Fish & Richardson P.C.

• “Summer associates received regular training to learn about the firm and IP litigation in general. A work coordinator helped us receive assignments, and we were encouraged to seek out work on our own as well.”
• “Summers gain opportunities to work on case teams with seasoned partners and senior associates. Work assignments are appropriate junior-level litigation tasks: research, minor drafting, cite checking, etc. Observational opportunities include depositions, arbitrations, and even trials.”
• “Summer associates are treated like junior-junior associates; that is, they are given the same work that junior associates are given but with a little extra supervision and support. It was a great way to preview what being an associate would be like.”
• “Attorneys in the office would go out of their way to assign substantive tasks for summers. This allowed me to make an informed decision on whether to take this rather niche path.”

• “We had a great selection of summer associate events, and they tried to tailor the events to the interests of that year's summer associates. Some events were well-attended, and some were less so. My favorite summer events were the trip to SandboxVR and a climbing gym.”
• “The firm offers formal social events roughly weekly. There are also informal after-work gatherings. Both are helpful in getting to learn more about the attorneys at the office.”
• “We’re not a huge firm, so you will meet most or all of the attorneys in your office. Social events are frequent and designed to relate to the office locale and foster interactions between attorneys and summers. The summer associate retreat is a great time to meet your future colleagues.”
• “Summer associates attended weekly social events with attorneys and daily lunches with associates and principals in the office.”

• “I didn't realize it would be so hard to find work and get staffed on a case. When I was a summer associate, we had a work coordinator to give us work.”
• “I was pleasantly surprised with early stand-up experience. I did not expect so much time to be devoted to discovery disputes.”
• “The firm has a free market system for work, which is different from the summer program, where you have a dedicated work coordinator who feeds you a steady stream of assignments. That transition was not clear or advertised during the summer. Nor was its importance in meeting your billable goal once you become an associate.”
• “Very little has been surprising. Like I said, being a summer associate was a great preview into associate life. One thing that has been different is that less work is being assigned to me, and I am selecting more of my own work. This is mostly out of necessity. As a brand-new to the firm summer, it would be difficult to source my own work. But as an associate, I am expected to network throughout the firm and get myself staffed on cases without the help of a work coordinator or formal work assignment system.”

Fish & Richardson’s summer program is the cornerstone of our recruiting. We bring in the top students from across the country, and through significant investments of time and resources, we begin developing them into the Fish & Richardson attorneys who go on to become leaders in the industry. To achieve this, our summer program is known for having real work that provides hands-on training and ongoing feedback. Summer associates tackle the tough legal issues that clients come to us to solve, and projects include preparing patent applications; conducting research for litigation; and attending client meetings, depositions, and even trials. Equally important to our summer program are the social events that integrate summer associates into the firm culture, including a firmwide summer associate retreat. Summer associates and attorneys get to know each other at dinners, concerts, and sporting events and through friendly competition across offices. Each summer associate is assigned a mentor who advises them throughout the summer.