Baker McKenzie

• “As a summer associate at Baker McKenzie, I had the opportunity to work on assignments that had real-world applications and helped prepare me for joining the firm as a first-year associate. They also hold a summer associate boot camp at the beginning of the summer so the summer associates can learn about the different practice groups and subspecialties within those groups.”
• “Baker McKenzie takes smaller summer associate classes, so there is less competition to get meaningful work as a summer. When I was a summer, I assisted on everything from M&A deals to writing memos for litigation matters. As a first-year, Baker gives you a lot of flexibility to work on whatever matters you would like to get experience in. As a second-year, you narrow down your focus a bit and get more substantive work.”
• “Small size, which makes for great formal and informal mentorship. Work assignments were substantive, and one really feels involved.”
• “I had a lot of flexibility to take projects from the groups I was interested in. My mentor even reached out to attorneys in other offices whose work I was interested in.”

• “Summer social events were generally well-attended by attorneys, though many were on the smaller side. I liked that each event gave me a chance to get to know attorneys on a personal level and I didn't feel rushed to try to meet as many people in an evening as possible.”
• “I really enjoyed all the social events! We usually had at least one formally planned summer associate event each week, and in recent years, they've expanded to have some additional informal events several times a week (e.g., watching movies in Millenium Park, karaoke outings, etc.). The events are well-attended by attorneys. Because the summer classes at Baker are smaller (usually somewhere between 6 and 12 summer associates), the summer associates develop strong bonds that last them through when they begin practicing.”
• “The social aspects were strong. I participated at events in two offices. We went to, among other things, a baseball game, an escape room, a trivia bar, the Fort Worth Stockyards, and various happy hours and dinners. We routinely interacted with both partners and associates. The summer associates interacted almost daily.”
• “Weekly lunches/dinners, events, sports games, cooking classes, etc.”

• “Pleasantly surprised by the direct contact with partners and amount of feedback as I am refining my legal skills.”
• “I was surprised that I was given the option to choose between two practice groups at the end of my summer.”
• “My experiences so far have exactly paralleled my experience as a summer associate.”
• “Like any summer associate program, the work is pretty limited to 9-5, and the assignments given usually aren't the most urgent, unlike when you first begin practicing. If there is a specific specialty group you want to practice in (e.g., projects, funds, real estate), junior associates need to be vocal about that early on and develop relationships with attorneys who practice that work as a large quantity of the work coming into the transactional group is M&A or cross-border transactions. While I knew the attorneys were generally friendly when I interviewed and summered at Baker McKenzie, I was wonderfully surprised by how supportive my teams have been. Many people I have worked with have taken the time to explain bigger-picture concepts to me even if not necessary for my assignments at the time, checked-in on me during busy periods and gone out of their way to acknowledge when I've worked hard.”

Baker McKenzie’s summer associate program is designed to introduce law students to the practice of law at the firm. Additionally, it provides an opportunity for summer associates and the firm to become mutually acquainted in order to evaluate interest in a future employment relationship. We make every effort to expose summer associates to all aspects of the firm’s practice through substantive legal work, professional training, and social networking opportunities. Across North America, the firm is organized into practice groups, and summer associates are given the opportunity to work on assignments from a range of practice areas. Our primary goal is to offer summer associates a realistic, professional experience, so we place great importance on providing them with real client work that is of the same caliber as that performed by the firm’s lawyers. We offer client partnerships for our summer associates through our Client Summer Scholars Program and ID&E Fellowships to law students who share our commitment to fostering an inclusive workforce.