If you are convinced that law school provides you all the skills you need to succeed in private practice, you can stop reading. 

With rare exception, law schools are not structured to provide practical contextual training. With this in mind, Drinker Biddle has filled that gap with an unprecedented commitment and investment in the professional development of its new associates.

Our First Year Associate Development Program is the equivalent of a comprehensive law school practicum. First year associates are relieved of billable hour requirements for the program’s duration. Under the guidance of experienced Drinker Biddle lawyers, and through experiential case studies with reinforcing feedback, first year associates focus full time on learning how to be client-centered lawyers.

The payoff is immediate. New associates transition from smart law graduates to practice-ready professionals.

How would my experience in Drinker Biddle’s First Year Associate Development Program differ from law school?

More than just case law…
Practicing law involves continuous learning. Law school provides a critical foundation – analytical thinking and legal reasoning. The First Year Associate Development Program builds on this foundation by developing an associate’s understanding of the business context of clients’ problems and the interpersonal skills needed to become an effective and engaged problem solver.

More than just you…
Throughout the Program, you will become grounded in the Firm, work individually and in teams, and see through the lens of clients. You will learn how to work smarter and more effectively and receive practice-focused training – all under the guidance of experienced lawyers who embrace the high ethical and professional standards that define Drinker Biddle.

More than just listening…
This is not a passive program and your active participation is crucial to your professional development. You will be immersed in individual and group exercises based on actual or simulated client matters. You will be challenged to ask questions, to take initiative, to work collaboratively, to think like a client-centered lawyer and to produce individual or group work product. You will receive feedback and guidance, and will be encouraged to “own” your development as a professional. You will observe seasoned lawyers in action and learn from them.

Why doesn’t Drinker Biddle just use a traditional “sink or swim” approach as the way to learn the practice of law?

We believe a concentrated program serves our clients, the Firm and all of our new associates much better. We know that the most effective learning comes from doing, but we don’t believe our clients should bear the cost associated with the early learning of new associates.

So, we equip you first…
A firm that expects its new associates to succeed must do more than assign associates to matters and expect them to perform at the level that clients demand. We invest in you by optimizing your learning experience and providing you the tools upon which you can build a career.

We encourage and guide you
- to be creative
- to ask questions
- to take ownership
- to try things
- to sort through complicated facts
- to learn how to distill what’s important
- to come up with practical options to solve clients’ problems
- to be willing to think outside the box

You try things as you learn…
Learning is hard enough. Learning without support is even harder. We provide an environment in which we expect you to learn by doing – with professionalism and accountability – but without client vulnerability and the fear of failure.

We provide a consistent experience…
Our First Year Associate Development Program addresses a concern that new associates may experience in a “hit or miss” world, based only on assigned work. The program provides uniform training at the critical starting point in a new associate’s development so that all have the same learning experiences and the same exposure to skill building.

How would you sum up the goal of the First Year Development Program?

The Program supports and accelerates our new associates’ professional development by providing a unique learning experience through which newly-minted lawyers can grow their confidence, become effective problem-solvers and enhance their value to clients.

How is the Program structured?

We divide the Program into three phases.

• Core Curriculum – all new associates, regardless of practice group assignment, participate in a practicum designed to anchor them within the Firm and to expose them to the essential skills of effective lawyering. We draw our “faculty” mainly from lawyers within the Firm. We use a limited number of outside faculty. As with other parts of our Program, the Core Curriculum is interactive, exercise-driven and reinforced with feedback. 
• Practice-Specific Training – this phase builds upon the Core Curriculum and focuses on practice-specific training. The lawyers in the associates' assigned practice groups provide client-related experiential learning reinforced with structured feedback. 
• Apprenticeship – in this phase, new associates have the opportunity to observe experienced lawyers in their practice group in action and work with them on ongoing matters.
  

Drinker Biddle is invested. Are you interested in reaping the benefit?

Click here to see what our associates are saying about the program.