Steptoe Summer Class 2006

We recognize that our summer associates are critically important to the future of the firm. Steptoe devotes considerable time and effort recruiting a strong group of interesting individuals who we believe will make excellent attorneys. The 2006 summer associate class, which included outstanding and diverse (55% women and 33% minorities) students from across the country, continued in this vein.

The goal of the summer program is to provide our summer associates with a clear understanding of Steptoe’s practices, clients, firm management, and our culture. We want summer associates to get a realistic view of what it will be like to practice law at our firm, and how attorneys succeed and grow at Steptoe. We do this through carefully selected work assignments, clinical opportunities, in-house seminars and programs, and social events.

Steptoe’s summer associates are provided with challenging legal projects during the course of the summer. In addition to the usual writing and research assignments, 2006 summer associates had the opportunity to prepare for and, in some cases participate in, civil and criminal trials involving securities law, high profile white collar defense, and pro bono cases ranging from discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act to family court matters. Our clinical program comprises a fundamental part of our summer program. We were pleased that 2006 presented several great opportunities for summer associates to attend both court and agency hearings, motions arguments, depositions, and client meetings. Of course, we rounded out the summer with a mixture of organized and impromptu social opportunities to have fun, and at the same time provide summer associates with casual and comfortable opportunities to understand our culture and the personal elements of practicing at Steptoe.

Finally, our firm remains strongly committed to pro bono service, in the local community and nationally. Our summer program emphasizes this commitment by affording a number of our summer associates the opportunity to spend three to four weeks of their summer working for a public interest organization.