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Best Summer Associate Programs

Junior lawyers at large law firms look back on their experiences as summer associates at that same firm to rate the summer program on attorney interactions, career development, and social experiences. Vault's 2026 Rankings are derived from Vault's Annual Associate Survey conducted from January 28 to March 21, 2025.
Survey Methodology

Vault asked junior associates who participated in their current firm’s summer associate program to rate their experiences on a scale of 1 to 10 in six different areas. From those ratings, we ranked the best summer associate programs in three categories: Attorney Interactions (based on associates’ scores for meaningful interactions with firm attorneys); Career Development (giving equal weight to associates’ scores for substantive assignments, training and mentoring, and effective preparation for life as an associate); and Social Experiences (giving equal weight to associates’ scores for the quality of events and satisfaction with firm-sponsored social opportunities and social interactions). The Overall Best Summer Associate Program ranking reflects the average of all six individual ratings (attorney interactions, substantive assignments, training & mentoring, preparation for associate life, quality of events, and satisfaction with firm-sponsored social opportunities and social interactions).

Vault's 2026 Rankings are derived from Vault's Annual Associate Survey conducted from January 28 to March 21, 2025.

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Each year Vault invites eligible law firms to participate in our annual Law Survey. Please contact us if you’re interested in having your firm considered for inclusion.

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2026 Best Summer Programs for Career Development

#1
SCORE 9.860
2025 Rank 1
#2
SCORE 9.806
2025 Rank 3
#3
SCORE 9.667
2025 Rank 18
#4
SCORE 9.571
2025 Rank 5
#5
SCORE 9.525
2025 Rank 7
#6
SCORE 9.521
2025 Rank 17
#7
SCORE 9.500
2025 Rank 8
#8
SCORE 9.474
2025 Rank 24
#9
SCORE 9.423
2025 Rank 11
#10
SCORE 9.407
2025 Not Ranked