Before I set foot in the office for my first day, Bilzin Sumberg was already making sure to include the incoming summer associate class in firm events. A few days before the summer program officially began, I attended Bilzin Sumberg’s yearly firm dinner, where I met the rest of this year’s summer associate class for the first time. I also met my mentor, Sarah Carraher, who introduced me to other attorneys so that I’d have some familiar faces to look forward to seeing throughout the summer.

On that first day, the firm set up the summer associates for lunch (the first of many lunches over the next nine weeks) with Isabella Durand, Crystal Singh, and Ethan Schwab, all of whom are new associates who recently completed Bilzin Sumberg’s summer associate program. They gave us advice on how to navigate the rest of the summer and offered to be resources for us going forward. It was really nice to speak with attorneys who were in our shoes not that long ago.

From there, we dove into all sorts of trainings, including general technology trainings and a technical legal writing workshop that involved Matthew McConaughey and Barbie dolls. Who knew legal writing could be so laugh-out-loud funny? But my favorite trainings were for the AI platforms Harvey and CoCounsel. Bilzin Sumberg really encourages attorneys and summer associates to use both AI tools, and proper AI use is a skill I’m excited to develop throughout the summer, the rest of my law school journey, and beyond.

As I write this blog post from my window office overlooking Brickell, I’m confident that I have all the tools I need to succeed in my substantive assignments. Bilzin Sumberg has built a strong foundation for summer associates—through inclusion, training, and community—that makes me excited for everything the rest of the summer has in store.