Each year Rhoades McKee carefully selects second year law students to serve as summer associates. It is the firm’s goal to hire first year associates through the firm’s summer program. The goal of the program is to provide summer associates with a realistic experience of practicing in a mid-size, full service law firm. We attempt to gauge each summer associate’s ability and desire to be part of and contribute to the firm’s practice and in order to allow each summer associate to make an informed decision regarding his or her desire to join the firm as a first-year associate.

Summer associates are not viewed as simply research assistants but are expected to be a vital part of their assigned projects. Summer associates receive assignments from many, if not all, of the firm’s practice groups, although if a summer associate so desires, the firm will concentrate assignments in a particular area of practice. In addition to researching and drafting memoranda on various issues of law, summer associates may also be asked to draft various types of corporate and commercial contracts, real estate agreements, probate and estate planning documents and litigation pleadings.

In a further effort to get to know our summer associates and to give summer associates an opportunity to get to know the firm’s lawyers, summer associates are included in all of the firm’s social events, including golf outings, dinners, luncheons, and sports events.

The summer associate program is run by two partners who act as the summer associates’ mentors and also oversee the assignments given to the summer associates. By directing the flow of assignments through these two partners the firm ensures that its summer associates are exposed to as many different areas and as many different Rhoades McKee attorneys, paralegals and staff as possible. Feedback is important to the firm and the firm recognizes that feedback is important to summer associates. Summer associates receive constant feedback on individual assignments from their mentors and the lawyers with whom they are working on assignments.

If you would like more information on the firm’s summer associate program, please send your letter of introduction and resume to Patrick R. Drueke. Please note that we seek letters and resumes only from second year law students for our summer associate program.