It wasn't a return to the go-go days before the recession, but first-year associate hiring picture improved at the nation's largest law firms during 2014. Among the 50 schools most popular with the country's 250 largest firms, more than 29 percent of 2014 graduates landed first-year associate jobs — up slightly from 2013.

Columbia Law School retained its place as the top provider of law graduates hired by those big firms, and the University of Pennsylvania jumped from fifth to second place on The National Law Journal's annual Go-To Law Schools list.

Demand from law firms for new talent doesn't tell the whole story, however. Although the country's largest 250 law firms together hired slightly more first-year associates than in 2013, there were fewer law graduates to compete for those jobs. The class of 2014 was 6 percent smaller than its predecessor, which had been the largest on record. In raw numbers, the 50 schools that sent the highest percentage of new J.D. holders into large-firm associate jobs collectively graduated 500 fewer students in 2014 — a nearly 4 percent decline.