Summer Associates Report Fear, Anxiety and Lots of Food
Stress and anxiety are on the rise among law students employed this summer at large law firms, according to a new survey. But the summer associates could assuage their worries with food and drink offered at social outings that still were on the agenda.
American Lawyer’s survey of 2009 summer associates found that almost half of the respondents weren’t sure whether they would get full-time offers, compared to only 17 percent last year and 12 percent in 2007. Some associates sounded downright panicked in their open-ended answers to some of the questions, according to the American Lawyer story on the survey.
“It is a scary time to be a law student,” one wrote. “For the love of God,” another wrote, “please be more transparent about the offer process and outlook.”
The top-ranked law firm in the associate survey, Cozen O’Connor, told its 18 summer associates up front that all would get job offers as long as they did a good job. The firm didn’t reduce the length of its 10-week program. “A great place to work,” gushed one summer associate who worked there. “One of the rare things in life that are as good or better than expected.”
The law firm said yesterday that it has made offers to three-quarters of its summer associate class, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Despite the anxiety expressed in some comments, summer associates appeared to be satisfied on the whole, according to the American Lawyer story. The average grade was 4.518 (on a 1-5 scale, with 5 being the highest), a score that was close to last year’s average.
Law firms tried to keep summers happy with social activities, although the outings and meals were less lavish than in the past. Activities included “river-rafting, race-car driving, mechanical bull-riding, moonlight kayaking, target-shooting, bowling, and even polka-dancing,” the story says. A few summers even complained that meals were too rich and the portions too generous.
One guilty associate wondered about the need for so many perks, according to the story. “We really don’t need BlackBerrys, free lunches every day, or an event every week,” she wrote. “If cutting back on these perks would help one more associate get hired or decrease the need for [deferrals], I would rather have our class start bringing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”
Summer associates ranked these five law firms as best:
1) Cozen O’Connor
2) Nutter McClennen & Fish
3) Fox Rothschild
4) Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman
5) Bingham McCutchen
The results were based on a survey of more than 4,800 law students working at 124 firms. They were asked about nine subject areas, including the amount of interesting work, training and guidance, and interactions with other lawyers at their firms.
