The Summer Associate Mentor

In addition to the open atmosphere, the friendly recruiters, and the social events -- all intended to help summer associates feel comfortable with the Firm -- each summer associate is paired with a junior associate; who serves as a mentor throughout the summer. Mentors help the summer associate settle into the life of a law firm, give advice on work assignments, and provide the summer associate a familiar personal contact to turn to for answers to any question.

The Summer Associate Writing Coach

The transition from academic prose to legal writing can be a difficult one, and as such each summer associate is paired with a writing coach to assist with this transition. The writing coach reviews every assignment the summer associate completes. The reviews are not part of the summer associates’ evaluation but are solely solely intended to improve the summer associates’ writing abilities in preparation for law firm practice.

Summer Associate Training Programs via Dickstein Shapiro University

Professional development plays an important role in the life of Dickstein Shapiro attorneys, and the summer associate training program is taken very seriously. Through Dickstein Shapiro University, summer associates are afforded opportunities to attend a series of classes designed specifically for summer associates, as well to participate in courses offered to all Firm attorneys. Training programs offered to summer associates recently included:

• Anatomy of a Deposition - This course covered deposition skills, and was a prerequisite to the full-day deposition workshop.
• Deposition Workshop - The New York summer associates traveled to Washington DC to participate in an all-day session with their Washington colleagues. Each Summer Associate had the opportunity to take and defend a deposition during this workshop.
• Legal Writing Seminar - Early in the summer, summer associates participated in a course on writing for a law firm.
• Negotiation Skills Workshop - Again, the New York summer associates traveled to the Washington DC office to participate in a full-day session. An exercise in the morning prepared the summer associates for the mock negotiation exercise in the afternoon
• Negotiation Tactics - This course covered basic negotiation tactics, and was a prerequisite to the full-day negotiation skills workshop..