The latest batch of eager summer associates has either just arrived at their firms, or will soon. Like the profession itself, the institution of the summer program has been going through something of an identity crisis in recent years. Is it a ten-week courtship ritual? Is it a sinecure with an open bar? An opportunity to do “meaningful work” in a “realistic” setting? In any case, two things are certain: a 2L summer associate position remains essentially the only route into Biglaw, and there are far fewer spots open than there were pre-recession (although demand has been trending up slightly since the 2009 nadir).
Today, we take a look at the summer associate responses to the ATL Insider Survey. Which firms are most highly rated by their summers? Our survey asks current and former summers to rate their employers based on the categories of Compensation, Hours, Firm Morale, Training, and Culture and Colleagues. Below are the ten highest rated firms by summer associates. The numerical scores are the averages of all the “quality of life” ratings by students who summered in 2014, on a scale of 1-10 (10 is best).
1. Kirkland & Ellis (9.47)
2. Gibson Dunn (9.42)
3. Cooley (9.40)
4. Davis Polk (9.37)
5. Jones Day (8.96)
6. Vinson & Elkins (8.94)
7. Cleary Gottlieb (8.78)
8. Skadden (8.64)
9. Cravath (8.62)
10. Quinn Emanuel (8.06)
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The leading firms in each category:
Compensation: Kirkland
Hours: Gibson Dunn
Firm Morale: Gibson Dunn
Training: Cooley
Culture & Colleagues: Davis Polk
Apart from the obvious difficulty of guessing staffing needs two years in the future, one common criticism of the traditional law firm summer associate program is that the experience is artificial. Jay Edelson spoke for many critics when he compared the traditional Biglaw summer program to “a scene out of the Great Gatsby that’s playing out for the summers on the main stage, while below the surface the rest of the firm is toiling away as (extremely well paid) miners working under vastly different conditions.”
While his imagery may be a bit lurid, our survey data reinforces his point about the disconnect. Firm ratings by full-time associates are strikingly lower across the board compared to their summer colleagues, by about 1.3 points (on a 10 point scale). Interestingly, the firm with the largest discrepancy between summer and full-time ratings is our top rated firm by summer associates, Kirkland & Ellis, with a 2.11 point differential. On the other hand, the Quinn Emanuel summer program deserves some sort of honorable mention for “realness,” with only a hairsbreadth .18 difference in rating between summers and full-timers.