A few of our associates and past summer associates offered their sense of a typical day:

Christopher Montana

“The culture at Fredrikson & Byron is not what you would expect from a large firm with hundreds of attorneys. Perhaps the culture is best described as a “small firm” feel. Questions are encouraged, help is readily offered, and you get the sense that the entire firm is pulling for you to succeed. Often, I would call an associate for guidance on a project, or an attorney would proactively offer to help if I needed it. At Fredrikson, everyone has an open door – literally and figuratively – from senior partners to summer associates. Each day was marked by attorneys stopping by to see how my summer was going or to argue about the source of the Minnesota Twins’ problems. This culture extends beyond the summer associate program and also describes attorney-attorney and attorney-staff interaction. There is a sense of family at Fredrikson that comes in handy when the work begins to pile up.

Expectations are high, but support is abundant. The experience at Fredrikson is not a sugar-coated version of life as an associate. From the start, summer associates are told to produce excellent work, and summer associates are exposed to all aspects of practicing law. The projects are not administrative or “busy work;” my projects involved real people and real disputes. The firm provides, however, significant support to allow summer associates to meet and exceed expectations. Tutors and mentors are provided to allow the summer associates to test and hone their writing skills in a no-strings-attached environment. There is a great deal of work, but the program is designed to help the summer associates succeed.

The firm takes care to ensure that the summer is both real and fun. A typical day will include some sort of social activity ranging from BBQs to late night concerts. My summer included (but was not limited to…) waterskiing, shooting clay pigeons, canoeing, Twins games, happy hours, an introduction to sushi, an in-depth survey of downtown restaurants, softball games, scavenger hunts, ping pong games at 2:30am, bowling, arguments about the legitimacy of St. Paul, and more happy hours.

It is difficult to outline a “typical day” because the nature of the work is ever changing. But expect to spend a great deal of time writing and more time editing. Expect to work in a broad range of practice areas. Expect to develop new skills and sharpen old ones. I can’t say exactly what a typical day will include, but (if you are doing it right) you will work hard, have fun, feel welcomed into a family of professionals, and meet amazing people.”

Chris Montana was a 2011 Summer Associate. He will graduate from the Hamline University School of Law in 2013.

Joe Schauer

“It does not take an extraordinary day at Fredrikson to have your intellectual curiosity entirely satisfied. I found myself engaging in challenging, meaningful projects each and every day of the summer. With each project, the shareholders and associates expect you to actively engage in formulating solutions for their clients’ complicated matters; you are not just a passive observer.

A typical day for me included researching whether aspects of an innovative investment fund would comply with securities laws, determining the successor tort liability of an entity that had been through multiple corporate transactions, and analyzing personal jurisdiction over a foreign business. Another day involved researching arbitration decisions for an employment dispute, working with a foreign national shareholder to provide due diligence on a German investment fund, and working with an associate to minimize an unexpected tax assessment levied on a small business owner. With each of these experiences, I had ample opportunity to hone my writing skills, engage in conversation with attorneys at all levels of the firm, and build confidence in my practice of the law.

And best yet, engaging in this type of work only constituted about sixty percent of my time. The rest of my time was spent at a variety of social and community service events with attorneys and staff of the firm. I had lunches with attorneys and entire departments of the firm, mingled with coworkers at a shareholder’s lakeside cabin, served food a local charity, improved the sustainability of community garden project, golfed with associates, shareholders, and clients, and watched Purple Rain in anticipation of our group outing to the First Avenue nightclub.

The bottom line is that a typical day at Fredrikson stimulates your intellect, allows you to better understand the firm and its people, and enables you to define the career you want to have at the firm.”

Joe Schauer was a 2011 Summer Associate. He will graduate from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2012.

Benjamin Tozer

“You’ll grab a cup of coffee while your computer boots up, then you’ll answer a quick question on the phone, get an email about a new project, meet an attorney in their office to have the new project explained more completely, then finish drafting a memo. You’ll follow that up with a quick chat with a fellow summer associate down the hall and a second cup of coffee. Then you’re off to lunch with a welcoming attorney who works in an area you are interested in, followed by editing an article you wrote yesterday. You’ll call the attorney you met with earlier with a quick question, and they’ll answer you thoroughly and patiently. You’ll log off your computer at the end of the day, and maybe you’ll go home and take the rest of the evening off. But more likely you’ll meet a fellow summer associate and a pair of attorneys at Target Field for a baseball game or even rock out at First Avenue until midnight with other Fredrikson attorneys. You’ll go to bed excited for what tomorrow will bring.

Throughout the day, office doors will be open and you’ll meet new people constantly. You won’t feel like an outsider helping out the team – you’ll actually be part of the team. And your role as a member of that team will include legal research, deposition preparation, client meetings, discovery drafting, and everything in between. Don’t worry – you’ll have plenty of time to breathe – but it will be the most intellectually stimulating summer you have ever had. On a typical day at Fredrikson you’ll do great work with fun and friendly people, and you will never, ever, be bored.”

Ben Tozer was a 2011 Summer Associate. He will graduate from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2012.

Catherine London

“A typical day as a summer associate at Fredrikson & Byron involves a wide range of projects, people, and experiences. Although my schedule varied significantly from one day to the next, every day exposed me to challenging and stimulating work and dedicated attorneys who expressed a genuine interest in my summer associate experience.

During the course of a typical day, I had the opportunity to work on a diverse array of projects, which included drafting a summary judgment motion, participating in presentations, meeting with pro bono clients, filing the articles of incorporation for a company, and conducting research on a number of fascinating legal issues. I was able to pursue my own interests while also interacting with attorneys in several of the practice groups and assisting with a broad range of legal projects. My assignments involved real estate litigation, medical device regulation, and social media, to name a few. Throughout the summer, I was also able to attend several field trips. These experiences included a hearing at the Minnesota Supreme Court, a mediation, client meetings, and even a jail tour.

There are also a number of opportunities to interact with the attorneys and other summer associates in an informal, social environment. Summer associates regularly attend lunches and social gatherings, such as Twins games, community service projects, waterskiing, and a weekend retreat with several of the attorneys. Although the atmosphere at the firm is always friendly and inviting, the social events throughout the summer allowed me to appreciate the diverse interests and personalities of my colleagues.

The firm offers summer associates an opportunity to enter an exciting and collegial atmosphere surrounded by interesting and unique attorneys who make you feel welcome from the very first day. Overall, a typical day as a summer associate at Fredrikson & Byron will involve great colleagues, challenging projects, and rewarding work. At the end of every day, you will feel like a valued member of the Fredrikson team.”

Catherine London was a 2011 Summer Associate. She will graduate from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2012.

Hiep Pham

“I was exposed to many areas of law at Fredrikson. A typical day gave me the opportunity to work in a variety of practice groups with the option of more work if an area of law was interesting to me. I consistently received interesting projects throughout the summer, four words: post mortem gamete retrieval (you may not want to Google it).

There is a lot to be said about Fredrikson’s culture and how the firm openly welcomes its summer associates. I am not talking about rolling out the red carpet. I am talking about a practice group’s open invitation to climb forty flights of stairs before lunch every day or playing soccer on Thursdays with associates and their families. I am talking about being greeted by name in the hallway by lawyers I do not remember having met and even being wished “happy birthday” in the hallway by a lawyer I had only met twice. I am talking about having a lawyer arm a summer associate with a box of ice cream bars and a list of lawyers, so the summer could get to know a practice group. At Fredrikson & Byron, I got to be part of a firm that is genuinely interested in making its summer associates feel like they belong because there are no wallflowers in Fredrikson & Byron’s summer program.

So what is a typical day like? It’s like I’ve been a part of the firm for years.”

Hiep Pham was a 2010 and 2011 Summer Associate. He will graduate from the University of St. Thomas in May 2012.