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Law360 (May 1, 2020, 6:10 PM EDT) -- Amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Dickinson Wright PLLC has decided to cancel its summer associate program, while four other law firms on Friday confirmed they will be moving ahead but postponing the start date.
Morrison & Foerster LLP, Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, Baker Botts LLP and Arnold & Porter joined a growing list of firms that have recently adjusted their summer associate programs. Instead of canceling it completely, they are making changes such as shortening the duration or moving the program online.
Dickinson Wright told Law360 on Friday that it has chosen to cancel this year's summer associate program, but plans to provide job offers to all participants. It also deferred the start of the fall first-year associate class to January 2021.
"Our 2020 first quarter has been excellent and all of our practice areas remain busy, but we are currently monitoring and creating contingency plans for the various levels of reduced revenue anticipated due to the pandemic," Brandon Lulis, Dickinson Wright's chief marketing and business development officer, said in a statement.
"Our leadership has developed a tiered contingency plan for the potential of reduced revenues," Lulis added. "Part of this plan does include the cancellation of our summer program, yet providing everyone in that summer class an offer, and deferring our fall incoming class of associates to January."
Meanwhile, Morrison & Foerster will continue to run its summer associate program virtually but start no earlier than June 15, the San Francisco-based firm confirmed Friday. It declined to comment on the duration of the program.
"While many of the logistics are still being worked out due to the unprecedented nature of the situation, we are pleased to welcome our incoming summer associates to MoFo and have already expressed to them that the firm is committed to extending offers to each of them," a firm spokesperson said in a statement to Law360.
Morrison & Foerster plans to extend offers to the entire summer class, in which the first-year students will receive return offers for next summer, while second-year students will receive offers to join the firm in 2021, according to the firm spokesperson. This year, MoFo has accepted 137 summer associates globally, the firm said.
"We believe that providing certainty on offers is critical for our summer associates during these very challenging and uncertain times," the spokesperson said.
New York-based Schulte Roth & Zabel confirmed Friday that it has adjusted this year's summer associate program to five weeks, starting June 22.
"We anticipate that most, if not all, of the program will be conducted remotely," the firm said in a statement to Law360. "Summer associates are not required to be in New York City for any portion of the program to fully participate."
Schulte Roth will compensate the summer associates for the 11-week program as it originally planned. According to a firm spokesperson, Schulte Roth has accepted 48 law students this year and it is intended to make post-graduation employment offers to all of the summer associates.
"This is a challenging time for everyone, and we do not want our future colleagues to be concerned that the adjusted summer program will affect whether they receive offers," the firm said.
Houston-based Baker Botts informed its summer associates in early April that it will delay the summer associate program by at least a month and is planning on hosting it remotely.
"We expect we will host an online summer training program, with a robust curriculum that will provide our incoming class with interactive, remote professional development opportunities," the firm said in a statement to Law360 on Friday.
Baker Botts is extending offers to all of its summer associates, as long as they maintain a strong academic performance.
Arnold & Porter has also shortened its summer program to five weeks and will run remotely starting June 8, the firm confirmed Friday.
The Washington, D.C.-based firm said it expects to offer full-time positions to all of its second-year summer associates to join as first-year associates in 2021, while the first-year summer associates will receive offers to return next summer.
--Editing by Orlando Lorenzo.
Update: This story has been updated with the offer details from MoFo.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
