Law Students and Judicial Clerks
Overview
Summer Associate Candidates
The Summer Associate Program is our primary source for recruiting first-year associates at Ballard Spahr. The goal of our Summer Associate Program is to provide a strong foundation of key skills, valuable experience, and important relationships that will allow our summer associates to launch successful careers at the firm.
Summer associates at Ballard Spahr receive substantive, on-the-job training. They complete meaningful assignments, participate in pro bono projects, develop mentor relationships with associates and partners, and have at their disposal a range of innovative training programs and valuable networking opportunities. They work side-by-side with our attorneys and are invited to attend department and practice group meetings throughout the summer.
A highlight of our program is the annual firmwide Summer Associate Retreat, when summer associates from all offices travel to Philadelphia for two days of training, networking, and social events. This experience promotes the development of relationships with colleagues across all practices and office locations.
You've worked hard—and you're almost there. We look forward to helping you discover your passion in the legal industry and to supporting you as you build a career.
Entry Level Associate Candidates
We review our hiring needs for entry level associate candidates on an ongoing basis. If you are interested in an entry level associate position after graduation from law school or upon completion of a judicial clerkship, we welcome you to submit an application through the links below and we will keep your materials on file to review if any positions become available.
2023 Entry Level Associate Candidates | Judicial Clerk*
2023 First Year Associate Candidates | 3L*
*We are not accepting submissions from outside agencies or search firms for these positions.
Summer Program
Summer Associate Training
Ballard Spahr is committed to developing attorneys at all levels of the firm, from summer associates to senior partners. In addition to extensive on-the-job training, our summer associates also participate in a series of speakers and workshops that cover a variety of topics such as legal research, writing, pro bono work, firm history, and business development.
Exceptional service and remarkable alliances with clients are hallmarks of the firm. Investing in the personal and professional development of our summer associates is a part of that commitment.
Summer Associate mentorship and feedback
We believe in transparency, and our summer associates receive continual feedback directly from the lawyers with whom they work.
We have a formal evaluation process that includes a midsummer check-in and end-of-summer review that encompasses valuable feedback from our lawyers on the quality of the summer associate's research, analysis, communication, judgment, and overall work product.
In addition to receiving personalized feedback from senior attorneys, each summer associate is assigned a mentor who will informally respond to any questions that may arise throughout the summer.
Summer Associate Social Events
The Ballard Spahr Summer Associate Program includes a variety of social and networking events to allow summer associates to get to know one another, our attorneys, and the communities in which they work.
Examples of past events in various offices include:
- Virtual Guided Paint Nite
- Virtual Broadway Concert and Q&A
- Baseball game and stadium tour
- Golf tournament
- Team cooking challenge
- Crab feast
- Scenic walk/run and BBQ
On-Campus Interviews
We will be participating in on-campus interviews at the schools and job fairs listed below. We may add additional schools to this list in the coming weeks. If we will not be attending OCI at your school, we encourage you to submit an application through our website (here).
|
Law School or Job Fair |
On-Campus Interview Date |
| American University | 8/3/2022 |
| Arizona State University | 8/4/2022 |
| Delaware Diversity Job Fair | 7/23/2022 |
| George Mason University | 8/2/2022 |
| George Washington University | 8/2/2022 |
| Georgetown University | 8/3/2022 |
| Howard University | 8/4/2022 |
| Lavender Law Career Fair | 7/29/2022 |
| Loyola Los Angeles | 7/25/2022 |
| Mitchell Hamline | 7/27/2022 |
| MN Minority Recruiting Conference | 8/5/2022 |
| Philadelphia Area Diversity Job Fair | 7/25/2022 |
| Southeastern Intellectual Property Job Fair | 7/26/2022 |
| Southeastern Minority Job Fair | 7/14/2022 |
| Temple University | 7/27/2022 |
| University of Arizona | 8/1/2022 |
| University of Baltimore | 8/2/2022 |
| University of California, Los Angeles | 7/28/2022 |
| University of Colorado | 8/2/2022 |
| University of Denver | 8/2/2022 |
| University of Maryland | 8/3/2022 |
| University of Minnesota | 8/2/2022 |
| University of Nevada, Las Vegas | 8/9/2022 |
| University of Pennsylvania | 8/2/2022 |
| University of South Dakota | |
| University of St. Thomas | 7/25/2022 |
| Villanova University | 8/4/2022 |
Diversity Fellowships
We are proud to partner with various organizations each year to host 1L Diversity Fellows in several office locations. Our Ballard Spahr 1L Diversity Fellows join our Summer Associate Program, and they also have the unique opportunity to spend some time working as interns in the legal departments of our partner organizations.
Additionally, certain practice groups hire 2L Diversity Fellows to give students the opportunity to take a deep dive into a specific area of law during the Summer Associate Program. Availability of 2L Diversity Fellowships varies from year to year based on practice group hiring needs.
All Diversity Fellowship and Summer Program application links can be found here when they become available.
2023 1L Diversity Fellowships:
Baltimore – Ballard Spahr & McCormick 1L Diversity Fellowship (more info)
Denver – Ballard Spahr & Denver City Attorney’s Office 1L Diversity Fellowship (more info)
Minneapolis – Ballard Spahr & Wells Fargo 1L Diversity Fellowship (more info)
New York – Ballard Spahr & The New York Times 1L Diversity Fellowship (more info)
Philadelphia – Ballard Spahr & Corteva 1L Diversity Fellowship (more info)
Philadelphia – Ballard Spahr & GSK 1L Diversity Fellowship (more info)
Phoenix – Ballard Spahr & Republic Services 1L Diversity Fellowship (more info)
Salt Lake City – Ballard Spahr & Aptive Environmental 1L Diversity Fellowship (more info)
Washington DC – Ballard Spahr & PNC 1L Diversity Fellowship (more info)
2023 2L Diversity Fellowships:
Consumer Financial Services 2L Diversity Fellowship
Additional Programs:
Philadelphia Diversity Law Group (PDLG) – Fellows Program
The application process for this program is coordinated by PDLG. For more information, click here.
FAQs
We meet the majority of summer associate candidates through on-campus interviews during the fall recruiting season. Call-back interviews take place in our offices and include meeting with four to six attorneys.
If your law school is not listed on our OCI schedule and you are interested in applying for a position in Ballard Spahr's Summer Associate Program, you may submit your application here.
Summer associates are exposed to all of our departments. Ballard Spahr’s assignment coordinators (mid-level and senior-level associates) partner with summer associates to assign work based on the summer associate’s interests and the firm's needs. We believe in exposing summer associates to as many practice areas and attorneys as possible so they can make informed decisions about their legal career.
Yes. Each summer associate at Ballard Spahr is assigned an associate and partner mentor. These mentors make sure that the summer associate is immersed in the firm's culture and activities. Associate mentors are typically junior-level or mid-level associates whose experience is close to that of our summer associates.
Yes! Pro bono work is an integral part of the culture of Ballard Spahr. We have a Pro Bono Counsel, as well as a Pro Bono Committee, with representation from each office. Summer associates are strongly encouraged to participate in pro bono matters that suit their interests and are provided invaluable exposure to Ballard Spahr’s pro bono clients.
Ballard Spahr consistently ranks in the top tier of the Am Law Pro Bono Survey. Please refer to the section of our website titled "Pro Bono" to learn more about the firm's commitment to the communities in which we live and work.
Ballard Spahr's Summer Associate Program is traditionally nine weeks.