Best Summer Associate Events: Risky Roller Derby, Drinking Fishing Trip
A cocktail-fueled fishing tournament and a “lowbrow” roller derby event are the two finalists in Above the Law’s “Summer Associate Event Contest of 2009.”
Summer associates spend the day on firm shareholders’ personal fishing boats in Carlton Fields’ annual fishing trip in Tampa, Fla., Above the Law says. “Usually, it’s a tournament, but the weather was bad, so the competition was less structured this year,” the blog says. “More anchoring for drinks and swimming, and less time spent on the open water.”
Summer associates at Fish & Richardson in Dallas went to an all-female roller derby as part of the firm’s effort to sponsor events that are more fun than lavish. In past years, associates went to see professional bull riders and a demolition derby.
From the Fish & Richardson invitation for the surprise event, published in a prior Above the Law post: “After lengthy negotiations, we just received word that the firm’s personal liability insurance carrier has approved the event. At the carrier’s request, there will be a bit more safety equipment provided for this year’s event and we will need all participants to sign a multi-page waiver/assumption of risk agreement. But you can feel free to ignore the small print on the contract (the risk of actual dismemberment is very, very low and there is much better medication for radiation poisoning than a few years ago).” The memo says the economy isn’t cutting into the annual summer associate outing “because the event is so cheap and lowbrow that it can’t be hurt by lack of funding.”
Other summer associate events that didn’t make the final two: Trips to the Broadway show Billy Elliot for summers at Sidley Austin, a concert by a Michael Jackson tribute band for summers at Cleary Gottlieb, and a Mets game for summers at Cadwalader.
