If summer associates are in the office, they will be assigned mentors, and those mentors are all going to have to be in the office as well to interact with them, train them, and go to events. It’s something that hasn’t happened in the last few years, and if it works, they’ll have full offices next fall.
— George Wolf, leader of Aon’s Law Firm Advisory Team, commenting on how the large summer associate class sizes that Biglaw firms are soon due to welcome may be a strategy to draw associates back into the fold as they transition to in-office work post-pandemic. Many firms are expecting their summers to work in the office three or four days each week. As far as the larger than usual size of firms’ incoming summer classes, Wolf tied it to those who have left their firms in the ongoing associate talent wars. “I think they’re guarding against greater attrition rates.”
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.
