Morgan Lewis Forum

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know anything about MLB's PICS program? Do summers choose to participate in it?

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know anything about MLB's PICS program? Do summers choose to participate in it?

bump. would it be a bad idea to play this up as a reason for wanting to summer at MLB? that it is the only program of its kind or does that make you seem like a pro bono freak who doesnt care about making the firm money? thanks.

fyi, this is the PICS program:

"As a result of Morgan Lewis’s long standing commitment to serving our communities, in 2001 we established the Public Interest and Community Service (“PICS”) Program, which, we believe, is unlike anything offered by other U.S. law firms. The PICS Program provides summer associates the option of either participating in the firm’s traditional summer associate program for the full summer, or spending the first part of the summer (at least six weeks) in the traditional program, followed by a full-time assignment at a public interest or community service organization. In the past, summer associates have worked for diverse organizations such as Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, National Veterans Legal Services Program, ACLU National Prison Project, and Aids Law Project. Summer associates who select the PICS option receive a stipend equal to the salary that they would have received at the firm."

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know anything about MLB's PICS program? Do summers choose to participate in it?

bump. would it be a bad idea to play this up as a reason for wanting to summer at MLB? that it is the only program of its kind or does that make you seem like a pro bono freak who doesnt care about making the firm money? thanks.

It's certainly not a bad idea to express interest in it, but if you have a very PI focused resume, I would not stress too hard the importance of PICS in your decision making. That said, MLB is very into pro bono work and the PICS program is one indication of that commitment, so I would (and did successfully at OCI last year) talk about their pro bono commitment as a good way of getting real experience early on in your legal career and the PICS program is one of many things that attracted you to the firm. This is all coming from someone who just finished their summer at MLB and participated in PICS while there.

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know anything about MLB's PICS program? Do summers choose to participate in it?

bump. would it be a bad idea to play this up as a reason for wanting to summer at MLB? that it is the only program of its kind or does that make you seem like a pro bono freak who doesnt care about making the firm money? thanks.

It's certainly not a bad idea to express interest in it, but if you have a very PI focused resume, I would not stress too hard the importance of PICS in your decision making. That said, MLB is very into pro bono work and the PICS program is one indication of that commitment, so I would (and did successfully at OCI last year) talk about their pro bono commitment as a good way of getting real experience early on in your legal career and the PICS program is one of many things that attracted you to the firm. This is all coming from someone who just finished their summer at MLB and participated in PICS while there.

thanks so much! and congrats. did you have a very PI focused resume? I do - almost all PI/gov't with ONE private sector experience. So should I still bring PICS up?

and what did you mean by it being ok for me to talk about PICS as "a good way of getting real experience early on in your legal career" - real experience in what? pro bono work? or more involved legal work?

i think it might be a bit risky...

also, which office were you in?

[Anonymous User]

The idea is that pro bono cases let associates do things like draft briefs, take/defend depositions, argue motions, etc. that they often wouldn't be able to do until years late on a paying case. Firms know this and will often take on large pro bono commitments because it's a good way to train lawyers and get favorable publicity. It's OK to acknowledge this in a screener, and my firm (which consistently gets very high pro bono marks) really likes it when interviewees put this spin on the pro bono program - it shows an interest in training and a sensitivity to the financial realities of the clients.

[Anonymous User]

PSA: MLB Chi no-offered 1 of 4 summers in 2012 with no clear justification.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone hear anything from the NY office post-CB this cycle? How long did it take?

[Anonymous User]

I heard from a friend all the Bay Area summers got offers this year. Most did do PICS also.

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know anything about Morgan Lewis SF's culture?

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know anything about Morgan Lewis SF's culture?

I'd also be curious to hear about the SF office as well.

[Anonymous User]

did anyone get a DC offer yet? waiting to hear

[Anonymous User]

Email Ding today!

[Anonymous User]

Email Ding today!

Sorry. Which office?

[Anonymous User]

Email Ding today!

Sorry. Which office?

NY/Boston

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know anything about MLB's PICS program? Do summers choose to participate in it?

bump. would it be a bad idea to play this up as a reason for wanting to summer at MLB? that it is the only program of its kind or does that make you seem like a pro bono freak who doesnt care about making the firm money? thanks.

It's certainly not a bad idea to express interest in it, but if you have a very PI focused resume, I would not stress too hard the importance of PICS in your decision making. That said, MLB is very into pro bono work and the PICS program is one indication of that commitment, so I would (and did successfully at OCI last year) talk about their pro bono commitment as a good way of getting real experience early on in your legal career and the PICS program is one of many things that attracted you to the firm. This is all coming from someone who just finished their summer at MLB and participated in PICS while there.

thanks so much! and congrats. did you have a very PI focused resume? I do - almost all PI/gov't with ONE private sector experience. So should I still bring PICS up?

and what did you mean by it being ok for me to talk about PICS as "a good way of getting real experience early on in your legal career" - real experience in what? pro bono work? or more involved legal work?

i think it might be a bit risky...

also, which office were you in?

I have a VERY PI-focused background but I did ask about PICS in my cb's - though I framed it as a concern about whether PICS participants get as thorough of a sense of what it's like to work at mlb rather than excitement about the program. The partner that interviewed me was like, "look, you have your whole life ahead of you to work at a firm. this is your last summer as a student, and when you start here as an associate you're not going to have a PICS program. we really want our associates to take advantage of pics and you get the same quality of experience if you do pics as you would if you didn't." The associate I interviewed with hadn't done PICS, but both the associates who took me to lunch had and were enthusiastic about it. Other partners seemed positive about my PI background, saying that it was clear I would be participating in the pro bono practice.

CB yesterday, offer this morning.

[Anonymous User]

did anyone get a DC offer yet? waiting to hear

Was about to ask this question. I just interviewed a week ago and love the firm.

[Anonymous User]

Also, more than one person mentioned how they use pro bono to get their associates some trial experience early on.

[Anonymous User]

did anyone get a DC offer yet? waiting to hear

Was about to ask this question. I just interviewed a week ago and love the firm.

I got one this morning. Interview yesterday.

[Anonymous User]

Anymore movement on the DC front? Had my CB about 10 days ago.

[Anonymous User]

.

[Anonymous User]

how quick is their process, generally speaking? screener to callback and then callback to offer?

[Anonymous User]

I think it totally depends on how good the candidate is, and how tough the competition is... and that's not just Morgan Lewis, that's just in general. Maybe you can post what office you're applying to for more specific feedback...
For instance, in NY, someone applying for a corporate job with a finance background might get through the process faster.