Let’s start something.
Thank you for your interest in Bernstein Shur’s 2024 Summer Associate Program for second year law students. For 2L students at law schools where we do not conduct on-campus interviews, we will be accepting applications for our 2024 Summer Associate Program from Monday, June 12, 2023 – Monday, July 10, 2023. To apply please send a cover letter, resume, transcript (including Spring 2023 grades) and writing sample to attorneyrecruiting@bernsteinshur.com. We look forward to receiving your materials.
D1L Maine Diversity Summer Associate Program
As a part of our organizations’ shared commitment to diversity and inclusion, Bernstein Shur, Pierce Atwood, Verrill, Jackson Laboratory, Preti Flaherty, Brann & Isaacson, Unum, Dummond Woodsum, IDEXX, L.L. Bean, and WEX are jointly seeking 1L students who have a demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion to apply as a ten-week Maine Diversity Summer Associate, assigned to one of our offices in Portland, Westbrook, Freeport, Lewiston or Bar Harbor, Maine. We see individual differences, including but not limited to, in race, color, sexual orientation, national origin, and disability as critically important components to providing outstanding client service and a better work environment for our attorneys and staff.
About the 10-week program
Our goal is to provide a meaningful private law firm work experience to students who have completed one year of law school and who will contribute to the diversity and inclusion efforts of our firms and the Maine legal community. Candidates must have an excellent academic record, exceptional writing ability, strong analytical and interpersonal skills, and demonstrated self-confidence. The program will run from May 30 – August 4, 2023.
For additional information about the program, please visit our Maine Diversity 1L Program website.
When to apply
Thank you for your interest in Bernstein Shur’s 2024 Summer Associate Program for second year law students. For 2L students at law schools where we do not conduct on-campus interviews, we will be accepting applications for our 2024 Summer Associate Program from Monday, June 12, 2023 – Monday, July 10, 2023. To apply please send a cover letter, resume, transcript (including Spring 2023 grades) and writing sample to attorneyrecruiting@bernsteinshur.com. We look forward to receiving your materials.
WHY SUMMER WITH US?
Each summer associate is assigned a mentor who provides guidance to the summer associate as he or she moves through the program. Mentors answer questions, provide guidance, and support our summer associates’ integration within the firm.
As a summer associate, you’ll rotate through the firm’s practice groups and become an integral part of real-life client matters. All summer associates do one rotation with our Business Law Practice Group and our Litigation Practice Group, but we allow summer associates to choose their remaining 2-week rotations based on their personal interests. You will do research and writing projects related to real issues that face our clients in real time. Each practice group you work with will have a workflow coordinator responsible for making sure that your assignments are engaging and designed to contribute to your professional development. You may observe or assist with:
- Real estate closings
- Trials
- Mediations and arbitrations
- Hearings
- Depositions
- Negotiations
- Client meetings
Thoughtful, constructive feedback is an integral part of career growth—so we provide a lot of it. As a summer associate, you’ll receive substantive one-on-one feedback from our summer program coordinator, who oversees the entire program. You’ll also receive direct feedback from the attorneys who generate assignments. Additionally, the chair of the program will provide a comprehensive mid- and end-of- summer formal evaluation.
From sailing adventures, visits to Casco Bay’s islands, and attendance at Portland, Maine’s and Manchester, New Hampshire’s Triple-A baseball team games to museum visits and informal barbeques, summer associates have many opportunities to unwind, connect with colleagues, and get to know our communities in an informal setting.
We take pride in our community roots and seek out attorneys who are socially engaged and civic-minded. In addition to donating over 2,000 hours a year to pro bono causes, we’ve made a commitment to inspire up-and-coming attorneys to incorporate regular pro bono work into their practices. The Bernstein Shur Pro Bono Fellowship extends the standard 10-week summer associate program by two weeks to create a 12-week program, three weeks of which are spent working in-house with a legal-service provider of the student’s choice.
We can help place you with a non-profit organization at one of the providers we usually work with such as Pine Tree Legal Assistance Program, ILAP, ACLU of Maine or the Conservation Law Foundation.
While in your three-week pro bono rotation you will still participate in firm events and will continue to be paid by the firm during your rotation.
The program, which is the only of its kind in New England, was created to enhance our summer associate program and expand our pro bono work in the community. At Bernstein Shur, pro bono work is about more than civic responsibility or a sense of duty. It is a way of life and a fundamental part of the firm’s culture.
Don’t see the right opportunity yet? Email your resume to:
Rebecca Asen, Director of Attorney Recruiting and Professional Development
attorneyrecruiting@bernsteinshur.com 207 774-1200
All inquiries held in strictest confidence.
We conduct on campus interviews at the following schools:
- University of Maine School of Law
- University of New Hampshire School of Law
- Vermont Law School
- Northeastern University School of Law
- Boston College Law School
- Boston University School of Law
- American University Washington College of the Law
- The George Washington University Law School
There’s a lot of room to grow here.
Meet a few graduates of our summer program (there are many more):
Joan Fortin, Chief Executive Officer
Jim Keenan, Shareholder
Asha Echeverria, Shareholder
Shoshana Cook Mueller, Shareholder
Eben Albert, Shareholder
Joel Moser, Shareholder
Beth Smith, Associate