Here are a list of 1L summer associate positions for diverse candidates. Usually, 1L summer associate spots at Big Law firms are reserved for diverse candidates. If you are not a diverse candidate, you should still email the recruiters at the Big Law firms on this list to express your interest in their summer program.
These are all paid positions, but note that some pay more than others. In addition, not all of these firms are Big Law. If you’re looking for a Big Law Cravath pay scale as a summer associate, you most likely need to be in the Texas, New York, DC, Illinois (Chicago) or California legal market. Some Mid Law firms also offer a similar salary.
Regardless, your focus is to get a job for the summer. Any sort of paid position for 1Ls will be extremely difficult to come by so take what you can get. Also, don’t waste your time applying to a city or firm where you do not want to work in the future. Firms care about strong geographic ties.
The firms highlighted in red are globally known as “Big Law.” The rest are Mid Law firms or smaller, local firms. You can click on each firm name for details about applying.
New firm added as of 1/18/21: Gunderson Dettmer
Firm Name | Firm Contact | Program Location(s) | App Deadline |
Armstrong Teasdale LLP | Molly Duvall(mduvall@atllp.com) | St. Louis, MO | 1/29/21 |
Baker Botts LLP / AT&T (split summer) | Alison Ketabchi (alison.ketabchi@bakerbotts.com) | Austin, TX, Dallas, TX, Houston, TX, New York, NY, Palo Alto, CA, San Francisco, CA, Washington, DC | 2/1/21 |
Baker Donelson | Helen Beasley (hbeasley@bakerdonelson.com) | Atlanta, GA, Baltimore, MD, Baton Rouge, LA, Birmingham, AL, Houston, TX, Jackson, MS, Knoxville, TN, Memphis, TN, Nashville, TV, New Orleans, LA | 1/29/21 |
Baker & Hostetler LLP | Monique Mahler (mmahler@bakerlaw.com) | Dallas, TX | 1/15/21 |
Barnes & Thornburg LLP | Kim Finney (kim.finney@btlaw.com) | Chicago, IL, Indianapolis, IN, South Bend/Elkhart, IN | n/a (i.e., ASAP) |
Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver LLC | Rachel Kiedrowski (careers@barrassousdin.com) | New Orleans, LA | n/a (i.e., ASAP) |
Bass, Berry & Sims PLC | Kelly Bahiraei (kelly.bahiraei@bassberry.com) | Nashville, TN | 2/19/21 |
Beveridge & Diamond PC | Lindy Resh (summerprogram@bdlaw.com) | Austin, TX, Baltimore, MD, Boston, MA, New York, NY, San Francisco, CA, Seattle, WA, Washington, DC | 1/15/21 |
Bondurant Mixson & Elmore LLP | Jodie Richey (richey@bmelaw.com) | Atlanta, GA | 1/15/21 |
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP | Jessica Richards (jrichards@bradley.com) | Birmingham, AL, Charlotte, NC, Dallas, TX, Houston, TX, Huntsville, AL, Jackson, MS, Montgomery, AL, Nashville, TN, Tampa, FL | n/a (i.e., ASAP) |
Butler Snow LLP | Brooke Owen (brooke.owen@butlersnow.com) | Austin, TX, Birmingham, AL, Charleston, SC, Jackson, MS, Memphis, TN, Nashville, TN | n/a (i.e., ASAP) |
Clark Hill PLC | Laura Lau (llau@clark-hill.com) | Los Angeles, CA | 2/1/21 |
Covington & Burling LLP | California: Kelsey Donovan (legalrecruitingca@cov.com)New York: Marilyn Palacios (legal.recruitingny@cov.com)DC: DeAnna Bumstead-Yeary (legal.recruiting@cov.com) | Los Angeles, CA, New York, NY, San Francisco, CA, Washington, DC | 1/15/21 |
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP | Emily Sanchez (csmrecruit@cravath.com) | New York, NY | 3/1/21 |
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP / Comcast NBC Universal (split summer) | Natalie de Pasquale (natalie.depasquale@davispolk.com) | New York, NY and Philadelphia PA | ASAP (only 2 spots) |
Dechert LLP | legal.recruiting@dechert.com | New York, NY, Charlotte NC | 2/1/21 |
Dentons | Mary Boxer (mary.boxer@dentons.com) | Atlanta, GA, Chicago IL, Indianapolis, IN, Louisville, KY, Pittsburgh, PA | n/a (i.e., ASAP) |
Dorsey & Whitney LLP | Kirsten Otto (otto.kirsten@dorsey.com) | Minneapolis, MN, Salt Lake City, UT and Seattle, WA | 1/18/21 |
Fish & Richardson | Whitney Smallwood (smallwood@fr.com) | Atlanta, GA, Austin, TX, Boston, MA, Dallas, TX, Delaware, Houston, TX, New York, NY, San Diego, CA, Silicon Valley, Twin Cities, Washington, DC | 12/30/21 |
Fisher & Phillips LLP | Marleen Matal (mmatal@fisherphillips.com) | Atlanta, GA, Los Angeles, CA and Philadelphia, PA | Apply after 1/1/21 and by 2/5/21 |
Foley & Lardner LLP | Amy Moynihan (amoynihan@foley.com) | See here | n/a (i.e., ASAP) |
Fredrikson & Byron PA | Nancy Howard (nhoward@fredlaw.com) | Minneapolis, MN | 1/20/21 |
Frost Brown Todd LLP | Barbara Savage (bsavage@fbtlaw.com) | Cincinnati, OH, Houston, TX, Indianapolis, IN, Louisville, KY | 1/15/21 |
Greenberg Traurig LLP | Kathleen Cline (clinek@gtlaw.com) | Chicago, IL Boston, MA | n/a (i.e., ASAP) |
Gunderson Dettmer | New York, NY San Francisco, CA Boston, MA | 1/22/21 | |
Hanson Bridgett LLP | Christine Wang (cwang@hansonbridgett.com) | San Francisco, CA | 1/22/21 |
Jackson Walker LLP | Shannon Peters (speters@jw.com) | Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, TX | n/a (i.e., ASAP) |
K&L Gates LLP | See here | Boston, MA, Charleston, SC, Charlotte, NC, Portland, OR, Raleigh, NC, Seattle, WA, Washington, DC | 1/31/21 |
Kasowitz Benson Torres | Brigid Riordan (briordan@kasowitz.com) | New York, NY | 1/31/21 |
Katten Muchin Roseman LLP | Stephanie London | Chicago, IL, Dallas, TX, Los Angeles, CA, New York, NY, Washington, DC | n/a (i.e., ASAP) |
Kean Miller LLP | Danielle LeBlanc (danielle.leblanc@keanmiller.com) | Baton Rouge, LA | 12/22/21 |
Lewis Rice LLC | Jennifer Beevers (jbeevers@lewisrice.com) | St. Louis, MO | 1/15/21 |
Linklaters LLP | Alexandra Gharghoury (alexandra.gharghoury@linklaters.com) | New York, NY | 1/11/21 |
Littler Mendelson | Hannah Engelke | Los Angeles, CA, New York, NY, Phoenix, AZ, Portland, OR | n/a (i.e., ASAP) |
Locke Lorde LLP | Boston: Kathleen Crabtree (kathleen.crabtree@lockelord.com) Dallas: Ashley Hightower (Ashley.Hightower@lockelord.com) | Boston, MA, Dallas, TX | 1/15/21 |
Lowenstein Sandler LLP | Mona Patel (mpatel@lowenstein.com) | Roseland, NJ | 1/29/21 |
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP | Jennifer Carrion (jennifer.carrion@morganlewis.com) | Boston, MA, Houston, TX, Los Angeles, CA, New York, NY, Philadelphia, PA, San Francisco, CA, Washington, DC | 1/31/21 |
Morrison & Foerster LLP | Ayanna Ryans-Holder (aryansholder@mofo.com) | New York, NY | 1/29/21 |
Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP | diversity@mto.com | Los Angeles, CA, San Francisco, CA | 2/14/21 |
Norton Rose Fullbright US LLP | Austin & San Antonio: Alice Bolander (alice.bolander@nortonrosefulbright.com) Dallas: Meredith Bond (meredith.bond@nortonrosefulbright.com) Houston: Taylor Magids (Taylor.magids@nortonrosefulbright.com) New York: Rachel Bracken (rachel.bracken@nortonrosefulbright.com) DC: Uroosa Haider (uroosa.haider@nortonrosefulbright.com) | Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, TX, New York, NY and Washington, DC | 1/31/21 |
Osborn Maledon | Jessica Lopez (recruiting@omlaw.com) | Arizon, AZ | 2/8/21 |
Porter Hedges | Deidra Clement (dclement@porterhedges.com) | Houston, TX | 1/31/21 |
Reed Smith LLP | Chicago: Suzy Madrigal (amadrigal@reedsmith.com) Houston: Veronica Erickson (verickson@reedsmith.com) Miami: Christine Meade (cmeade@reedsmith.com) Philadelphia, Tysons, and DC: Tiffany McClendon (Tmcclendon@reedsmith.com) Pittsburg: Katie Sikon (ksikon@reedsmith.com) San Francisco: Jessica Sisco (jsisco@reedsmith.com) | Chicago, IL, Houston, TX, Miami, FL, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, PA, San Francisco, CA, Tysons and Washington, DC | 1/15/21 |
Shearman & Sterling | Kim Karp (kim.karp@shearman.com) | New York, NY | 1/15/21 |
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP | See here | Global See here | unannnounced |
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP | New York: Claire Shutt Texas: Jessica Evans | Houston, TXNew York, NY | 2/1/21 |
Steptoe & Johnson PLLC | Heather Cavanagh (heather.cavanagh@steptoe-johnson.com) | Columbus, OH | 2/1/21 |
Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP | Sabina Braciak (sbraciak@stroock.com) | New York, NY | 1/15/21 |
Thompson & Knight LLP | Maggie Moran (maggie.moran@tklaw.com) | Dallas, TX, Houston, TX | 2/1/21 |
Troutman Pepper LLP | Jasmine McCall (jasmine.mccall@troutman.com) | Atlanta, GA, Boston, MA, Chicago, IL, Los Angeles, CA, New York, NY, Orange Cty, CA, Princeton, Richmond, VA, San Diego, CA, San Francisco, CA | 2/1/21 |
Venable LLP | MD: Maria Krupinsky NY: Jennifer Handley LA: Kara Barnachea SF: Alice Kirsten DC: Victoria Sievers | Baltimore, MDNew York, NYLos Angeles, CASan Francisco, CAWashington, DC | n/a (i.e., ASAP) |
Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz LLP (send resume, transcript, and cover letter + practice area of interest) | recruiting@wlrk.com | New York, NY | unknown |
Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis LLP | Michelle Parsons (michelle.parsons@wallerlaw.com) | Austin, TXBirmingham, ALNashville, TN | n/a (i.e., ASAP) |
Wheeler Trigg O’Donell LLP | Chloe Mercado (mercado@wtotrial.com) | Denver, CO | 3/26/21 |
Wiley Rein LLP | Janell Mallard (recruiting@wiley.law) | Washington, DC | 1/15/21 |
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP | IL & TX: Tiffany Piccirilli (tpiccirilli@willkie.com) CA & NY: Sadie Polillio (spolillio@willkie.com) DC: Jeanine Thomas (jthomas@willkie.com) | Chicago, IL, Houston, TX, New York, NY, Palo Alto, CA, San Francisco, CA, Washington, DC | 1/31/21 |
Winston & Strawn LLP | Sylvia James (syjames@winston.com) | See here | 2/1/21 |