Atlanta | Washington, DC | Los Angeles | Denver | San Diego
The summer program is our primary source of hiring entry level lawyers. It is designed to give each summer associate a realistic view of the day to day practice of law at McKenna Long & Aldridge. We do not over hire expecting associates to leave in their 3rd and 4th years. Our expectation is for each associate to stay and succeed. We strive to expose summer associates to various practice areas, clients, and out-of-office opportunities such as hearings, trials and depositions. Summer associates also take part in training programs and seminars. The summer program is designed to provide every summer associate a "real life" experience at the firm and allow the summer associate to make the best possible decision they can regarding employment.
McKenna Long & Aldridge is proud to announce that the firm-wide 2008 Summer Associates attended the following law schools:
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Summer Associates Photo Gallery
The program will begin on May 12, 2008 and run through July 25, 2008. We anticipate that most Summer Associates will start work on May 12th or May 19th, depending upon exam schedules, moving, etc.
The Atlanta office is organized by departments and practice teams. The teams consist of 8 to 10 attorneys. Each Summer Associate preferences practice areas which they would like to rotate through and spends three or four weeks assigned to a practice team working on projects with the lawyers on that team. If the summer associate spends only six weeks at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, he or she will rotate through two practice teams. Obviously, those who stay longer are able to rotate through more teams. The rotations will be based upon the summer associate's expressed practice preferences. We make a concerted effort to involve Summer Associates in client conferences, meetings, hearings and internal firm functions. Last summer, various Summer Associates participated in or attended closings, depositions, a jury trial, an appellate argument, an arbitration, and hearings and had the opportunity to draft agreements, registration statements, financing and acquisition documents, closing documents, pleadings and briefs. Examples from the broad spectrum of recent summer assignments include:
Corporate
Litigation
Finance
Emphasis is placed on providing regular feedback to the Summer Associate throughout the summer from the assigning attorney, gatekeeper, partner mentor and the Hiring or Summer Partner who conducts a mid-summer and/or exit interview. One attorney on each team is the "gatekeeper" with respect to work assignment and feedback issues for Summer Associates rotating through the preferenced team. The gatekeeper coordinates each Summer Associate's workflow during the rotation and in the transition to the next team and conducts an exit work-review session at the end of the rotation for each Summer Associate. Each assignment is evaluated by the assigning attorney. A mid-summer review of projects completed in the first half of the program is provided by the Hiring or Summer Partner to those Summer Associates who spend the entire summer with us. At the end of the summer, each Summer Associate meets with either the Hiring or Summer Partner for an exit interview to bring closure to each Summer Associate's experience with us.
We know that Summer Associates appreciate and want exposure to clients, and we make every effort in this regard by encouraging attendance at hearings, negotiation meetings, depositions, trials, court appearances and closings.
Each Summer Associate is assigned two mentors to ensure that the Summer Associate is receiving an appropriate amount of work and is meeting our attorneys. One mentor is an associate and the other is a partner. Both mentors are dedicated to making the Summer Associate experience a realistic and positive one.
We do not expect you to know how to practice law in the first, second or third year of law school and want to help you understand how to translate your coursework into real world work. Therefore, training at McKenna Long & Aldridge comes in many forms. Throughout the summer we offer Lunch-n-Learn seminars comprised of programs conducted by our partners, associates, clients and outside consultants. Examples of these seminars are the History of the Firm, a Negotiations Seminar and a GA Legal Research seminar. In addition to Lunch-n-Learn seminars are team and department presentations describing practice areas in more depth. Out of office experiences, such as attending hearings, negotiation meetings, depositions, trials, court appearances and closings, are always considered beneficial forms of training. Additionally, each Summer Associate will receive training in the form of individualized guidance and direction along with constructive feedback.
While we want each Summer Associate's experience to be realistic in regards to work experience, we also want to provide an enjoyable summer. During the summer we have several planned social events, such as a wine tasting event, partner dinners, Braves games, concerts, movies and more, which are designed to encourage Summer Associates to get acquainted with associates, partners, and each other. Summer Associates are not required to attend each event, and may not be able to do so due to impending client needs and deadlines.
On average, each Summer Associate works approximately 40 hours a week, Monday through Friday. If duty calls, however, it is expected that our clients' needs will be met appropriately and responsibly by our partners, associates, and Summer Associates.
We are open to second year students splitting the summer. However, unless you spent the summer after your first year with us, we require that you spend the first half (i.e., a minimum of six weeks) with McKenna Long & Aldridge. The critical group building and orientation activities, as well as most of the social events, occur during the first six or eight weeks of the summer.
Civic/Charitable & Pro Bono
Historical, Educational & Cultural
Social
Field Trips
Training and Lunch N' Learns
The Summer Program in the Washington, DC office is designed to show you what practicing law in Washington DC and at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP is like. We hope to help you develop your professional skills and apply your legal training while we mutually evaluate the possibility of working together after law school.
The summer program is intended to simulate the professional atmosphere a new associate experiences. We provide each Summer Associate with an opportunity to work with different lawyers in many practice areas. Summer Associates are not assigned to departments during the summer nor do they formally rotate through each department. Assignments are delegated according to a Summer Associate's expressed areas of interest. Two attorneys on the Recruitment Committee are the designated assignment coordinators. It is the aim of the assignment coordinators to ensure that all Summer Associates are receiving projects in their desired practice areas and are receiving a challenging, yet manageable workload. Recent summer assignments include drafting agreements, discovery requests, memoranda, briefs, journal articles and patent applications. Summer Associates also worked on multi-district litigations, international arbitrations, appellate cases, large class action suits and cases pending in local state courts.
Feedback is a key component of our Summer Program. During the course of the summer, supervisors are asked to fill out a confidential evaluation form on every assignment a Summer Associate completes. In addition, we encourage attorneys to discuss a Summer Associate's performance at the conclusion of each assignment as well as provide appropriate guidance prior to its completion. The Summer Partner conducts a formal midsummer and end of summer evaluation with each Summer Associate based on the individual evaluation forms received.
We pair each Summer Associate with a partner and an associate, who will act as your mentors during the course of the summer. Mentors are there to provide you with assistance and advice on matters ranging from legal research and drafting memoranda to answering questions about Firm policies and procedures. In addition, members of the Recruitment Committee and other attorneys in the Firm are always available to assist you.
Summer Associates participate in a comprehensive orientation program that introduces them to a variety of Firm administrative matters, including training in the Firm's technology systems. The Firm also offers breakfast and lunch seminars covering legal research and writing, ethics, negotiations, history of the Firm and overviews of the various practice areas within the Firm. We also encourage attorneys to include Summer Associates in client meetings, discovery conferences, depositions, hearings and trials to the extent possible. In addition, Summer Associates are invited to attend all legal staff and departmental meetings to learn about ongoing developments within the Firm.
The Recruitment Committee sponsors a variety of social events intended to let Summer Associates get to know the attorneys in the Firm in a relaxed and informal social atmosphere. Some of these events include bowling with the Associates Committee, Washington Nationals baseball game, concerts, Habitat for Humanity, a wine, beer and food tasting event, and a crab feast on the Chesapeake Bay. Summer Associates are also welcome to join the Firm's softball team.
The Washington, DC office does not permit splitting the summer. By having candidates spend the entire summer with us, we have a better opportunity to evaluate each Summer Associate, and they, in turn, are able to better evaluate the Firm.
Civic/Charitable & Pro Bono
Social
Field Trips
Training
This year’s program will begin approximately May 19, 2008 and run through approximately August 1, 2008. Students spend at least 10 weeks in the program.
The Summer Program is McKenna Long & Aldridge's primary source for hiring new associates. We provide each Summer Associate with an opportunity to work with different lawyers in various practice areas, and with critical yet constructive feedback and review of their work. Each summer we extend well beyond the confines of the office, and take special steps to encourage our Summer Associates to experience the cultural, social and entertainment activities that Los Angeles so abundantly has to offer.
Each spring we select two associate level Co-Directors to oversee our Los Angeles Summer Program. The Co-Directors are responsible for working with our Summer Partner and our Sr. Manager of Legal Recruitment to ensure an organized, innovative and well-rounded program. The firm is committed to professional development and exposing its Summer Associates to as many opportunities as possible. Whenever possible, we like to include Summer Associates in "all attorneys" meetings, associates' committee meetings, training sessions, firm seminars, client development, local Bar association functions/meetings, and pro bono opportunities. We also use our expanded firm-wide technological resources to include participation in related video-conference meetings and training. We hold weekly meetings specifically geared to educate our Summer Associates on the firm's rich and diverse history, practice areas and goals.
All summer work assignments are screened through and assigned by our Co-Directors. Occasionally, Summer Associates may receive an assignment from an attorney or practice group from another office. Our Co-Directors also find opportunities for our Summer Associates to observe various courtroom hearings, depositions, client meetings and client development opportunities whenever possible. An example of the broad spectrum of recent summer assignments in Los Angeles include:
Litigation
Government Contracts
Environmental
Real Estate
Our Co-Directors are also responsible for seeing that the evaluation process is carried out in an efficient and effective manner, allowing for good communication between attorneys and Summer Associates throughout the assignment process. We consider effective feedback an integral part of the success of our program. Summer Associates are evaluated throughout the course of the summer but have a formal mid-summer and final evaluation just prior to departure. Summer Associates are, in turn, asked to evaluate the McKenna Long & Aldridge summer program.
Summer mentors or "hosts" are also pre-selected and assigned to each Summer Associate. Associate mentors are commonly attorneys who have participated in the firm's summer program themselves and are familiar with institutional practices so as to assist their Summer Associate with support, guidance, counsel and camaraderie throughout the program. We also assign a partner mentor to each Summer Associate.
Social functions in Los Angeles vary from the larger planned events such as the annual theme party (this year’s event was an evening at Bottle Rock, a west side wine bar where everyone enjoyed an evening of karaoke) and our annual bowling tournament to smaller more intimate get-togethers like individual partner dinners. Summer mentors take Summer Associates on weekly lunches. We also plan group lunches throughout the summer to show off downtown Los Angeles' diverse cultural neighborhoods. The office's softball team is always looking for good recruits to participate in the summer lawyer's league and there's always at least one opportunity to attend a Dodgers game or a Hollywood Bowl classical series performance. Upon the arrival of all of our Firm's Summer Associates, the Lansdowne weekend retreat in Virginia was this summer's social highlight. This summer, we will be going to the Chesapeake Bay Hyatt in Maryland.
Civic/Charitable & Pro Bono
Social
Departmental Presentations
Because the Los Angeles Office program is relatively small, we hire only second-year law students. We do our best each fall to hire only as many Summer Associates as we have room for in the following year's entering associate class. Offers are made to Summer Associates no later than Labor Day. We follow NALP guidelines and request responses by November 1 from summer participants.
It is our intention to provide each Summer Associate with a professionally challenging and rewarding summer. We hope that by summer's end, students are well aware of the Firm's practices, goals and commitment to its lawyers. We also hope that the summer brings to each student a sense of pride in their work, lasting friendships and a sense that McKenna Long & Aldridge is their firm of choice for the next important step in their professional life upon graduation from law school.
The program will begin approximately May 19, 2008 and run through August 1, 2008. Students spend at least 10 weeks in the program.
The Summer Program is McKenna Long & Aldridge's primary source for hiring new associates. We provide each Summer Associate with an opportunity to work with different lawyers in various practice areas, and with critical yet constructive feedback and review of their work. Each summer we extend well beyond the confines of the office, and take special steps to encourage our Summer Associates to experience the cultural, social and entertainment activities that Denver has to offer.
A Director oversees our Denver Summer Program. The Director is responsible for working with our Summer Partner and our West Coast Manager of Legal Recruitment to ensure an organized, innovative and well-rounded program. The firm is committed to professional development and exposing its Summer Associates to as many opportunities as possible. Whenever possible, we like to include Summer Associates in "all attorneys" meetings, associates' committee meetings, training sessions, firm seminars, client development, local Bar association functions/meetings, and pro bono opportunities. We also use our expanded firm-wide technological resources to include participation in related video-conference meetings and training. We hold weekly meetings specifically geared to educate our Summer Associates on the firm's rich and diverse history, practice areas and goals.
All summer work assignments are screened through and assigned by our Director. Occasionally, Summer Associates may receive an assignment from an attorney or practice group from another office. Our Director also finds opportunities for our Summer Associates to observe various courtroom hearings, depositions, client meetings and client development opportunities whenever possible. An example of the broad spectrum of recent summer assignments in Denver include:
Litigation
Government Contracts
Our Director is also responsible for seeing that the evaluation process is carried out in an efficient and effective manner, allowing for good communication between attorneys and Summer Associates throughout the assignment process. We consider effective feedback an integral part of the success of our program. Summer Associates are evaluated throughout the course of the summer but have a formal mid-summer and final evaluation just prior to departure. Summer Associates are, in turn, asked to evaluate the McKenna Long & Aldridge summer program.
Summer mentors or "hosts" are also pre-selected and assigned to each Summer Associate. Associate mentors are commonly attorneys who have participated in the firm's summer program themselves and are familiar with institutional practices so as to assist their Summer Associate with support, guidance, counsel and camaraderie throughout the program. We also assign a partner mentor to each Summer Associate
Social functions in Denver vary from larger planned events such as a Colorado Rockies baseball game to smaller more intimate get-togethers like associate dinners or partner-hosted dinners. Summer mentors take Summer Associates on weekly lunches. We also plan group lunches throughout the summer to show off downtown Denver's diverse cultural neighborhoods. Upon the arrival of all the Firm's Summer Associates, the Sea Island weekend retreat in Georgia was this past summer's social highlight.
Civic/Charitable & Pro Bono
Social
Departmental Presentations
Because the Denver Office program is relatively small, we hire only second-year law students. We do our best each fall to hire only as many Summer Associates as we have room for in the following year's entering associate class. Offers are made to Summer Associates no later than Labor Day. We follow NALP guidelines and request responses by November 1 from summer participants.
It is our intention to provide each Summer Associate with a professionally challenging and rewarding summer. We hope that by summer's end, students are well aware of the Firm's practices, goals and commitment to its lawyers. We also hope that the summer brings to each student a sense of pride in their work, lasting friendships and a sense that McKenna Long & Aldridge is their firm of choice for the next important step in their professional life upon graduation from law school.
The program will begin approximately May 19, 2008 and run through August 1, 2008. Students spend at least 10 weeks in the program.
The Summer Program is McKenna Long & Aldridge's primary source for hiring new associates. We provide each Summer Associate with an opportunity to work with a variety of attorneys in the office and with critical yet constructive feedback and review of their work. Each summer we extend well beyond the confines of the office, and take special steps to encourage our Summer Associates to experience the cultural, social and entertainment activities that San Diego has to offer.
Co-Directors oversee our San Diego Summer Program. The Co-Directors are responsible for working with our Hiring Partner and our West Coast Manager of Legal Recruitment to ensure an organized, innovative and well-rounded program. The firm is committed to professional development and exposing its Summer Associates to as many opportunities as possible. Whenever possible, we like to include Summer Associates in "all attorneys" meetings, associates' committee meetings, training sessions, firm seminars, client development, local Bar association functions/meetings, and pro bono opportunities. We also use our expanded technological resources to include participation in video-conference meetings and training offered to all firm-wide summer associates.
All summer work assignments are screened through and assigned by our Co-Directors. Occasionally, Summer Associates may receive an assignment from an attorney or practice group from another office. Our Co-Directors also find opportunities for our Summer Associates to observe various courtroom hearings, depositions, client meetings and client development opportunities whenever possible. San Diego summer associates receive a wide array of both Litigation and Government Contracts assignments.
Our Co-Directors are also responsible for seeing that the evaluation process is carried out in an efficient and effective manner, allowing for good communication between attorneys and Summer Associates throughout the assignment process. We consider effective feedback an integral part of the success of our program. Summer Associates are evaluated throughout the course of the summer but have a formal mid-summer and final evaluation just prior to departure. Summer Associates are, in turn, asked to evaluate the McKenna Long & Aldridge summer program.
Summer mentors or "hosts" are also pre-selected and assigned to each Summer Associate. Associate mentors are commonly attorneys who have participated in the firm's summer program themselves or members of our hiring committee. They are familiar with institutional practices so as to assist their Summer Associate with support, guidance, counsel and camaraderie throughout the program. We also assign a partner mentor to each Summer Associate.
Social functions in San Diego vary from larger planned events such as a dinner party hosted for all attorneys at a partner’s home to an impromptu lunch at a local restaurant. Upon the arrival of all the Firm's Summer Associates, the Lansdowne weekend retreat in Virginia was this past summer's social highlight. The location of our 2008 Summer Retreat in Georgia will be announced shortly. Summer associates from our programs in Atlanta, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Denver participate.
Because the San Diego program is relatively small, we hire only second-year law students. This year, offers were made to Summer Associates by mid-August. We follow NALP guidelines and request responses by November 1 from summer participants.
It is our intention to provide each Summer Associate with a professionally challenging and rewarding summer. We hope that by summer's end, students are well aware of the Firm's practices, goals and commitment to its lawyers. We also hope that the summer brings to each student a sense of pride in their work, lasting friendships and a sense that McKenna Long & Aldridge is their firm of choice for the next important step in their professional life upon graduation from law school.