Attracting and developing talented professionals who are committed to excellence is critical to our success. We offer students, trainees and judicial clerks unparalleled opportunities for interesting work, a supportive and collegial environment, and a promising pathway to career development.
Our summer program and trainee program give an immersive experience. We provide real-life insight into the workings of an established, broad reaching law firm and the chance to share our commitment to client, public and community service. Each office creates a unique program of events, giving law students a taste of life and work in that office.
Our summer associates and trainees are given high-quality, challenging assignments and work directly with senior lawyers across practices and industry groups on complex and, frequently, cross-border matters.
We know that former judicial clerks bring valuable real-world experience to our legal practice. Your experience, skills, and knowledge add to our rich and dynamic culture and contribute directly to our ability to meet the diverse needs of our clients. We've established a legacy of attracting and retaining former judicial clerks. Morgan Lewis is proud to have more than 150 former judicial clerks.
Relationships matter, start building one with us today!
At a glance
* Our Beijing and Shanghai offices operate as representative offices of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. In Hong Kong, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius is a separate Hong Kong general partnership registered with The Law Society of Hong Kong. Morgan Lewis Stamford LLC is a Singapore law corporation affiliated with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.
Summer Associate Program Overview
We offer an innovative work experience for second-year law students – one that combines a rich summer experience with hands-on, in-depth work at Morgan Lewis, targeted professional development and training, and then in-house training at a public interest or community-based organization.
Our Summer Associate Program starts with an experiential get-together where firm leaders and all summer associates from across the US gather for a multiday orientation and bonding program.
Our kickoffs have happened everywhere from the beach in Santa Monica, where we went barefoot and had a beach olympics, to major urban centers, where we planted trees for the community. Wherever we gather, the goal remains the same: to introduce our summer associates to the firm, to our summer program, to our unique firm culture, and to our enthusiasm for working together.
A cornerstone of each program is our Pro Bono Clinic. Our summer associates’ first assignment is meeting with and counseling real clients. Most recently, we partnered with The Lawyers Clearinghouse in Boston. Teams of Summer Associates alongside Partners and Associates from various offices advised 20 Massachusetts non-profit organizations on Written Information Security Programs.
Summer Associate Testimonials
Sarah Iyere University of Michigan Law School
“Morgan Lewis’s partners and associates really cared about mentoring and developing me. Attorneys initiated learning opportunities by inviting me to negotiations, including me in client meetings, and checking in on me while I was working on complex assignments.”
David Yates Duke University School of Law
“Participating in Morgan Lewis’s 1L Diversity Fellowship strengthened my professional skills by providing excellent legal training and genuine mentorship opportunities.”
Kyle Fraser University of Michigan Law School
“I enjoyed working in the open-minded and respectful culture at Morgan Lewis. It is encouraging to see that the firm really does care about diversity and ensures that people of varying backgrounds are in positions of power.”
ML 1L Diversity Fellowship
Locations
We will host 1L Diversity Fellows in the following offices:
- Boston
- Houston
- Los Angeles
- New York
- Philadelphia
- San Francisco
- Washington, DC
Fellowship recipients will receive the following:
- A $35,000 fellowship stipend made in three payments conditioned on satisfactory completion of the 2L summer and subsequently joining the firm as an entry-level associate
- The opportunity to spend a portion of your 2L summer with a firm client supplementing the summer associate program by providing hands-on experience with the operations of and challenges handled by in-house legal departments
- An experiential pre-summer kickoff where firm leaders and all summer associates from across the United States gather for a multiday orientation and bonding program
Eligibility
Fellowship applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Be enrolled full time in an ABA-accredited law school and in good standing as a first-year law student at the time of application.
- A member of one of the underrepresented racial/ethnic groups set forth by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or a member of the LGBTQ community.
- Have demonstrated academic excellence and outstanding leadership skills.
- Demonstrate interest in promoting diversity at the firm and throughout the legal profession.
- A US citizen or otherwise authorized to work in the United States.
Application Process
Interested students should submit the following in support of their candidacy:
- Cover letter
- Résumé
- Law school and undergraduate transcripts
- Writing sample
The application process is currently closed and will reopen this December for the 2022 summer associate program.
ML Training Experience
ML Community Experience
Serve the public interest and the community as part of your summer work.
The Community Experience allows summer associates the opportunity to spend part of the summer in our traditional program, followed by an assignment at a public interest or community service organization. Summer associates spend up to four weeks with the organization and, together with our firm’s pro bono partner, choose where they will work.
We established the Morgan Lewis Community Experience in 2001. Summer associates who select the ML Community Experience will receive a stipend equal to the salary that they would have received at the firm as a summer associate.
In prior years, summer associates have worked for organizations including:
- Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation
- Manhattan Legal Services
- Education Law Center
- Legal Aid Society - Brooklyn Neighborhood Office
- Goddard Riverside Community Center
- LSNY Manhattan Legal Services
- National Center for Law and Economic Justice
- East Bay Community Law Center
- Center for Reproductive Rights
- The National Veterans Legal Services Program
- National Geographic Society
- National Public Radio
- Cabrini Green Legal Aid
ML Firm Experience
Experience a fully immersive summer working at one of our offices in the United States.
Our Firm Experience offers summer associates a traditional law firm experience. Law students spend all 10 weeks working on real assignments and engaging with lawyers and clients in one of our US offices. At the end of the 10-week period, law students leave with a very clear picture of the day-to-day life of a Morgan Lewis attorney.
Campus Visits
Morgan Lewis considers all second year law students for our summer associate program. We participate in on-campus interviews at the law schools and job fairs listed below, and also accept online applications.
Campus Visits Schedule
| Law School | Date |
|---|---|
| American University Washington College of Law | January 29, 2021 |
| Bay Area Diversity Career Fair | January 9, 2021 |
| Boston College Law School | January 20, 2021 |
| The Boston Lawyers Group Diversity Job Fair for Law Students of Color | January 6, 2021 |
| Boston University School of Law | January 26, 2021 |
| The Catholic University of America, Columbus Law School | February 1, 2021 |
| Columbia University Law School | January 13, 2021 |
| Cook County Bar Association Minority Job Fair | January 8, 2021 |
| Cornell Law School Job Fair | January 19, 2021 |
| Duke University School of Law | January 13, 2021 |
| Fordham University School of Law | January 28, 2021 |
| The George Washington University Law School | January 28, 2021 |
| Georgetown University Law Center | January 19, 2021 |
| Harvard Law School | January 12, 2021 |
| Howard University School of Law | January 25, 2021 |
| Loyola University Chicago School of Law | February 1, 2021 |
| Loyola Patent Law Interview Program | January 14, 2021 |
| NEBLSA Job Fair | January 23, 2021 |
| New York University School of Law | January 13, 2021 |
| Northeastern University School of Law | January 25, 2021 |
| Northwestern University School of Law | January 14, 2021 |
| Philadelphia Area Diversity Job Fair | January 5, 2021 |
| Santa Clara University School of Law | January 13, 2021 |
| Stanford University Law School | December 4, 2020 |
| Temple University, Beasley School of Law | January 20, 2021 |
| University of California, Berkeley School of Law | January 13, 2021 |
| University of California, Davis School of Law | January 11, 2021 |
| University of California, Hastings College of Law | January 20, 2021 |
| University of California, Irvine, School of Law | January 21, 2021 |
| University of California, Los Angeles School of Law | January 20, 2021 |
| University of Chicago Law School | December 11, 2020 |
| University of Houston Law Center | January 12, 2021 |
| University of Illinois College of Law | January 14, 2021 |
| University of Michigan Law School | January 12, 2021 |
| University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School | January 12, 2021 |
| University of Southern California Gould School of Law | January 19, 2021 |
| University of Texas at Austin School of Law | January 19, 2021 |
| University of Virginia School of Law | January 12, 2021 |
| Villanova University, Charles Widger School of Law | January 20, 2021 |
| Yale Law School | November 12, 2020 |
Career Path
Whether you join us as a summer associate or trainee, from a judicial clerkship or as a lateral attorney, there is a career path at Morgan Lewis for you.
Former judicial clerks bring valuable real-world experience to our legal practice. Their experiences, skills, and knowledge add to our rich and dynamic culture and contribute directly to our ability to meet the diverse needs of our clients. Because of this, we've established a legacy of attracting and retaining former judicial clerks. Morgan Lewis is proud to have more than 150 former judicial clerks.
To serve the diverse needs of our clients, we actively seek lawyers with experience as judicial clerks from both state and federal courts, as well as administrative agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
We recruit judicial clerks into specific practices and offices.
Career Path
Whether you join us as a summer associate or trainee, from a judicial clerkship or as a lateral attorney, there is a career path at Morgan Lewis for you.
Morgan Lewis has international programs for students in Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Paris, Moscow, and Singapore. Each program is designed to give law students real world experience with a genuinely global perspective.
Frankfurt Referendare Program
The Frankfurt office sends promising German Referendare to our US offices for internships. The typical Referendare has received excellent training in German law, but has not been trained in the US or in any other common law system. This program helps bring a global dimension to your education. If you have completed a two-year clerkship, the Second State Legal Exam, and are fluent in English, you may qualify.
As a Referendare, you will spend your first three weeks in the Morgan Lewis Frankfurt office, where you will receive an overall orientation. You will then spend approximately two months working with a partner in one of our US offices, who will serve as your mentor. You will be given many opportunities to experience the similarities and differences between German statutory and American common law. While in the US, you will work on active cases and be immersed in the day-to-day business of the firm.
For further information, please contact Dr. Ulrich Korth, partner and sponsor of the program, at our Frankfurt office.
Hong Kong Trainee & Internship Programme
Each year Hong Kong office recruits up to four trainees across our two internship intakes, recruiting candidates who show us their team spirit, commercial awareness, resilience, and passion for a career in law.
All of our trainees spend two years across four different practice areas, including seats in banking and finance, corporate transactions, litigation, and investment management. While classic “seat” allocations bring a practice area focus to each six-month phase of your training, the versatility and integration of our lawyers ensure that you will have a varied workload and regular exposure to diverse learning experiences. Trainees also may have secondment opportunities to Morgan Lewis’s other global offices during their contracts.
INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME
Our vacation schemes are a great way for you to gain genuine insight into life as a trainee in the Hong Kong office. Our programme runs in June and December of each year, with up to 12 places offered in each scheme.
During the scheme, you will be given as much hands-on experience as possible and will be supervised by a mentoring partner who will provide advice and guidance throughout the placement. You could be conducting legal research for live deals/cases, attending client meetings, sitting in on conference calls, or drafting engagement letters during your time at the firm. You will have the opportunity to attend a number of seminars and workshops, including presentations from each of the Hong Kong office’s practices and a Q&A session with some of our trainees. We also organise a number of social events during the scheme, providing you with the opportunity to meet many of our partners, associates, trainees, and business support staff in a more informal setting.
Vacation scheme students are assessed for a training contract during the course of the placement. Assessments vary each year, but typically will include a comprehension or written exercise, a research activity, and a group presentation, as well as a partner interview at the end of the scheme.
HOW TO APPLY
Internships & Training Contracts
Our internship and training programmes are open to penultimate-year law students and graduates. Each internship will run for four weeks during the summer (June to August) and during the winter (December to February). Training programmes are two-year contracts. The application period for training contracts and/ or winter internships is February through May. The application period for training contracts and/ or summer internships is November through January.
Hiring Criteria
- Consistently strong academic
- Strong communication, interpersonal, and legal research skills
- Ability to think analytically and demonstrate commercial awareness
- High level of fluency in written and spoken English and Putonghua
If you meet the above criteria, please send a cover letter describing your career goals, your academic transcripts, and a CV indicating your language skills to our recruiting department at HKRecruiting@morganlewis.com.
If your application is successful, you will be invited for an interview held with one to two partners at the Hong Kong office.
London Trainee Programme
Trainees in our London office work directly with senior lawyers across practices and industry groups on complex and, frequently, cross-border matters. We offer a hands-on and varied experience where trainees build a thorough understanding of our firm’s business and of working with international, high-profile clients.
Engagement and teamwork are the foundation of the training you will experience at Morgan Lewis. You can expect to be an active member of a busy team, and play a real part in doing challenging legal work. While classic “seat” allocations bring a practice area focus to each six-month phase of your training, the versatility and integration of our lawyers ensures that you will have a varied workload and regular exposure to diverse learning experiences. We currently offer seats in Antitrust, Corporate & Business Transactions, Finance, Investment Management, Labour & Employment, Litigation, and Structured Transactions, as well as the occasional client secondment in London. The majority of our trainees will also undertake a secondment in one of our international offices, including Dubai and Singapore.
Pay and Benefits
Candidates who have accepted a training contract offer with Morgan Lewis will receive a maintenance grant of £10,000 (paid in instalments), as well as the full payment of fees for both the GDL and LPC. The firm does not provide retrospective funding for law school fees or maintenance grants.
1st year salary: £47,000 per annum. 2nd year salary: £52,000 per annum. Qualification salary: £115,000 per annum.
Benefits include life assurance, private medical and dental insurance, pension and income protection.
Applications for our 2023 Training Contracts are now open and close at midnight on 14 July 2021.
Apply for a training contract starting in 2023 >>
Summer Vacation Scheme
Our two-week summer vacation scheme provides students with the opportunity to learn more about the firm, meet some of our people, and gain insight into life at Morgan Lewis. During the scheme, students will be given as much hands-on experience as possible, as well as be given the opportunity to attend seminars, workshops and various social activities. Summer scheme students will be assessed for a training contract during the course of the two-week placement.
Applications for our 2021 summer vacation scheme in the London office are now open and will close at midnight on 31 January 2021.
What we look for
Candidates applying for either our summer scheme or training contract will need a strong academic record, including a minimum of AAB at A Level (or equivalent) and a 2:1 (predicted or gained) in their undergraduate degree.
Our online application form is the first opportunity for you to provide us with information that will help us to get to know you. We look for a range of prior work experience (a mixture of law and non-law), volunteering and extra-curricular activities to demonstrate the development of your skills and experience. In particular, we are looking for candidates to show us their commercial awareness, team spirit, resilience and passion for a career in law.
Applications for both our summer scheme and training contract programmes are open to penultimate year law students, final year non-law students and graduates. If you have any queries on either our summer scheme or training contract recruitment process, please contact the graduate recruitment team at: LondonTrainingProgramme@morganlewis.com.
Open Days 2021
Our Open Days run in the spring of each year. The one-day programme is a great way to learn more about Morgan Lewis as a firm and about commercial law in general. We will introduce you to our key practice areas in the London office and give you the opportunity to meet with some of our trainees during a Q&A session. You will also sit down with some of our partners and associates over an informal lunch, before attending a number of skills sessions.
Our Open Days are open to anyone in their first year of a law degree, or penultimate year of a non-law degree. Please send a copy of your CV and a cover letter outlining why you wish to attend to londontrainingprogramme@morganlewis.com. If your application is successful, you will be invited for a telephone interview, before being offered a place on the day.
Applications will open on 1 December 2020 and close on 28 February 2021. Telephone interviews take place in early March.
Moscow Summer Associates
Our summer associate program is designed for current law students who have completed three years of law school and are interested in an internship with the firm for all or part of the summer.
We offer a great opportunity for real-world experience as a lawyer in a leading international law firm. Our summer associates develop their abilities while being involved in a wide variety of projects with our lawyers, and we are proud to say that many of our current partners and associates began their careers in our summer associate program.
Summer associate qualifications:
- Excellent academic credentials and deep knowledge of Russian law
- Solid spoken and written English language skills
- Strong analytical skills and a good team player
- Strive for excellence and be self-motivated
If you are interested in applying for our summer associate program, please send your CV together with a cover letter in English, including your answer to the question, “Why I want to work for an international law firm” at cvmoscow@morganlewis.com before April 30, 2021. In your CV, please also include your cumulative grade point average to date.
Questions?
Please contact Yulia Lytaeva at +7.495.212.2566.
Singapore Trainee Program and Internship
Get a head start and enhance your appreciation for the practice of law at our Singapore office. We offer a practical training programme that gives outstanding students an opportunity to get hands-on training in regional and international transactions and cases. Successful candidates are talented law students with strong academics, drive, and curiosity, who are eager to learn.
The Morgan Lewis Stamford Practice Training Contracts programme offers trainees maximum exposure through a rotation of all our practice groups. You will receive support from senior lawyers, practical scheduled training modules covering major aspects of corporate, commercial, finance and dispute resolution practice, and a dedicated mentor for career guidance.
- Attractive honorarium through the Practice Training Period, currently set at S$2,000/month
- Reimbursement of compulsory course fees upon retention
- A market-leader for annual packages of newly qualified lawyers
Our internship programmes run from May to August. Send applications by mail or electronically to:
The Recruitment Director Morgan Lewis Stamford LLC 10 Collyer Quay Level 27-00 Ocean Financial Centre Singapore 049315 Email: singaporerecruitment@morganlewis.com
Applicants should include: Cover letter stating your preferred area of practice, a recent photo, your Curriculum Vitae, transcripts of results achieved in your LLB examinations to date, and copies of “O” and “A” level certificates.