Coming Together
NEW YORK – “Coming together is a beginning; working together is progress; keeping together is success.” This famous line by Henry Ford perfectly describes how the summer program fosters the collaborative atmosphere that distinguishes Weil.
From the moment you arrive at the General Motors building, the recruiting staff, partners and associates put forth a concerted effort to integrate you into the firm. The office I share with a fellow summer associate is surrounded on all sides of the hall by senior associates and partners in Weil’s Business Finance & Restructuring department. On my first day, a partner from a corner office a few doors down came into my office and without any introduction proceeded to show me how to adjust the office chair to optimize lumbar support. “I always wished someone would’ve shown me this when I started,” he said before departing. Although this moment sticks out to me, it is but one of the many times people at Weil, such as the incredibly patient staff at the IT Helpdesk or the thoughtful administrative assistants, have made me feel not just welcome as a summer associate, but as a fully integrated part of the firm.
The theme of integration runs much deeper than office placement. As a summer associate, meetings and conference calls with your litigation or deal teams are just as important as completing research memos or drafting board resolutions. When I rotated through the Corporate Department, I had the good fortune of working on an IPO with a team from the Capital Markets group. Despite having only limited experience with the IPO process, the team trusted me with proofreading filings and updating prospectus materials. On the day the IPO was set to price, I sat in on a long barrage of phone calls with underwriters and even an in-person meeting with the client, who could easily tell I was a summer associate. “Did you learn something today?” the client asked. Although I was admittedly nervous to give a good answer, I told him simply, “Yes, it’s been a crazy day.”
Looking back on the summer so far, I can’t imagine working anywhere else. It is Weil’s tremendous investment in integrating summer associates with the firm that distinguishes it. From the summer lunches to the structure and substance of the work assignments, everything over the course of the summer imparts the unique collaborative aspects of the firm’s culture. It’s been a great summer.