Careers

Recruiting Policies & Guidelines

Duke Law School greatly values our relationships with organizations that support, recruit and hire Duke Law students. The Duke Law School Recruiting Policies & Guidelines (“Policies & Guidelines”) have been established to ensure the highest levels of professionalism, fairness, and opportunity for all members of the Duke Law Community involved in these activities, including current students, future students, alumni, and employers. The Policies & Guidelines also incorporate the National Association for Law Placement’s (NALP) Principles for a Fair & Ethical Recruitment Process.

The Law School’s facilities and support are available only to organizations whose practices are consistent with the Policies & Guidelines. The Policies & Guidelines will be administered by the Career & Professional Development Center and/or Faculty Committee for Student Career & Professional Development, as appropriate.

Meeting & Recruiting First-Year Students 2025-26

It is critical to the Duke Law School experience that first-year students focus on academics and developing essential critical analysis and writing abilities, and establish meaningful relationships with classmates and professors at the beginning of their studies. These Policies & Guidelines are designed to preserve this foundational period in students’ intellectual development, and include two rules noted below. In addition, the first semester provides time for students to start to develop baseline professional development skills and to learn about the legal profession, allowing for a more equitable landscape and better informed students when they do pursue opportunities. 

Duke Law School's Rules with respect to interaction with 1Ls are:

• Applications: First-year students will gain access to the Duke Law Symplicity job board as of October 1, 2025. Employers should not solicit nor accept application materials from first-year students prior to that date.
• Events: In accordance with the Law School’s Policies for 1L Recruiting Related Events, employer-hosted events for 1Ls should not be held prior to October 1, 2025. Organizations may gain access to the 1L contact list to begin direct outreach (event invitations) to first-year students starting October 1, 2025. Please contact Susan Anderson for more information on event promotion.

Additionally, as part of our Guidelines, we strongly encourage those employers choosing to post positions for 1Ls prior to the end of the first semester to extend application deadlines through final exams and to specify that applications are not reviewed on a rolling basis. In all cases, employers should refrain from interviewing students or hosting 1L events between the end of 1L classes and the conclusion of first semester final exams (December 5 - December 19, 2025).

Guidelines on Offers and Decisions for 2025-2026

The goal of this section (“Offer Guidelines”) is to balance student and employer needs in a way that is most likely to lead to optimal decisions and outcomes for all stakeholders over both the short and longer term. The principles underlying these Offer Guidelines are that more informed student employment choices will lead to better and longer lasting decisions, and that some time is needed after the receipt of an offer for students to gather further information to make such decisions. At the same time, employers need to identify candidates who will make the greatest contributions to their particular organizations and meet their hiring goals in a timely manner. Duke Law School’s Offer Guidelines are described below:

General Guidelines

Employers must make all reasonable efforts to avoid class conflicts when scheduling interviews. Please encourage students to let you know if class conflicts exists as they may be reluctant to raise the issue if unprompted.

Employers should grant extensions to students beyond an offer expiration date if requested in writing in a timely manner. Students are expected to communicate decisions on offers in a timely manner and to decline an offer as soon as the student has decided it will not be accepted.

Duke Law students should not hold open more than three offers of employment at any one time.

Offers should be made in writing with all material terms and conditions of employment clearly expressed and should remain unchanged until the expiration date.

1L Summer Employment

All offers to first-year students for summer employment should remain open for at least 14 days following the date of the offer letter. Employers should grant an offer extension if requested by the student in writing, as long as the student has remained engaged and responsive with the employer. Offers to first-year students that obligate the student to return to that same employer for most or all of the second summer are discouraged.

2L Summer Employment in the Private Sector

All offers to the Class of 2028 for 2L summer private sector employments should remain open for at least 14 days following the date of the offer letter. Employers should grant offer extensions if requested by the student in writing, as long as the student has remained engaged and responsive with the employer. These Guidelines apply to offers to return for the summer 2027, as well as to new offers for summer 2027. All employers should provide clear offer timing information to students early in the application process.

Post-Graduate Employment in the Private Sector

Private sector employers offering full-time positions to commence following graduation to candidates previously employed by them should leave those offers open until the later of 14 days from the date of the offer letter or October 1 of the candidate’s final year of law school.  All other offers should remain open for at least 14 days.

Public Interest Extensions

Rising 2L and 3L candidates may request that a private sector employer extend the deadline to accept the employer’s offer until as late as April 1 of 2L or 3L year if the candidate is actively pursuing positions with public interest or government organizations. Candidates may hold open only one offer in such circumstances. Employers are encouraged to grant such requests.

Government, Non-Profit and Public Interest Organizations

Government, non-profit, and public interest organizations are also encouraged to follow the Offer Guidelines, with offers remaining open for at least 14 days following the date of the offer letter.

Additional Policies

Non-Discrimination Policy

All organizations using the facilities and services of Duke Law School in connection with the recruitment of Duke Law Students must comply with the University & Law School’s Non-Discrimination Policy. When recruiting Duke Law students on campus or posting a position, employers must review the Policy and indicate compliance on Symplicity in the section asking for “Affirmation with the Duke University School of Law Non-Discrimination Policy.”

Professional Conduct

Duke Law School is committed to upholding the rules, principles, and community values reflected in the Rules & Policies in all academic and nonacademic endeavors. Student and employer behavior in connection with recruiting students, whether on- or off-campus, or with or without school involvement, should uphold the fundamental principles of mutual respect, honesty, integrity, and professionalism at all times.  Further, in order to meet the Duke Law School Learning Outcomes expected of each graduate, students are expected to demonstrate an understanding of how to conduct themselves as professionals; we encourage employers to consider themselves partners in teaching this and other areas necessary for success as an attorney.

Scholastic Standing and Grading Policy

Key 1L Dates 2025-26 for Students and Employers

Event	Date
Job Postings Permitted & Available to 1Ls	October 1, 2025
1L Midterms	October 10, 2025
1L Memo Due	October 27, 2025
1L Final Exams Period (No Interviews or Events)	December 5-19, 2025
Recruiting Events for 1Ls	May start on October 1, 2025 (but for Final Exams Period)
Spring Classes Resume	January 7, 2026 (Wintersession dates TBD)
1L Memo Due	Date TBD (mid-March 2026)
1L Spring Final Exams Period (No Interviews or Events)	April 17-May 1, 2026

Offer Guidelines 2025-26

Type of Employment	Offer Open Period
1L Summer Employment	14 days + Extension on Written Request
2L Summer Employment	14 days + Extensions on Written Request
Post-Graduate Employment: Previously Employed	Later of 14 days from offer letter date, or October 1, 2025
Post-Graduate Employment: All Other Offers	14 days
Offers, Government or Public Interest Employer	14 days
Government or Public Interest Extensions for 2L Summer or Post-Grad	May request offer open until April 1
Maximum Number of Offers a Duke Law student should have open at any one time.	Three

For questions about our recruiting policies, please email Erin Biggerstaff, Director, Recruitment & Employer Relations.