US summer program

In the past, summer associates have assisted on a range of challenging projects such as:

• international arbitration disputes involving Greenland, China and East Timor;
• structured finance deals between major US and UK corporations;
• a securitization transaction involving an international investment bank;
• preparation of a memorandum on current legal developments in Brazil;
• legal research to support project financing in the US and Venezuela; and
• an aquisition of a multi-billion dollar diagnostics business.

Training

We believe the very best way to learn about the law is to practice the law. So, instead of sending our summer associates back to class, we offer you something much more valuable: frequent one-to-one contact with partners, counsel and associates while you are actually working with us.

We also recognize the importance of formal training. We know it can be enormously beneficial and we make sure we offer summer associates a range of seminars every year. These include:

• an overview of our corporate practice
• the anatomy of a CDO
• ethical issues in transactional representation
• an overview of US securities laws
• basic drafting
• avoiding common pitfalls – what every lawyer should know about legal ethics
• look before you leap – how to conduct due diligence on people, anywhere in the world, before you do business with them
• trends in electronic discovery

Social Events

We put our summer associates to work and rely on their support to complete substantive projects while they’re with us. But we’ll also work hard to get to know you better outside the office.

We organize a range of social events every year designed to help you explore your city and get to know us all – partners, associates and support staff – a lot better. After all, in a year’s time you could be a full-time member of our team.

Unforgettable summer events have included nights out at Broadway shows, baseball games, sailing trips at sunset, cooking classes, wine tasting at a partner’s home, karaoke jams and many lunch and dinner parties at our favorite restaurants.

Work assignments and evaluations

Our summer program stands out in a number of ways. You design your own personal summer experience with the guidance of the work allocation partner.

While we aim to provide you with exposure to many different types of work, we’ll also encourage you to tell us about any interests or specialist skills and experiences you have. Then, if we can, we’ll help you build on these too.

Summer associates receive assignments from partners and associates across different practice areas, but you will be personally responsible for tracking your own work and providing weekly progress summaries. When assignments are completed, you’ll receive feedback from the relevant associate or partner.

We formally assess summer associates twice: at the halfway point and again at the end of the summer. However, all our supervising lawyers endeavor to provide continuous feedback, advice and encouragement throughout the program.