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Law360 (April 20, 2020, 9:12 PM EDT ) Four more law firms, including Latham & Watkins LLP and McDermott Will & Emery LLP, on Monday confirmed changes to their summer associate programs amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, making adjustments such as delaying start dates or even going with an optional program.
Three of the four firms — Latham, Munger Tolles & Olson LLP and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP — said they planned to move ahead with shortened or delayed programs, while Chicago-based McDermott has made its program "optional" and replaced it with a "two-week virtual boot camp."
"In keeping with our commitment to delivering creative solutions, McDermott has decided to reshape our planned Summer Program as an optional two-week virtual boot camp taking place from July 13-24," a McDermott spokesperson said in a statement to Law360.
The firm has extended offers to all second-year summer associates to join the firm as associates in 2021, and for first years to return next summer, the spokesperson added.
Meanwhile, Latham's summer program is delayed until at least June 1, according to a firm spokesperson, who said the firm intends to honor its full financial commitment to both its summer associates and the first-year fellows.
Munger Tolles also said it plans to pay summer associates full salaries for completing the program despite its shortened duration. The firm said it has postponed its program to mid-June and that it will last for six weeks, instead of its usual 10.
"Munger Tolles & Olson's summer program has long been an integral part of our firm's ethos and has empowered us to cultivate generations of homegrown talent. In keeping with those long-standing values, our summer program will proceed," a firm spokesperson said in a statement to Law360.
Also on Monday, Faegre Drinker said it will defer the start of its summer associate program to no earlier than July 6. The format of the program, however, is still up in the air, the firm said.
The four firms are the latest among many to have adjusted their summer associate programs as the result of the coronavirus pandemic. Other firms have said they are still deciding what to do with their programs.
"We are still considering the format for the summer program and, like many firms, waiting to see how things develop. Everyone's safety is our top priority," said Jenner & Block LLP co-managing partners Katya Jestin and Randy Mehrberg said in a statement Monday to Law360.
Over the past week, a long list of law firms, including Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP, Hogan Lovells, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, have announced that they plan to delay the start dates of their programs, with most pushing them back until mid-June.
Other firms have chosen to nix the program for the year, including Greenberg Traurig LLP and Arent Fox LLP, which both announced last week that they would invite all associates who had been accepted into the program to return next year.
A handful of firms — including Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, Cooley LLP, Covington & Burling LLP and Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP — have said they plan to move forward as scheduled with their programs, although many of the new hires may end up working remotely.
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, meanwhile, has told its summer associates that it isn't sure exactly how it will move forward, but it is evaluating alternatives.
--Additional reporting by Emma Cueto. Editing by Alanna Weissman.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
