Welcome to our new Friday series of articles designed for law students!  Our guest author, Frank Kimball will be guiding you through the steps you need to succeed as a summer associate.  Once you have landed that prize spot - you must still land larger prize of an associate position.  Frank will show you the pitfalls as well as the path to success. 

Frank is the only former hiring partner of one of the largest national firms who provides search services, project consulting and training for leading law firms. He has interviewed, hired, placed, or counseled more than 10,000 law students and attorneys. Each year he meets with more than 200 law students and more than 200 lateral candidates who are considering joining leading firms.  His articles are a practical, eye-opening roadmap that will guide students through the inner sanctum of the law firm world.  Join us each friday as Frank shares his invaluable advice with you!

Laura Leopard

Many law students will join law firm summer programs or internships next May. Most will end the summer a few pounds heavier and basically pleased with their experience. Some will be disappointed and fail. Others will be confused. But many will focus too much on ‘getting an offer’ and too little on using this summer to match professional dreams with market realities.

These series of articles discusses; How to Succeed, Avoiding the Common Causes of Failure, the Tough Issues of Romance, Sexual Harassment, Casual Attire, Drugs, and Alcohol, the Impact of the Recession, the Firm’s Side of the Table, and Offer and No-offer Decisions and Choosing Cities and Practice Areas.

It also covers several subjects whichcan put the summer in perspective and help law students understand how the current market will impact their opportunities.

HOW TO SUCCEED

Law school begins with learning what professors expect and how grading and exams work. Success in the summer begins with understanding what the firm wants and how to deliver it. In some respects it seems simple. Law firms deliver professional advice for a fee. The market for legal services is extremely competitive. Delivering quality, and value every day is critical.

The fundamentals of practice — profitability, keeping and finding clients, providing stellar service — flow from vigilance about quality and value. This section discusses the important art of  understanding and managing assignments juggling conflicting demands accounting for your time handling criticism protecting the confidences of the firm and its clients  and using the firm’s computer and voicemail systems with care.

MASTER YOUR ASSIGNMENTS

Mastering assignments begins with understanding what lawyers want. You are not in law school; this is not a contest where you are graded against other students. Clients want answers — not issue spotting. Sophisticated clients already know the issues. Clients want answers based on the facts and applicable law — not theory based on policy arguments, law review articles, cases from other states, dissenting opinions, or model statutes which have not been adopted.

The most frequent problems in summer programs arise from misunderstood assignments. Common errors include spending the wrong amount of time on a project delivering the wrong type of work product  memoranda that speak with the voice of a law student rather than that of a lawyer and inadequate or excessive legal research. Each is preventable.

If you do not enjoy research, call that truck driving school. If you do not have a natural curiosity about legal issues you are in the wrong profession. That means a rigorous, disciplined approach to defining problems and finding answers even if it means going through scores of cases, stacks of treatises, and hitting innumerable dead ends until you are satisfied.   (please click below to continue)