Meaningful Mentorship

About nine months pass between accepting your offer to be a summer associate and starting the summer program. In the meantime, you’ll hear from plenty of friendly recruiting folks that work hard to make sure everything is in order for your arrival in May and to remind you of the exciting light at the end of the 2L tunnel. The first day of the summer program will nonetheless feel a bit like the first day of school, where you wonder if you’ll fit in and form good friendships with people you’ve just met. So far, Weil has proved to be an excellent fit.

On our first day, each of us had lunch with our summer sibling, which is a junior associate who serves as more of a casual mentor than the partner and associate mentors from the practice groups we’ll be working in. My summer sibling took me to Tao, where we bonded over the highs and lows of law school with some decadent banana pudding. I quickly realized the importance of receiving mentorship from someone younger in their career, who distinctly remembers the hopes and expectations a rising 3L brings to the summer program. I was also delighted at how much my summer sibling and I have in common! We are both enthusiastic about the Great British Bakeoff and we enjoy cooking Mediterranean food. More importantly, we both value being in a collegial work environment that fosters strong friendships among colleagues. My summer sibling confirmed that Weil does exactly that.

I also had the pleasure of having coffee with an associate who shares my cultural background. Speaking my home language with a Weil associate this summer was not something I expected to have the opportunity to do, let alone as early as my first week here. Weil is truly an international powerhouse, and I am thrilled by the prospect of forming strong bonds and building a community with all the interesting people here.