Law Students
Start Building Your Career at Phelps
A summer at Phelps is more than an introduction to life at a law firm. It is an opportunity to do meaningful work, learn from lawyers invested in your development and start building your career.
Many Phelps partners began exactly where you are now — as summer associates. Our summer program is the primary pipeline for our incoming associate classes, and we build each class around our long-term hiring needs.
From day one, you will work alongside lawyers serving clients on real matters, explore different practices and build relationships across the firm.
Come experience Phelps — and see where a summer can lead.
A Summer With Real Impact
Law school teaches you how to think like a lawyer. At Phelps, you start learning how to practice as one.
Summer associates contribute to substantive client work that may include research and writing, investigations, depositions, hearings, trials and corporate and commercial closings.
As part of a growing AmLaw 200 firm, you will also see how lawyers across practices and offices work together to solve complex client challenges.
2026 Summer Associate Class
100% of 1L summer associates accepted invitations to return for their 2L summer
90% of 2L summer associates received offers to join Phelps as associates in 2027
25 law schools represented
16 Phelps offices represented
Mentorship That Matters
You will not navigate your summer alone.
Phelps summer associates build relationships with experienced lawyers who provide guidance, constructive feedback and perspective on the work and the profession. Formal and informal mentorship creates opportunities to ask questions, explore career paths and learn from people who have been in your shoes.
Many of those relationships continue long after the summer ends.
One Firm. Strong Connections.
Your summer may be based in one office, but your Phelps experience reaches across the firm.
Summer associates come together in New Orleans for firmwide orientation, building relationships with students and lawyers from across Phelps. Those connections continue throughout the summer through client work, programming and social opportunities.
It is an early introduction to how Phelps works every day: collaboratively and across offices, practices and industries.
A Real Path From Summer to Associate
We recruit summer associates with the future in mind.
Phelps carefully sizes each summer class around projected hiring needs rather than bringing in more students than we expect to have positions for after graduation. That commitment to organic growth has made the summer program our primary pipeline for new associates.
In 2025, 88% of students who received full-time offers accepted them, contributing to our largest incoming associate class to date: 21 associates joining Phelps in fall 2026.
For 1Ls, that path can begin even earlier. In 2026, 100% of our 1L summer associates accepted invitations to return for their 2L summer.
Preparing Lawyers for What's Next
The practice of law is changing quickly. Phelps is moving with it.
We are embracing technology that can help our lawyers work smarter, collaborate more effectively and deliver greater value to clients. Our adoption of Microsoft Copilot and Harvey gives our lawyers access to AI-powered tools as part of a broader, technology-forward approach to legal practice.
Our commitment goes beyond individual platforms. Through initiatives such as the Phelps Analytics Lab, we continue to explore how artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics can support better decisions and enhance client service.
For students beginning their careers, that means learning at a firm focused on both the fundamentals of excellent lawyering and the technologies shaping its future.
Learn From Recognized Lawyers and Practices
Summer associates work alongside lawyers handling sophisticated matters for businesses across industries and markets.
Chambers USA 2026
88 recognized Phelps lawyers
33 ranked practice areas
14 Band 1 practice rankings
Best Law Firms 2026
17 nationally ranked practice areas
130 top-tier metropolitan rankings
226 total ranked practice areas
Find Your Place at Phelps
Whether you are a 1L exploring private practice or a 2L preparing for the next step in your legal career, a summer at Phelps gives you the opportunity to do meaningful work, find mentors and build relationships that can shape what comes next.
Ready to see where your summer can lead?
Questions about the summer associate program? Contact pdrecruit@phelps.com.
