OUR SUMMER PROGRAM
The best path to joining our firm as a first year attorney is by participating in our summer associate program. Our program exposes law students to a full range of the firm's activities and enables us to assess their written, verbal and analytical skills, as well as their judgment, maturity and ability to interact and work with others. At the same time, it allows students to decide whether Farella Braun + Martel is the right fit for them.
How Is Farella Braun + Martel’s Summer Program Structured?
Over the course of the summer, summer associates rotate into different practice groups every two weeks, working with partners and senior associates on a variety of projects that involve actual client matters. The rotation assignments are based on the summer associate’s expressed interests. This rotation system receives high marks from our summer classes.
“Getting a taste of many different practice areas was an excellent experience, and I felt that the opportunity to work with several partners and associates contributed greatly to an accurate impression of the firm.” Second year associate describing the summer rotation experience.
“When my summer ended, I felt as if I had taken a step into the future and experienced what it really felt like to be an attorney.” First year associate who clerked with the firm during the summer.
What If I’m Not Sure About Which Practice Areas Interest Me The Most?
We understand that practicing law is very different from studying law. We developed our rotation system to allow students to get a taste of many different substantive areas of law. This presents summer associates with a hands-on view of what many practices are really like without pigeonholing themselves into one particular practice area.
“By spending the summer at a firm that specializes in such a diverse spectrum of law, I was able to sample a variety of practice groups to determine what areas of law sparked my interest.” First year associate who participated in the summer program.
What Type Of Work Will I Do During The Summer?
We provide summer associates with the same kind of billable client work that an associate performs: substantive research and writing assignments that run the gamut from writing a memorandum to preparing witnesses for trial to drafting a section of an appellate brief. Summer associates also participate in out-of-office experiences that may include attending depositions, court hearings, appellate oral arguments and client meetings. We offer practical experience to help our summer associates gain an accurate view of what the practice will be like as an associate with the firm.
“I feel like I received significant responsibility through various work assignments. For some assignments, I knew that my work product was used in a brief or sent to the client, so that let me know that what I did was important.” Incoming associate following the summer program.
“Overall, I thought my work assignments were a good mix of challenging writing assignments, research projects and other projects such as preparing charts, writing letters and drafting subpoenas. I felt like my work was useful and relevant to the matters at hand. I rarely felt like my research was simply for the file.” Third year associate’s description of summer program assignments.
“I worked on a pro bono prisoner’s civil rights case, a criminal trial, a securities trial, a construction arbitration, and insurance dispute, and these are just the highlights of the summer.” Second year associate recalling her experience as a summer associate.
“The legal questions I researched seemed integral to the cases I was working on, and I was also able to draft pleadings, which heightened the importance and challenge of my work.” Third year associate recounting the summer program experience.
Summer associates also attend training and professional development programs presented by the firm. Because of our strong commitment to pro bono, we provide summer associates with opportunities to learn about and work on our current pro bono matters during the course of the summer.