2024 DIVERSITY DATABASE UNDERWRITER Ropes & Gray

• “The attorneys at my firm were very inviting and acted as mentors. I had meaningful shadowing opportunities where attorneys would take the time to speak with me and answer my questions after. Partners would speak to me often about any questions I had. I worked with many associates and felt like I took an active part in helping with assignments such as due diligence, drafting agreements, and emails.”
• “I appreciated that we were given substantive work assignments but were still left with plenty of time to meet associates and partners and attend social functions and trainings. I also appreciated that legal recruiting staffed us on projects and checked in weekly regarding workload and what we would be interested in working on in the coming weeks.”
• “I received numerous billable and pro bono assignments across several practice groups. I wanted to gain as much exposure to the various activities of the firm as possible so I could best select which practice group to join. The firm was happy to allow me to do so. Attorneys spent time explaining the why behind assignments to me and provided useful feedback.”
• “Training was very in-depth and substantive. Work assignments were for actual deliverables to clients, and not just internal projects. Overall happy with both the training and work assignments.”

• “We had a large summer class of around 60 people. We frequently had events throughout the summer where we could get to know each other, as well as associates and partners at the firm. Such events included a partner dinner where the firm rented a restaurant and summer associates shared the dinner table with partners from all practice groups. We were all also invited (and allowed to bring our significant others) to an event at the home of the Chair of the entire firm, which was a special feeling. Each summer associate was also able to go on two or three lunches a week with attorneys at the firm on a $75 budget per person. This was a great way to interact and ask experienced people questions.”
• “I had multiple coffees and lunches weekly with a variety of attorneys, allowing me to get to know them and understand their work. We had many social events. Some of my favorites were a baseball game, kayaking, happy hours, and dinners. The summer associate class got to know each other well, and I remain close friends with several of them.”
• “The firm had several social events a week where we were able to build camaraderie with our summer class. We were also able to get coffee and lunch as often as we were able to set them up with firm attorneys. The lunches were my favorite as they made it possible to learn about different practice areas and bond with attorneys prior to coming back to the firm as a full- time associate.”
• “Each week, we had social activities in the evening. The firm attorneys were more than willing to take us to coffee or lunch throughout the week. I made many great relationships with the attorneys while I was a summer.”

• “The work is definitely more fast-paced, but people do a good job at explaining expectations and the plethora of trainings helps to prepare you, at least on a surface level of how to tackle some tasks. The assignments are mostly assigned by a coordinator, which is my favorite thing, because it helps to evenly distribute the work, and you get to experience a variety of work that is both long- and short-term and with partners, even partners from outside your own office.”
• “The firm encourages/requires associates to receive work via a centralized staffing system and discourages associates from obtaining work directly from seniors. This is a bit of a change from what we saw over the summer and what I expected.”
• “Working at the firm has been very similar to what I experienced as a summer associate. There have still been many trainings, good substantive work and opportunities for feedback, and great support from more-senior attorneys. The firm still provides good social opportunities, including training with the whole corporate department at the firm's main office. The office Managing Partner has monthly meetings to touch base with each associate, and those have been very helpful.”
• “Nothing out of the ordinary. Coming back to work was seamless; we had an appropriate ramp up period so I did not feel overwhelmed when starting work.”

Participating in our summer program will allow you to experience firsthand what it’s like to practice law at the highest level. Whether joining us in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, or Washington, DC, summer associates get exposure to cutting-edge, industry-defining work for the world’s leading businesses and organizations. You’ll contribute to actual client matters, benefit from individualized mentorship, and gain practical and soft skills from our training program, regarded as one of the industry’s best. You’ll also have lots of opportunities to get to know your fellow summer associates and other lawyers at the firm and to build long-lasting relationships. We strongly believe that our summer program will give you the confidence, skills, and hands-on experience you need to hit the ground running as a first-year associate.