Topic: Welcome / Orientation Week (May 19, 2008)


 
(Chris DeMent, Shannon O'Boye, Kevin Burns, Brooke Krekow, Marguerite Durston, Lauren Schneider, and Scott Watson on the first day of the Chicago Summer Program.)

Well, as I sit here and record my thoughts on the first week the second week is coming to a close. I am glad that I am staying busy and stimulated, but I mean, c'mon, at this pace the summer will be over before I know it.  Everyone (and I mean everyone) has been very warm and welcoming. I think that Quarles really strives to bring in good people who can work well together and it really shows. So not only is everyone here really smart, but they are down-to-earth too and you can tell that they genuinely want to get to know you. As a bonus, they want to bring in other people who are just as down-to-earth and friendly (including me, of course) so both of my fellow summer associates and I have been getting along real well. Thankfully, we have no intentions of sabotage, but actually try to help each other out (i.e. let each other know if we are supposed to wear a suit, give proper directions to summer associate events, etc.)  So I guess those are my first impressions for now. There are still plenty of things to look forward to this summer, but it is still somewhat bittersweet that the first week is already in the bag.
-- Kevin Burns (The University of Iowa College of Law, Class of 2009)

The summer here at Quarles & Brady is off to a quick start. I have been warmly welcomed by everyone at the firm, and people who were out at the beginning of the week keep stopping by my office to introduce themselves. At the end of our second full day of training, we received our first work assignments. I went to the assigning attorney's office before the end of the day, and she (patiently) explained the project to me. I have no experience in her area of the law, and she took the time to give me background and introduce me to her area of the law. I have also had two practical training opportunities: I sat in on a deposition and accompanied a partner to a status hearing. These informal interactions have given me opportunities to ask questions (of which I have a lot!), and everyone has taken the time to answer fully. And not everything has been work. We had a great lunch Monday with our liaisons (i.e. mentors) and a tasty and fun welcome dinner last night. The week has flown past and been full of interesting projects and great people who clearly enjoy their jobs.
-- Brooke Krekow (Northwestern University School of Law, Class of 2009)

The summer program in Chicago is off to a great start. We had a fairly comprehensive introduction to how the office works when we first started, and now that we've had our first couple of work assignments, many of the things we learned in orientation are starting to make sense -- from simple things like how to save Word files in the document management system and recording time, to getting our home computers set up on the Q&B Web Connect system.  One of the things that I'm most pleasantly surprised by this summer is how many people stop by my office to say hello, check in, and make sure I'm settling in OK. I've worked at many different jobs in the past, and I've never gotten such a warm reception anywhere else. I know folks are really busy, so for them to take time out to pop their heads into my office really says something.
-- Shannon O'Boye (Chicago-Kent College of Law, Class of 2009)