Summer Associates Program
An important source of new associates.
We are proud of our longstanding success in attracting outstanding law students from across the country to our summer associate program. Our summer program provides an opportunity for students who are considering a career in a large, diversified firm to experience first-hand what it is like to be an attorney at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney.
Interesting and Exciting Work
As a summer associate, your goal is to find a firm that matches your career plan. As a firm, our goal is to provide you with the opportunity to appreciate what it means to practice law at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. As a result, you have an active role in determining your assignments. If there is a particular area of law that you are interested in, we attempt to make those assignments available. We also make every effort to involve summer associates in depositions, negotiations, court appearances, client meetings, corporate and commercial transactions, pro bono opportunities and seminars. The assignments and the work environment are comparable to those experienced by our first and second year associates.
We believe that the caliber of our attorneys and the quality of our support staff and administrative personnel are among our best recruiting assets.
Evaluation Process
We understand that you cannot be expected to develop and grow into a successful attorney if you are not offered constructive feedback. Therefore, for each assignment, you will receive two evaluations. The first is from the assigning attorney who will review the work in detail and will take time to meet with you face-to-face to give feedback and evaluate your performance. The second evaluation is a critique of your writing from a member of our specially-selected Reading Committee. In addition to a written appraisal, you will also meet with a Reading Committee member to discuss each assignment. These review sessions provide summer associates with individual training, as well as opportunities to make suggestions and give opinions regarding their assignments. Midway through the summer, we prepare a composite evaluation of each summer associate, based upon the evaluations received from assigning attorneys and Reading Committee members. We also schedule a mid-summer evaluation meeting for each summer associate, the office's recruiting chair and the summer associate coordinators. At that meeting, strengths are identified and any areas for improvement are addressed. If additional assistance is needed in writing or any other area, the summer associate is assigned an associate or shareholder to work with on a one-on-one basis.
Social Events
In addition to being exposed to the firm's working environment, summer associates participate in numerous social and cultural activities which allow them to become personally acquainted with our attorneys. We take great pride in the vibrant and exciting neighborhoods that surround our offices, and since geographic location will certainly play a part in your career choice, we provide a wide range of social events highlighting the many attractions of living in our communities. These events run the gamut from sports to arts. Informal lunches and get-togethers will also allow you to interact with your peers and our attorneys in smaller groups.