In years past, summer associates at Blank Rome had 10 weeks to prove their mettle and earn a permanent job offer.
The 23 2Ls arriving at the Philadelphia firm in June will have just six weeks — instead of the usual 2 1/2 months — to wow the partnership and earn a spot on the incoming associate roster.
The firm cut the length of its summer associate program to save money and to ensure enough quality work for both the summer associates and regular associates, said hiring partner Edward Spaniel Jr., who chairs the firm's recruiting and retention committee.
Across the country, major law firms have cut their summer programs, some by a week or two and others by significantly more. For the summer associates, it means less money in their pockets, since top firms pay summer associates in the ballpark of $3,000 a week. Additionally, lawyers, legal consultants and law school career services administrators warn that shorter programs put added pressure on law students to prove themselves quickly.
Summer programs are a significant investment for law firms, which shoulder the cost of summer associate salaries, recruiting and entertainment. A shorter program reduces the overall price tag, but it also gives firms less time to evaluate their summer associates and gauge who should receive a job offer. Evaluations are especially important now, as firms are likely to be choosier than ever about who they hire, given the slow demand for legal services, said Frank Michael D'Amore, a legal recruiter and consultant with Attorney Career Catalysts.
"I think [the shortened programs] can have some pretty profound effects," said D'Amore, who oversaw Saul Ewing's summer associate program during the mid-1990s. "The normal rhythm and tempo of a summer program is that it really starts to hum from the middle to the end. When you cut out three or four weeks, it's like trying to fit a two-act opera into one act."
BIG, MIDSIZE, REGIONAL FIRMSThe lengths of this year's summer programs vary widely. Summer associates at New York-based Weil, Gotshal & Manges will spend 10 weeks with the firm instead of 12. Atlanta firm Alston & Bird has reduced its program from 11 to nine weeks. Squire, Sanders & Dempsey has gone from a 10-week program to seven weeks. New York's Shearman & Sterling and Cravath, Swaine & Moore; Chicago-based Kirkland & Ellis and Seyfarth Shaw; and Dechert represent a sampling of the other firms that have shortened their programs. The trend extends to midsize and regional law firms, according to law school career services administrators.
"There are absolutely some regional employers who have shortened their programs," said Janet Hutchinson, assistant dean for career services at Emory University School of Law.
Matt DeGrushe, dean of career services at University of Southern California Gould School of Law, said that the shorter programs are causing angst for some students. "With a shorter summer, there is less margin of error," he said. "It's a really short amount of time to prove yourself and recover from any mistakes."
DeGrushe said that he is counseling students to work hard throughout their programs, look for tasks that need to be done and make themselves available for any assignment.
A full three-month summer program affords students time to ease into law firm life, D'Amore said. For students who have never spent time in a business environment, that acclimation period is especially important. Now, he said, students will need to be extremely focused from the first day. He suggests that summer associates contact alumni who have gone through the program for advice on making the most of their time at the firm and insight into the firm's culture.
Hutchinson added that students should solicit tasks instead of waiting for work to come their way. "We're trying to help them hit the ground running," she said.
Assignments — as in the number that students receive — are another concern DeGrushe hears from students. "They're wondering if they will do enough assignments to get experience in different practice areas and with different people," he said. Students understand that, the more partners they interact with, the better chance they have of getting a job offer.
Competition for permanent positions will be stiffer than before, when summer associates were virtually guaranteed a job offer as long as they didn't make too many mistakes, D'Amore said. Firms are carefully assessing their staffing needs for 2010, when this year's 2Ls would show up for full-time work, he said.
Blank Rome, for example, hopes to bring on all or nearly all of its 2L summer associates, according to Spaniel, but the economy could change that plan. The firm reduced its summer class by more than one-third compared to last year specifically to improve chances that it could offer everyone a permanent position, he said.
Despite the shorter time frame, law firm leaders said that they want to keep their programs as consistent as possible with previous years'. Pittsburgh firm Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney's summer associates will spend seven weeks at the firm, down from 10 weeks. Summer associates will have the same types of projects — based on actual client issues — but not as many, said Laurie Lenigan, the firm's director of legal recruiting. "When we do the midprogram evaluations, we may not have 10 projects to look at. We'll have six projects, maybe," she said.
"There is probably going to be a difference, sure," said Liz Price, professional personnel manager at Alston & Bird, which is bringing in 79 summer associates. "But the quality and type of work they get I don't think will change."
PRESSURE ON FIRMSIt's not just summer associates who will feel the pressure. Firms will have less time to evaluate their potential hires and can't afford to let their summer programs ramp up slowly, D'Amore said. "Just as the student has to shine quicker, the law firm has to work harder and quicker to get to know them," he said. "They are going to have to work quickly to give people work and feedback."
Buchanan Ingersoll is preparing for its condensed summer by making sure there are at least two projects lined up ahead of time for each of its summer associates, Lenigan said.
Detroit firm Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone has shortened its traditional 12-week summer program by one week to save money and because law schools are holding on-campus interviews earlier, said hiring partner Michael McGee.
"I would be reluctant to go less than nine or 10 weeks," he said. Given the need to ramp up and wind down a program, "an eight-week program is really like six weeks of work. You start to lose the reason you have a summer program to begin with."
Although law students may not be pleased with their abbreviated law firm stays, "students are taking it in stride," Hutchinson said. "They've heard about students who have had their offer rescinded, so they're just happy to have the opportunity."
Price cautioned that students shouldn't let the pressure get in the way. "Don't worry about what you can't control, such as the current economy and demand for legal services, and focus on what you can control — your work product, your opportunities and experiences socially and professionally at the firm and your degree of flexibility in terms of work you'd be interested in doing as a new associate," she said.
Summer associates should concentrate on their own performance, not the legal industry's woes, Spaniel said. "They should show us they possess the skills and desire we believed they had when we hired them for the summer," he said. "We'll be looking to see their work ethic."
Karen Sloan can be reached at karen.sloan@incisivemedia.com.
