Reciprocity with Other Law Schools

For BU Law Students

Looking for a job outside Boston? The CDO may be able to obtain reciprocity access for you at a law school in your geographic area of interest. Reciprocity access allows one of our law graduates and students to use the career resources of another law school in exchange for offering the same services to a graduate or student of that law school. Because of the popularity of the reciprocity program and the numerous requests we receive, our office can request reciprocity at only one law school per person.

Please note that a vast majority of law schools (BU Law included) will not honor or make reciprocity requests between July 25th and November 1st.

To request reciprocal access, students MUST look up the school’s reciprocity policy before e-mailing the CDO to ask for a request. They are generally easy to find; a quick Google search of “[school’s name] Reciprocity Policy” will populate the correct link. Not every school’s policy is the same. Here are the things to consider:

  1. In-person v. remote access: Most reciprocity policies require a student to physically go to the school’s office to access any sort of job listings. A few, however, have remote access.
    COVID-19 Update: Most law schools (BU Law included) have temporarily suspended in-person Reciprocity services until further notice.
  2. Length of access: Reciprocity is generally limited to a specific period of time. It can range anywhere from 30 days to 3 months. Students should consider this when deciding at what point to request reciprocity, as their access may run out before they can physically arrive at the campus.
  3. Blackout dates: nearly every school does not accept requests from July 31st/August 1st until either November 1st or December 1st. It would be best if students would wait until the blackout period ends before making the request.

Once you have reviewed the reciprocity policies, please fill out this BU Reciprocity Request Form and return to the CDO in-person or email to lawcdo@bu.edu. Provide an alternate school in case your first choice is unavailable. Reciprocity requests are handled on a first-come, first-served basis and are usually processed within one to two weeks. We will request reciprocity on your behalf and notify you if reciprocity has been granted.
NOTE: Please do not go to or call another law school’s career services office without first requesting reciprocity access.

The bulk of the reciprocity requests our office receives are for access to select New York City, Chicago, Washington, DC, and California law schools. Since many schools in these areas grant reciprocity strictly on a person-for-person basis, the CDO is sometimes unable to obtain reciprocity access at certain schools in the above-mentioned areas.

Reciprocity at Massachusetts Law Schools

By agreement of the Massachusetts Law School Consortium, students/graduates may not request reciprocity at another Massachusetts law school.

Limit of Reciprocity Request

Students/alumni are limited to requesting reciprocity access to only one law school at a time. We cannot send a second request until reciprocal access at the first school has expired.

Once You Have Reciprocity

If you are extended access to another law school’s career services office, you will usually receive a copy of the school’s reciprocity policy. These policies differ depending on the school. The school may restrict students/alumni of other law schools from using their job listings, certain career resources, counseling, etc. Most schools restrict the length of time a student from another law school may use their office’s services (usually two to four months). Please respect the reciprocity policies of other law schools and contact the CDO if you have questions or concerns.

Requesting Reciprocity from Outside of Massachusetts

BU Law Reciprocity Policy
Last Updated October, 2022

  1. Reciprocity services may be available only to students and graduates of ABA-accredited law schools that offer the same services to BU Law students and graduates.
  2. All requests for reciprocity must be arranged via e-mail. Requests should be addressed to:
    Boston University School of Law
    Career Development and Public Service
    Attn: Reciprocity Coordinator
    lawcdo@bu.edu
    617-353-3141
  3. Reciprocity access is granted for a period of three months or until July 25, whichever comes first. Access may be extended by another letter from the student’s or graduate’s career services office; however, no reciprocity access will be provided between July 25 and November 1.
  4. Applicants for reciprocity must wait until they receive written authorization before visiting our office and must bring the authorization letter on the first visit. The number of visits and the days and times of those visits may be restricted. Therefore, call the office at 617-353-3141 to arrange both the days and times of visits.
    COVID-19 Update: BU Law has suspended in-person access to Reciprocity services. This update is effective until further notice.
  5. Reciprocity services include 30-day viewing access to CareerHub and access to our print resources in-person. When applying through CareerHub, applicants are required to state that they have received access to the job listing through a reciprocal agreement with BU Law.
  6. CareerHub access will not include the ability to create an appointment with an advisor, attend our events, or receive e-mails from our office.
  7. Reciprocity recipients may not participate in formal recruitment programs, including resume collections, and may not have access to password protected sections of the Career Development and Public Service Office website.
  8. Career advising services are not available to reciprocity recipients.
  9. We reserve the right to notify the requesting school and revoke privileges if problems arise with a reciprocity recipient.
  10. We ask that law schools make reciprocal arrangements with only one law school in the Boston area per student/graduate.