Law360’s Tracey Read recently sat down with Elsberg Baker & Maruri partner Silpa Maruri and Director of Recruiting Joanna Desposati to talk about the firm’s first-ever summer associate program — launched just 15 months after the firm opened its doors.
“We really do want the best of the best,” Maruri told Law360,“ and we think the best way to do that is through a summer associate program where we recruit the best and then cultivate them from the very beginning of their careers and give them really excellent opportunities from Day 1.”
This summer, the firm welcomed seven summer associates to join its team of 23 lawyers. From the outset, the program has been designed for real trial exposure, not just training modules. “For us, every single lawyer who joins the firm is a lawyer right away,” Maruri said. “They're not a lawyer in training, and so we expect everyone to be a contributor.”
Each summer associate is matched with at least two mentors – one partner plus one or two mid-level or senior associates and embedded directly into case teams. “Given our small size, we're able to really have the mentors get involved with their summers,” Desposati said.
"On top of that, there's something special and different about somebody who wants to go into litigation," Maruri said. "It's that fire. It's that sense of being self-driven. It's that sense of wanting the opportunity to stand up in court that we look for, in addition to just academic excellence."
Desposati emphasized that while summer associates go through various skill trainings, it's not all work. “We just went to a Beyoncé concert and a Yankees game," Desposati said. "I think the summers are surprised with how many trainings and how many events we have planned for the summer."
Maruri adds the firm has been fortunate to have had a steady stream of work from excellent clients. "What that means is we need the talent to make sure that that work gets done at the highest level of quality, which is why we're investing so much in our summer program and in hiring generally," she said.
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