First- and second-year law students at Harvard Law School were told not to panic over the recession and summer jobs, according to Bloomberg.

Law students should stay informed, keep in contact with prospective employers, prepare well for summer jobs and save as much money as possible, the school said in a memo distributed to students by the school’s career services office on March 6.

“Almost every day, there is news of law firms laying off attorneys, delaying start dates, freezing salaries and, in some cases, even rescinding offers,” the school said in the memo.

“Now is not the time for avoidance, denial or panic. Instead, keep a cool head and focus on the things that you can control.”

Not only should students study harder, but they should also have a Plan B ready if they don't get the jobs of their choice.

That includes targeting other cities.

“If you are looking in D.C., consider Baltimore or Richmond,” says Mark Weber, the school’s assistant dean for career services.

“If you’re looking in Chicago, try Milwaukee and St. Louis, too. You need to be casting a wider net in this market,” he told Bloomberg.

Certainly a recession leaves for a crowded field among job seekers.

Recent law-school graduates and unemployed lawyers are fighting for work, and career experts say forging personal relationships is the key to getting hired.

“You have to think how you can create and develop relationships so that when opportunities do arise, you are the person they think of,” says Ari Kaplan, author of “The Opportunity Maker, Strategies for Inspiring Your Legal Career through Creative Networking and Business Development,” in Long Island Business News.

“They just can’t sit back and wait for work to come to them,” says Brett Gilbert, assistant dean for career services at Touro Law School in Central Islip.

“They really have to show they want to be involved and want to be part of the employer’s culture. They have to do what they can so that they are remembered.”