2024 DIVERSITY DATABASE UNDERWRITER Covington & Burling

• “The work assignments in our summer associate program are excellent. We complete one assignment at a time, which allows for focused work while also balancing the summer program events. An assignments coordinator, who is also an associate at the firm, held weekly check-ins with me to ensure everything was on track and to address any questions. Each assignments team I worked with scheduled a meeting at the start of the project to outline expectations and another at the end to provide feedback. The feedback I received was detailed and constructive, which helped me learn and improve throughout the program.”
• “There are dedicated attorneys at the firm who manage summer associate workloads. Every week or two, I was given a different assignment, which meant I could explore a variety of different practice areas. I felt that the work assignments I had were substantive and actual client work product.”
• “The training series was super helpful and practical—honestly even more so than associate onboarding. I also had several associates take a personal interest in mentoring me, and they let me shadow their work and took care in explaining what they were doing in a detailed and practical way. My actual assignments were mostly things that attorneys had on their backburners, which makes sense given how fast paced the actual work is, but it was a little disappointing.”
• “The training was comprehensive in that there were several in-person trainings teaching legal research and writing skills, how to write memorandums, etc. The trainings were reflective of what was required from the assignments I received as a summer. I drafted portions of briefs and research memorandums, put together deposition questions, and drafted case law charts.”

• “There is a robust social program—at least one all-summers (plus associates/senior lawyers) event per week, including boat cruises, movie nights, baseball games, Top Golf, etc. There are also social events held by [specific] groups and a variety of dinners throughout the summer, and summers are encouraged to regularly get coffee/lunch with lawyers.”
• “Favorite summer event: end-of-summer karaoke night. The summer program provides summer associates with access to a diverse cross-section of the firm. Summers get to know people in all sorts of practice groups in both formal and informal settings.”
• “The firm has a very friendly and welcoming atmosphere. I always felt comfortable approaching other summers and the attorneys. The events weren't extravagant like some firms' (we did not go to any theme parks or concerts), but they were well thought out, and I always had a good time. Also, it was nice that the social events were truly optional, so I didn't feel any social burnout.”
• “Frequent summer events, including a harbor cruise, axe throwing, and an MLB game. Lunches every day with attorneys. Attorneys are always happy to grab coffee and talk to you about their work.”

• “My expectations as a summer have been met. The people are kind; the work is interesting, and I feel like I have a wide range of formal and informal mentors. I think it is more difficult than I thought as a summer to switch between practice groups and/or adjust splits between groups, but it is still possible with some determination.”
• “…My work now is more driven by specific client requests, and somewhat more fact-based than theory-based. But the experience of working on a team and having significant access to senior lawyers for discussion and feedback is unchanged, which is very important to why I chose this firm..”
• “One way my experience differed from my expectations was the ability to jump between practice areas. I initially thought this would be more flexible, but in reality, we are placed into groups based on our stated interests when we start as associates. If the group is smaller, it can be challenging to move into a different area later on. On the positive side, I was pleasantly surprised that the collegiality and politeness I experienced as a summer associate continued once I became an associate. My teams have been consistently supportive and collaborative, which has made the transition much smoother.”
• “Obviously being a summer associate is more fun than being a real associate, but I think the summer gave me a realistic look at what associate life would be. There hasn't been anything that truly surprised me about actual associate life. If anything, I actually overestimated the amount of weekend work. ...”

Through our summer associate program, we provide a select group of law students from around the country the opportunity to participate actively in a broad and exciting range of legal matters. Summer associates are immersed into our practice and exposed to Covington’s enduring cultural values—the values that shape our delivery of the highest quality service to our clients and our service to the public interest—through extensive dynamic and precedent-setting pro bono legal work.