By Gary Lawkowski '11
Contributor

The changing colors of leaves signal more to students at the Law School than Fall Break, midterms, and rapidly approaching Halloween. They also signify the end of the annual ritual of On Grounds Interviews, providing an opportunity for employers and administrators, as well as students, to reflect upon their experiences with the process.

According to Elizabeth Fuchs, Manager of Legal Recruiting with the South Atlantic-based firm Williams Mullen, “The unique thing about UVA is that law firms rotate [between Round One and Round Two] so that the system is fairer.” For employers, both weeks have their merits. The August session generally provides access to a greater number of students, while the later interviews generally yield students who having completed Round One, have a better sense of the profiles of their desired employers.

Assistant Dean for Career Services Polly Lawson said that splitting the interviews into two separate weeks also benefits students and faculty members. The bulk of interviews do not disrupt classes, but students are also given the opportunity “to regroup” from their first round of interviews and assess their interests before the second round.

For J. Goodwin Bland, a partner at Bingham McCutchen LLP, another advantage of the University’s interview process is its allocation of several interview slots through a lottery system. According to Bland, this feature gives students who have a strong interest in a particular firm the opportunity to interview when they might not have otherwise caught the firm’s attention.

According to Fuchs, in generally her firm is “pleased with the caliber of students” at the Law School, and has a large alumni population that has thrived in its offices. She said that leaders of the firm appreciate that the Law School produces students with diverse interests in practice areas and geography. In general, they have also found that partners were “very impressed with the amount of research” done by students in preparation for interviews, and employers have observed that students at the Law School tend to do things naturally that would otherwise need to be coached, such as being forthright and timely in canceling callbacks or accepting other offers.

These positive reviews were echoed by Bland, who is a double ’Hoo: “We’re very happy to come down to UVA . . . it’s a privilege to interview there.” Bland went on to observe that the students “tend to be more well rounded,” and that he and his firm were “thrilled” with the students they see from the Law School.

When asked about advice for students, Fuchs suggested that they make sure to investigate the timeline of the firm’s decision process and to ask for extensions if needed. Bland suggested that students arrange for mock interviews with a third party to practice in advance. He also notes that while most people his firm interviews have strong academic and work records, firms are also looking for someone to find people that they “want to work with, want to have dinner with, introduce to clients.”

In reflecting upon the interview process, Dean Lawson recognized that “our staff does a tremendous job, puts in countless hours of overtime making sure everything runs smoothly.” All this hard work has paid off, as Bland and Fuchs’ comments reinforce Lawson’s perception. “The feedback we’ve gotten from employers is that everything went well.” Overall, Lawson said she and the Law School’s administration have “been pleased with everything this year.”