Holland & Knight LLP

Training & Assignments

• “During the summer associate program, I was tasked with handling a wide variety of assignments, and I found these assignments to be meaningful and interesting. Much of the work that I was doing during the summer associate program was similar to the work that I initially began handling as a first-year associate, so I felt that the substantive work I did during the summer program provided a strong foundation for starting my career as an associate. The trainings provided during the summer program are robust, and the firm does well in tailoring each summer associate's training path to be consistent with their practice area interests.” 
• “I felt that I received substantive assignments but that I could also go to the attorneys who assigned them with questions. The assignments were challenging but not overwhelming.” 
• “I was given real work that was meaningful, not busy work, and felt I was actually helping the firm's efforts. We received many trainings upfront.” 
• “We get a partner mentor and an associate mentor and use a mix of a centralized staffing system and a free market system. The mix of staffing systems ensured we had enough to do, and the free market aspect encouraged us to create genuine work relationships. I still work a lot with the attorneys who I was able to get work from as a summer, and I am now a second year.” 

Social Opportunities

• “My firm went to great lengths to ensure we had lunches planned with attorneys and also planned other social events and happy hours.” 
• “HK's summer program is jam-packed with social events and opportunities to meet attorneys from all practice areas within the firm.” 
• “The firm's summer associate program always involves multiple social gatherings for associates, some office-wide, some interoffice, some practice group-specific, and some just for associates. They are always well run and enjoyable and help maintain and promote the firm's friendly and collaborative culture.” 
• “We had tremendous interactions with firm attorneys and extensive camaraderie among summer associates, even across offices.”

Associate Experience vs. Summer Expectations

• “My experience as an associate has been largely consistent with my expectations during my time in the summer program. HK does a great job in accommodating the preferences of its summer associates with regard to preferred practice groups. The nature of the work is interesting and fast-paced, as advertised during the summer program, and I continue to work with many of the same partners and senior associates who I worked with during my summer program days.” 
• “The biggest adjustment was just making sure to stay on top of my billable hours, not only each month, but day by day. As a summer, the billable vs. non-billable hours worked didn't matter, as long as there were hours worked, so it was a big change. That being said, I wouldn't have wanted to have a billable hour requirement as a summer, so I am grateful that there was an adjustment!” 
• “The summer associate experience was a great introduction to the firm, but it's really hard to access longer-term projects during the summer. The type of work I have access to as an associate is a lot different than the discrete assignments I completed as a summer associate. I was expecting the work to be more similar but am pleasantly surprised about the level of ownership and responsibility I'm given so early on in my career.” 
• “I was surprised that it didn't differ that much from being a summer. As a first year, you still don't know anything, so you slowly gather more experience through osmosis and eventually realize you have more substantive work delegated to you.”

Favorite Summer Events

• “We had weekly happy hours with the different practice groups to get to know them, which I thought were great ways to meet people in a more intimate setting.” 
• “My favorite summer event was the time-honored tradition of the hibachi karaoke night. This night is a great time, and don't worry, summer associates are not pressured to get on the mic.” 
• “We did an event that helped us select and pot a desk plant that I still have on my desk to this day. It reminds me of the growth and progress I've made along the way and symbolizes the growth in my career.”
• “We took a boat ride through Boston Harbor and dinner at the steak house after.”

The summer program is an integral part of Holland & Knight's hiring effort, as we hire the majority of our junior associates directly from our summer program. We strive to give our summer associates an accurate sense of what it is like to work as a first-year associate at the firm, and we hire each summer associate with the expectation that we will extend an offer for a full-time position at the end of the summer. During the summer program, we provide intellectually-challenging assignments that allow summer associates to showcase their analytical and advocacy skills while strengthening their writing capabilities. Opportunities include observing depositions, attending court hearings, drafting briefs and pleadings, writing substantive research memorandums, conducting due diligence, assisting with closings, and participating in client negotiations. We expose summer associates to challenging client work and provide them with access to comprehensive substantive training and mentoring programs, so they will gain insight into the practical aspects of a law firm career.