Behold the big law associate. You may recognize them by the jumbosized cup of coffee in hand, bloodshot eyes from working 60-hour weeks, and most of all, by the bank account filling with money. >> Associates at big firms are usually hired from the top law schools every year.>> Of course, it's not just the highest ranked schools. Firms do recruit top students further down the rankings list. First year associates do all kinds of work, court papers, transactions, documents, preparing first drafts of briefs or ...