Scopelitis Summer Associate Program Overview:

Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary is a full-service, mid-size, national law firm with offices located throughout the United States. The Firm was formed in 1978 by Alki E. Scopelitis and Norman R. Garvin and in its early years was engaged almost exclusively in the representation of motor carrier clients before federal and state regulatory agencies. Since that time, however, we have expanded both in size and in the diversity of our practice. Some of our many practice areas include Corporate Structure and Strategy; Class Action Defense & Complex Litigation; DOT Regulations & Federal and State Authorities; Licensure and Specialized Taxes; Insurance & Risk Management; Labor & Employment; Highway Accident, Wrongful Death & Personal Injury; Independent Contractor Counseling & Litigation Defense; Litigation of Business Disputes; Transportation Taxation; Mergers & Acquisitions; Brokerage & Non-Asset Logistics; Warehousing Legal Liability; and Cargo Claims & Freight Disputes.

Each of the partners is actively involved in the management and administration of the firm, and all attorneys are encouraged to play a significant role in the continued development of our practice. In this regard, management issues, information, and strategies are openly shared with associates in order to promote a team concept to the practice of law. Moreover, there exists no “mold” into which a Scopelitis lawyer must fit. Rather, one of the Scopelitis Firm’s trademarks is that its lawyers bring a variety of backgrounds, personalities, and philosophies to the workplace. All of our attorneys display a commitment to quality client services, a dedication to ethical standards, a willingness to work hard, a demonstrated respect for all employees of the Firm, and an enthusiastic desire to take advantage of the opportunities and challenges afforded by our practice.

At Scopelitis, we place considerable emphasis on growth through our summer associate program. Our commitment to this type of calculated, stable growth creates a unique, collegial atmosphere in which each new associate learns from the experience of those who immediately preceded. The majority of our attorneys first participated in the summer program.

The emphasis we place on growing from the ground up requires a unique and innovative approach to interviewing summer associates. We devote as much individual and group attention to the candidate as the constraints of the interview process will allow in order for both the candidate and the Firm’s attorneys to evaluate whether a strong and lasting relationship will likely result. Indeed, the Scopelitis Firm seeks to fill summer associate positions in correlation with the expected need for full-time associates the following year.

Once hired, the summer associates at our Firm receive a broad range of projects from many different practice areas. The experiences are designed to help both the associate and the Firm develop a sense of what work the associate likes and at what work the associate excels. Summer associates may find themselves attending a deposition, observing a trial, discussing a case directly with a client, or writing a draft of a motion to be filed in court, all in the same week. Of course, legal research is an integral tool in the learning process, but research is done with an eye toward meaningful participation in the finished project. As such, once the research is done, the summer associate may write the speech, brief, or client letter involved and will otherwise remain involved in the project. Summer associates are closely supervised by our attorneys, and we allow them to develop their legal skills by doing, not just by watching.

Once the summer program has begun, we interact with our summer associates in unique ways including our summer outing. The attorneys and the summer associates take part in an activity designed to allow the attorneys to get to know the summer associate better and to allow the summer associate to learn more about the attorneys and the Firm. Recent summer outings have included a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field and a day at Churchill Downs in Louisville. Furthermore, throughout the summer, there are many other informal opportunities to interact with attorneys on a social level.