Summer Associate Program

The Reinhart summer program is our primary means of recruiting new associates and, consequently, long-term shareholders. The program is designed to expose law students to our firm's practice, attorneys and staff, as well as to our communities. We fill between 8 and 20 positions each summer, primarily in our Milwaukee office.

Reinhart interviews for these positions through on-campus visits followed by call-back interviews. We also welcome write-in candidates from schools we may not normally visit during our recruiting season. We recruit candidates from mid-August to late October for the following summer.

Collaborative, Not Competitive

We recruit summer associates based on the assumption that each associate should be successful and asked to join the firm for the long-term. We don't overhire, and our track record for hiring summer associates as firm associates is typically higher than 75%. In fact, in the summer of 2005, we made offers to 13 of 13 summer associates. We are also very pleased to report that all 13 accepted our permanent offers after spending a summer with us and taking a close look at the inner workings of the firm.

The summer program chair oversees the summer associates and distributes work assignments in a group setting. This collaborative atmosphere allows summer associates to establish a rapport and friendships as a group. It fosters an open environment primed for success. Summer associates receive a mix of work assignments from various departments, allowing them to explore interests and determine what type of law they would like to practice. At the same time, we allow our summer associates the flexibility to emphasize a particular practice area.

Senior associate "readers" pair with summer associates to review and evaluate their written work product to help the summer associates refine their legal writing skills. Meanwhile, junior associate "buddies" introduce the summer associates to the firm as a whole and serve in an informal mentoring role. All summer associates receive midsummer reviews to gauge their progress and provide constructive feedback to help them progress quickly. We make permanent hiring decisions as soon as possible at the summer's end.

Social Life

We balance the summer program's hands-on work experience with many opportunities for social interaction and fun. We invite summer associates to a rafting trip, Milwaukee Brewers' games, departmental outings and other activities. These events facilitate relationships with firm attorneys and staff, and they help ensure a memorable summer.