Voice of Maslon

At the start of the summer, I had many of the typical anxieties of an incoming summer associate: Would I be able to handle the workload? Would my legal research and writing skills be strong enough? Would I fit in with the attorneys and staff at the firm? By the end of the ten weeks, the Maslon summer program had put each of these worries to rest and had convinced me that Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand, LLP was the right place for me.

The coordinators of the summer program designed my workload to show me what life is like as a young Maslon associate. Starting in the first week, I was given substantive legal work with time-sensitive deadlines and was asked to juggle multiple assignments simultaneously. At no point, however, did I feel like my workload was unmanageable because the coordinators of the summer program did a fantastic job of monitoring my assignments and ensuring that I had adequate time to complete my work.

The summer program offered me significant support in legal research and writing. A senior associate served as my writing mentor and was always available to answer my questions and to offer guidance. Following the completion of each project, the assigning attorney provided me with instant feedback on the quality of my work and suggested several ways in which I could improve it. Thanks to this support, my legal research and writing skills developed significantly over the course of the summer, enabling me tackle each new assignment with greater confidence.

Through a variety of social events, both planned and impromptu, the summer program made me feel like part of the Maslon family. It gave me numerous opportunities to interact with partners and associates outside of the office at events such as a PedalPub bar crawl, a retreat in northern Wisconsin, and a house rehabilitation with Habitat for Humanity—to name just a few. During these interactions, I saw how much the attorneys at Maslon valued and respected each other both as colleagues and as friends. These interactions also helped me start meaningful relationships, which have and will continue to grow as my career progresses at Maslon.

To sum it up, I found the Maslon summer program to be a vastly rewarding experience—and one that I would strongly encourage others to experience as well.

John Duffey
Maslon Associate
2010 Summer Associate
University of Michigan Law School, Class of 2011