Summer Associate
We hire most of our lawyers through our summer program. We typically hire 40 to 45 first and second year law students as summer associates. The summer program is designed for the summer associates to work and socialize with us so that the summer associates can experience our sophisticated and collegial practice and see the quality of life our firm cherishes. It also provides us with the opportunity to evaluate the students' work product, work ethic, personality, and judgment.

Work Assignments
Our summer associates are asked to perform real and substantive work that is important to our clients. One of the great advantages of our summer program is that the summer associates are generally allowed to choose their own work assignments from the work projects assembled together from the entire firm. This provides our summer associates the maximum flexibility to tailor their own experiences. The summer associate can take projects from several different practice areas or concentrate on one or two practice areas. Summer associates are not rotated through practice groups or forced to choose a practice area. In order to show our summer associates what it is like to practice law at our firm, we include our summer associates in our trials, depositions, closings, negotiations, and client conferences.

Evaluations
Summer associates are evaluated on an ongoing basis throughout the summer. After each assignment, the attorneys with whom the summer associate has worked give the summer associate feedback.

Social
We want to get to know our summer associates. We provide numerous opportunities for our summer associates to socialize with our lawyers and to learn about the communities in which we live. Summer associates are invited into our homes for dinners and parties to see first-hand how and where our lawyers live and to get to know their families.

Mentoring
Summer associates are assigned 2 summer mentors, a "senior chairperson" and a "junior chairperson". The junior chairperson is usually an associate or younger partner who acts as the summer associate's daily contact and sounding board. The senior chairperson is usually a partner. The senior chairperson is asked to give the summer associate the benefit of his or her experience in the practice of law and as a partner at this firm.