Our summer program will expose you to the breadth of the firm’s practice and the range of talents among its lawyers. By providing you with a realistic view of the firm through challenging work, practical training and the opportunity to work and socialize with many of our lawyers, we try to give you the insight you need to make an informed decision to join us after graduation or a clerkship.
You will be doing real work for real clients. During the summer, you can work on assignments from a variety of the firm’s departments or concentrate in a few practice areas. In either case, our goal is to allow you to work with many lawyers and on intellectually stimulating assignments—similar in complexity to those handled by junior associates—thereby giving you an opportunity to demonstrate your writing, analytical and advocacy skills. In addition, you will be given opportunities to learn about our practice by accompanying lawyers to depositions, hearings, trials, client meetings, negotiations and closings. We also encourage you to participate in pro bono work for the firm’s existing clients or in special summer associate programs such as those run in partnership with Greater Boston Legal Services, S.O.M.E. (So Others Might Eat), The Alliance for Children's Rights, and Bay Area Legal Aid.
Mentoring and Feedback
You will have two mentors—usually one partner or counsel and one associate—who serve as advisors during the summer. These mentors introduce you to lawyers in the firm, provide day-to-day guidance and answer questions about how the firm works and the nuts-and-bolts of completing assignments.
Attorneys you work with will give you constructive feedback informally throughout the summer. In addition, you will receive a review of your work and are encouraged to provide feedback about your experience.
Training
Throughout the summer, we want you to sample our training programs. Our programs are designed to introduce you to the practical skills lawyers need and to the topics that indicate what we value. Our goal is two-fold—to assist in your professional development and to give you a sample of the training we provide to our attorneys. Summer training topics range from Presentation Skills to Legal Writing, attending Mock Trials to Deposition workshops. We also strongly encourage you to expand your knowledge further by participating in firm and office-wide department meetings and lunches, many of which are geared specifically to welcoming you and introducing our colleagues and practice.
Social Events
In addition to informal lunches and other get-togethers, we host many social events throughout the summer to provide opportunities for our summer associates and attorneys to get to know each other better and to develop professional relationships and friendships that will continue throughout their careers. In 2011, we will have summer program in our Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto and Washington Offices. For more details on US recruiting and how to apply, click here.