Summer Program

Cleary Gottlieb is pleased to solicit applications for our Summer Associate positions in the New York, Palo Alto, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., offices through the Cleary Interview Program (CIP).

As a summer associate at Cleary Gottlieb, you will have a unique, immersive experience while working on a diverse and exciting range of matters, including innovative deals, large corporate transactions, and high-profile litigation matters. You will have the opportunity to collaborate with our lawyers, create meaningful relationships with colleagues, and be part of our elite and international practice.

Candidates who are interested in applying to work in one or more of Cleary’s U.S. offices should submit an application through our Cleary Interview Program (CIP) online portal.

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Mentoring

Mentoring is considered a cornerstone of legal practice at Cleary.  In addition to mentoring our lawyers to develop technical legal skills, we are committed to mentoring our lawyers to develop into world-class international lawyers. 

• Summer associates are provided with multiple levels of mentorship during the Summer Program, including junior associate ‘siblings,’ mid-level associates who are members of the Summer Program Committee and senior lawyer mentors. In addition, each summer associate is mentored by one of our Summer Program Co-Chairs, who monitors the summer associate’s experience and progress over the course of the summer.
• In our corporate and litigation groups, individual mentoring is complemented by group mentoring in our Attorney Development Teams, which brings partners, senior lawyers, and associates across a range of seniority together for bonding, socializing, and substantive conversations around critical topics for career development. 
• All of our associates are assigned senior lawyer mentors who meet 1:1 with our associates. 
• Our first year corporate transaction associates enjoy our Corporate Associates Foundation Initiative, a program to bring group mentoring, partner mentors, trainings on vital topics and social events geared towards building relationships to our new class of corporate associates to integrate into the firm. 
• Most of our practice groups offer Office Hours – time to meet with senior lawyers to ask questions and discuss the latest goings on.

Work Assignments

• Summer associates may request assignments from among all of our practice groups and can try their hand at a wide variety of pro bono work. Work is assigned based on your practice area preferences and the current needs of our clients. Since there are no formal rotations, you may explore different practices without being required to rotate among groups. You will receive detailed reports on your performance in the middle and at the end of the summer, as well as informal assessments from associates and senior lawyers throughout your time working with them. There are opportunities for summers to participate in a two-week internship program at a leading investment bank or public interest organization.

Overseas Rotation

• We offer summer associates the opportunity to spend four weeks during the summer in one of our overseas offices, provided that it is safe to do so. One of the goals of our overseas rotation program is to allow summer associates a chance to experience the work of our overseas offices and assess the possibility of a future rotation. Summer associates can express their interest in spending time abroad, and placements are made based on the needs of each overseas office as well as language ability and practice area interest, among other factors. 

Training and Development

Cleary Gottlieb Summer Academy (CGSA) is a two-week intensive training and onboarding curriculum designed to support seamless integration for all summer associates. The program emphasizes skills-based development and firm education and offers a comprehensive array of training opportunities, including:

• Corporate Training
  • Introduction to Cleary’s corporate practice; gives an understanding of the Firm’s transactional practice areas and the skills required to succeed.
• Litigation Training
  • Introduction to Cleary’s litigation practice, including writing and research, nuts and bolts of legal research, filings and submissions, and taking depositions in a hybrid environment.
• Cleary Core Skills
  • A roadmap to practical professional skills, led by our attorney development team, including managing workflow, communicating effectively with clients, and building leadership skills.
• Practice Group Presentations
  • Partner and associate led overviews of practice areas, our clients, and day-to-day work.
• Who’s Who on Wall Street
  • An overview of key players in the financial landscape that you may encounter during your deals.
• Technology Trainings
  • AI @ Cleary
  • Effective Communication
  • Email Management
  • Microsoft Office
• Professional Skills and Development
  • Firm Metrics & Client Service
  • Time Management
  • Your Impact on Others
  • Professional Brand & Presence
• Additional Development
  • Comprehensive in-house miniMBA program designed to familiarize lawyers with a range of business and financial topics
  • Internal online learning tools and resources, including hundreds of training modules with forms, deal outlines, and case summaries
  • Access to external programs and CLE courses that will further your development as a lawyer