We’ve received about 950 responses to our ATL / Lateral Link surveys on the lengths and lunches of summer programs, and last week we reported on how frequently you’re lunching this summer. Since then, Kash has posted a series of open threads on which lunch spots to frequent in different cities.

In today’s ATL / Lateral Link survey results, let’s branch out from frequency and talk about length. How long will this summer’s cycle of feeding and schmoozing continue?

Based on our survey results so far, the majority of this year’s summer associates are, ahem, “working” for more than ten weeks this summer.

Survey Responses: How Long Are You Working This Summer?

But how long should they be “working”? Only about a third of respondents think that a summer program should last more than ten weeks. Almost a fifth of respondents would prefer a length of … zero weeks.

Survey Responses: How Long Should A Summer Associate Program Be?

Interestingly, nobody who graduated from law school before 2005 thought that a summer program should last more than 12 weeks, and nobody currently in law school thought that a firm “should just hire laterals.” Eighty percent of the respondents who said firms “should just make permanent offers to 2Ls and skip the summer program” are either first-year associates, current graduates, or summering right now.

So, if you’re out at a summer associate lunch today, there’s a pretty good chance that at least one person there would rather just skip the process. Is it you?

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Justin Bernold is a Director at Lateral Link, the sponsor of this Associate Life Survey.