Where does Big Law turn to each year to fill its first-year associate slots? Law.com's 2019 Go-To Law Schools special report has the answers.

In this week's podcast, we hear from Law.com legal education editor Karen Sloan about some surprises in this year's report, which includes the top 50 law schools with the biggest percentage of 2018 J.D. graduates who took first-year associate jobs at major law firms. The report also presents information about relative bargains in law school tuition and which schools are among major law firms.

In addition, Sloan talks to Jim Leipold, executive director of the National Association for Law Placement about stability he's seeing in the first-year associate hiring market. He also discusses how traditional on-campus interviewing is giving way to more individualized programs, where firms and students are creating their own processes for a law grad's transition into Big Law.

Visit the full 2019 Go-To Law Schools report here to see our top 50 ranking according to the percentage of recent graduates hired by Big Law; the schools that saw the most alumni promoted to partner last year; and the schools that outperform their U.S. News rank when it comes to large firm hiring.

Listen to the podcast above or find us on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Overcast or Libsyn.

Legal Speak is brought to you by Econ One, offering economic expertise, consulting and dispute resolution, and data analytics.