Students/Summer Clerk Program
Opportunities for Summer Associate and Law School Students (click here for 2011 timeline)
Sands Anderson PC is a medium size, full service law firm. Our attorneys handle a comprehensive range of transactional and litigation legal services to businesses, business owners and company executives, financial institutions, governments, healthcare providers, professional service firms and practitioners, individuals and insurers. Our main office is located in downtown Richmond. We currently employ 72 attorneys across 5 locations: Richmond, Fredericksburg, McLean, Christiansburg and Research Triangle Park. The firm hosts a 12 week Summer Associate Program for 1-2 law students following his or her second year of law school.
The program offers opportunities for the student(s) to work on a wide variety of assignments from each of the firm’s seven practice groups. Student(s) selected can also expect work assignments from and the opportunity to travel to each of our offices outside of Richmond.
A project attorney assigns work based on a summer associates’ expressed interests and available workload. A summer associate working on a transactional matter might enjoy opportunities to track recent state legislation for a lobbying client, participate in a county Board of Supervisors’ meeting or assist with a commercial real estate transaction. A summer associate assisting on a litigation matter might accompany an attorney to the deposition of an adverse party, visit the scene of an airplane crash or spend a day or more in court observing a complex jury trial. We encourage summer associates to accompany our attorneys to closings, client conferences, hearings, local government meetings, trials, depositions and other opportunities for firsthand experience.
The summer associate(s) in our program will work on assignments that we bill out to our clients so we maintain a high expectation for quality and strong attention to detail.
Scheduled and impromptu luncheons with attorneys also provide opportunities for summer associates to discuss the attorneys’ areas of expertise, particularly timely and interesting cases and details of the firm’s structure, management and marketing. Summer associates are invited and encouraged to participate in the Continuing Legal Education seminars and associate training sessions scheduled during the summer months. Program topics range from "Taking Effective Depositions" to trial tactic seminars and marketing strategies.
In order for our summer associate(s) to grow in his or her professional abilities, we encourage attorneys to provide feedback during and at the completion of the assigned projects. We host weekly assignment meetings with Douglas A. Winegardner, Counsel, so the summer associate(s) have an opportunity to get feedback directly from a senior attorney who is assigned to oversee all assignments. This provides the opportunity for feedback from a constant source and helps manage the flow of assignments. Formal evaluation meetings take place with Henry C. Spalding, III, Principal, at the end of each six-week period.
Each summer associate is informally matched with a mentor, a senior attorney who will assist the associate in becoming acclimated to the firm and to whom the associate should feel comfortable addressing questions, soliciting advice or directing concerns.
We view the summer program as the first step to making a long term investment in a future attorney. For this reason, we want there to be a strong cultural fit between the student and the firm. During the summer, we plan a number of social events designed to provide our summer associate(s), attorneys, staff and families, opportunities to become better acquainted away from the confines of the office. Popular events in past years include concerts, tours of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts & Richmond landmarks, impromptu outings, vineyard tours, dinner in the homes of our attorneys, and laser tag. Students also join attorneys in community service activities such as volunteering at the Food Bank.
Working closely with a law student for a twelve week period provides our attorneys with opportunities to recognize promise and initiative and allows them to make more informed choices when selecting prospective future full-time associates. Many of our current associates and shareholders were former summer associates. Moreover, the work assignments of each summer associate are precisely the type and complexity of assignments given to first year full-time associates, so we believe that our summer program accurately reflects the life of an entry level attorney with our firm. By this, at the end of the period, the summer associate(s) will know exactly what to expect should they receive and accept an employment offer.
Some of our attorneys who participated in the Summer Associate experience explain:
The program is an all access pass to Sands Anderson's lawyers, each area of Sands Anerson's practice, and the types of services we provide to our clients. As a summer associate, I completed assignments for clients that expected a quality work product and were depending on the answers I could provide, which I found both challenging and very rewarding.
I found the program to be an invaluable way to gain exposure to half a dozen areas of specialized practice and to get personal contact with the lawyers at Sands Anderson who practice in those areas. This helped me to determine what areas of the law I wanted to make my focus, both in my last year of law school and for my career. The social events and outings were great and gave me the opportunity to get to know all the lawyers at Sands Anderson.
Recruiting Chair Henry C. Spalding, III, comments:
At Sands Anderson, we keep our summer associate program small to ensure that our law students will be able to experience a wide range of our practice groups and achieve an understanding of what the daily life of an associate is all about. We do a good job of exposing our summer associates to such "real world" events as trials, hearings and depositions. While our law students are expected to perform a good bit of research and writing, we also provide numerous social activities which allow for greater interaction between the lawyers and summer clerks in a less formal setting.
We encourage all interested and eligible 2nd Year Law Students to apply for our 2011 Summer Associate Program. To apply, please submit a cover letter, resume, law school transcript and writing sample to:
Sands Anderson PC
Post Office Box 1998
Richmond, VA 23218-1998
Confidential Fax: (804) 783-7295
Email: hr@sandsanderson.com
Janet Broadway
Director of Human Resources
Direct Phone: 804.783.7222
Kelly Woodlief
Human Resources Coordinator
Direct Phone: 804.783.6795
Equal Opportunity Employer
2011 Summer Associate Recruiting Timeline
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August 10 - September 10 ~ Formal Resume Collection Period
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August 21 ~ Virginia Bar Association Diversity Job Fair
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September 13 - September 30 ~ In-house ("Call Back") Interviews
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October 1st ~ Extend Offer to selected 2011 Summer Clerk(s)