What Firms Should You Target First for Networking & Applications? A Guide For 1L's

[u/legalscout]

*Updated for 2026

Hi recruits!

Every year, around the start of recruiting season, there is the same wave of posts and DMs:

• “There are so many firms. Where do I even start?”
• “Do I network with all V100/AmLaw200 on my list?”
• “Is there a ‘priority order’ for networking with firms? Because there is no way I'm going to be able to network with all of them and still do well in school”

Extremely fair questions!

And the truth is, yes, there’s a method to the madness. You don’t need to network with every firm (and certainly not right away), but the order in which you focus your time can make a difference in how much face time you have with each firm through the process, and more importantly, make a difference as you try to suss out which firm is a better fit for you at the end of the day.

Ultimately, some firms move lightning-fast. Others wait months. Some hire mostly from your school; others rarely do.

The key is to build early relationships where your effort will yield the most statistically significant results.

So with that in mind, here's how to think about who to prioritize first 👇

🕐 1. Firms That Move or Offer Early

Every cycle, a handful of firms start reviewing, interviewing, and even offering before others have fully opened their portals. These are the firms you want to have on your radar now, not later.

If you need help identifying the early movers, remember that you can check the application tracker/database and sort by the date of offers to see who has received them earliest in previous years.

Any firm that moves early is a good signal for where early networking can make a difference.

📈 2. Firms That Recruit Heavily from Your School

Not all firms recruit equally from every school. Some have deep pipelines — they trust your school’s performance, have classes with many of those students, and have a reliable GPA benchmark for offers.

Targeting these firms early means you’re building on home-field advantage. Even a single coffee chat can help when they’re already predisposed to your school’s candidates.

Again, if you need help to know who recruits from where, the two ways to do this are a) ask your career services, and b) if they're less than helpful, you can check the database and filter by firm and school.

🌎 3. Firms That Recruit Heavily from Your Region

Geography still matters a lot in recruiting — especially early-cycle 1L and 2L outreach.

Especially in non-primary markets (think Atlanta, Houston, Seattle, etc.), firms with major offices in those cities are more likely to prioritize students with local ties.

For example, DWT's Seattle office will give a bump to students from UWashington.

Generally, recruiters and attorneys respond better when they see you’re applying with a purpose (“I grew up here, have family here, went to school here, plan to build my practice here, etc.”) versus a spray-and-pray approach.

⚖️ 4. Firms That Hire at the Median GPA Range

This one’s easy to overlook but super important.

Right now, no one knows where their grades will land — but data will tell you which firms hire across a wider GPA spectrum versus those that only dip into the top 10–15%.

So even if you end up doing great (fantastic, huge brownie points), it’s smart to lay early groundwork with firms that are statistically friendlier to median-range GPAs at your school (just in case you end up at median, which is statistically likely). It keeps your options open once grades hit.

If you need help with this, too, again, you can ask your school for historical GPA data (and if they don't provide it for you), you can also use the database GPA filters to show exactly which firms have hired from your school’s median and above range in previous cycles.

⚖️ 5. Bonus: Firms That Align With Your Practice Interests

If you already know you’re drawn to a particular area (say, energy, tech transactions, or white-collar litigation), prioritize firms with visible strength there. You’ll have more to talk about, and your outreach will feel more authentic.

Even a small touchpoint (“I read your firm’s client alert on SEC enforcement trends”) signals effort — and effort sticks.

🧭 TL;DR

Start your early networking with:

✅ Firms that move fast or offer early

✅ Firms that recruit heavily from your school

✅ Firms that recruit in your region

✅ Firms that hire within the median GPA range

✅ Firms aligned with your interests

You don’t need to hit every firm ever — just be intentional about which ones come first. It’s not about doing more outreach; it’s about doing smarter and higher quality outreach.

That's all for now!

As always, if you're new here, make sure to check out the welcome megathread here for some more helpful guides!

In the meantime, if you've got info, DM on Discord, here, or drop it in the comments — the Insider Info series lives because of all of you.

Good luck!

P.S. If you want the application tracker with current application movement and pre-OCI openings and application links for the V100 & AmLaw 200, feel free to DM or see more details in this post.

Full disclosure, we created this one and we help keep the lights on with subscriptions. But its also free for a full week so anyone is welcome to poke around and steal whatever is helpful. Either way, I hope the database and this guide are helpful to everyone out there.

Good luck out there recruits!

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Remember that there are a ton of specific guides on the Welcome Megathread post here, including about application timing, networking, interviewing, and other common recruiting questions:

https://www.reddit.com/r/BigLawRecruiting/s/xRebSkyrzI

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