Summer Program Details

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.

Work Assignments
Mentoring & Training
Social Events

Work Assignments

During the summer, you can choose work 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 and S.O.M.E. (So Others Might Eat).

You will be doing real work for real clients. See below for a sampling of summer associate assignments:

Assist with researching and drafting an appeals court brief in a trade secrets/intellectual property case in the telecommunications industry involving an appeal of the trial court judge's denial of a motion to dismiss.
Analyze how other Western democracies deal with terror suspects, with special attention on the limits of duration of detention and procedural protections.
Participate with an IPO, including drafting governance documents and board resolutions, assisting at the printer, and drafting closing documents.
Advise a client who is being investigated for insider trading on the likelihood of being able to protect the numerous documents that were produced from disclosure under the FOIA. This assignment includes reviewing recent case law regarding the personal privacy exception generally, and the treatment of personal communications produced in government investigations.
Pursue relief from removal known as cancellation of removal. Prepare client and witnesses' written and oral testimony.
Assist in research and writing of a merits brief for a Guantanamo detainee being represented by the firm. This includes researching memos related to the "War on Terror" and statues enacted by Congress, the topical Supreme Court cases, common law, federal law and international law.

Mentoring

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.

Training

Throughout the summer, we want you to sample our training programs. Expect to participate in programs 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 include:

Research Skills
Negotiation Skills
Deposition Skills
Presentation Skills
Oral Communication
Legal Writing
Conflicts and Ethics
Departmental Panels (Securities, Corporate, Litigation and Intellectual Property)

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.

Feedback

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.

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 the summer of 2008, our programs held a variety of events including:

Cooking Classes
Baseball Games
Casino Nights
Golf Outings
Sailing Trips
Bowling and Bocce Outings, and
BBQs, Dinners and Cocktail Parties at Partners’ Homes

In 2009, we will have summer programs in our Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto and Washington offices.

READ ASSOCIATE BLOGS

Julie Smolinski | Palo Alto
Ross Firsenbaum | New York
Anne McLaughlin | Boston
Kevin Chambers | Washington

Audio/Video

Steve Migausky - Georgetown University Law Center, Boston Office

"All of the lawyers I have met so far have been very welcoming to the summer associates. Each day when I am in my office doing work, lawyers drop by periodically, both partners and associates. They come by, tell you about their practice, what they do on a day-to-day basis, and try to give you an idea of what your life would be like if you were to return to WilmerHale as a full-time lawyer."