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Blame it on the economy: This year's crop of summer associates was a little less lighthearted than usual. As a group, summer associates expressed somewhat greater uncertainty about whether they'd be getting job offers. And though few let that anxiety spoil their summers, managing partners and summer supervisors say this year's clerks did give off a more serious vibe.
"They seemed a little more mature," says Scott Brucker, head of the summer program at Philadelphia's Cozen O'Connor. "They were really grounded -- they knew what they were looking for," agrees Michael Mooney, managing partner of this year's No. 1 firm, Nutter McClennen & Fish in Boston.
Summer clerks in recent years have shown an inclination for doing "real" work. But the 2008 class was an even more no-nonsense bunch: What they seemed to prize more than anything was the chance to test their legal skills on serious matters. Nutter and other top-ranking firms in our 2008 survey didn't put a lot of emphasis on regaling their summers with sumptuous lunches and over-the-top outings. As Mooney puts it, Nutter isn't into "fancy this and fancy that." Instead, the best-of-show firms offered a straightforward preview of what law firm life (at its best) is really like. They took care to give their summer charges clear training and guidance, along with an array of interesting, challenging assignments.
Our 2008 survey was sent to nearly 11,000 summer associates at 190 law firms. More than 7,600 summer associates provided written evaluations and comments on their firms. As in years past, summer clerks were fairly generous graders. This year's average score was 4.541 (based on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest). Even this year's last-place firm -- Nashville's Bass, Berry & Sims -- managed a not-so-bad 3.56 overall.
Nutter's small size and homey culture -- it has just 150 attorneys and, this year, 10 summer associates -- has made it a perennial favorite in our survey. (It finished second and first in 2006 and 2007, respectively.) While this summer's interns definitely valued all the friendly face time they had with Nutter's partners, they were just as enthusiastic about other aspects of the firm's summer program. Nutter received perfect scores in all categories, including training and guidance and how interesting and "real" the work was. "I was never given 'busywork,'" said one Nutter clerk, who represented a pro bono client at a Massachusetts state unemployment hearing. "All of my assignments were substantive and the work that I completed was greatly appreciated by the assigning attorneys."
Other firms with relatively small summer classes also racked up big points with summer clerks. Cozen O'Connor, with just 11 summer associates, came in second; Washington, D.C.'s Crowell & Moring ranked third, with 23 summer associates; and Wilmington's Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor finished fourth, with 12 summer associates. Still, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher proved that big can be beautiful, too. Even with a hefty summer class (182 clerks), the firm managed top marks in training, partner interaction and other categories, taking fifth place in our rankings.
Crowell & Moring's third-place finish caps a meteoric rise up our charts over the past two years: Between 2006 and 2008, the firm rose 130 places in our rankings. What's its secret? Among other things, Crowell now surveys summers before they get to the firm to find out their interests, according to Jeffrey Poston, summer program co-chair, and then makes sure they get more challenging, complex work assignments. Plus, the firm mobilized some partners to serve as writing mentors, and strongly encouraged all partners to bring summer clerks along to depositions, hearings, and other live legal events. One Crowell summer associate was pleasantly surprised by the amount of interaction he had with partners: "All of them took the time to learn my name and went out of their way to answer my questions," this clerk marvelled.
At virtually all top-ranked firms, summers gave their firms high marks for "real" work. (On average, 2008 summer associates put in a 45-hour work week, up from slightly more than 44 hours last year.) "Very realistic but fun summer," said a Cozen O'Connor intern. "They definitely work us, but it's a good picture of what it'll be like." At Young Conway, there was almost too much meaningful work. "I think the attorneys have forgotten we are only 1Ls, let alone just summer associates," declared one clerk, who added proudly, "It's really been a great learning experience."
The average weekly pay for summer associates was just under $3,000, about the same as last year. Judging from this year's survey, so far the faltering economy has not made law students rethink their career options. Despite the recent credit crunch, almost 40 percent of the 2008 summer class aimed to do corporate and transactions-related work, about the same number as last year. Only about 4 percent said they were considering bankruptcy law -- again, roughly the same as in 2007. Still, the survey results did detect some economic jitters. This year, more than 17 percent of summer associates said they weren't sure if they would receive a job offer, compared to only 12 percent in 2007.
While relatively few comments submitted for our survey focused on the economy, there were definitely pockets of anxiety. Indeed, some summer associates at a handful of firms -- including White & Case; Mayer Brown; and Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker -- were biting their nails over whether job offers would be forthcoming. "I would have appreciated more transparency in the employment process," said one White & Case intern. "I have no idea how many of the 113 summers [in New York] they plan to hire." "Offer the summer associates more clarity and reassurance regarding the offer process," wrote a Mayer Brown intern. "As it was, too many of my peers were too concerned about their standing with the firm. It made the atmosphere too tense, resulted in unnecessary competition, and harmed cohesion."
As it turned out, White & Case made 110 offers in New York, to all but three in the summer class there. Timm Whitney, White & Case's director of recruiting, says that the firm sent an e-mail in late July to reassure summers that the firm would be making offers based on merit (and not on the economy), but he says that many continued to worry. "I'm sorry our summer associates had anxiety, but I'm not sure what else we could have done," says Whitney. Both Mayer Brown and Paul Hastings also issued statements saying that a very high percentage of their interns received offers.
Summer offers were also a concern at New York's Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, which finished second to last in this year's rankings. "I have been surprised at how secretive the firm has been about financial information and whether they are hiring people," complained one Stroock intern. The firm earned especially low marks for how well it conveyed its goals and expectations for summer hires and for how accurately it portrayed itself in interviews. Stroock spokesperson Susan Peters declined to comment on the survey.
At this year's last-place finisher, Bass, Berry, many clerks had a hard time feeling at home. Training and guidance and partner interactions were particular weak points. "I have been surprised by how unhappy the associates seem, how distant the partners are, and how they don't seem to really want us here," lamented one Bass, Berry summer. "It feels as if no one even cares that we are here," agreed another Bass Berry intern. "The only attorneys who have made an effort to meet me are the ones on my floor."
In a prepared statement, Bass Berry said that its poor showing this year was a surprise: "Historically, we have had great results and expect to have similar good results ... from this year's class." The firm added that it would use this year's survey results "as an opportunity to evaluate our summer program ... and continue to improve it."
Even at firms that fared better in our survey, summer clerks did have a range of complaints. Some found their experience a little too realistic. One summer associate in the Los Angeles office of New York's Simpson Thacher & Bartlett recounted "working straight through my first weekend, flying to New York for a closing and billing 17 hours in a day." Then there was the Morrison & Foerster intern who got caught in a "frantic due diligence effort" and wound up "sifting through box after box of documents in a small, hot room."
Technology was a sore point for some. One hard-working member of the MySpace generation bemoaned Internet constraints at Paul Hastings: "People of my generation consider whether an employer blocks Web sites, especially Web sites used to communicate with friends when working 100-hour weeks, as an important quality-of-life factor." At several firms, summer interns grumbled that they hadn't received BlackBerries, while a Crowell & Moring intern reported that he did get a BlackBerry, but wished he had an iPhone instead.
And some clerks definitely didn't take to the frat-house levels of alcohol at their firms' summer parties. "Sometimes it feels like a big set-up," wrote an intern at New York's Weil, Gotshal & Manges. "They throw numerous social events that last for eight hours, including heavy drinking, and then expect summers to behave 'appropriately.'" Still other clerks moaned that the summer associate lunch budget was too skimpy. "Fifty-five dollars is not enough for most nice restaurants in midtown," noted a clerk at New York's Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler. Overall, however, few summer associates went hungry. Across the country, this year's clerks reported being treated to steak, lobster, oysters, crab feasts, bone marrow salad, warm chocolate chip cookies and more. For some, it was too much of a good thing. "Not every event needs cake," griped a Foley & Lardner summer. "It is not a good idea to have a reputation for making summer associates gain 15 pounds (the 'Foley 15')."
Luckily, the 2008 class also got plenty of chances to burn off carbs. This year's sampling of summer outings included skydiving, deep-sea fishing, hot-air balloon rides, white-water rafting, kayaking, horseback riding, go-carting, trap-shooting, sailing, surfing, trapeze school and swimming with the dolphins at SeaWorld. There were also scavenger hunts, baseball games, bowling, golf and movies ("The Dark Knight"). Or, as in the case of one Baker Botts clerk, a trip with a partner to get a pedicure.
Even so, many of this year's summer interns reported that their most memorable experiences involved actual work: visiting a pro bono client on death row, helping to draft a cert petition for the U.S. Supreme Court, joining in on a client pitch for a high-level energy transaction, preparing Securities and Exchange Commission documents -- or just getting good feedback for their efforts. "I helped to draft a motion for a pending case and the associate commented that I was an excellent writer," wrote one summer clerk at New York's Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy. "[I received] praise for a rush assignment from a very senior partner," recalled another clerk at Philadelphia's Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, "and [was] CC'd on the e-mail in which he sent my memo (almost unchanged) to the client."
Pretty good for a summer intern. And, all in all, not a bad way to spend a summer. As one clerk at Chicago's Katten Muchin Rosenman put it: "We are given an obscene amount of money to do interesting work with fun people. What would I want to change?"
THE BIG PICTURE
Average score that summers gave their firm as a place to work (on a 1-to-5 scale, with 5 being the highest): 4.541
Average hours worked per week: 45
Average pay per week: $2,987
Percent male: 55 percent
Percent female: 45 percent
Percent who expected or had received an offer from the firm where they interned: 83 percent
Percent who said they didn't know if they would receive any offers: 17 percent
Percent who said that, in evaluating offers, they would give significant weight to:
-- a firm's work/life balance: 56 percent
-- their desire to live in a particular city: 47 percent
-- the firm's strength in their practice area: 43 percent
-- whether a firm is likely to lay off associates: 21 percent
Percent who said that, in five years:
--they expect to be at the firm where they interned this year: 58 percent
--they honestly don't know what they will be doing: 27 percent
CHART TOPPER
Nutter McClennen & Fish, Boston
Participating office: Boston
Number of respondents: 10 (100 percent of summer class)
Firmwide score: 5 (rank: 1)
(1=lowest, 5=highest; rank is based on 162 firms)
How the firm rated on key scoring questions: Interesting work: 5
How much "real" work was assigned: 5
Training and guidance: 5
Partner-summer associate interaction: 5
Associate-summer associate interaction: 5
How well the firm communicates goals and expectations: 5
How accurately the firm portrayed itself during interviews: 5
Inclination to accept a full-time associateship: 5
Overall rating as a place to work: 5
Average hours worked per week: 45.3
Average pay per week: $3,068
Percent of respondents who expect or have received a job offer from this firm: 90 percent
What surprised you most about working at this firm this summer?
"The ease [with] which Nutter integrated us into their firm."
"Partners' doors are always open and the firm provides immediate access to real work and direct contact with clients. Summer associates are essentially given the same workload as a first year associate."
How would you describe this firm to other law students?
"The projects are intellectually challenging. There is a great work/life balance -- associates and partners alike. I really felt like an important member of the team on the projects that I worked on."
"Best experience you could have as a summer."
If you could tell the firm to change just one thing, it would be:
"It would be helpful if the firm described the partnership track in detail. I would also like to know more about the firm's managerial structure (such as committees) and how the firm makes fundamental business decisions on a day-to-day basis."
"I wouldn't change a thing."
BOTTOM RUNG
Bass, Berry, & Sims, Nashville
Participating offices: Memphis, Nashville
Number of respondents: 22 (71 percent of summer class)
Firmwide score: 3.557 (rank: 162)
(1=lowest, 5=highest; rank is based on 162 firms)
How the firm rated on key scoring questions:
Interesting work: 3.55
How much "real" work was assigned: 3.5
Training and guidance: 3.27
Partner-summer associate interaction: 3.23
Associate-summer associate interaction: 4.23
How well the firm communicates goals and expectations: 3.5
How accurately the firm portrayed itself during interviews: 3.55
Inclination to accept a full-time associateship: 3.5
Overall rating as a place to work: 3.68
Average hours worked per week: 41
Average pay per week: $1,821
Percent of respondents who expect or have received a job offer from this firm: 45 percent
What surprised you most about working at this firm this summer?
"Not as much actual work as I thought there would be."
"It surprised me that the nicest and [most] outgoing associates/partners weren't in positions dealing directly with the summer associates."
How would you describe this firm to other law students?
"A firm that is trying to be like a large Atlanta law firm. A firm with primarily health care clients that dominate most practice groups. A firm with some nice people, but an overall tense and impersonal atmosphere."
"Great group of people; interesting work."
If you could tell the firm to change just one thing, it would be:
"As a whole, the program should be more inclusive. I was really hurt when I did not get invited to some of the practice group events. Being excluded made me feel really unwelcome."
"Encourage the partners to be friendlier to the summer associates."
Firms That Offered The Most "Real" Work
Firm, Score
Buchanan Ingersoll: 5.00
Nutter McClennen: 5.00
Young Conaway: 5.00
Cozen O'Connor: 4.91
Bingham McCutchen: 4.90
Kelley Drye: 4.90
Gibson Dunn: 4.88
Dykema Gossett: 4.84
Morgan Lewis: 4.83
Wildman Harrold: 4.83
Firms That Offered The Least "Real" Work
Firm, Score
Bass, Berry: 3.50
Wiley Rein: 3.68
Williams Mullen: 3.72
Latham & Watkins: 3.77
Patton Boggs: 3.77
Bracewell & Giuliani: 3.78
Thacher Proffitt: 3.81
Stroock & Stroock: 3.85
Chadbourne & Parke: 3.91
Shearman & Sterling: 3.93
White & Case: 3.93
Firms With The Best Training And Guidance
Firm, Score
Cozen O'Connor: 5.00
Nutter McClennen: 5.00
Chapman and Cutler: 4.90
Gibson, Dunn: 4.88
Bingham McCutchen: 4.86
Choate, Hall: 4.86
Crowell & Moring: 4.86
Buchanan Ingersoll: 4.83
Mintz Levin: 4.82
Willkie Farr: 4.82
Firms With The Worst Training And Guidance
Firm, Score
Bass Berry: 3.27
Bracewell & Giuliani: 3.57
Baker & Hostetler: 3.68
Williams Mullen: 3.72
Stroock & Stroock: 3.77
Seyfarth Shaw: 3.83
Morris Manning: 3.85
Munger Tolles: 3.85
Best Best: 3.89
Duane Morris: 3.92
White & Case: 3.92
Winstead: 3.92
RELATED ARTICLE:
Methodology: Summer Associates Survey 2008: How We Rank the Firms
RELATED CHARTS: (free registration required):
National Survey
City Survey
Summer Associates Survey: A to Z
