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Succeeding as a Summer Associate

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  6. Succeeding as a Summer Associate

published June 23, 2008

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( 53 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
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<<What you do during your summer associate program will greatly influence whether you get a job offer or not. For example, don't forge your transcript like one poor guy from the University of Chicago did recently: he's now under a bar investigation and complaint. His career is done, tossing all his work from 2003 on down the drain.

Even though summer may seem like a time to party, it isn't. The basic rule is to act like a professional. For example, don't visit porn sites at work, and don't play practical jokes on the senior associates.


And always be polite. This includes during recreational activities. Hint: telling the partner he is making the fire "dumb" is not the greatest idea. Belittling other attorneys' skills is not cool either.

This need for politeness extends to everyone, not just your superiors. The copy staff, the paralegals, the secretaries — all of them should be treated politely. It's the same concept as at court — the court clerk can make your life miserable or make it easy. You decide which. Similarly, the staff at a law firm can make your life fun or horrible.

Don't abuse your privileges. Gaming the lunch budget system or other budgets to get more than you should will most likely be found out.

Remember, you are a summer associate, not an attorney yet. You can't give legal advice, and you probably shouldn't try to claim you know better if your supervisors are correcting your memoranda. You also don't know how things work as well as the current staff, so don't pretend to be a know-it-all, because you aren't.

Always be professional. This means doing the work, providing service, and acting like a professional — including returning phone calls and emails. Skipping meetings because you have concert tickets is not recommended, either.

Being professional also means being smart about what you take on. Having a reputation as a workaholic is useless if you don't actually finish the work. Unlike in law school, by the way, client confidentiality is important — don't be a blabbermouth.

This extends to the quality of your work, as well. Shepardize and use good language rather than law review style. This applies not only to your work products — interoffice communication is important as well, and the summer associate who is practically illiterate in emails won't get hired. This also means you shouldn't rely on your word processor to do your thinking on spelling and grammar issues. Read your work carefully! I can't count how many times I saw a memorandum or brief that was filled with spelling or grammatical errors — if you can't show care on those, what else are you missing?

Furthermore, be sure to watch your language and drinking! Getting drunk can definitely be troublesome. It's a heck of a lot easier for the firm recruiting you to decide not to hire trouble in the first place than to fire said trouble. Don't dress differently, either — the nail that stands out is likely to be hammered.

None of this is really that hard, but it bears reviewing: work hard, work smart, and behave. Remember, you are trying to impress the firm just as much as the firm may be trying to impress you. If you mess it up, other firms and their recruitment officers will hear about it…Especially if you go out in a blaze of notoriety because you hit on the senior partner's wife at a party because you were drunk.

Click here to see summer associate jobs for law students.
  1. Legal Jobs
  2. Legal Articles
  3. Law Students
  4. Law Student Career Advice
  5. Preparing for Your Career
  6. Succeeding as a Summer Associate

published June 23, 2008

( 53 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
What do you think about this article? Rate it using the stars above and let us know what you think in the comments below.

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