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Jessica Buchsbaum

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The first year associates after they took their Oath of Attorney and became members of the Florida Bar!

We’ve wrapped up the 2018 Academy for Professional Development and we hope it was an experience that will resonate with the first year associates!  They were exposed to substantive areas of practice and professional skills, community needs and clients.  We were able to cap off an amazing Academy program with a motivational speech by Alonzo Mourning of the Mourning Family Foundation.  He spent time talking to our lawyers about the Power of One and how each of them has the ability to make a positive change in our community.

While Zo was a powerful speaker and so gracious with his time, the highlight of the day was a private swearing in ceremony for our first year associates and their loved ones, presided over by Judge Michael Hanzman, with a celebratory lunch following.  It was a nice opportunity to reflect on all that we accomplished during the program and celebrate our first year associates’ matriculation into practicing attorneys at the firm.  We hope we’ve equipped them in a way that will make their transition easier!  We are excited to see what they do as lawyers and members of this community.

 

 

No first day jitters here! (L to R, Lucas, Brianna, Devin, Eric & Ben)

We are so excited to welcome our 2018 Summer Associates. I wanted to take a moment to officially introduce them on the blog.  Right after orientation, they will be sharing the next nine weeks with you here!  We can’t wait to see what the summer. . .although, we are hoping for a little less rain here in Miami.

With the summer program behind us and OCI season in full swing, we are starting to get excited around here!  The first year associates will be joining us in just under two weeks and we have The Academy ready and waiting for their arrival.  This year’s programming promises to be as impactful and meaningful as last year.
The impending arrival of the newest Academy members has us eager to share insights into the program through the video posted below.  Over the next few weeks, Elise and Jenny will be sharing their experiences in the program on our blog.

2017_Summer_Assoicates_GroupYesterday, we welcomed the 2017 Summer Associates (and bloggers!) to Bilzin Sumberg.  I’m excited to welcome back Hannah and Lauren and introduce to you Alex, Forrest, Eric and Luis.  Throughout the course of the summer, you’ll have the opportunity to hear from them about their experience at Bilzin Sumberg – from work assignments, tag alongs, training and mentors to social events.

We have a lot planned and we are all looking forward to next couple of months together!

The first year associates with Judge Thornton after taking their oath.
The first year associates with Judge Thornton after taking their oath.

Today was an exciting day!  Not only did our first year associates conclude their participation in The Academy for Professional Development, they also became members of The Florida Bar.  Judge Thornton graciously took time to talk to us about civility, ethics and motion practice.  With family, friends and loved ones present, Judge Thornton then administered the Oath of Attorney.

We hope that over the past two and a half weeks, we filled the hearts and minds of Jennifer, Jessica, Anthony and Brendan.  They’ve seen great need and innovation in our community and we can’t wait for them to embark on their legal careers and grow to become leaders in our community.

Anthony, Jennifer, Brendan and Jessica on their first day as associates
Anthony, Jennifer, Brendan and Jessica on their first day as associates

Today, we are delighted to welcome back the 2015 bloggers!  Jennifer, Jessica, Anthony and Brendan joined the firm today as first year associates.  With law school and the bar exam behind them, they are embarking on their legal careers and we are excited to begin this journey with them.  Their beginning also marks the beginning of an exciting new program at Bilzin Sumberg called The Academy for Professional Development.

Faced with a new generation of associates with a voracious appetite for hands-on training and a keen interest in becoming integral members of the community in which we practice, as well as new demands and expectations by clients that transcend conventional law school training, Bilzin Sumberg has established The Academy for Professional Development.

 

They’ll be blogging about it along the way and we can’t wait to share this experience with you!

 

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The summer associates enjoying their ice cream sundaes!

I have the honor of writing the last blog post of the summer, as today was a pretty busy day for the summer associates – a group farewell lunch with mentors at Komodo, followed by a firm-wide ice cream social and lots of individual goodbyes.

As I reflect on the past nine weeks (that literally just flew by!), I’m grateful to the summer associates for their hard work and willingness to learn new things.  They started the summer program with clear goals about the type of work they wanted, the tag along opportunities that interested them and the attorneys with whom they wanted to interact.  We hope through the program and our training and mentoring we met – and exceeded – their expectations!

Throwback to our 2017 Summer Associates at Orientation!
Throwback to our 2017 Summer Associates at Orientation!

I know that they feel as though they grew professionally over the summer and made friends at the firm and among themselves. . .oh, and they had a little fun a long the way. . .

We just want to let Frankie, Elise, Geoff, Hannah, Jenny, Claudia and Lauren know that we’ll miss them (their photoshopping skills, and their very entertaining blog posts, see here, here, here, here and here)!

Our 2017 Summer Associates at Orientation!
Our 2016 Summer Associates at Orientation!

We are excited to welcome our 2016 Summer Associates!  Today, they participated in orientation, computer training and will be ready to begin working (and blogging!) soon.  We have a robust summer planned and know that they will have the opportunity to learn a lot and develop strong relationships this summer.

Check back weekly to follow their summer experience at Bilzin Sumberg.

 

 

Celebrating the swearing in of our first year associates!
Celebrating the swearing in of our first year associates!

It’s only Tuesday, but it’s been an exciting week at Bilzin Sumberg.  On Monday we were thrilled to welcome home the 2014 blogging summer associates – Leah Aaronson, Desiree Fernandez, Jerry Goldsmith, and Jared Spector.  They’ve officially transitioned from summer associates to first year associates, had a full day of orientation, and settled into their offices.

As if that wasn’t enough, we celebrated their admission to the Florida Bar with their families.   Today, we were lucky to have Chief Judge John W. Thornton, Jr. administer the Oath of Admission to our newest associates and the festivities continued with a group lunch at La Loggia.  After all, it’s not a celebration without tiramisu!

Our first years are off to a great start!

The first year associates pose with The Honorable John W. Thornton, Jr.
The first year associates pose with The Honorable John W. Thornton, Jr.