A look at the latest survey results for which firms are growing their summer associate classes, and which are holding steady.
Shimada and others say it’s a major change over the last few decades.
“I think law students are more focused on their professional development and their careers from a strategic perspective” said Heller’s Gotham.
To that end, firms are offering more hands-on experience � inside and outside the firm.
At Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, for instance, corporate partner Lawrence Braun has made a practice of taking a summer associate to sit in on an overseas deal in recent years. This year, USC law student Eugene Kim sat at the negotiation table in Taiwan helping Braun to close a high-level deal, the nature of which he did not disclose.
“You want them to really understand what it’s like,” said Braun. “It is a lot of fun, it is very challenging, and it is real experience � you don’t get that sitting in the library writing a memo.”
Kim called it a “phenomenal” opportunity to get real experience as a corporate lawyer � a career path he’s considering.
Not all the hands-on experience comes around a negotiation table. At Pillsbury, the San Francisco summers are, for the first time, able to spend the second half of their summer working for a public interest agency on the law firm’s dime.
“It’s a good way to work at a firm and still maintain a commitment to public interest,” said Ryan Downer, a NYU law student who will be spending his second half of the summer at the East Bay Community Law Center.
Downer said it was the firm’s commitment to pro bono opportunities like this one as well as the work-life balance that attracted him to Pillsbury.
Even with an emphasis on real work experiences, aspiring lawyers will have their fun as well. Each firm has its summer activities lined up, from boating on the bay at Heller to poker night at a Fenwick & West partner’s house, and, for some lucky Paul, Hastings summers, a Police concert � no doubt with a mind toward getting the young talent wrapped around their fingers.
Reporter Zusha Elinson’s e-mail address is [email protected].
