Summer Associate: Thoughts, Anxieties, Experiences, etc. Forum

[bk1]

Nominating this thread for worst of the year.

[Scotusnerd]

Nominating this thread for worst of the year.

Can't be. Thesealocust is posting in it. That automatically bumps it up several slots from 'horribly retarded' to 'retarded'.

Folks, stop stressing yourselves. Go out, do the work, come home, crack a beer. This is not rocket science and you don't need to stress about every little detail. And for God's sake, don't let work follow you home. Get into good mental habits now.

[Summerz]

I found this to be one of the few topics to be of interest. People just writing about their SA experiences on a law school board, how novel. Up until now this was one of the few (and perhaps only) interesting threads where someone with thousands of posts hadn’t jumped in just to say something really negative. I guess it was just a matter of time… I do not know why they think it's cool, but they must.

[nucky thompson]

having trouble researching an assignment - any pointers would be helpful.

issue: A goes to new insurance agent seeking a new umbrella policy. B, the new agent, sets up a new umbrella policy to begin on the first of the month. A's old umbrella policy, which was set to expire at the end of the month, was actually cancelled due to delinquency just one day before the new umbrella policy was set to begin. On the day that A was not covered, because old policy was cancelled and new policy had yet to begin, there was an accident.

A's previous insurer had given notice of the delinquency, however, A wants to sue B arguing that B should have inquired about prior policy coverage/whether or not A was delinquent.

I have been looking for duties/responsibilities for agents but I just cant seem to find an answer. Any help/advice?

[Cavalier]

having trouble researching an assignment - any pointers would be helpful.

issue: A goes to new insurance agent seeking a new umbrella policy. B, the new agent, sets up a new umbrella policy to begin on the first of the month. A's old umbrella policy, which was set to expire at the end of the month, was actually cancelled due to delinquency just one day before the new umbrella policy was set to begin. On the day that A was not covered, because old policy was cancelled and new policy had yet to begin, there was an accident.

A's previous insurer had given notice of the delinquency, however, A wants to sue B arguing that B should have inquired about prior policy coverage/whether or not A was delinquent.

I have been looking for duties/responsibilities for agents but I just cant seem to find an answer. Any help/advice?

http://next.westlaw.com/

[nucky thompson]

having trouble researching an assignment - any pointers would be helpful.

issue: A goes to new insurance agent seeking a new umbrella policy. B, the new agent, sets up a new umbrella policy to begin on the first of the month. A's old umbrella policy, which was set to expire at the end of the month, was actually cancelled due to delinquency just one day before the new umbrella policy was set to begin. On the day that A was not covered, because old policy was cancelled and new policy had yet to begin, there was an accident.

A's previous insurer had given notice of the delinquency, however, A wants to sue B arguing that B should have inquired about prior policy coverage/whether or not A was delinquent.

I have been looking for duties/responsibilities for agents but I just cant seem to find an answer. [via westlaw] Any help/advice?

http://next.westlaw.com/

[NYstate]

I would guess that the principal having actual notice might limit a claim against the agent.
There are very specific insurance related cases. Find the insurance law for your state. There must be treatises, restatements, insurance law digests.

I'm not an expert but this sounds like something that has happened before and been litigated if the money is large enough.

Not giving advice to be relied on here- just trying to point you in a very general direction.

[aces]

Call the Westlaw/Lexis librarians/help line-- they are great with helping to structure searches to get what you need.

[Stinson]

having trouble researching an assignment - any pointers would be helpful.

issue: A goes to new insurance agent seeking a new umbrella policy. B, the new agent, sets up a new umbrella policy to begin on the first of the month. A's old umbrella policy, which was set to expire at the end of the month, was actually cancelled due to delinquency just one day before the new umbrella policy was set to begin. On the day that A was not covered, because old policy was cancelled and new policy had yet to begin, there was an accident.

A's previous insurer had given notice of the delinquency, however, A wants to sue B arguing that B should have inquired about prior policy coverage/whether or not A was delinquent.

I have been looking for duties/responsibilities for agents but I just cant seem to find an answer. Any help/advice?

Did you ask your firm's librarian for advice? That's always the first step if you're stuck.

[Sup Kid]

This week we got a hefty dose of "what lies in store"... never ending assignments, there was barely time to have a sandwich in the park (forget about making lunch reservations).

Thanks for the chuckle -- "what lies in store" does NOT equal "sandwich in the park"

[Anonymous Loser]

having trouble researching an assignment - any pointers would be helpful.

issue: A goes to new insurance agent seeking a new umbrella policy. B, the new agent, sets up a new umbrella policy to begin on the first of the month. A's old umbrella policy, which was set to expire at the end of the month, was actually cancelled due to delinquency just one day before the new umbrella policy was set to begin. On the day that A was not covered, because old policy was cancelled and new policy had yet to begin, there was an accident.

A's previous insurer had given notice of the delinquency, however, A wants to sue B arguing that B should have inquired about prior policy coverage/whether or not A was delinquent.

I have been looking for duties/responsibilities for agents but I just cant seem to find an answer. Any help/advice?

Don't use the term "agent." Use the term "broker."

[Sheffield]

This week we got a hefty dose of "what lies in store"... never ending assignments, there was barely time to have a sandwich in the park (forget about making lunch reservations).

Thanks for the chuckle -- "what lies in store" does NOT equal "sandwich in the park"

That was a ++180 chuckle! Still...

(I laugh respectfully, since RW is my go-to TV ratings guru.)

[Anonymous User]

Is anyone else considering stepping away from Biglaw? The TLS consensus is that we haven't see anything yet in terms of work. This scares me. I've been billing 8.50-9 hours a day for the past several weeks. I'm exhausted. I don't think I'm cut out for this. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the work. I just don't think it's the quality of life I'm looking for. I want a family one day and I want to have hobbies. Anyone else rethinking big law?

[Flips88]

Is anyone else considering stepping away from Biglaw? The TLS consensus is that we haven't see anything yet in terms of work. This scares me. I've been billing 8.50-9 hours a day for the past several weeks. I'm exhausted. I don't think I'm cut out for this. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the work. I just don't think it's the quality of life I'm looking for. I want a family one day and I want to have hobbies. Anyone else rethinking big law?

(a) I think Big Law is just a stepping stone for the vast majority of people. It's a way to pay off loans and it provides great exit options

(b) Where are you working that you're putting in that many hours as an SA?

[Anonymous User]

Is anyone else considering stepping away from Biglaw? The TLS consensus is that we haven't see anything yet in terms of work. This scares me. I've been billing 8.50-9 hours a day for the past several weeks. I'm exhausted. I don't think I'm cut out for this. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the work. I just don't think it's the quality of life I'm looking for. I want a family one day and I want to have hobbies. Anyone else rethinking big law?

(a) I think Big Law is just a stepping stone for the vast majority of people. It's a way to pay off loans and it provides great exit options

(b) Where are you working that you're putting in that many hours as an SA?

I'm worried about the outing. haha. I don't want to name the firm. It's vault 50 though.

I like the exit options. I'll have 20k in debt when all is said and done, so not awful. Loan money always helps though.

[Flips88]

I'm worried about the outing. haha. I don't want to name the firm. It's vault 50 though.

I like the exit options. I'll have 20k in debt when all is said and done, so not awful. Loan money helps.

I assume it's in NYC. Have you talked to the recruiting people at your firm? I don't think there should be any real reason for a summer to be working 60-80 hours per week. All or most of the work you're doing is being written off. No reason to kill yourself over it. Are the rest of the SAs at your firm doing the same thing?

[Georgia Avenue]

Billing 9 hours a day? Fuck me, man. Like Flips said, your work's getting written off anyway, don't burn yourself out this summer before you even start.

[Bronte]

I'm worried about the outing. haha. I don't want to name the firm. It's vault 50 though.

I like the exit options. I'll have 20k in debt when all is said and done, so not awful. Loan money helps.

I assume it's in NYC. Have you talked to the recruiting people at your firm? I don't think there should be any real reason for a summer to be working 60-80 hours per week. All or most of the work you're doing is being written off. No reason to kill yourself over it. Are the rest of the SAs at your firm doing the same thing?

At some firms SAs work almost like regular associates. Cravath is the most notorious, but it's not the only one. They're in the minority, but it's become more of a thing recently. The last thing I would do is go complain to recruiting. Have a moment of introspection and consider whether you're working long hours because you have to or because you're being a gunner. If it's the former, just suck it up and worry about rethinking big law after you get the offer.

[thesealocust]

There's luck of the draw from start to finish. The capital markets are very busy, as are some litigation matters, which means frantic associates and frantic associates passing work to summer associates.

[Anonymous User]

Not the people from before, but I'll concur that it's really hard to turn down work as a summer. And very easy to get overwhelmed if you just take on everything. But try your best. It's obviously better to turn down some work and have some downtime than to blow deadlines and turn in shitty work because you have too many things going on.

[Anonymous User]

I'm worried about the outing. haha. I don't want to name the firm. It's vault 50 though.

I like the exit options. I'll have 20k in debt when all is said and done, so not awful. Loan money helps.

I assume it's in NYC. Have you talked to the recruiting people at your firm? I don't think there should be any real reason for a summer to be working 60-80 hours per week. All or most of the work you're doing is being written off. No reason to kill yourself over it. Are the rest of the SAs at your firm doing the same thing?

At some firms SAs work almost like regular associates. Cravath is the most notorious, but it's not the only one. They're in the minority, but it's become more of a thing recently. The last thing I would do is go complain to recruiting. Have a moment of introspection and consider whether you're working long hours because you have to or because you're being a gunner. If it's the former, just suck it up and worry about rethinking big law after you get the offer.

I'm starting to reconsider NY biglaw and thinking about trying to leverage the offer to move to a smaller market. Can anyone attest that the hours are more reasonable outside of NY? Is this more true at regional firms than national ones?

[MayomiSanchez]

First year lit associate at V20 here, summers at my firm seem to be pretty busy, many working on weekends etc. just throwing that out there.

[Anonymous User]

At some firms SAs work almost like regular associates. Cravath is the most notorious, but it's not the only one. They're in the minority, but it's become more of a thing recently. The last thing I would do is go complain to recruiting. Have a moment of introspection and consider whether you're working long hours because you have to or because you're being a gunner. If it's the former, just suck it up and worry about rethinking big law after you get the offer.

Actually, the summer workload is highly partner-dependent at Cravath. For many SAs, leaving around six is normal.

[Anonymous User]

Is it the consensus that it's better to say no to work, focus on 2 assignments instead of 3, and make sure the 2 are truly polished instead of just alright? The summer coordinator offered me a third assignment today and I felt bad saying no. He sounded disappointed.

In other words, quality over quantity?

[bk1]

Is it the consensus that it's better to say no to work, focus on 2 assignments instead of 3, and make sure the 2 are truly polished instead of just alright? The summer coordinator offered me a third assignment today and I felt bad saying no. He sounded disappointed.

In other words, quality over quantity?

Generally yes, but we don't know the specifics of your firm. Maybe the firm expected you to take the 3rd. Maybe they expected you to do a great job on all 3 and thought you could easily handle 3. Maybe they expected you to work late to finish a 3rd assignment. Then again, maybe they didn't. Maybe they are really chill and don't care. We can't tell you for sure because we don't work at your firm.