Above all else, our summer program offers you the chance to experience the same standard of work and training that you will receive as a full-time associate at Linklaters.
Rotations/Seats
Each summer associate will rotate through two different practice areas during the program. Summer associates can be based (or, in Linklaters speak, “seated”) in one or in two different offices. The offices that most commonly offer summer seats for U.S. law students are New York, London and Hong Kong, although additional offices may offer seats depending on the needs of the firm. In recent years, summer associates and regular associates have also spent time on placement for specific transactions in other international offices, including Paris, Frankfurt, São Paulo and Tokyo.
During the winter before the summer program begins, we ask summer associates to indicate their practice group and office preferences. We try wherever possible to fulfill those preferences.
Work Assignments and Mentoring
Each summer associate is assigned to a partner mentor and an associate mentor. Your work assignments will most commonly come from partners and associates in the practice area in which you are seated. In particularly busy times, you may be asked to help out in a different practice area as well, or to “firefight” in a different office working on a particularly large deal. In New York, London and Hong Kong, work assignments are coordinated by senior associates in the relevant practice areas. In smaller offices, work assignments are coordinated by your partner and associate mentors. We like our summer associates to be proactive, and if there is a particular type of deal or area of practice that you're interested in, we will try to expose you to it. Additionally, you will be advised as to what pro bono projects are available for you to work on. All summer associates are strongly encouraged to participate in pro bono work.
Learning, Development and Training
We run a dedicated training program for summer associates. Many of these weekly training sessions are run by partners or senior associates. Summer associates are also encouraged to participate in the training offered to regular associates, which includes everything from in-house classes on bankruptcy law, to morning conference calls among several international offices to discuss developments in securities transactions, to seminars on depositions and discovery.
Feedback
Midway through the program, at the conclusion of your first rotation, you will have a review of your work performance with your partner mentor. This is also an opportunity for you to tell us how the program is going from your perspective; it's a two-way street. At the conclusion of your second rotation, you'll be given a final review. Offer decisions are made only after all summer associates have completed their summer with us. However, we are usually in a position to tell you where you stand at your final review.
Social and Special Events
Yes, we've got ‘em. We are fun! We believe that an important part of the program is to actually enjoy yourself. This means anything from seeing The Daily Show live in New York, to bowling in scarily competitive teams of partners and associates, to attending parties at partners' homes, to dining after hours in a famous London museum. We organize plenty of opportunities to get to know not just the people in your practice area, but also associates and partners from across the firm. A famous feature of our summer program is the three-day London Retreat, which happens in the middle of the summer. All U.S. summer associates are flown to London for a unique combination of learning sessions about the firm and social events. The agenda includes presentations on the work of all of our global practice groups, meetings with the leadership of the firm, tours of London's commercial courts, a trip on the London Eye, and a dinner event with our London attorneys.
Statistics
Our statistics prove that Linklaters is a good place to start to develop your career.
2006 Summer Program statistics:
Number of 2Ls: 20
2Ls who received offers to join in 2007: 20
2Ls who accepted offers: 14
Number of 1Ls / JD/MBAs: 8
1Ls / JD/MBAs who received offers to return next summer: 8
1Ls / JD/MBAs who accepted offers: 7
2007 Summer Program statistics:
Number of 2Ls: 34
2Ls who received offers to join in 2008: 34
2Ls who accepted offers: 21
2Ls who deferred offers for judicial clerkships: 2
Number of 1Ls: 5
1Ls who received offers to return next summer: 5
1Ls who accepted offers: 4