Desmarais LLP

Training & Assignments

• “The summer experience did track the type of work expected of associates. I drafted briefs and researched legal issues and met with associates and partners to discuss my work and overall case strategy.”
• “I definitely received substantive work assignments as a summer. I was staffed on one particular case team and was pretty well immersed in the trial strategy for that case. I would say that the main difference is that full-time associates receive a much larger quantity of work.”
• “The summer experience at Desmarais was honest and eye-opening. I was given the opportunity to immerse myself with various teams, which include joining in all team meetings, helping various associates to complete substantive assignments, and even attend meetings with clients and experts.”
• “The summer associate program was generally a good introduction to life as an associate. I worked on tasks that an associate would have done had I not completed them. It was obviously less intense than life as an associate and expectations were lower, but it was a good introduction to the types of work I now do as a law clerk.”

Favorite Summer Events

• “Summer boating event at John Desmarais' house.”
• “Cocktail-making lessons.”
• “The NITA trial training program was great.”

We view our summer program as the first three months of an incoming associate’s career. We staff our summer associates on our case teams just like our other associates —by considering the particular summer associate’s interests as well as the firm’s needs. Summer associates work with attorneys at all levels, from first-year associates to partners, and they become an integral part of their teams. We provide formal training for our summer associates, including weekly lectures, and trial advocacy training programs—the same type of formal training programs we provide to our full-time associates. We also provide informal training to our summer associates through constant feedback regarding their work assignments. In addition, we try to give our summer associates the opportunity to experience many different aspects of patent litigation, and often invite them to attend client meetings, court hearings, depositions, and trials.