A valuable opportunity for you—and Shumaker
Our summer associate program is the major source of our future associates and partners, so it’s a program we value highly. We recruit summer associates after their first and second years in leading law schools nationwide. If you’re chosen for inclusion, it’s because we see you as a "Shumaker lawyer."
What to expect from us
Your summer will preview exactly what to expect at Shumaker. If you come to practice law with us, you will have a chance to work on a wide variety of projects involving multiple practice areas. You'll attend court appearances, discovery proceedings, client meetings, and transaction closings. You'll draft legal documents that are filed with the court system or delivered directly to clients. In other words, you'll find out very quickly what it's like to practice law!
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.
You won’t be stuck with one attorney or one project. Working on multiple projects for multiple people will give you the opportunity to learn more about your own optimal skill set. That's to your advantage—and ours. We’ll also 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.
How it works
Your summer experience begins with our recruiting process. We focus on schools that are leaders in our geographical areas: 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. We also cover major national schools like Emory University and Georgetown University.
Next, you'll meet with one or two Shumaker lawyers for on-campus interviews. Selected candidates will 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 chosen, your summer coordinator will oversee your workload and make sure you have projects that match your interests. You'll attend regular practice group meetings, where legal training is provided. You'll 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.
You'll 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. If it seems you need improvement, we provide constructive feedback designed to help you. Additional mid-summer and final evaluations let you know where you stand, and we review all these evaluations when making our offer decisions.
Building a future that reflects all voices
We are committed to fostering inclusion among our attorneys and other professionals. At Shumaker, we believe that including attorneys and staff members from various backgrounds is a critically important element in providing quality legal services to our clients and a productive working environment for our team members.