Starting Summer Associate Position Late - Quarter System Forum

[Anonymous User]

BEyond the obvious disadvantages of starting the summer a month late (relationships with fellow summers, events, networking) are there any disadvantages in terms of getting work from my desired practice group? I chose the firm largely because I could be in X practice group and I'm sure among others in the class it's a popular one. Will starting a month late make getting work in that area more difficult? Anyone have any experience starting in early/mid-June instead of the normal May?

[Anonymous User]

BEyond the obvious disadvantages of starting the summer a month late (relationships with fellow summers, events, networking) are there any disadvantages in terms of getting work from my desired practice group? I chose the firm largely because I could be in X practice group and I'm sure among others in the class it's a popular one. Will starting a month late make getting work in that area more difficult? Anyone have any experience starting in early/mid-June instead of the normal May?

sls alum here. i was at a disadvantage socially but i had no issues getting work in the practice areas i wanted, and my firm did not make you assign to a group right away. that said, i specifically did not go to a couple of firms that did end of summer practice group offers because i did feel like i'd be at a disadvantage. e.g., certain practice groups at skadden ny (at the time) picked who to give offers to at the end of the summer based on who they liked they most/spent the most time with socially (practically speaking, who got "in" early enough in the summer and went to all of their parties/afterparties).

[Anonymous User]

BEyond the obvious disadvantages of starting the summer a month late (relationships with fellow summers, events, networking) are there any disadvantages in terms of getting work from my desired practice group? I chose the firm largely because I could be in X practice group and I'm sure among others in the class it's a popular one. Will starting a month late make getting work in that area more difficult? Anyone have any experience starting in early/mid-June instead of the normal May?

The UChicago summers that came in late did just fine and were very quickly integrated into the group. It was just a tiny bit weird when they came on later and when they stayed later, but the 6 week period when we were all together it was not even noticeable. It's definitely a very minor disadvantage/annoyance, but nothing that will particularly affect your summer experience. I don't want to shatter the illusion but it's very important to understand that most summer assignments are either made up or very unimportant. We want to get to know you socially and see how you'll fit in. Your goal should be to make plenty of associates remember "oh that first year was a cool summer let me bring him onto my team" when you start, basically.

One caveat: I was at a firm where the summer is basically one long party. If your firm is like a WLRK where the summer is genuinely full of substantive work, etc. it might be a different situation.

[Anonymous User]

BEyond the obvious disadvantages of starting the summer a month late (relationships with fellow summers, events, networking) are there any disadvantages in terms of getting work from my desired practice group? I chose the firm largely because I could be in X practice group and I'm sure among others in the class it's a popular one. Will starting a month late make getting work in that area more difficult? Anyone have any experience starting in early/mid-June instead of the normal May?

The UChicago summers that came in late did just fine and were very quickly integrated into the group. It was just a tiny bit weird when they came on later and when they stayed later, but the 6 week period when we were all together it was not even noticeable. It's definitely a very minor disadvantage/annoyance, but nothing that will particularly affect your summer experience. I don't want to shatter the illusion but it's very important to understand that most summer assignments are either made up or very unimportant. We want to get to know you socially and see how you'll fit in. Your goal should be to make plenty of associates remember "oh that first year was a cool summer let me bring him onto my team" when you start, basically.

One caveat: I was at a firm where the summer is basically one long party. If your firm is like a WLRK where the summer is genuinely full of substantive work, etc. it might be a different situation.

I would think being the only summer for a couple weeks would be a pro from that perspective? You're the only one around to do summer projects. Attorneys always think of cool summer assignments the minute the summers leave, but you'll get to pick up whichever of those you want!