Buchanan’s Summer Associate Program
We are proud of our longstanding success in attracting outstanding law students from across the country to our summer associate program. Our ten-week summer program provides an opportunity for students who are considering a career in a large, diversified firm to experience first-hand what it is like to be an attorney at Buchanan. Your experience will encompass more than your projects, so we hope you're comfortable asking questions about anything that piques your curiosity—individual attorneys' practices, life at a big law firm, professional development, or almost anything else. A summer with Buchanan includes the kind of training that you can get only from seasoned professionals. We are committed to investing in the careers of our summer associates.
During the course of our program we offer you the opportunity to experience:
Interesting and Exciting Work
As a summer associate, your goal is to find a firm that matches your career plan. As a firm, our goal is to provide you with the opportunity to appreciate what it means to practice law at Buchanan. As a result, you have an active role in determining your assignments. If there is a particular area of law that you are interested in, we attempt to make those assignments available. We also make every effort to involve summer associates in depositions, negotiations, court appearances, client meetings, corporate and commercial transactions, pro bono opportunities and seminars. The assignments and the work environment are comparable to those experienced by our first and second year associates. We believe that the caliber of our attorneys and the quality of our support staff and administrative personnel are among our best recruiting assets. Buchanan employees work together to share and develop knowledge, resources and experience.
Diversity Corporate Share Program
During Buchanan’s Summer Associate program, each associate is paired with a firm client or a participating corporation for a two-week period. During this period, the associates will gain additional experience and mentorship opportunities directly from the corporate legal counsel. Companies who have participated in the program in the past include, PNC Bank, The Hershey Company, Philadelphia FIGHT Community Health Centers, Raymond James, Panasonic, and South Jersey Industries, among others.
Ongoing Feedback from Mentors
We understand that you cannot be expected to develop and grow into a successful attorney if you are not offered constructive feedback. As a summer associate, you'll be assigned an associate mentor who will help you make the transition from student to attorney. You will also be assigned a shareholder mentor. These people aren't the only ones who care —you'll find that everybody at Buchanan is welcoming and helpful. Summer associates often develop two or more informal mentoring relationships depending on their interests.
Professional Development
We encourage our summer associates to attend practice group meetings and in-house CLEs and training sessions. These opportunities will help you learn about the issues each practice group faces every day and you’ll gain practical experience in dealing with specific areas of the law. Each year we also put on a legal writing seminar with an outside consultant. Our Lunch and Learn programs are designed to introduce you to our various practice groups and provide insight into the skills that will help prepare you for the journey from law student to practicing attorney. Buchanan is committed to pro bono work and we particularly encourage our summer associates to become involved with pro bono matters throughout the summer.
Social Events
In addition to being exposed to the firm's working environment, summer associates participate in numerous social and cultural activities, which allow them to become personally acquainted with our attorneys. We take great pride in the vibrant and exciting neighborhoods that surround our offices, and since geographic location will certainly play a part in your career choice, we provide a wide range of social events highlighting the many attractions of living in our communities. These events run the gamut from sports to arts. Informal lunches and get-togethers will also allow you to interact with your peers and our attorneys in smaller groups.