In an interview in the Legal Intelligencer (which we found via law.com), consultant Frank D’Amore made a number of predictions about the future of law firm recruiting. You should read the whole thing, but among the predictions were:
1) Smaller law firms being more competitive with larger ones when it comes to recruiting top law school talent (and an increased interest among law students in smaller firms who, by and large, seem to be surviving better in this down economy and
2) Large firms scaling back their summer programs and increasingly relying on lateral recruitment.