Summer clerks work in our Richmond, Virginia office. We have designed our program to provide our summer clerks with many opportunities to see, understand, and become part of our daily practice while also becoming acquainted with our lawyers, staff, and the metropolitan Richmond area through a variety of social activities.
A Flexible Program Designed to Meet Summer Clerks' Interests
We believe that a successful summer program must be responsive to the desires and requests of each summer clerk. Therefore, we avoid formal requirements or rotations in and out of specific sections of the firm. Instead, we permit each summer clerk to tailor his or her experience. We believe this flexibility is fundamental to the success of our program. First, we allow and, in fact, encourage summer clerks to split their summers between our firm and other firms. We do request, however, that a summer clerk who elects to split his or her summer spend at least six weeks with us. Second, we allow our summer clerks to participate in establishing the substantive experiences they will encounter while working with us by providing work assignments and professional experience consistent with each summer clerk's interests, and preferences. For summer clerks who are focused on a particular practice area, our summer program permits the opportunity to concentrate on our firm's practice and the attorneys in that particular practice area. For summer clerks who are undecided about the areas of law in which they would like to practice, we offer an opportunity to work with lawyers from all of the firm's practice areas. After completion of a project, summer clerks are encouraged to seek informal feedback from the assigning attorney. Simply put, we tailor each summer clerk's summer experience to fit his or her particular interest.
Dual Mentoring
Each summer clerk will have a "junior" and "senior" supervisor. The "junior" supervisor will be an associate and the "senior" supervisor will be a principal or shareholder of the firm. Each mentor will expose the summer clerk to the mentor's particular practice, coordinate work assignments that are consistent with the summer clerk's interests, and provide a forum to answer questions and to provide additional feedback. We believe this mentoring system provides each summer clerk with the means to effectively monitor and manage workflow, while also providing the opportunity to build a more personal relationship with two attorneys at different points in their careers. This approach enhances the summer experience by providing opportunities and outlets to each attorney as the summer program progresses.
Business Section Assignments:
1. Draft Power of Attorney and research enforceability under NC law.
2. Determine how a non-Virginian (British) entity would be categorized under VA law if it is an unincorporated association under UK law. If it is a Partnership, is it a General or Limited Partnership
3. Review Operating Agreements, prepare Membership Interest Transfer Agreements, and prepare Consents of Manager.
Real Estate Section Assignments:
1. Determine whether a landlocked parcel of land has rights to use a state-owned, abandoned road and whether that right can be conveyed.
2. Review Deed of Trust to determine whether there are provisions regarding promises of cooperation or time constraints on lender for written consent for use of land.
3. Compose a letter to seller, including reasons for withdrawal from purchase agreement and remedies sought by client.
Litigation Section Assignments:
1. Electronic Discovery in VA - research state and federal cases that talk about E-Discovery and its rules and obligations.
2. Research and draft five-page memorandum regarding what should be allocated as profits from infringement, and to what offsetting costs are they entitled.
3. Research relevant law and draft Brief in Support of Motion to Dismiss.
