What Makes Us Different

Lawyers who interview with us see an atmosphere of stability, integrity, work/life balance, and opportunity. If you are outstanding at what you do and are a team player, there is a place for you here. We take our time and are very careful about who we hire, not just making decisions on what "the numbers" look like. We look for matches in philosophy, personality, skills and quality—an approach that has served us well.

Why You Benefit

With a culture that encourages open communication and respect among colleagues, we take pride in working together. That means a solid grounding in principles of respect, cooperation and teamwork; excellence in client service; uncompromising ethical and professional behavior; and a genuine commitment to the communities that have been at the heart of our firm's success.

The members of our team find that these meaningful values reflect and integrate with other, more tangible rewards. As a Shumaker lawyer, you will find:

• A compensation system focused on teamwork, collaboration, initiative, professional contribution, and fairness
• An emphasis on meaningful client work, with billing rates that combine the best elements of value for the client and reward for you
• A collaborative approach to marketing and staffing in ways that let you work with top-quality lawyers and benefit from ample opportunities for client experience
• High morale and enjoyment from the practice of law in a values-driven environment where personal satisfaction, professional excellence, and client service reinforce each other

What Makes Us Different

Lawyers who interview with us see an atmosphere of stability, integrity, work/life balance, and opportunity. If you are outstanding at what you do and are a team player, there is a place for you here. We take our time and are very careful about who we hire, not just making decisions on what "the numbers" look like. We look for matches in philosophy, personality, skills and quality—an approach that has served us well.

You'll find that, although you get plenty of help with career development, you ultimately are the person responsible for your Shumaker career. Rather than being assigned a formal mentor, you'll find a number of lawyers who informally advise you because we believe mentoring works best when it is allowed to evolve naturally. Our firm does assign marketing mentors to associates to help you develop a marketing plan and review it twice a year while getting ideas and tips from the marketing team. You'll also find structured opportunities, like a mentoring program started by the Ohio Supreme Court, in which we participate.  The combination of opportunity and informality is, we believe, unique—and effective.

Why You Benefit

With a culture that encourages open communication and respect among colleagues, we take pride in working together. That means a solid grounding in principles of respect, cooperation, and teamwork; excellence in client service; uncompromising ethical and professional behavior; and a genuine commitment to the communities that have been at the heart of our firm's success.

The members of our team find that these meaningful values reflect and integrate with other, more tangible rewards. As a Shumaker lawyer, you will find:

• A compensation system focused on teamwork, collaboration, initiative, professional contribution, and fairness
• An emphasis on meaningful client work, with billing rates that combine the best elements of value for the client and reward for you
• A collaborative approach to marketing and staffing in ways that let you work with top-quality lawyers and benefit from ample opportunities for client experience
• High morale and enjoyment from the practice of law in a values-driven environment where personal satisfaction, professional excellence, and client service reinforce each other

What You Can Expect from Shumaker

The following doesn't exhaust the list of questions about the Shumaker experience you'll have, but it does cover some of the key points on what you can expect in working with us.

Q: What is Shumaker's partnership track?
A: Because we only hire associates who we can see becoming partners, our eight-year track is shorter than that of many firms.

Q: What kind of benefits do associates receive?
A: We offer associates a wide range of benefits, including (but not limited to) options for medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, plus short-term and long-term disability coverage, continuing legal education program fees, parental leave, and access to a 401(k) plan.

Q: What about compensation?
A: Compensation for associates is determined annually by each individual office.  Periodic salary increases are based on your performance as reflected in regular evaluations.

Q: How will I be evaluated?
A: We evaluate our associates semiannually based upon comments solicited from partners with whom you have worked.

Q: Do associates have a voice in firm governance?
A: There are associates on every firm committee except the Management Committee, and associates have a particularly strong voice in professional development. Associates in each of our offices meet at least quarterly to communicate and share ideas. For associates, Leadership Shumaker is a major involvement channel in which associates often take the lead in selecting organizations and causes for the firm to assist.

Why You Benefit

Legal staff professionals and paralegals will find Shumaker to be a rewarding place to build their careers. We are a good place to work because we emphasize teamwork that values the roles professional staff members play in serving our clients. Each of our offices strives to reflect the experiences and capabilities of the communities where we practice and live.

What You Can Expect from Shumaker

The positions we offer include a wide range of options, from financial analysts and informational technology specialists to recruitment coordinators and secretarial personnel. The primary mission of our paralegals and professional staff is the same as that of our lawyers: to add value to our clients by helping them meet their objectives. We seek highly motivated people who can help us achieve that mission. If you want to share in that commitment, you'll find a firm that is absolutely committed to the full realization of equal employment opportunity. We want you to excel and will give you all the support you need to do so.

Why You Benefit

Wherever possible, you'll have the opportunity to attend client meetings, closings, negotiations, depositions, trials, and courtroom hearings. The lawyers you work with will also ask you to draft research memoranda, litigation pleadings, motions and briefs, and a variety of transactional documents. It's a well-rounded approach that lets you demonstrate your analytical, advocacy, and writing skills, and that is as close to a first-year associate's experience as can be made.

It's a realistic approach that you don't get at school—or at other firms, where summer associates are rotated through to multiple practice groups. Doing multiple projects for multiple people is not only more realistic, but it also gives you the opportunity to learn more about your own optimal skill set. That's to your advantage—and ours.

You'll definitely have an enjoyable time, but with a purpose: getting to know your peers and the other lawyers we hope to have you work with in a year or two. We encourage you to participate in events like dinners, sporting events, and practice group get-togethers. Much of what we have planned will allow you to experience the city where you chose to spend the summer.

What You Can Expect from Shumaker

Your summer experience begins with our recruiting process, which we're proud to say we never suspended during the recession. We focus on schools that are leaders in our geographical—for example, The University of Michigan, Notre Dame, and The Ohio State University in the Midwest and The University of Florida, Florida State University, and Stetson University for our Tampa and Sarasota offices.

Additionally, we cover major national schools like Emory University and Georgetown University. You'll meet with one or two Shumaker lawyers for on-campus interviews, then receive a callback for further interviews with partners and associates at each office based on what we’ve learned from you, as well as our assignment needs by office.

Once you begin in the program, your summer coordinator will oversee your workload and make sure you are assigned projects that match your interests. You'll not only be invited to attend regular practice group meetings where legal training is provided, you'll also attend formal in-house seminars on topics like bankruptcy, trusts and estates, employee benefits, and mergers and acquisitions. It's all part of an experience specially designed to help summer associates develop the key professional skills and legal insight unique to their practice area.

As you continue to work on projects, you will be evaluated throughout the summer on each project you do. Lawyers who assign projects to you are required to provide substantive feedback in connection with each project, and if we feel you need improvement, we bring it up at once in a way designed to help you. Additional mid-summer and final evaluations let you know where you stand, and we review all of these evaluations when making our offer decisions.