Burning Questions
1. What kind of work will I do?
2. How will I get work?
3. How much will you pay me?
4. How many billable hours will be expected of me?
5. How will I find out how I'm doing?
6. Will I end the summer with better skills than when I arrived?
7. We'll do some fun stuff too, right?
8. Who will look out for me?
9. Do I get a computer on my desk?
10. What about free pop?
11. How about a firm-issued sports car?
12. What pro bono opportunities will I have during the summer?
13. How big is the program?
14. What are the program's demographics?
15. Hang on a second. Did you say 38% and 65%?
16. Where do you find your summer associates?
17. What are you looking for in a summer associate?
18. What should I do to prepare to interview with you?
19. What if I have a question you haven't thought of?
What kind of work will I do?
Real work. Assignments that an associate would do if you weren't here. We aim to expose summer associates to a variety of different practice areas. Instead of a formal rotation system, our summer associate program leaders assign projects to meet your interests and offer you a look at our various practice areas: business litigation, insurance litigation, intellectual property litigation, individual & mass torts, and business transactions.
How will I get work? Two or three attorneys coordinate the summer program and are responsible for screening, assigning, and monitoring projects submitted by attorneys in all our practice areas. These coordinators - or czars, as they prefer to be called - make sure that your work assignments are challenging and provide exposure to the range of our practice.
How many billable hours will be expected of me? There is no billable hour guideline for summer associates. (For associates, there is a 1900 hour goal that includes all pro bono hours.)
How much will you pay me? The 2005 salary for Minneapolis summer associates was $1,725 per week. Each year we review summer associate salaries to remain competitive in our markets.
How will I find out how I'm doing?
You'll get direct feedback, including a written evaluation, on every project you do. The summer program czars sit down with each summer associate in the middle of the summer to discuss the first batch of evaluations.
Will I end the summer with better skills than when I arrived?
If you don't, we're both doing something wrong. We emphasize training for our summer associates just as we do for our associates.
We'll do some fun stuff too, right?
Indeed. We don't want to monopolize your time, but we do schedule some fun social activities designed to help you get to know our lawyers and your fellow summer associates
Who will look out for me?
The attorneys responsible for the summer associate program. The recruiting coordinator. The mentor you're paired with. The writing coach. Our beloved librarians. Hiring Committee members. Your fellow summer associates.
Do I get a computer on my desk?
Yep.
What about free pop?
Sure. Everyone here gets that.
How about a firm-issued sports car?
Only if you're very, very good.
What pro bono opportunities will I have during the summer?
You'll get the opportunity to represent a pro bono client under the supervision of one of our attorneys. In recent years summer associates have represented tenants whose landlords are trying to throw them out of their apartments, women who need orders for protection, and refugees who need to stay safe in the United States.
How big is the program? In 2004, we had 18 summer associates in Minneapolis and 23 firmwide. Like a handful of other firms around the country, we increased the size of our program a bit for 2005, with 20 summer associates in Minneapolis and 29 firmwide. Still, we have always felt strongly about limiting our summer associate program's size to a realistic level, so that no one will fail to receive an offer because there are too many other summer associates. In the past five years, 45 of the 49 second-year students in our Minneapolis summer associate program have received offers to join the firm as associates after graduation.
What are the program's demographics?
In the past five years, we have had 65 summer associates in the Minneapolis office — 49 second-year students and 16 first-year students. Of the 65, 24 were students of color and 38 were women. In case you don't have a calculator handy, that's 37% and 58%, respectively.
Hang on a second. Did you say 37% and 58%?
You heard that right. The first number just strikes you as a bit surprising since we said Minneapolis.
Where do you find your summer associates?
We interview or have attracted summer associates in recent years from several job fairs, including the Minnesota Minority Recruitment Conference, the Cook County Minority Job Fair, Southeast BLSA and Northeast BLSA, and from many law schools: American, Boston College, Boston University, Chicago, Chicago-Kent, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Emory, Georgetown, Georgia, Hamline, Harvard, Howard, Illinois, Iowa, Loyola, Michigan, Minnesota, NYU, Northeastern, Northwestern, Pennsylvania, St. John's, San Diego, Southwestern, Suffolk, Tulane, UCLA, USC, Virginia, William Mitchell, Wisconsin, and Yale.
What are you looking for in a summer associate?
Every year we want to bring in the greatest, most diverse class of new lawyers we possibly can. We have no checklist, but we have some goals. We're looking for high achievers. Creative thinkers. Great writers. We don't want people who take themselves too seriously, but do want people who are ambitious and invested in their own future. We like to meet students who have not only raw talent but also a powerful desire to become great lawyers.
What should I do to prepare to interview with you?
Here are a few tips:
Bring the right stuff.
We would like a resume, a law school transcript, references, and a writing sample. Please make sure your name is on the first page of each. For the writing sample, please select something that is 100% your work. Don't worry about how long it is.
Bring your "A" game.
We won't have much time together, at least if we're interviewing you at a job fair or on campus. Let's both bring energy to trying to get to know each other as well as possible in the time provided. Bring us cookies.
No, no, no. Only joking. (But, just in case, our favorite is chocolate chip.)
What if I have a question you haven't thought of?
Then you're our kind of lawyer. Please contact recruiting administrator Martha Capper by phone at 612.349.0620 or 800.553.9910 or by e-mail.