Congratulations to law students who have a summer job at a law firm. Summer associate positions are offered by law firms to try out law students and determine if the law student would make a good lawyer in the firm.
Summer associates often wonder if they should do something to “stand out” from the other summer associates to get noticed by partners. The best way to “stand out” is to work hard and do good work, which normally means good research and writing. A pleasant personality is the goal, not leaning too far into the introvert or extrovert direction.
Bitter Lawyer posted a list of “Nine Summer Associate Don’ts” for law students to be aware of as they tread into the economically sensitive and ultra-competitive law firm arena. The “Nine Summer Associate Don’ts” clarifies a number of ways you do not want to “stand out.” A number of the tips are pretty obvious, but what is obvious to some may not be so obvious to others.
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May 8th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
who can even get a SA gig this year? yeah, if you land one, do us all a favor and go ahead and get really drunk and sleep with everyone in the firm so we can get in when you get kicked out
May 19th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
Well, with all the deferred start dates that medium to big firms are offering, there’s plenty of time for that! Frankly, the office trollop or manwhore may be kept on for providing a service. You’ve got to differentiate yourself from the pack somehow!
May 21st, 2009 at 10:17 am
Some good tips here. Over here in the UK it’s really hard to get a SA at the moment, there’s lots of graduates in the same position as students and therefore it’s a bit of a backlog. But you’re right – I got my job through an internship and knuckling down. I brought out ideas if I thought they were relevant and useful, but otherwise I made no effort to stand out – people have to remember in these interships, as with any interview, ultimately they want to know if they can work with you as well as if you can DO the job. It’s all about a balance.