What does a summer associate do?
Summer associates are law students hired seasonally by law firms. The aim is for future lawyers to be exposed to the practical aspects of a firm. Typically, this program lasts for nine weeks, beginning in May and running through July. Summer associates are expected to be friendly and kind to people, preserve company reputation, support other associates, and perform legal tasks appropriately.
Summer associate responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real summer associate resumes:
- Manage client expenses and prepare billing and financial statements using PClaw and reconcile attorney's escrow and general accounts using QuickBooks.
- Gather and analyze statutes, decisions, legal articles and codes using Lexis Nexis research software.
- Perform citation checks and proofread supervisor's work before publishing.
- Proofread, edit, and research various issues relate to a forthcoming law review article submission focusing on animal law
- Perform firm strategy research and create PowerPoint presentations for management and executive teams.
- Prepare PowerPoint presentations on regulatory and policy matters affecting the health care industry.
- Prepare qualified domestic relation orders, financial affidavits, and verification of corporate and personal banking accounts.
- Draft correspondence, pleadings, discovery documents, financial affidavits and child support guidelines for complex equitable distribution matters.
- Participate in every phase of trademark litigation practice, including drafting substantive and procedural motions, discovery and deposition practice.
- Conduct depositions, participate in client interviews and assist in trial and deposition preparation in corporate and tort litigation matters.
- Draft mediation and arbitration documents that include medical records, factual history, liability arguments, and damage amount arguments.
- Interview witnesses and draft declarations and portions of brief in international ICC arbitration involving sarajevo-base energy company and an African nation.
- Represent individual and institutional clients in all aspects of commercial and residential real estate acquisition, financing and leasing and foreclosure.
- Prepare requests for discovery to plaintiffs and prepare answers to plaintiff's discovery requests, including preparation of attach exhibits.
Summer associate skills and personality traits
We calculated that 16% of Summer Associates are proficient in PowerPoint, Litigation, and Financial Models. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Computer skills, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Summer Associates that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- PowerPoint, 16%
Researched and presented retail opportunities including new locations and concepts using Excel and PowerPoint proficiency.
- Litigation, 13%
Conducted depositions, participated in client interviews and assisted in trial and deposition preparation in corporate and tort litigation matters.
- Financial Models, 12%
Performed company valuations by creating comprehensive financial models utilizing discounted cash flow and comparable company analysis.
- Due Diligence, 6%
Represented mid-cap logistics company in proposed acquisition of competitor: Drafted public diligence memorandum and high level due diligence follow-up questions.
- Legal Memos, 5%
Drafted and researched legal memos and preliminary contracts for international businesses.
- Private Equity, 4%
Researched and reported on Latin American private equity market for a competitive analysis incorporated into a strategic review of the Fund.
Common skills that a summer associate uses to do their job include "powerpoint," "litigation," and "financial models." You can find details on the most important summer associate responsibilities below.
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a summer associate to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "paralegals must be able to document and present their research and related information to their supervising attorney." Additionally, a summer associate resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "provided timely and cost effect legal research regarding advertising, contracts, litigation, tax, and telecommunications regulations. "
Computer skills. Many summer associate duties rely on computer skills. "paralegals need to be familiar with using computers for legal research and litigation support," so a summer associate will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways summer associate responsibilities rely on computer skills: "researched and evaluated prior art in preparation for patent prosecution and litigation using computerized database resources. "
Organizational skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of summer associates is organizational skills. This skill is critical to many everyday summer associate duties, as "paralegals may be responsible for many cases at one time." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "provided strategic direction to global auto part suppliers via market research, cost analysis and organizational change. "
Interpersonal skills. For certain summer associate responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "interpersonal skills." The day-to-day duties of a summer associate rely on this skill, as "paralegals spend most of their time working with clients and other professionals and must be able to develop good relationships." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what summer associates do: "established oral argument and public speaking techniques as well as effective interpersonal, written & oral communication skills. "
Research skills. Another common skill required for summer associate responsibilities is "research skills." This skill comes up in the duties of summer associates all the time, as "paralegals gather facts of the case and research information on relevant laws and regulations to prepare drafts of legal documents for attorneys and help them prepare for a case." An excerpt from a real summer associate resume shows how this skill is central to what a summer associate does: "researched and drafted litigation documents and documents involving energy, business and international law. "
The three companies that hire the most summer associates are:
- CliftonLarsonAllen47 summer associates jobs
- Deloitte38 summer associates jobs
- Americorps30 summer associates jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable summer associate resume templates
Build a professional summer associate resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your summer associate resume.
Compare different summer associates
Summer associate vs. Contractor-paralegal
A Contractor-Paralegal works for a law firm or corporate legal department for a specified amount of time, or for a specified task. They can be specialized in the entertainment industry or in providing services to healthcare companies and insurance providers.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, summer associate responsibilities require skills like "first hand," "client facing," "team work," and "financial models." Meanwhile a typical contractor-paralegal has skills in areas such as "discovery responses," "in-house counsel," "contract database," and "real estate." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Contractor-paralegals really shine in the finance industry with an average salary of $79,049. Comparatively, summer associates tend to make the most money in the professional industry with an average salary of $86,415.The education levels that contractor-paralegals earn slightly differ from summer associates. In particular, contractor-paralegals are 5.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a summer associate. Additionally, they're 5.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Summer associate vs. Legal clerk
A legal clerk is responsible for performing administrative and clerical duties to legal offices and organizations to ensure smooth legal business operations. Legal clerks sort and distribute documents to the appropriate personnel, update information on the database, schedule appointments, respond to clients' inquiries and concerns, and document meeting objectives. They may also coordinate with other offices and institutions to acquire files and research data according to the needs of the managing department. A legal clerk must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in monitoring business transactions and submitting reports timely and accurately.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real summer associate resumes. While summer associate responsibilities can utilize skills like "first hand," "client facing," "team work," and "financial models," legal clerks use skills like "legal correspondence," "court dates," "real estate," and "computer system."
Legal clerks earn a lower average salary than summer associates. But legal clerks earn the highest pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $39,441. Additionally, summer associates earn the highest salaries in the professional with average pay of $86,415 annually.legal clerks earn lower levels of education than summer associates in general. They're 7.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 5.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Summer associate vs. Paralegal
Paralegals are law firm or legal department employees who work on cases with lawyers. They handle different activities, usually administrative or clerical, such as organizing and maintaining files, updating records, and managing correspondences, among others. Paralegals also handle different activities directly related to active cases being worked on by lawyers in the firm or department. They assist lawyers on cases by preparing materials needed for trials, conducting legal research, verifying trial facts, helping during interviews, getting statements from those involved in the case, and creating presentation materials. Paralegals should have knowledge of laws and should be familiar with landmark cases.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a summer associate is likely to be skilled in "first hand," "client facing," "team work," and "financial models," while a typical paralegal is skilled in "discovery responses," "affidavits," "real estate closings," and "legal support."
Paralegals earn the best pay in the professional industry, where they command an average salary of $55,416. Summer associates earn the highest pay from the professional industry, with an average salary of $86,415.Most paralegals achieve a lower degree level compared to summer associates. For example, they're 7.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 8.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Summer associate vs. Bankruptcy paralegal
A Bankruptcy Paralegal assists lawyers and their clients through the bankruptcy process. Their primary duties include collecting and reviewing paperwork for petitions, drafting pleadings, and preparing all documents required by the bankruptcy court.
Types of summer associate
Updated January 8, 2025
