Faegre Drinker

• “The firm assigns a work coordinator to each practice group to ensure all summer associates receive meaningful work in the practices areas that interest them. Summer associates get their assignments from a portal where they all receive written feedback on their assignments. Supervising attorneys also offer verbal feedback. The firm also provides writing training, a writing coach, opportunities to shadow attorneys at the firm, and opportunities to engage with pro bono work.”
• “[I] received excellent training through both formal workshops and informal mentorship, which really helped me quickly acclimate and build foundational skills. The work assignments were substantive and varied, allowing me to contribute to real client matters and explore different practice areas based on my interests. I felt well supported throughout the program and appreciated the regular feedback and opportunities to learn from experienced attorneys. Overall, the experience was both professionally rewarding and enjoyable.”
• “I had exposure to meaningful work and experiences as well as focused training. The workload was appropriate to balance the networking and relational goals of the program with exposure to real work assignments.”
• “The summer associate program offered excellent training and substantive work assignments. I was able to contribute to real projects and received helpful feedback, which made the experience both educational and rewarding. The learning opportunities and support from attorneys were outstanding.”

• “The firm did an excellent job at scheduling social events both among summer associates and with practicing attorneys. The summer associate class had great camaraderie that has extended into our first years of practice. The recruiting team was incredibly thoughtful and creative in planning the social events, including a game night, happy hours at museums, and more.”
• “The summer program includes weekly social events with associates and partners in addition to ad hoc happy hours. There is ample opportunity for interaction with firm attorneys. My favorite event was a casino night, where we could play poker, blackjack, etc.”
• “I greatly enjoyed the breadth of summer programming, including the Summer Program Summit and Chicago-based activities ranging from a baseball game to a wine tasting at a partner's home. The attorneys were present and always presented themselves in an authentic way, being completely available for conversations of all types. My summer class was very friendly and majority of them returned, showing how well we got along and what a great job my firm did for retention purposes.”
• “The firm did not [overextend] us with multiple events per week and instead planned one social event per week and encouraged summer associates to build relationships with attorneys and staff by planning coffees and lunches.”

• “Work distribution is more organic than it was during the summer program, which puts a greater onus on associates to seek out available work on their own. This comes with challenges, particularly for new associates, but does empower associates to look for opportunities in areas they are interested in.”
• “My experience practicing at my firm has been, for the most part, consistent with the positive impressions I had as a summer associate, but there have been a few differences and pleasant surprises. One difference is the level of autonomy and responsibility I’ve been given as a full-time associate. While I expected to contribute meaningfully based on my summer experience, I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly I was trusted to handle more complex tasks and manage parts of matters independently, with strong support from more-senior attorneys. The mentorship and open-door culture I saw as a summer associate have absolutely continued, and I’ve found that partners and associates remain approachable and invested in my professional development.”
• “Now that I am a full associate at the firm, I am encouraged to interact with and draft material for clients, which had not necessarily been my experience as a summer associate. However, I think this model is pretty empowering as a young attorney, and it encourages me to create relationships with clients even though I am the most junior on the team.”
• “I have been pleasantly surprised by the level of investment I receive from other attorneys at the firm and the high level of camaraderie. The summer program was an accurate reflection of my time at the firm so far.”

Engaging work and supportive mentors make Faegre Drinker an ideal first—and long-term—place for law students to begin their careers. Beginning with our summer associate program, we provide support and training to help law students and new attorneys build the skills and behaviors to grow a sophisticated legal practice and develop rewarding client relationships. Summer associates receive a hands-on, meaningful experience. We encourage growth with challenging work, intensive professional development programs, personalized mentoring and coaching, and respectful yet candid feedback. We have a full-time legal writing coach and advisor who provides individual writing guidance to summer associates. Summer associates can participate in pro bono work and connect with peers and our lawyers throughout the summer.