have you picked a firm yet?
Sort of. My summer is all set - I'm splitting between two firms in northern California. But I may go back for a few weeks to my 1L firm (which is unsettled as of right now). As of now, I'm down to at least 2 firms for the summer and I am very excited about both of them.
was the split easy to get or did it take finnagling?
A little of both. Between the firms I am with it was very easy - they honestly made me feel like a super star. One firm told me I am the only person they have ever allowed to go to for only the second half (though I don't believe them), and the other one broke a few of their own rules to allow me to split, but they seemed absolutely thrilled to do so (I am starting a week early and they are letting me split within the same city, something they never do).
But I was in love with one firm in the area who wouldn't let me split because they wouldn't let me start a week early or split in the same city, which I thought was retarded. It sucked giving them up, but the prestige difference in Vault is only 4 spots higher than the firm I got to replace them (though locally it probably is significantly higher, which sucks, but I wanted to split because I am going to a large prestigious local firm and I wanted to compare that to a smaller national satellite office of a strong firm). Oh yeah, and at the higher ranked firm I would have had to do close to 80% litigation for the entire summer despite wanting to be a corporate lawyer (100% set on this), which was equally unappealing. Sorry, some sour grapes still!