Linklaters has developed an exciting 12-week summer associate program which offers you the chance to experience the same formal training and work you would receive as a full-time associate. You will have real responsibility, access to partners and clients, and exposure to multiple practice groups, all designed to make your time here as rewarding and valuable as possible. Each summer associate is assigned both a partner and an associate mentor, to help answer questions as they arise and guide you through your time at the firm. Summer associates at Linklaters also enjoy a full schedule of social activities—including a trip to London—as more fully outlined below.
Learning, Development and Training
We run a dedicated training program for our summer associates which includes sessions introducing our main areas of practice and training geared toward developing skills for a successful career. Many of our training sessions are run by partners or senior associates. Summer associates are also invited and encouraged to participate in the training offered to associates, which includes everything from in-house classes on bankruptcy law to discussions on recent developments in the banking industry and seminars on depositions and discovery.
Practice Area Rotations and Splitting the Summer
Summer associates rotate through two different practice areas during the program, and you have the opportunity to be based (or “seated”) in one or 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 have openings depending upon the firm’s needs. During the winter before the summer program begins, we will ask you to indicate your practice group and office preferences.
Work Assignments
In New York and London, work assignments are coordinated by workflow coordinators who are generally senior associates in the relevant practice areas. In offices with fewer summer associates, like Hong Kong, work assignments are provided directly by partners and associates. Our primary goal is to give you a realistic work experience, so if there is a particular type of deal or area of practice you are interested in, we will try to expose you to it. You will also be given the chance to participate in one or more of the many pro bono projects our offices work on as part of our firm’s commitment to the communities we serve.
Social and Special Events
Our summer program includes a wide range of activities to help you get to know partners and associates. A sampling of recent events includes everything from attending parties at partners' homes to private tours and access to special exhibits. Our summer program is famous for 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 educational sessions and social events. The agenda includes presentations on the work of all of our global practice groups, roundtable discussions with senior management, tours of London's commercial courts, a trip on the London Eye, and a flagship formal dinner event with our London attorneys.
Feedback
Feedback is an important part of our summer program, and we provide two formal review opportunities. First, midway through the summer—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. A second and final review is then undertaken at the conclusion of the summer program.
How to Apply
Linklaters currently interviews for its U.S. summer associate program at more than 20 law schools and job fairs across the United States. We also host 1L presentations at various law schools during January, February and March of each year to introduce first-year law students to Linklaters and the U.S. practice. Our summer associate program is open to second-year U.S. law students, and--in certain circumstances--to first- and third-year U.S. law students who meet our hiring criteria. For more information on law student recruitment, please contact Jennifer Katz-Hickman.