The Simpson Thacher Summer Program is designed to be both challenging and satisfying, but foremost an opportunity for exceptional law students to gain a window into the Firm’s work and culture. We don’t promote “star partners” or showcase certain practice areas. It is our excellence across multiple disciplines that sets us apart. All Simpson lawyers work on headline cases and transactions involving substantive issues, and summer associates contribute on many levels, frequently participating in our most important cases and deals. 

Every Simpson office participates in the summer program. Formal Summer Programs operate in Los Angeles, New York (our largest class), Palo Alto and Washington, DC.  Summer associates sometimes split their time between a U.S. and a foreign office, working in London, Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo or São Paulo. Our Asian and Brazilian offices provide excellent opportunities for summer associates with the requisite skills or languages, and the London office is sometimes able to accommodate split-summer requests.

Extraordinary work and travel opportunities aren’t the only dividends, of course. Summer social functions are always popular, shaped to communicate the Firm’s culture and cement acquaintances among next year’s incoming class.

But our abiding goal remains to provide a window that allows you to meet Simpson Thacher people and become conversant with the incomparable breadth and depth of the practice. We want our summer associates to feel comfortable selecting the Firm as a whole at the end of the summer, even before they may yet be prepared to choose a specific department in which to begin a career.