This is NOT the time that we start working on our base tan! But, it is the time when Marshall Pasternack and I begin planning the summer program. When the summer associates arrive during orientation, we promise them three things and it’s their job to hold us accountable for honoring these commitments:
- A Real World Experience – this means that by the end of the summer, they should know what it’s like to practice law at our firm.
- Feedback – this means that they should receive feedback (formal and informal) from their mentors, supervising attorneys. On a more formal basis, we provide his feedback in the mid-summer and end-of-summer reviews.
- Client Interaction – it is our goal to make sure that summer associates get to know what makes us special and successful. . .our clients. We strive to give each summer associate at least one opportunity to interact with our clients.
The aspect of the summer associate program that determines whether we succeed or fail in our commitments is the mentoring program. If we get this aspect right, it can lead to long lasting professional and personal relationships (see left for a mentor/mentee pairing success story!).
So, right now, we’ll be focused on selecting the right mentors, tailored to each summer associate. Stay tuned for mentor announcements!