Training Opportunities

Summer associates at Schiff Hardin benefit from a variety of training opportunities while they are here. These offer summer associates a chance for some "hands on" training from experienced lawyers and allows them to gain a better understanding of the various facets of practicing law at a large law firm.

Corporate Training

The Summer Program at Schiff Hardin provides summer associates with the opportunity to participate in a half-day corporate training program. The program consists of three parts:

1. Attorneys from Schiff Hardin's Corporate and Securities practice group describe various aspects of their work. Topics include steps in a corporate transaction, securities issues in corporate practice, and the key elements of a purchase agreement.
2. Attorneys from the Corporate and Securities group demonstrate a typical negotiation of the terms of a mock purchase agreement.
3. The summer associates are divided into buyer and seller teams and have the opportunity to participate in their own mock negotiation of selected issues in a purchase agreement.

This training gives summer associates a good introduction to corporate practice, an opportunity to meet and interact with top Schiff Hardin Corporate and Securities, and an occasion to gain some hands on experience with negotiating a corporate agreement in an informal setting.

Litigation Training

The Summer Program at Schiff Hardin provides summer associates with the opportunity to participate in a litigation training program. This program consists of two parts:

1. A luncheon led by highly experienced Schiff Hardin trial attorneys describing a trial from opening statement to closing argument.
2. Participation in a mock trial in which firm attorneys act as witnesses and judges.

This training gives summer associates a general idea of trial practice, an opportunity to meet and question top Schiff Hardin trial attorneys about their practice, and an occasion to "get on their feet" and question witnesses. We find that the training can help each summer associate determine whether he or she is better suited for litigation or cooperate work at the firm.

Summer Program Legal Writing Workshop

Each summer, our firm invites all of the summer associates to attend a full afternoon of legal writing instruction. This seminar builds on the knowledge and skills obtained through law school legal writing classes and focuses on clarity and effectiveness. The summer associates are introduced a new way of thinking about writing: a reader-centered, rhetorical approach, identifying parts of their work where readers may lose track of the main idea or feel that the text is hard to read, and to revise those parts to make them more effective.