Nothing about this year’s class of Biglaw summer associates (SAs) is going to be typical. Whatever preconceived notions you have about the summer party before the work of Biglaw starts, throw them out the window. The coronavirus’s impact on summer programs has been varied — from cancellation, to shortened programs, to online only. But even among the different options we’re seeing in Biglaw, the summer associate plan at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is the most unique.
The program starts with fairly typical moves — it will be a shorted (five weeks), online-only program running from July 13 through August 14. For that work, SAs will take home eight weeks’ worth of pay. But SAs at Simpson will have the opportunity to earn even more — an additional $7,500 stipend — if they complete community service work. And as has been reported, the firm revealed this an email to SAs:
“We are incorporating a focus on giving back into our 2020 summer associate program,” the email said. “The combination of 8 weeks’ salary and the $7,500 stipend will result in total compensation of slightly more than 10 weeks of summer associate pay, which is the average duration of our traditional summer program.”
Though some of the details of the community service (like how many hours SAs must volunteer) have yet to be disclosed, actual legal work isn’t required. This distinction sets the Simpson program apart from others like Milbank, Cahill, and Wilson Sonsini which encourage pro bono legal work. The firm has designed the program to encourage community outreach and a wide variety of activities will count toward fulfilling the obligation:
The firm said the services don’t need to be legal in nature and could range from organizing food drives or safely helping the elderly with shopping, leading nonpartisan voter registration initiatives, continuing to help a client from a law school clinic, assisting a nonprofit or small business with Paycheck Protection Program paperwork, “or otherwise identifying a need in whatever community you are living in this summer and developing a way to meet it.”
“Now more than ever, we are in this together, and our approach to community outreach is designed to reflect that,” the email said.
The firm also noted they anticipate “providing full-time offers in the normal course, just as we have done historically, upon the successful completion of our program.”