Summer Associate Program
During each school year, Troutman Sanders hires a select group of law students to participate in its summer associate program. Most of the students participating in our summer program have completed their second year of law school, although we generally hire a more limited number of first year students as well. The Firm relies on the summer associate program to satisfy most of its entry-level hiring needs. Our summer program is consistently one of the highest regarded in our markets, and we want you to know why.
Realistic View of Practice
Our summer associate program strives to give our summer associates a realistic view of practicing law at Troutman Sanders and to help them bridge the gap between academia and practice. Our summer associates work on real projects for real clients. They meet with clients and attend strategy sessions and closings. They draft documents, write briefs and help prepare for trials. The workload in our summer associate program can be intense, but our summer associates appreciate this fast pace and view it largely as a function of the quality of projects that are available to them.
Selection of Project Assignments
In our Atlanta, New York, Washington, DC and Northern Virginia offices, a distinguishing feature of the Troutman Sanders summer program is the manner in which summer associates receive their work projects. Summer associates are able to select their own projects from an online database of available projects, categorized by practice area, type of work product required, amount of time required and other criteria. Attorneys from all of the Firm's practice groups submit summer associate projects, and new projects are added daily during the summer. This system allows summer associates to sample projects from a variety of different practice areas.
In our Richmond office, summer associates rotate through practice groups of their choice in two to three week intervals. To allow summer associates to tailor their summer experience to their particular interests, the Recruiting Committee retains the flexibility to extend, shorten, or change rotations, and provides access to the online database of available projects firm-wide. In our Hampton Roads, Virginia offices, we have implemented a less structured itinerary and work assignment procedure. Similarly, summer associates at these offices have access to the online database of available projects firm-wide.
In our Raleigh office, summer associates are encouraged to work on Raleigh specific cases throughout the summer. Attorneys provide summer associates with the opportunity to work closely on cases and attend hearings, depositions, mediations, and client meetings where appropriate. Summer associates have access to the online database of firm-wide projects and are welcome to accept projects from other offices.
Our New York summer associates rotate through practice sections (transactional, real estate and litigation) in three week intervals with a flex week at the end of the summer. Summer associates will have access to the online database of available projects firm-wide through “assigning partners” for each section. The assigning partner for each section distributes work to the summer associates who are rotating through that particular practice section.
The Recruiting Committee makes a concerted effort to ensure that there is a balance between research-oriented projects and projects that require drafting or another form of work product. The Firm also gives summer associates the opportunity to attend trials, depositions, hearings, closings and contract negotiations, as well as, the opportunity to participate in legal skills seminars, such as negotiation seminars and legal writing workshops. Individual practice groups also offer special training programs and information sessions for summer associates.
Social Activities
An abundant and diverse mix of social events complements the rigorous workload in the summer associate program. The goal of the social side of our program is to provide relaxing opportunities for summer associates to get to know our lawyers and our wonderful cities. Although each regional office implements a special event calendar of its own which varies from year to year, a firm-wide retreat at a beach resort offers summer associates and attorneys from all of our offices the opportunity to get to know each other better. Informal, spontaneous events and gatherings occur almost daily during the summer.
Summer Advisor Program
We recognize that our summer associates deserve careful, constructive feedback on the quality of their work. Therefore, in addition to the feedback that our assigning attorneys provide in connection with the projects they submit, we match each summer associate with a team of lawyers from the Firm who serve as that person's summer advisors. These summer advisors help their summer associate understand the nuances and challenges of our practice and firm, and offer advice on how to take advantage of the resources and opportunities our firm has to offer. By providing consistent feedback throughout the summer, the advisor team is able to establish an overall picture of the summer associate's work product. This process allows them to recognize trends and weaknesses in the summer associate's skill set and, ultimately, leads to significant improvement in the summer associate's research skills, writing style and general legal skills. By matching experienced lawyers with summer associates, we provide the resources for our summer associates to excel and have a rewarding summer.
In our New York office, summer associates are given a partner and associate mentor. These mentors are called summer “buddies”. By providing each summer associate with an experienced lawyer and a more junior associate, we provide the resources for our summer associates to have a rewarding summer and hope that this will enable our summer associates to integrate into the firm with ease.
Pro Bono / Community Service
Consistent with our firm's policy of encouraging a commitment to pro bono and community service work, we provide all of our lawyers and summer associates with opportunities to participate in a variety of community service projects. For example, lawyers and staff in our Atlanta office are involved in the annual Service Juris day. Both lawyers and staff in our Richmond and Washington, DC offices participate annually in the Christmas in April program. Our New York office participated in a New York Cares project for 2006. In addition, summer associates may select legal work projects that support any of the firm’s many pro bono initiatives.
Offers of Employment and Practice Group Assignments
An overwhelming majority of our summer associates are given offers to return to the Firm for full-time employment. The Hiring Committee asks each departing summer associate to indicate those practice groups in which he or she would like to work as a full-time Troutman Sanders associate. From those preferences, and with the needs and desires of the practice groups in mind, we typically extend full-time offers to join a particular practice group, usually the candidate's first or close second choice. In certain specific instances, general open offers to join the firm may be extended.
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