McDermott Will & Emery

Training & Assignments

• “McDermott does a good job of allowing summer associates to explore potential practice areas and types of cases. I worked with several different partners within litigation and one or two in transactions to get a feel for the work. A few partners had meetings with me after completing work on their assignments to review and give feedback.”
• “Assisted with a number of substantive assignments in which I received good feedback. The summer program was structured like a miniature version of a work year, complete with a mid-year review to help solicit feedback and guidance on how to improve.”
• “The firm placed us on active deals and gave us substantive tasks with fantastic mentoring and practical guidance throughout. Each of the tasks we were given were geared towards teaching us how the deal process worked, and gave us opportunities to observe and contribute to the firm's ongoing matters.”
• “Work assignments were quick-turnaround, straightforward assignments that didn't require substantial instruction. In general, the attorneys and the recruitment team emphasized that the work assignments we completed were not nearly as important as the interactions we had with staff and our professionalism throughout the summer.”

Social Opportunities

• “There were nearly daily social events during the summer. Returning as a first-year associate, I feel like I had seen everyone in the firm's face at least once, which definitely made me feel more comfortable returning as a full-time employee.”
• “Summer events were quite fun and served as excellent opportunities to meet other people at the firm! From baseball games to concerts and comedy shows, the summer program delivered high-quality social events. Plus, we had a firmwide summer associate retreat in Chicago that helped us build relationships across offices.”
• “The firm organized weekly (and often more frequent) social events during and after the work day that allowed for teambuilding and networking with the other summers and attorneys. As a summer, I often went out to lunch with one or more attorneys who were consistently willing to take time out of their day.”
• “The social events and interactions with attorneys were amazing. I really felt like all attorneys, including firm leadership, made an effort to get to know us, even if we were in a different practice group. My fellow summer associates were also all great people.”

Associate Experience vs. Summer Expectations

• “It has not been different. This is the most transparent work environment I have ever been a part of, and in speaking with colleagues at other firms, it seems to be the most transparent work environment in BigLaw.”
• “There has been a different workload, but everything else I was told as a summer has held true. You can somewhat carve your own path and choose to work on what you are interested in, provided a partner is willing to give you the work.”
• “My expectations I had when I was a summer associate haven't differed much from my practice. The largest difference would be summer associates are given assignments from a centralized database, but associates operate under a free-market system.”
• “I feel closer and more supported by my team than I expected to feel. I'm also surprised that I have a lot of one-on-one contact with my office's managing partner so early in my career. A lot of the work I do is directly for him. I didn't quite understand what everyday life was like for a lawyer or my practice, but so far I have been satisfied.”

Favorite Summer Events

• “I enjoyed our mini golf event at Swingers and the Weeknd concert we attended.”
• “Taylor Swift concert, Miami Heat finals game, make your own ice cream, mixology classes.”
• “Seeing a showing of Harry Potter with the soundtrack performed by the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. Honestly will remember that experience forever.”
• “The summer associate retreat in the Chicago office was my favorite summer event because it brought together associates from all of our offices and allowed me to meet peers who I would not have otherwise. This was also very indicative of the firm's culture and practice of collaboration across offices.”

Our summer program offers summer associates a realistic introduction to the practice of law and day-to-day life as a McDermott associate. The summer associate program provides meaningful responsibility and feedback that is consistent with a junior associate experience. Summer associates are given the opportunity to accept assignments with many of our practice groups during the summer. This allows summers to experience the type of work they are interested in firsthand and ultimately steer them toward the type of work they enjoy. Our conservative hiring approach allows students access to a number of substantive assignments and matters. Summer associates receive formal feedback during a midsummer evaluation and a final review, in addition to informal feedback over the course of the summer. Each summer associate is assigned an associate and partner-level mentor to provide guidance throughout the summer, explain firm policies, address any questions or concerns, and assist in the transition from law school to life in a law firm.