Baker McKenzie

• “Work assignments were handled well, and we were clearly exposed to the different practice areas. Attorneys were candid and forthright in their feedback.”
• “Summer associate work was substantive and meaningful and provided good training for the tasks I do now as a first year.”
• “Work assignments were always substantive; no such thing as ‘busy work.’ Training was very structured and organized. There were also a lot of training seminars on subjects such as substantive law, legal writing, and firm economics.”
• “All of the assignments I received as a summer associate were either smaller slices of what a first-year associate would do or full-on what a first-year associate would do. As a summer associate, I was reviewing data rooms and helping draft diligence reports.”

• “Throughout the firm's summer associate program, I observed a social dynamic that is best described as inclusive, empathetic, and collegial. I was immensely satisfied with the firm-sponsored social opportunities and the social interactions with both firm attorneys and my summer class. Furthermore, the summer associate program events were well-organized, original, and well-attended.”
• “Camaraderie among summer associates seems to be strong every year. My summer class is still incredibly close, even years into practice, and this seems common across years. The social aspects are fun but not well-attended and tend to include just the same few attorneys and one or two partners.”
• “Happy hours and weekly events for summer associates.”
• “We had events every week, and there was high attendance at every event.”

• “I thought everyone was nice to us because we were summers; turns out, people at Baker are just generally very nice! Everyone is willing to teach and mentor. After a particularly quick moving deal, once we closed, I reached out to a partner on the deal and asked for 20 minutes to go over the structure of the deal and why we did some of the things that we did. That partner spent two hours with me teaching me about that particular type of transaction.”
• “My experience as a summer associate fully aligns with the experience I have encountered upon returning to the firm. Put differently, the expectations and impressions of the firm that were formed as a summer associate are reflective of the reality of working at this firm.”
• “I think the summer associate experience was reflective of how a new associate receives work and works with more-experienced attorneys to complete assignments. In terms of the volume of work, the summer associate experience was lighter on work than the full-time job, which was expected.”
• “In many ways, my experience has been exactly what I expected: a high-performance culture but a great team. Attorneys really care about mentoring and teaching me as a new joiner. I did not realize how the individual personalities of everyone would come into play, but I have had a lot of mentorship in navigating that from other junior, mid-level, and senior associates.”

• “Architecture river tour.”
• “We had a sushi-making summer event and a goat yoga summer event.”
• “Noodle making, wine tasting, karaoke (not virtual), Brooklyn bar hopping (not virtual).”
• “All of the amazing restaurants we dined at.”

Baker McKenzie’s Summer Associate Program is designed to introduce law students to the practice of law at the firm and to allow lawyers and summer associates to become mutually acquainted to evaluate the interest in a future employment relationship. We make every effort to expose summer associates to all aspects of the firm’s practice with substantive legal work, professional training, and social networking opportunities. Across North America, the firm is organized into practice groups, and we give our summer associates the opportunity to work on a wide range of assignments from all practice groups. Our primary goal is to offer a realistic, professional experience, so we place great importance upon providing our summer associates with “real” client work of the same caliber as performed by the firm’s lawyers. We also offer client partnerships for our summer associates through our Inclusion, Diversity & Equity Client Summer Scholars Program.