SUMMER ASSOCIATES

Our summer program is intended to give our summer associates a real sense of what it means to practice at Morrison & Foerster. Work is distributed using a central assignment system, taking into account your areas of interest. Depending upon the office, either our recruiting coordinator, a partner, or one or two associates will serve as work coordinators. They will distribute assignments and ensure that you receive a broad mix of work.

As a summer associate, you will receive work assignments suitable for first and second year associates. Typical assignments include writing briefs, motions, contracts and client memoranda, assisting in drafting and negotiation sessions, assisting in depositions and witness preparation and performing due diligence in corporate transactions. You also may volunteer for pro bono assignments, as we encourage all our attorneys to undertake these types of projects. The goal is that you work on a variety of substantive projects to demonstrate your writing, research and analytical skills and to provide you a realistic perspective on what it is like to work as an attorney at Morrison & Foerster. You will work directly with senior attorneys and partners, either alone or as part of a team with other associates, paralegals and other staff. Generally, you will have multiple assignments at once, which will require effective time management and prioritization. We expect that you will contribute to the matters on which you are working and take ownership of your assignments.

We believe that direct participation and hands-on experience in engaging client matters provide the most rewarding opportunity. We provide summer associates with the tools they need to enhance their skills through a variety of training programs designed specifically for summer associates. Summer associates also are encouraged to attend our ongoing training programs. Given the brevity of the summer program, we introduce the full capabilities of the firm through practice area presentations. These presentations are designed to educate summer associates about different practice groups, the work undertaken by each practice group, and how that practice area interacts with other groups.

We recognize the importance of mentoring to our summer associates. Each summer associate is assigned one or more mentors to help acclimate them to the firm. Mentors take their summer associates out to lunch early in the program and throughout the summer. In addition, mentors will introduce their summer associates to the attorneys and staff in their practice group and office. Most importantly, mentors act as a sounding board for any questions or concerns summer associates may have throughout the summer.