Cooley

• “All of the assignments felt meaningful and representative of what I've done as a first year. Everyone I worked with was thoughtful in giving feedback.”
• “All of the work you receive as a summer associate is the same kind of work you will do as a first-year associate. It is refreshing to not come in completely blind to what life as a lawyer is all about.”
• “Each assignment I received had either an associate or a partner sit down with me to bring me up to speed not only on the posture of the matter, but on the substantive area of the law. It genuinely felt like the assignments were true mentoring opportunities, and knowing now how busy these attorneys were, it is truly impressive that they took the time to set me up for success.”
• “Many of the work assignments were similar to the assignments that I work on as a new first-year associate. These assignments were met with the same type of feedback and instruction as I get now. The main difference is the timelines that I am expected to complete assignments in.”

• “Lots of fun events—sports games, cooking classes, dinners.”
• “There were plenty of events, and at each event, I met someone new who either worked at the office or was visiting from another one of our offices around the world. I am extremely close with all of the people who I summered with and consider them to be friends both in and out of work.”
• “The social events were very thoughtfully planned and executed. There was a great firmwide attendance at each event, and everyone seemed genuinely eager to be there.”
• “Firm did not try to force events; instead, there were weekly, well-attended events that were fun.”

• “My experience at Cooley has exceeded expectations at every turn. If anything, life as a first-year associate has been far better than I was led to believe as a summer. While it is certainly a lot of work at times, the work is satisfying and meaningful, and I genuinely enjoy it.”
• “Cooley did a very nice job of giving us accurate insights into what real practice would be like at the firm. Upon joining the firm full time, I did not feel like I had been given false impressions of how things really were. Folks were not faking being nice towards summers or anything like that.”
• “The work has not differed from what I expected after my summer associate program—there's just more of it! Socially, I have been so pleasantly surprised by how lovely all of the people that I've worked with at Cooley have been.”
• “The firm is much more relaxed than I expected. I am able to take on as much work as I would like in different areas. Everything, however, is exactly how other associates explained it to be.”

• “Cooley's summer retreat is spectacular!”
• “Cooley gathered all its summer associates at the Seascape Beach Resort in California, for four days of training and team-building activities.”
• “Truffle-making at MilkBar; private wine tour/tasting.”
• “Boat tour on the Chicago River, darts night, shuffleboard.”

Cooley’s summer program is designed to give participants an unfiltered introduction to life and practice at the firm. It enables them to experience Cooley’s commitment to providing extraordinary legal services in a professional and collaborative environment. Our program provides opportunities for our summer associates to interact with each other locally and firmwide as a class, which creates bonds that go beyond the summer program. During the summer, constructive feedback is shared at the conclusion of each assignment and informal mid- and end-of-summer feedback sessions. Assigned mentors ensure that each summer associate is integrated into the firm over the course of the program.