White & Case, Akerman Alter Summer Programs Due To Virus

By Kevin Penton
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Law360 (May 21, 2020, 9:32 PM EDT) -- White & Case LLP and Akerman LLP confirmed changes to their summer associate programs Thursday, becoming the latest firms to adjust their offerings to budding lawyers as the novel coronavirus impacts the legal industry.

White & Case's program, which will be fully virtual, will begin on June 22 and run for seven weeks, according to the firm. Pay will be based on the weeks of participation, and qualified second-year students are expected to receive job offers, the firm said.

Akerman cut the length of its program from eight to four weeks. The program will be fully virtual and begin on July 6, with offer decisions to be made at the end of the session, the firm said.

In recent weeks, many firms have chosen to modify their summer program offerings in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. On Wednesday, BakerHostetler said it expects to start its remote program in early July. In a statement to Law360, the Cleveland-based firm said it will pay participants for the four weeks they are employed by the firm.

Meanwhile, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP confirmed its plans to run a virtual summer associate program from July 6 to Aug. 7.

The New York-based firm said it has already made job offers to all the second-year students to return to the firm as first-year associates in 2021, while first-year students were given offers to return for next year's summer program.

"Notwithstanding the shortened program, we are confident that our summer associates will continue to have meaningful assignments, learn vital skills and learn about our many top-notch practice areas," a Kramer Levin spokesperson said in a statement to Law360.

--Additional reporting by Xiumei Dong, Emma Cueto and Natalie Rodriguez. Editing by Daniel King.

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