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Law360 (May 28, 2020, 6:01 PM EDT ) In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Day Pitney LLP confirmed Thursday that it has canceled its 2020 summer associate program, while three more law firms said they are moving their programs forward but hosting them remotely.
Holland & Knight LLP, Haynes and Boone LLP and Dorsey & Whitney LLP confirmed Thursday that they have delayed and shortened their summer associate programs.
Hartford, Connecticut-based Day Pitney said it has made "permanent employment" offers to all summer associates to join as fall associates in 2021.
"Day Pitney has made the difficult decision to cancel our 2020 summer associate program," the firm said in a statement to Law360. "As we do not believe that we would be able to provide the professional development opportunities that our summer program typically affords while working in a remote environment."
Florida-headquartered Holland & Knight will run its summer program from June 22 to July 17, the firm told Law360, shortening it to four weeks.
Dallas-based Haynes and Boone is hosting a six-week virtual program, also starting June 22, and Minneapolis-based Dorsey & Whitney's seven-week program starts in mid-June, the two firms confirmed.
All three firms said they are compensating their summer associates for the weeks they will participate in the programs. Typically, the duration of such summer programs is about 10 weeks long, but because of the disruptions caused by COVID-19, a number of law firms have decided to cut short their programs and host them virtually.
Holland & Knight and Dorsey & Whitney will extend offers to their summer associates at the conclusion of the programs, the two firms said. Haynes and Boone said it has extended full-time employment offers to all its second-year students and return offers to the first-year students, contingent on satisfactory academic performance.
The three law firms are the latest to join a slew of others that have announced changes to their summer programs because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Wednesday, Philadelphia-based Duane Morris LLP confirmed that is has shortened its summer program to four weeks, starting in July. And New York-based Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP said its program will begin July 6 and run through Aug. 7.
--Additional reporting by Hailey Konnath. Editing by Stephen Berg.
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