We involve our summer clerks actively in our cases — there are no “make work” research projects here - and great care is given to selecting work projects that not only will challenge and interest our summer associates, but also will have practical application and advance our clients' interests. Summer associates write actual motions and briefs, interview witnesses and assist with deposition and trial preparation, and they attend depositions, client meetings, hearings, mediations, arbitrations, jury research projects and trials to learn by watching our attorneys in action. We work hard to expose our summer associates to such activities because, as new associates at the firm, they will participate in most of these activities within their first year.

In addition to performing actual legal work, our summer associates participate in the internal associate training seminars that our trial attorneys conduct at the firm. Although scheduled throughout the year, in the summer these seminars particularly focus on topics of general interest. It is also common for the firm to host a member of the local judiciary for a lunchtime meeting with summer associates.

Outside of work, we plan numerous activities to give summer associates an opportunity to get to know our lawyers and their families, as well as the beautiful city in which we live. From our Friday afternoon “firm meetings” at a local café, to our annual golf tournament, to dinner at award-winning local restaurants and museums, to rides on the Talladega Super Speedway, our summer associates are given a taste of the best Birmingham has to offer. Of course, the most popular events each summer are those held in attorneys' homes. Lightfoot, Franklin & White is a family-oriented firm, and we feel it is important for our summer associates to be with us where we live. From firm-wide cocktail parties to small dinner gatherings, our lawyers open their homes to summer associates, just as they do to each other.

The Lightfoot, Franklin & White summer program takes place during the second half of the summer, from approximately late June/early July until late August. Although we have no strict requirements for time spent with the firm, we believe that a law student should be with us for at least six weeks during his or her first summer at the firm. Summer associates who have completed one year of law school are paid $1,100 per week; those who have completed two years of law school earn $1,300 a week. The firm also provides parking and a summer membership to the Downtown YMCA for those summer associates who are interested.