Law Students
At Brooks Pierce, we appreciate that accomplished, talented law students and lawyers have myriad professional options. We offer a distinctive, autonomous model, a self-reliant but supportive culture, and a markedly diverse client base that includes local small business to established multinational corporations and everything in between. While Brooks Pierce is not the right fit for everyone, our lawyers embrace the difference. We believe that the Firm offers a unique professional platform for constant challenge and lasting satisfaction.
Our lawyers embody diverse backgrounds and viewpoints, yet we share much in common. We are committed to excellence and integrity in all we do. Our lawyers strive not just to anticipate problems but to come armed with innovative solutions. Our community fosters independence, innovation and agility. We prize intellectual curiosity, initiative and resilience.
Lawyers who thrive at Brooks Pierce welcome change and pursue challenge. Brooks Pierce has no formal practice groups. There are no prescribed trial or deal teams nor fixed partner assignments. Associates are invited to seek out colleagues whose work is appealing—across offices, industries, and fields. Brooks Pierce lawyers build upon their backgrounds, explore new industries, plunge into the unknown—or all of the above. Learning and challenge does not stop with seniority. At all stages of their careers, our lawyers have the chance to reevaluate, reboot, and reinvent. The state of law practice is constantly changing, and we encourage our lawyers to keep evolving.
Associates have the freedom to blaze their own trails, to craft a portfolio of work spanning many specialties, industries, clients and jurisdictions.
That freedom comes with responsibility—to be mindful and purposeful in creating a stimulating and sustaining life in the law. This is a freedom our associates relish, and one that keeps the practice of law fresh and fun.
Brooks Pierce seeks law students who see the law as a calling—not just a job. From their first day, our associates seize ownership of client matters. Every lawyer, at every level, is invited to play an active role, take a seat at the table, and share their insights and ideas.
Careers Information
On-Campus Interview Schedule
We welcome applications for the Brooks Pierce summer program from talented and motivated J.D. students nationwide.
We travel to or connect virtually with the campuses of several law schools in North Carolina and Virginia during the fall semester to meet 2L students. The schools we regularly visit include:
- Campbell University
- Duke University
- North Carolina Central University
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- University of Virginia
- Wake Forest University
| 2L On-Campus Schedule | |
| Campbell University | TBD |
| Duke University | TBD |
|
North Carolina Central University |
TBD |
| University of North Carolina | TBD |
| University of Virginia | TBD |
| Wake Forest University | TBD |
Summer Program
Our summer program is a crucial avenue for bringing our future partners, and future leaders, to Brooks Pierce. We seek summer associates whom we believe will find lasting success and satisfaction with us. We support our summer associates in exploring their diverse interests, developing their practical skills and building confidence. Throughout the summer program, every member of the Brooks Pierce community strives to help our summer associates forge a keen client-service orientation and an immutable ethical compass.
The summer program is designed to immerse each summer associate in the firm’s wide-ranging fields of expertise. The projects are selected to help our summer associates parse out the topics most compelling to them. Every bit as important, we seek to forge enduring relationships between our summer associates and our lawyers. Many of our lawyers have spent the majority of their careers with the firm, and the summer program lays the foundation for meaningful, productive, and enjoyable professional and personal relationships for years to come.
Because we have far more partners than associates (3:1 ratio of partners to associates), our summer program is naturally small and selective. This gives us the opportunity to work closely, one-on-one, with each summer associate to ensure a rich and rewarding experience. We work with each summer associate to create an individualized, targeted program of projects and experiential activities designed to meet their unique background and interests.
Each summer associate is also matched with partner and associate mentors to offer guidance throughout the summer. Sources of guidance and perspective are even more plentiful, of course. By working with a host of our lawyers and professional staff at all levels and getting to know many more through our vibrant calendar of activities, summer associates can avail themselves of many models and methods of legal excellence—and gain the input of many more enthusiastic mentors and advisors on matters substantive and informal.
One exciting aspect of work and life at Brooks Pierce is the immediacy of associate involvement and responsibility. This starts during the summer program. Our summer associates are immersed in meaningful, time-sensitive, real legal work. They see their contributions in action, whether in an oral argument, negotiation, closing, or client meeting. Our summer associates, like our associates, contribute on their first day—and their contributions are acknowledged and appreciated.
Experiential activities often result in challenging, interesting projects, and any hearing, oral argument, negotiation, closing, or other event can be instructive and inspiring. Our lawyers seek every opportunity to include summer associate when they venture to court or to a client meeting—and then to keep the summer associate involved.
We hire second-year law students to work with us as summer associates. Our summer program typically lasts ten to twelve weeks, beginning in mid-May and ending in early August. Within those parameters, summer associates are free to choose when their tenure will begin and end. Summer associates are also allowed to split their summers with another firm.
We host events throughout the summer to promote strong bonds among the members of the summer associate class and between summer associates and lawyers. These events are also helpful in introducing summer associates to the cities in which we work and live.
If we participate in on-campus interviews (OCI) at your law school, take part. 2L students are also invited to apply in June.
FAQ
What is your hiring process for the Summer Program?
We participate in fall semester law school on-campus interview programs, as well as encouraging applications from law students via email. 2Ls participate in our summer program. We generally hire 2L students in the late summer/early fall.
When making decisions for summer employment, the Recruiting Committee reviews the candidate’s evaluations from callback interviews and determines whether or not to extend an offer for summer employment.
How many summer associates do you usually hire?
While our summer program is small, we do not limit ourselves to a particular number. We are always looking for the brightest, most talented students.
Are summer associates allowed to split their summers?
Yes. We recognize the importance of clerking with more than one firm before committing to one after graduation. Our hope is that our summer associates will make a lasting career at Brooks Pierce. We want you to explore and choose the best place for your future.
When does the summer program begin and end?
Our program typically lasts ten to twelve weeks, beginning in mid-May and ending in early August. Within those parameters, summer associates are free to choose when their tenure will begin and end.
How do summer associates gain experience?
The Brooks Pierce Summer Program is designed to mirror the work experience of our full-time associates as much as possible. Our distinct model has no formal practice areas or departments, and associates are encouraged to work concurrently with a wide array of partners across fields and industries. Summer associates are similarly encouraged to participate in a diverse range of matters, gaining exposure to lawyers and clients that represent the variety of our practice and clientele.
How do summer associates receive feedback?
Summer associates receive feedback through several different methods. We encourage our lawyers to provide feedback directly to summer associates while they are working on a project together. Summer associates are also encouraged to seek feedback directly from the assigning lawyer. At the end of a summer associate’s tenure, our Recruiting Committee will solicit more formal assessments. Lawyers are asked to consider a summer associate based on, among other aspects, the quality of their work product, leadership capabilities, judgment, and decision-making skills. A member of the Recruiting Committee will relay the results of this assessment to a summer associate during an exit interview. Future hiring decisions regarding summer associates are made shortly after the conclusion of the summer program.
Our Values
People at Brooks Pierce are proud to work for a firm that has a strong culture, coupled with the right values.
That is not an accident, and it indicates that their own values are fairly well aligned with the Firm’s.
The strength of an organization's culture depends in large part on the degree to which the values of the culture are known, communicated and effectively reinforced over time.
With that premise in mind, and for more than a decade, we have studied what is truly valued at Brooks Pierce. We have distilled that information into the following list of values in an effort to define the positive attributes of our culture and determine ways those values and the culture can be reinforced in all activities of the firm.
We value:
1. Excellence - Commitment to highest standards of professional service and ongoing personal and professional development.
2. Integrity - Honesty, fairness and character in all professional and personal activities.
3. Professionalism - Ethical and professional conduct in legal services and in all related interactions.
4. Individual Responsibility - Self-motivated and self-directed approach to legal practice, personal, professional and business development, and meeting commitments.
5. Diversity and Inclusion - Respect for and openness to all persons, and recognition of the importance of diversity and inclusion as critical components of the success of the Firm.
6. Independent But Collaborative Work Environment - Work environment which encourages independence, flexibility, collaboration, limited bureaucracy and minimization of authoritarianism, hierarchy and organizational boundaries.
7. Collegiality - Supportive, respectful, and professional work environment based on meaningful personal connections and respect for individual interests and differences.
8. Service and Involvement - Orientation of service to and involvement with clients, the Firm, the profession, and the community.
We invite you to get to know us.