Associate Life Survey: Summer Love… Or Lack Thereof
We have some bad news for this year’s summer associates. Based on Monday’s survey, brought to you by ATL and Lateral Link, about one in four attorneys at your firm didn’t like you.
The number of practicing attorneys who said “Summer associates, hate ‘em” narrowly beat the number of practicing attorneys who said “Summer associates, love ‘em,” by a margin of 25.06% to 24.82%. And while that edge may not be statistically significant, it still has to sting a little.
Among lawyers who had been practicing for more than two years, the gap widened considerably, to 30% vs. 22%.
And in Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, and Miami, associates of all ages hated summer associates most of all, to the tune of at least 40%.
Mind you, half of practicing respondents were simply neutral on the question — but that’s still pretty cold comfort, in this season of cold offers.
Read more, below the fold.
Summer associates: love ‘em or hate ‘em, most lawyers thought there were a lot of ‘em. About 53% of practicing attorneys said that their firms’ summer programs were too big this year, with 21% calling them “way too big.” This dovetails with some reporting last week in the ABA Journal:
Because of an unexpectedly high acceptance rate, Morrison & Foerster wound up with 140 summer associates this year, compared to the 110 that his 1,160 law firm had sought. [MoFo Chairman Keith] Wetmore said his firm will be more cautious about making offers the next time around.The New York office of Dorsey & Whitney has taken a different tack and has eliminated its summer program, according to partner Robert Dwyer Jr., who heads that office. Other law firms that are opting out of summer recruiting this year include Chicago-based Arnstein & Lehr and Barnes & Thornburg in Indianapolis, the NLJ writes.
It’s interesting, if depressing, to compare the current climate with 2005, when the NLJ reported that “a still-tepid economic recovery” was making firms “savvier in selecting law students” — which meant that Latham was “bringing in 216 summer associates, compared with 164 last year.” Then again, that article also noted that Coudert Brothers was only hiring 16 summer associates, compared to 21 the previous year.
And when you compare how well Latham is doing today with how Coudert Brothers, well, isn’t, perhaps those supersized summer classes are actually a good sign for the firms that have them.
There was, of course, another prong to Monday’s survey: the LOLcat.
The kitten caboodle trounced haters by more than 6 to 1, with 76% of respondents saying “LOLcats, love ‘em” and only 12% saying “hate ‘em.”
But even among the haters, 20% of respondents still found summer associates more annoying.
Worse yet, the LOLcat haters were four times as likely to find summer associates worse than Rick Astley than the other way round. Oh noes!
Only one respondent out of 523, however, confessed to hating muppets, too.
Poor kermit.
And poor summers.
It’s not easy being green.
—
Justin Bernold is a Director at Lateral Link, the sponsor of this Associate Life Survey.
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Comments
First!
Second
This site sucks under its new custodian.
YAY LOLCATS!!!! And I didn't even try to stuff the ballot box by voting from different computers or engage in a save-the-LOLcats-campaign (although I have to admit that I briefly considered both).
A 6-to-1 voting ratio in favor of cuteness says good things about the legal profession. (And seriously, what kind of person hates kittens?) Of course, it could also be a 6-to-1 ratio in favor of annoying that 12% of complainers, but no matter: The cats are here to stay and the complaining kitten haters will continue to suffer episodes of rage!
These are also particularly cute kitten photos.
i can continu to haz satisfacshun of seeing lolcats at wurk! kthx, atl.
FYI - Coudert Brothers has been out of business since 9/2006, so it is very unlikely they would continue a summer program.
7, you must be new here (and to the legal profession). Try to do a better job of hiding it. Thanks!
True that 7.
Probably explains the "And when you compare how well Latham is doing today with how Coudert Brothers, well, isn't," line.
Maybe with the economy the way it is, firms will stop hiring such massive summer classes and give those billables and attention to the associates it already has. In the end, if a firm winds up short, it isn't too hard to find a 3L to fill the spot. There's no down-side is shrinking the class. Summers get a better chance of getting an offer and the firm saves money. Everyone wins.
LOLcats to 190k!
10 = Unaffectionate management consultant. Your prejudice toward established associates is showing.
Anybody else more of a "dog person"? Why can't the pups feel the love?
OMG the grey-cat just made me scream...its scary
7 - FYI, Coudert went "out of business" in Sept. 2005. I would know, I helped packed up the boxes.
Being a summer associate as most firms these days is like being a Mexican illegal in an ag-town, blaring "My Heart Will Go On" in Spanish on the radio, and immediately signing a contract to work for the only corporate employer for an extra buck an hour, courtesy of the lack of social security taxes: you're not just killing every local's livelihood, you're doing in the most awful way imaginable. With that in mind, I'd take a 50% "approval" rating and run.
LOL, 14. Kittens aren't scary, they are cute!
i love the kittehs
Bratislava to kittehs!
12, I'm a junior associate actually.
(AP Newswire)- Touro Law School has taken the first steps towards gaining initial administrative approval for a groundbreaking plan. Touro has submitted all necessary applications to open up a new facility in Bratislava and expects to begin accepting students for fall 2010. This is an ambitious plan for Touro which recently closed the doors of satellite locations in Guam, the American Samoa, Rochester(N.Y.), and South Ossetia. Speaking at a recent ceremony the law school dean emphasized a desire "to think outside the box, open new locations, and fix our TTT reputation." The majority of Touro's funding will be coming from the sale of surplus computer equipment on eBay and the new "for-profit ambulence chaser clinic." The clinic will be directed by Bruiser, the guy from the Rainmaker.
Just kidding - 21.
Are you sure it's not Bruiser, the Chihuahua from "Legally Blonde"?
The approval of the LOLcats is the only thing on ATL that has ever made me really happy, and I am including all raise and bonus news for the past three years.
Take a look at endofesq.com. It has a couple of real funny posts.
You still have time to escape a collapsing profession