Bringing all our summer associates from every office together for a week of training, fun, and relaxation is a highlight of our summer program.
Each year, we host dozens of summer associates at our offices around the country. While at their home offices, they spend a lot of time getting to know the other summers in their office, their local attorneys, and the attorneys in their practice areas. But getting to know each other as a whole class is a priority, so we bring them all together early in the summer for a week-long Summer Academy—a highlight of the summer program.
Our Summer Academy is the first in a series of training academies run by our Professional Development team for our associates and new members. Summer Academy is an opportunity for all our summer associates to be in one place and learn together from attorneys and staff leaders at the firm, as well as a few outside speakers.
The 2024 Academy featured a welcome address from Larry Sonsini, Senior and Founding Partner of Wilson Sonsini, and an “Ask Me Anything” session with our Managing Partner, Doug Clark. Summers participated in a panel on AI and Innovation by Annie Datesh, Chief Innovation Officer, and a Case Highlight presentation by Melissa Rick, Rachel Nagashima and Annie Giomi.
Of course, in addition to this excellent educational content, we ensure when we bring our summer associates together, we give them plenty of down time to bond. In addition to breakfast and lunch every day, we include the opportunity to spend some time with our partners; our summer associates enjoyed a dinner at The Sea, a steakhouse in Palo Alto. They engaged in a fun afternoon of programming where we first introduced the summer associates to their group projects known as Wilson Sonsini 360, then they all participated in a Pride service project creating care bags for Outlet, a youth-centered program supporting LGBTQ+ youth in Silicon Valley.
Our summers enjoyed this annual opportunity to mingle with who we hope will be their long-term colleagues and learn about all the things that make Wilson Sonsini great.