Every 2L summer associate dreams of a smooth path to a six-figure salary. But not everyone makes it to the finish line. For a select few, the summer ends not with an offer letter, but with a quiet email, a closed-door meeting, or in some cases, an HR debrief no one forgets.
Inspired by the most recent crazy case of the summer “Biglaw Biter,” the following are four other infamous examples of 2L summer associates who really went off the rails. All of them, for better or worse, are unforgettable—so unbelievable, you might think I’m making them up (so I included sources for you to prove it).
I probably don’t have to tell you this, but let this be your reminder: Biglaw firms are watching—and they never forget.
- The Crab-Stabber. A summer associate at Biglaw firm was partaking in a weekend recruiting trip at the Four Seasons resort in Punta Mita Mexico. While her colleagues were roasting s’mores and other goodies on the beach campfire, the summer decided to go primal and plunged her skewer into a medium-sized crab skittering by. Overcome with the crustacean version of buck fever, she posed for a photo showing her roasting the impaled crab with a “maniacal grin on her face.” Needless to say, this made the other attendees “a little shocked.”
Later on, she was conversing in Spanish with other summers at a lunch seminar. Apparently, her language was very colorful. A paralegal politely advised her, “You might want to be careful, other people speak Spanish here, too.” The summer replied, “Are you an attorney?” While we don’t know the rest of the exchange, the firm seemed to have a collective reply for her: “no hay oferta para ti.” Source - The Letterhead Lame-o. The summer and a partner were leaving a firm outing and a paralegal saw them hailing a cab to share together. Before the two could leave, the paralegal, assuming the worst, chided the married partner. The summer denied the paralegal’s insinuations but ended up returning home separately.
The summer later learned the paralegal would be attending law school in the Fall. On firm letterhead, the summer wrote to the dean of the paralegal’s law school giving reasons why their admission should be revoked. The dean informed the firm and the summer was history. Source - The Double Dipper. The only thing better than one job is two jobs…at the same time. The Double Dipper summer was hired by two different firms working in the same building. He would go to firm #1, do a little work, and then activate a screensaver which was a screenshot of his desktop with Outlook opened. Then he would go firm #2 and do the same, going back-and-forth all day.
One day, his managing partner walks into his office to get ahold of the summer associate he’s been sending multiple un-replied emails to. He notices his emails aren’t showing up on the screensaver’s Outlook. When the Double Dipper returned hours later, he was caught off guard and confessed. Both firms fired him. Source - The Overtaker. A summer at a large East Coast firm is conducting due diligence on a Company involved in a potential merger. While doing her analysis, she comes across a letter threatening legal action for alleged patent infringement.
Taking matters into her own hands, she calls the author of the letter to ask, “Are you still interested in suing [Company] for patent infringement? It seems to me that the statute of limitations hasn’t run out, and I need to sort this out because [Company] is in negotiations be acquired.” The answer to that question was yes. The answer to whether the summer got an offer was no. Source
Alex Mostaghimi is a third-year student at BC Law. Contact him at mostagha@bc.edu.