Lawyer Development

An Unwavering Commitment to Lawyer Development

Orrick is committed to developing each associate who joins the firm with the knowledge, skills and characteristics essential to deliver outstanding advice and exceptional service to our clients. This commitment includes providing extensive training and resources, backed by clear professional development goals, to associates as they develop and manage their careers.

The tenor of Orrick's lawyer development efforts mirror the culture and core values of the firm. Our goal is to allow each individual's strengths to shine, and to ensure they have the support needed to thrive. A core part of our lawyer development efforts is one-on-one coaching and mentoring. Partners and senior associates serve as coaches and mentors, providing valuable feedback and support to associates. In turn, new associates are expected to take an active role in the development of their own careers by seeking out advice, training and work experiences that will enhance their ability to be great lawyers.

Training & Support at Key Development Points

Orrick offers intensive training retreats at critical career transition points. To provide the support needed, we offer:

• New Associate Orientation Retreat: Each fall, first-year associates from all of Orrick's offices gather for a three-day comprehensive introduction to Orrick. Associates learn about our business and growth strategies, our culture and our practice areas. Professional training provides insights into key skills, including legal writing and professional communication, that will help first-year associates acclimate to law firm practice.
• Midlevel Development Retreat: Each spring, Orrick organizes a two-day retreat to help all fourth-year associates transition to more senior roles in the firm. Associates hear from firm leadership about career management topics including delegation and project management, understanding the business of law, client relationship management and the path to partnership.

Practice Specific Opportunities

Each Orrick practice group supports its associates' training needs by offering a comprehensive legal skills and knowledge curriculum.

• Practice Retreats: Associates are invited to participate in practice group retreats, which bring together Orrick lawyers from around the world who are focused on a specific area of practice. Practice group retreats are held approximately every two years and provide associates and partners with an opportunity to build relationships, identify ways to collaborate and develop new business strategies. The retreats include practice skills training, as well as information on industry and market trends.
• Practice Group Training: Each practice group offers comprehensive training programs that help associates develop the in-depth technical skills and knowledge needed to best serve our clients' needs. These programs are traditionally led by partners or senior associates and take place several times per month, particularly during the first-year of practice. We also offer advanced training for midlevel and senior associates. Litigation associates, for example, participate in intensive, multi-day motion practice and trial advocacy seminars that Orrick offers in collaboration with the National Institute for Trial Advocacy.

Online and Public Resources

In addition to in-house training and development programs, Orrick provides associates with access to online training and industry-leading public continuing education programs.

• Online Resources: Orrick provides unlimited access to more than 7,000 on-demand and live webcast programs from more than 90 distinguished local, state and national continuing legal education providers. Lawyerss can participate in the programs whenever they have time and wherever they have access to the Internet.
• Public Resources: Orrick provides associates with unlimited access to training programs offered by Practicing Law Institute (PLI), an industry-leading provider of continuing education programs. PLI's extensive offerings allow lawyers to extend their training and development into areas of interest outside their specific practice areas and easily fulfill state-mandated CLE requirements.
  

Clear Expectations, Consistent Feedback

Clear communication of expectations – from individual performance today to areas of future professional growth – is a fundamental part of every lawyer's career development at Orrick.

• Development Benchmarks: We provide all associates with practice group specific performance benchmarks. These benchmarks describe the knowledge, skills and work experiences associates are expected to master at the junior, mid and senior levels. They ensure that lawyers have equal access to information about Orrick's expectations so they can actively manage their own career development.
• Mentoring: We believe strongly in the positive impact a strong mentor relationship can have on an lawyers's development. Accordingly, we provide various mentoring options – each increasing the likelihood that a meaningful mentoring relationship can be formed. Our mentoring programs include one-on-one assigned mentors for all junior associates, mentoring families, women's networking circles and affinity groups. All mentoring programs foster the development of professional work relationships with colleagues who can guide and assist each associate's professional development and understanding of Orrick's unique culture and values.
• Performance Feedback: Outlining expectations is only the start. We also believe strongly that meaningful, timely feedback is a critical component of every lawyer's professional development. In addition to annual performance evaluations for all associates, 4th year and 7th year associates participate in career development reviews. During the career development review, associates self-assess their development of a sub-specialty area, experiences in management and delegation, and formation of client relationships, among others. Associates also meet with their practice group leaders to create a development plan to address personal goals for the coming year.
• Confidential Career Coaching: A distinguishing feature of Orrick's approach to associate development are our career guidance coaches. Our two coaches, one serving our East Coast offices and one serving our West Coast offices, provide associates with confidential career development and advancement advise and counsel.