Orientation & Training
What does Williams & Connolly’s orientation and training look like?
When summer associates arrive at the firm, they are assigned to a partner and an associate mentor. Work assignments are coordinated by a committee of attorneys that distributes assignments. The objective is to give each summer associate work in their areas of interest as well as a variety of projects and exposure to a number of lawyers in the firm. It is rare to work on only one matter, unless the opportunity exists to participate in a trial. Summer associates are encouraged to attend trials, hearings, depositions, closings and client meetings.
The firm hosts weekly lunch programs in which groups of attorneys give informal presentations about their practice areas, recent trials, etc. In addition, the firm invites summer associates to a series of orientation sessions and Continuing Legal Education (“CLE") seminars, which are designed to introduce them to the firm and to provide training on fundamental aspects of the firm's practice.
Summer Activities
What kind of activities are summers involved in?
We are excited by the range and challenge of the work we do, and we want summer associates to receive substantial exposure to it.
According to the Vault Guide to the Top 100 Law Firms (2023 Edition):
“Summers are given real assignments to draft such as sections of briefs or motions. These actually get filed (after attorney revisions). If asked to draft a memorandum, these are used by partners or sent to the client.”
“My summer was incredibly substantive, [spanned] a wide variety of practice areas, and I was able to work with a wide range of associates and partners.”
“The partners also care about our staff members, not just our attorneys! Throughout the pandemic, the firm paid full salaries and benefits to all staff members (no layoffs), including those who could not do their jobs remotely (e.g., kitchen and mail room staff). I wish more people knew about that decision—I think it reflects how much the firm actually cares.”
We host weekly lunch programs in which groups of attorneys give informal presentations about their practice areas and cases. We also encourage opportunities for summer associates to get to know our lawyers through informal meetings - in the dining room at lunch, and through a number of optional events outside the office. A few examples of past summer events include:
• Washington Nationals, Washington Spirit and DC United Games
• Weekly softball games
• Performances at local music venues and theaters
• Outings on the Potomac
• Evening socials
The social events enable our summer associates to get to know our attorneys in a relaxed environment. This allows them to understand one of the firm's greatest assets - our people. Many of our summer associates have developed close friendships with each other and with our lawyers as a result of the professional and social activities they participated in throughout the summer.
Split Summer Policy
What’s your policy on splitting summers?
We prefer that summer associates spend as many weeks as possible at the firm. We allow summer associates to split the summer so long as they spend the first half of the summer with us and stay at least eight weeks.