Summer Diary

The following is a fictional but representative account of a typical week in the life of a Dow Lohnes summer associate.

Monday
I am looking forward to getting some new assignments today since I handed in a very complex memorandum last Friday to the Corporate group on the meaning of "all or substantially all of the assets" under debt indentures. When I get to the office, I scan the Dow Lohnes summer associate section on the Intranet. There are several projects that interest me, so I call one of the summer coordinators to talk it through. There is a partner in the litigation group with whom I really want to work, and she has requested help preparing a position paper for the ABA. But there is another project for an MIT partner preparing a summary for the new INDUCE Bill, S.2560, which creates a new cause of action for inducement to a copyright infringement - and I have a strong interest in intellectual property. The summer coordinator reviews my current workload and the deadlines of each project. We conclude that I can fit both projects in so now I must get to work. I take a break at noon to try out a new restaurant down the street with two partners in the tax group who make the tax practice sound much more interesting than I had imagined. I return from lunch trying to figure out when I can fit a tax project in to my schedule. At 4:00, I meet with the other summer associates and the partner and associates that coordinate the summer associate program for our weekly meeting to discuss our current work, to receive new training and to ask other firm-specific questions. Then I work until 6:30 when I meet my co-workers in the lobby to head out for softball - we are playing the FCC tonight.

Tuesday
I spend the morning gathering data on the INDUCE Bill. At noon, I head to the conference center for a Celebrity Lunch Speaker. We hear from Eric Lieberman at the Washington Post on what it is like to be a First Amendment specialist and an in-house attorney for one of the country's most respected newspapers. I leave determined to get a First Amendment project before the end of the summer. After working a couple more hours, I get a visit from a partner who would like to discuss a memo I gave him last week. We discuss the project, my memo and many other things for nearly an hour. I really appreciate the feedback. Then I pack up my things. Tonight the firm's Executive Director is taking all of the summer associates on his boat for a cruise on the Potomac River.

Wednesday
I start off this morning with a breakfast meeting with the Telecom practice group. The partners provide us with an overview of the nature of their work and the associates relate what a typical workday is like. We have had lots of these Practice Group overviews, but I already feel like a Telecom expert. My first work assignment this summer was with the Telecom group, and just last week we went with the Communications lawyers on a tour of the local Northern Virginia cable operations. I get back to my office and start to work when it is lunchtime already. I go to lunch with my advisor to discuss how my workload is going and whether my practice group preferences have changed. She tells me that there are some other attorneys that she would like me to get to know and she is arranging lunches with them. I am glad that I have the evening off tonight - I definitely need to get to the gym to counteract the effect of all of these lunches.

Thursday
This morning I take the Metro directly to Capitol Hill. I am covering a Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing to examine the graduation gap in higher education and whether colleges and universities do enough to ensure the success of their students. This is a project for the Education practice group. I take extensive notes all morning and rush back to the office to write up a summary of the hearing. One of our clients wants an update on the outcome of the hearing by the end of the day. The Education partner reviews my summary and sends it directly on to the client before the 6:00 deadline. Now I am ready to celebrate and am excited for the night's adventure. We first have a guided tour of the Corcoran Museum of Art by the museum curator and then we are having a cocktail reception in one of the museum's private rooms. There is a good turnout of associates and partners from all of the practice groups, and it is fun discussing art instead of work.

Friday
I am determined to finish preparing the INDUCE Bill summary today so I can start on the ABA position paper research on Monday. I work until lunchtime when I meet a large group of junior associates for a festive lunch. Sometimes it is hard to get focused back at work after such an entertaining lunch, but I am motivated to meet my deadline. At 5:30, I finished all of my editing and I print out my completed draft of the INDUCE Bill summary. I bring it to the MIT partner's office and after giving him an oral summary of my conclusions, we walk upstairs to the conference center together. Tonight the firm is having a TGIF party for all of the attorneys. It is a Caribbean theme and I am amused to walk in and hear a band playing Bob Marley. I wander over to the bar to get a fruity beverage and go outside to swap summaries of the week with my fellow summer associates. It has been a great week but thank goodness it is Friday.