2022 DIVERSITY DATABASE UNDERWRITER Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Training & Assignment

• “Great partnership mentorship program, with opportunities to sit in on important, high-level meetings. Good mix of substantive work and shadowing.”
• “S&C does a nice job of matching summer associates up with the areas of interest they express before the summer begins, and ensuring that substantive work comes their way throughout the summer. There is formal mentorship, as well as informal opportunities to make connections and get work assignments. The assignments are substantive and interesting, and fairly advanced for summer associate work.”
• “Work assignments varied dramatically from team to team. Some assignments were very substantive, and included research into legitimate and difficult aspects of complicated cases. Some assignments were more menial. There was an opportunity to be trained in formal trainings, but less opportunities for one-on-one learning.”
• “Summer associates have the ability to rank their case work preferences at the beginning of the summer so that they can be staffed to cases they are interested in. There are general training programs and seminars, and the firm’s various practice groups host events throughout the summer.”

Social Opportunities

• “The firm hosts many events during the summer program; oftentimes, there are at least two optional events per week for summer associates to attend. There is a great mix of summer associate only events and events with the firm’s attorneys.”
• “I had a great experience during the summer associate program. We went to Broadway shows, concerts, many dinners, and other fun events. I became close with both people in my summer class and other associates at the firm.”
• “The social scene as a summer at S&C was exactly what I wanted—a large number of events focused on taking advantage of all that NYC has to offer, with no pressure to attend should you not want to. I went to the events that sounded interesting to me, which were always well-attended, and skipped the ones that didn’t. Partners and associates were understanding of events and I never felt pressured to miss something that I wanted to attend because of work.”
• “There are social events every week, either at the firm or outside the firm. The events outside the office are incredibly well organized and attended. The summer associate class is typically quite large and there are social scenes for all sorts of personalities.”

Associate Experience vs. Summer Expectations

 

• “S&C is incredibly focused on making sure summer associates get to try the work they want, and this carries over into life as a junior associate. On the corporate side, the firm is a great place if you are looking for the freedom to experiment with different practice groups and develop a broad base of knowledge—this is not limited to the summer program. The hours are definitely different as an associate, but this did not come as a surprise.”
• “I was not made any promises or given any commitments about what the work would be like as an associate. I think it’s obvious that the work will inherently be different because it is a more lasting team assignment and the work is whatever it is going to be at a given time. That being said, I actually had many more substantive assignments and experiences that came to me much more quickly than I was anticipating.”
• “I would say I was pleasantly surprised by how similar associate life was to summer associate life. The summer was a perfect prelude to life as an associate.”

Favorite Summer Events

•  “I really enjoyed attending Shakespeare in the Park and going to dinner with law school alumni.”
• “A cruise around New York City.”
• “I went to an Ariana Grande concert with the firm.”
• “Loved the events in London, particularly the restaurants and pub crawl. An NYC practice group I was in also had an intimate wine tasting that was a great way to get to know the attorneys.”