• Our summer associates are not forced to rotate through departments, but choose to work in several practice areas or focus on one area for most of the summer. One of our associates acts as Assignment Coordinator and is available for consultation throughout the summer. 
  
  
• We also work to provide summer associates with the opportunity to shadow attorneys with the hope that learning by observation and participation will result. Our summer associate shadowing program consists of attorneys providing opportunities including participating in conference calls, attending client meetings, going to hearings and/or court, attending depositions, and participating in negotiating sessions. These opportunities arise throughout the course of the summer and are offered through our assignment process to all.
  
  
• We stress quality in everything we do, and are widely recognized for this. Our extraordinarily broad client base includes Fortune 100 companies and dynamic mid-market and smaller firms, affording a wide variety of experiences and on-the-job learning opportunities for lawyers at all levels.
  
  
• Every summer associate is offered the option to build frontline pro bono work into his or her slate of assignments. Summer associates can conduct a Social Security disability hearing, help litigate a political asylum claim, or take the lead on other matters for low-income clients or nonprofit organizations, and they may also participate in community service activities, like the high school internship program we host for Legal Outreach. Summer associates also receive regular assignments on other pro bono matters in the office. In recent years, summer associates have done crucial research to help develop the legal theories underlying Kramer Levin's groundbreaking civil rights work on behalf of same-sex couples and their families; assisted on class actions on behalf of homeless children with asthma and child SSI claimants; and helped obtain important results for a number of worthy nonprofit organizations.

For more details on our overall pro bono program, see our Pro Bono and Community Service page, which includes links to recent Pro Bono Annual Reports and other relevant materials.

Jumping Inside

Examples of projects our summer associates have worked on as a member of a deal/case team include: 

• Attended a false advertising preliminary injunction trial on behalf of a pharmaceutical company.
  
  
• Researched and wrote a memorandum regarding sentencing issues under the Sentencing Guidelines for a white collar criminal case. 
  
  
• Attended a deposition after preparing the attorney who took the deposition. 
  
  
• Participated in closing of a real estate deal worth $US1.1B. 
  
  
• Assisted a pro bono client in obtaining asylum from her home country of Malaysia, met regularly with the client, conducted interviews, and worked with another summer associate to draft a brief in support of the application. 
  
  
• Wrote petition for Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court. 
  
  
• Drafted memoranda advising corporate clients on Sarbanes-Oxley compliance issues. 
  
  
• Drafted documentation necessary to close a corporate acquisition. 
  
  
• Attended an all-day jury focus group off-site with members of the litigation team using the results as research in preparation for an upcoming trial. 
  
  
• Participated in a trademark enforcement raid. 
  
  
• Drafted essential documents for real estate transactions at all stages from inception through closing.
  
  
• Assisted with an SEC filing. 
  
  
• Worked closely with two partners on an individual client matter regarding different economic and tax implications of disposition of the client's family property.