather than on job search activities. Cornell Law School welcomes employer participation in student programs focused on professional development and not recruiting.
  2. Prospective employers and first-year law students should not initiate contact with one another and employers should not initiate formal one-on-one recruiting contact with students, including applications, interviews, or offers to first-year students prior to December 1st of their first semester.
  3. All offers to first-year students for summer employment should remain open for at least two weeks after the date of the offer letter.
  4. Offers given to 1L summer associates to return as 2L summer associates should remain open pursuant to Section B3.

D. Full-Time Employment Provisions

  1. Employers offering full-time positions to commence following graduation to any student previously employed by them should leave those offers open until at least October 1 of the student’s final year of law school, provided that such offers are made prior to or on September 2.  After September 2 of a student’s final year of law school, employers offering full-time positions to commence following graduation to students previously employed by them should leave those offers open for at least 21 days following the date of the offer letter.
  2. Employers offering full-time positions to commence following graduation to any student not previously employed by them should leave those offers open for at least 21 days following the date of the offer letter or until December 30, whichever comes first. Offers made after December 15 for full-time positions to commence following graduation should remain open for at least two weeks after the date of the offer letter.
  3. Employers are asked to include the expiration date and any reaffirmation requirements of an offer for full-time employment clearly in the offer letter. Students should follow the reaffirmation terms of any offers which they receive. 
  4. Employers offering students full-time positions to commence following graduation and having a total of 40 attorneys or fewer in all offices are exempted from Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Section. Instead, offers made on or before December 15 should remain open for at least two weeks following the date of the offer letter or until December 30, whichever comes first.

E. Public Service Extensions for Second- and Third-Year Students

Students may request that a private sector employer extend the deadline to accept the employer’s offer for summer or post-graduation positions until as late as April 1 if the student is actively pursuing positions with public interest or government organizations and the judiciary. Students may hold open only one law firm offer in such circumstances. Employers are encouraged to grant such requests.