Summer Associate of the Day: The Cradle Robber

“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my law firm. My sin, my soul, my summer intern. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.”
Now that summer associate programs are over, and most summers have offers safely in hand, it’s a good (read: safe) time to dish about SA scandals. If you have a story to share that we haven’t previously covered, please email us.
Here’s one story that is making the rounds. We’ve omitted the firm name because the summer class was not very large. Per our usual rules, please don’t name the summer associate (or the college student) in the comments.
After a firm-sponsored event, a college student interning at the firm went out for drinks with several summer and full-time associates. She was not old enough to be drinking.
The college intern, in a state of inebriation, left the bar hanging all over one of the summer associates (hereinafter “The Cradle Robber”). Later that evening, the Cradle Robber wrote an email to several associates, claiming that “the deal was sealed” with the college intern.
An associate forwarded the email to the hiring partner. The Cradle Robber did not receive an offer.
Read our take on this series of events, after the jump.


Our view: seriously? No-offering the SA strikes us as a Puritanical overreaction. Perhaps the firm was looking for reasons to reduce its 2009 incoming class.
There’s no indication that the rumored relations were non-consensual (unless one subscribes to the theory that rape occurs every time a less-than-sober woman sleeps with a man). As for the underage drinking, that’s more the fault of the college intern than the summer associate. And that’s a venial sin, if it’s one at all; many college presidents question whether the drinking age should be 21.
As for the “kiss and tell” email, sure, it’s tacky. But is it any worse than the kind of morning-after, locker-room boasting that takes place in law firms — and investment banks, and college dorm rooms — every day of the year?
But maybe we’re taking too liberal a view. What do you think?
Update: Additional discussion, plus a reader poll, accessible over here.

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