15 things law majors should do in December to help their 2026 job search

December should be used to lock down professional references and administrative readiness. Hiring partners often reach out to references earlier than students expect, especially when firms plan spring and summer onboarding. Law and legal studies majors should meet with professors, supervising attorneys, clinic directors, or judges they worked with and request permission to serve as references. Provide each reference with a short summary of your work, writing samples, and the type of roles you are pursuing. This preparation signals maturity and reduces delays when firms begin background and reference checks.

I recall a candidate who arrived fully prepared when we requested references. Each reference responded quickly and spoke with precision about the candidate’s case preparation, client interaction, and courtroom awareness. That professionalism reflected planning, discipline, and respect for the hiring process. Compare that with applicants who scramble in January trying to locate contacts or update credentials. Firms notice the difference immediately, especially in practice areas that rely on trust, discretion, and judgment.

December is also the right time to organize transcripts, writing samples, and bar-related documentation. Family law firms value applicants who manage details responsibly. Organized records, clean documents, and prompt follow-ups reflect how someone may handle files, court deadlines, and client communication. Preparation during December allows candidates to enter hiring season ready for real evaluation, not administrative catch-up.

Most law firms finalize their 2026 hiring plans during December and early January. Reach out to contacts, attend bar association events, and connect with recruiters before February arrivals swamp inboxes. You want to be in conversations when roles are still taking shape, not after they’re posted publicly and swamped with applications.

My tip: send personalized notes to five lawyers or firms you really want to work for. Not for a job, just 15 minutes to talk about their practice or their regulatory focus. Most will respond during this slower month. And you’ll learn what they’re building for 2026, and they’ll remember you when the hiring heats up. Timing is everything. Make it happen in December while attention’s still available.

My suggestion would be to attend at least one end-of-year professional event. Many local bar associations and legal organizations host December mixers. December is the best month for this since many legal professionals are wrapping up the year and often have a lighter schedule. Attend one of these events and set a goal for yourself; maybe it’s as simple as meeting three new people and setting up a follow-up coffee meetup with one of them. By doing this, you’ll start the new year with new connections that could become a mentor or connect you with hiring managers. The goal is to start the year with a warm lead that could help jump-start your job search.

December should be about getting close to how the legal system actually works and letting people see your presence. Time inside courthouses matters. Sitting in on hearings, watching how lawyers handle pressure, noticing how judges run a room. Students who do this start to feel familiar to the system. Clerks remember faces. Staff recognize professionalism. That recognition carries into hiring conversations later on, even if nobody talks about it directly.

Holiday weeks slow things down across most firms. Phones ring less. Calendars open up. That space gives you a chance to connect with attorneys in a real way. Short conversations turn into longer ones. People talk more honestly about the workload, the emotional weight, the mistakes they made coming up. Those interactions build trust. I’ve reached back out to candidates months later because they left a solid impression during a quiet December meeting.

December also gives you time to fix how you present yourself. Your resume should feel practical. Clinics, internships, research tied to real cases, courtroom exposure, writing that reflects live matters. A clean GPA means less if the page reads like coursework only. Employers look for signs that you understand what this job asks from you day after day.

Watching clients walk into court stressed, confused, and overwhelmed changes perspective quickly. Seeing lawyers stand beside them, manage expectations, and carry responsibility shapes how you talk in interviews. That understanding shows up naturally when the hiring window opens.

A high-impact strategy for December is for students to identify five to ten specific firms they admire and request “informational interviews” with the junior staff there. Instead of asking for a job directly, the student asks for fifteen minutes to learn about what the daily work is really like in that specific office. This proactive research does two things: it provides the student with “inside information” they can use to write a much better cover letter later, and it puts them on the firm’s radar before a formal job posting even exists. In a competitive field, being a known face with a genuine interest in the work is often the deciding factor in getting hired.

If you want to land a job early in the new year, December should be about preparation, not pushing everything off until January. I hear this all the time from students who think updating a resume is enough. That matters, but it is not the most important step. What really makes a difference is being clear about your direction.

Start by asking yourself what kind of legal professional you want to be. Litigation, corporate law, compliance, public interest, government work, personal injury, and commercial practice all point to very different paths. The same experience can be viewed in completely different ways depending on the direction you choose.

Once that is clear, take a hard look at your own background. Think about your classes, internships, research, and work experience. How do those experiences show that you are a fit for this path, and what do they say about the problems you can help an employer solve? At the same time, prepare a clear and repeatable self-introduction, especially a strong two-minute interview version. It should tell a simple story with purpose and direction.

Next, focus on employers. Make a list of ten to twenty organizations or firms you would genuinely want to work for. Learn when they typically hire and whether there are alumni you can speak with. Those details often determine whether real opportunities open up in January and February.

Finally, be honest about your priorities. Know what you want and what you are not willing to pursue. December may feel quiet, but it is often the most important preparation window. Use it well, and the start of 2026 will feel far more manageable.

In December, law and legal studies students are encouraged to establish professional relationships with attorneys and recruitment organizations. Most law firms schedule their hiring process many months in advance, which creates a great opportunity for prospective applicants. By connecting with others, students increase the chances of being at the forefront of prospective hires. Consider attending networking events, conducting informational interviews, and sending well-written messages to form connections.

Additionally, applicants should also take time to update their resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and other professional portfolios to stay current with employment trends. Customizing each of these items based on the type of law firm or organization of interest will enhance the chance of making a lasting impression on prospective employers. Students should also practice clearly explaining their skills and experience so they can feel confident about being actively able to apply for early career opportunities in 2026.

December is a time of year that provides law students with a unique opportunity to observe something that many employers have a quiet appreciation for. Lawyers managing high-volume court calendars to produce results under extreme deadline pressure. The court calendars are filled with day after day of back-to-back sentencings and end of year. This environment allows you to clearly view how attorneys manage stress, how they negotiate their client’s case outcomes and how they get their cases through the process and to a resolution.

By spending a couple of days in the same courtroom and observing the movement of ten to twelve cases, you will be able to identify which firms have the most difficult files to manage and how attorneys adapt in real time to meet the demands placed on them by their clients and judges. Your observations will allow you to write a brief report or briefing paper that details the patterns you observed while attending the courthouse. For example, you could detail how one attorney was able to reduce a twenty-minute hearing down to eight minutes through the way he framed the facts in his presentation. Hiring partners will take your briefing and immediately know that you studied how real work is done and not just theoretical concepts. That kind of experience will give you a head start over other applicants once hiring begins in January 2026.

The most important thing law and legal studies majors should do in December is to clean up their online and social media presence and work on their LinkedIn profile, tailoring to the practice areas or employers you will be targeting. Hiring attorneys consistently check candidates’ digital footprints, both for red flags and for a professional LinkedIn presentation. I regularly hire interns and legal administrative assistants, and I’ve passed on otherwise qualified candidates whose social media revealed poor judgment or whose LinkedIn profiles were incomplete or generic. If a student has a sloppy or incomplete LinkedIn page, how are they going to do error-free work on legal documents? Use the December lull to research firms in your desired field and city, update your profile with relevant keywords, sound out professors for possible upcoming letters of recommendation, and clean up any questionable content across all platforms. This preparation ensures that when you start actively applying in January, Google searches of your name will reveal a mature, professional person.

In December, I recommend securing a volunteer placement with a legal clinic. This will give you hands-on experience in drafting pleadings, reviewing tribunal forms, and understanding court filing timelines that employers expect from entry-level candidates. It positions you to demonstrate job-ready skills when roles open in early 2026.

One of the most valuable things that law and legal studies majors can do in December is to put themselves out there and make contacts with attorneys who are engaging in the type of work that they are interested in. A lot of students spend this month looking to perfect their resumes, but the ones who wind up getting a job in the first half of the year are those who are networking now. This is a great month to put out feelers because firms are planning their needs for the first quarter.

Applicants should also ensure that writing samples are up-to-date. Hiring managers frequently seek writing samples early in the process. A clean writing sample that is fully edited and ready to go can help this happen faster than anything else. A good writing sample also indicates a great judgment, clarity, and discipline. All firms look for this when making a hiring decision.