Kelley Drye has taken fourth place among firms with New York offices in The American Lawyer’s annual “Summer Associates Survey.” With a focus on mentoring and high-quality work assignments, Kelley Drye’s summer associates ranked the Firm’s program near the top of the list among more than 170 firms nationwide. The second year law students awarded almost perfect scores for the amount of ‘real’ work, associate and partner interactions and for the Firm’s efforts toward diversity. Kelley Drye also received close to perfect scores for having attorneys that “would be enjoyable to work with” and who “seem to enjoy working with each other.” Kelley Drye ranked twelfth nationally, the highest among all other New York-based firms.

Taking into account comments from former summer associates, Kelley Drye focused on creating closer relations between the summer associates and the lawyers. Each of Kelley Drye’s summer associates was assigned to a team comprised of a first- or second-year associate, a senior associate and a partner. These mentor groups focused on multiple practice areas and participated in both work and social events together. This structure offers multiple opportunities for personal connections between the summers and the Firm, and also gave the students exposure to three different perspectives.

Scores were based on nine key areas, including interactions with partners and full-time associates, how well the firm communicated its goals, how accurately it portrayed itself in interviews and how it rated overall as a place to work. The survey, based on responses from more than 6,700 summer associates, is conducted every year and is distributed through the firms’ recruiting coordinators. Summer associates must clerk at firms for at least three weeks during the summer to participate in the survey.

Kelley Drye Ranks High In Amlaw Summer Associates Survey