Berkeley Law’s Career Development Office (CDO) recently launched the second year of its popular Coffee Chat Series, a weekly event during the fall semester that lets first-year students network informally with and gain valuable information from a diverse range of legal employers that include private law firms, government offices, and public interest organizations. It is one of many initiatives the CDO has strategically implemented to help students adapt to an earlier legal recruiting timeline, as firms now increasingly start interviewing 1Ls for post-2L summer positions as early as November of their first semester. The unique series invites 1Ls to explore career options and enables them to talk with several potential employers in a more casual, low-stress, small-group environment.