Lateral Associate Recruiting

Associate Life

Lawyers joining Dinsmore & Shohl find an environment that promotes and supports high quality service, commitment to client needs and an excellent place to develop and grow a legal career. The firm encourages teamwork between all offices to deliver superb legal representation. This team approach contributes to our overall success and enjoyment in the practice of law.

The Dinsmore & Shohl culture encourages associates to take responsibility for their careers and offers support through extensive training, professional development, mentoring, evaluations and community involvement. This investment in our associates' development enables our attorneys to become outstanding lawyers.

Our complex legal practice, regional and national in scope, involves our associates early in their careers with client contact, court appearances and participation in challenging legal work.

Dinsmore & Shohl also values and fosters diversity in the workplace and the community by sponsoring and participating in programs that support minority and women lawyers.

Associate Professional Development

Mentoring

Dinsmore & Shohl provides both formal and informal mentoring programs. Each first-year associate is paired with a mentor of like age – someone two or three years out of law school. Each practice group also assigns a mentor to new attorneys. The firm hosts an annual seminar on mentoring – what it is, why it’s important, how it works – followed by a social gathering to help build those one-on-one relationships. On the informal side, attorneys also can consult a list of volunteer mentors on the firm’s intranet, tapping into expertise across locations.

The mentoring process is taken very seriously at Dinsmore & Shohl. Input is encouraged and welcomed from associates and partners. The firm's Associates for Associates program, which is organized and run by associates, meets on a regular basis to address issues within the firm and to serve as an additional channel of communication. The firm conducts surveys periodically to assess associate concerns and attitudes, as well as to address specific questions concerning issues of professional development.

Training and CLE

Dinsmore & Shohl’s Professional Development Committee addresses associate training.

To advance the career development of new attorneys, the firm offers a unique program for associates called the Dinsmore & Shohl Leadership Academy. The program is designed to develop leadership and marketing skills, enhancing associates’ practices overall. Departments and Practice Groups hold meetings where both associates and partners discuss updates in the law, specific practice development and associate training. The firm also provides opportunities for continuing legal education in both substantive and practical aspects of the practice of law and pays for associates to attend approved seminars to fulfill CLE requirements.

Evaluations

Dinsmore & Shohl conducts a formal associate evaluation procedure. Each year the Associate Evaluation Committee gathers information from all partners with whom an associate has worked in the last year. This information is summarized in a formal evaluation and is communicated privately to the associate. The evaluation provides specific information about an associate's professional development and progress within the firm. In addition to this formal evaluation, the firm encourages all partners to let associates know how they have performed on projects throughout the year. This policy promotes professional development and is a part of the overall training and educational process.