Law Firms
Want Associates? Offer Trial Opportunities
Posted Aug 4, 2008, 01:08 pm CST
By Martha Neil
When Ryan Shores finished up his U.S. Supreme Court clerkship for the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist, the law firm he went to work for was Richmond, Va.-based Hunton & Williams.
One major reason why, he says, was the trial experience he expected to get there. And, in fact, a partner soon persuaded Kubota Tractor Corp. to allow him to handle an appeal of a dealer's bankruptcy discharge, in a case that involved an important issue that the company feared could result in problems at other dealerships, reports the National Law Journal, in an article reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.).
Such trial opportunities give the law firms that offer them a significant associate recruiting advantage, the legal publication writes.
At some major law firms, "an associate might be seven or eight years out in a large firm and never take a deposition,'' says Bryan Schwartz, chairman of Chicago-based Levenfeld Pearlstein. "We get a lot of rising stars from big firms who don't fit into the big-firm model. To me it is obvious they jump because they don't want to be a robot in a lawyer factory."
Clients may initially think a partner has to handle the trial, but can often be persuaded to give an associate a chance, says Hewitt Pate, a partner of the 917-lawyer Hunton & Williams firm: "The truth is, less senior people are capable, if the preparation is there."