Bracewell

• “We were invited to, and expected to attend, all CLEs hosted throughout the summer. Beyond that, there were weekly trainings for summers (and optional for other juniors) covering things relevant to being a junior associate like: best billing practices, department overviews for each practice group, how to read a financial statement, etc. The summer assignments are very similar to the work I do now on a day-to-day basis; namely, compiling signature pages, updating closing checklists, and scrubbing agreements.”
• “Bracewell's summer associate program provides ample training in legal writing and research and gives summer associates the opportunity to work closely with associates and partners in the firm. Assignments vary from writing substantive pleadings, doing research, and attending hearings/depositions.”
• “I was given real first-year assignments and opportunity for feedback.”
• “I was included on substantive projects and felt like a member or the team. At the same time I knew my work was being checked by an attorney.”

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• “Social events were plentiful and diverse and provided strong and valuable interaction with firm attorneys of all different levels.”
• “Bracewell's summer program allows summer associates to get to know the lawyers of the firm well through daily summer-attorney lunches, and it offers fun social activities from baseball games to concerts to officewide sushi dinners.”
• “There were two events per week. Events were never hosted on a weekend. Beyond the official firm events on the calendar, associates and partners regularly hosted or invited groups of associates to one-off dinners and lunches to get to know them better. There are other events during the workday, including all-attorney lunches, summer associate only lunches, programming for Pride Month, and CLEs.”
• “It is a lot of events, and the attorneys get really involved. There is a good mix of associate and partner interaction, and some of the events are very casual amongst associates in order to build social relationships. I think there is also a good mix of big events and small events (i.e., all-summer events vs. smaller group dinners).”

• “Aside from not being wined and dined as much as we were in the summer program, not much has changed. I have been pleasantly surprised with the amount of responsibility given to me as a first year and how quickly I am learning through practice and feedback.”
• “The biggest difference for me is the work allocation. As a summer you just sit and work is given to you, but as an associate it is a free market system so you go shop around for work more.”
• “I was pleasantly surprised with how frequently I work directly with a partner instead of through another more senior associate. However, I felt like I got more guidance and direction as a summer than I do now. A level of handholding as a summer is expected, but I was surprised by how much it dropped off after starting full time. I'm probably better off without it! Beyond that, because we have a free-market system, I have the flexibility to seek work directly from partners and other associates that do the kind of work I desire to do. That ‘authority’ over my work/career was not expected, but I'm so thankful for it.”
• “I would say that practicing at Bracewell is what I expected as a summer associate. I have been pleasantly surprised by how early on I would get involved in attending hearings, drafting motions, and communicating with clients.”

Bracewell is the ideal place to launch your legal career. Our open and collaborative culture ensures that you have the opportunity to work on significant matters and have meaningful connections with lawyers from the moment you join. Summer associates attend hearings, depositions, trials, negotiations, and client meetings. They hone their writing skills by helping research and draft agreements, briefs, articles, and blog posts. When not working, summer associates have the opportunity to explore their local communities and get to know our lawyers through social events and our two-day off-site summer associate retreat.