Our Summer Associate Program offers promising future lawyers the opportunity to work with us—and learn from us.
Our intensive Summer Associate Program is designed to provide a select group of law students with a structured curriculum of weekly workshops focused on key areas of labor and employment litigation.
Participants will be given lessons and assignments connected to actively litigated cases to help learn the ins and outs of the practice of law as plaintiff-side employment attorneys.
Brandon
Ruiz
Program Director
Summer Associates will be led and mentored by the program’s director, Brandon Ruiz. A seasoned and highly regarded plaintiff-side employment litigator with strong background in single-plaintiff FEHA and wage-and-hour litigation, Brandon is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz and the University of Illinois College of Law (cum laude).
He has extensive experience in litigating cases to verdict at trials and arbitrations—but his greatest passion is helping prepare future lawyers who, like him, are committed to bringing justice to the hardworking people we serve.
The Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidates will be confident, energetic, and sharp future attorneys who are quick-on-their-feet thinkers and are ready to be aggressive and creative future litigators for adversarial, fast-paced litigation.
We’re looking for outstanding second-year law students who are academically strong in their legal studies, have shown demonstrated interest to practice labor and employment litigation, and who want to do it here at D.Law.
If you are passionate about workers’ rights, holding power to account, and believe this work is something more than a job to get a paycheck, we want to meet you.
To jump-start your career with an exciting, growing firm that is setting a new standard in employment law, apply below with your resume, law school transcript, and a writing sample of five pages or less.
Your Career Starts Here
Summer Associates will receive mentorship, participate in professional development opportunities, and gain hands-on experience working alongside D.Law attorneys on substantive legal work. The learning experience will include writing a motion from start to finish.
At the end of the paid, 10-week program, participants should be able to step into roles as first-year associates with a solid foundation of skills that allow them to be effective employment litigators from day one.
Our hope and intent is for Summer Associates who successfully complete our program to be offered a full-time associate attorney position at D.Law, contingent upon our business needs, following their graduation from law school and passage of the California State Bar. Some participants may be invited to continue to work with us during the school year to further develop their skills.
Meet the Class of 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
D.Law aims to offer post-bar employment to as many participants in the NextGen Academy Summer Associate Program as possible. D.Law primarily hires post-bar law clerks through the NextGen Academy Summer Associate Program. Hiring needs will vary year by year, and participation as a Summer Associate does not guarantee a post-bar job offer. In a typical year, half or more of the participants are expected to be offered post-bar positions with D.Law.
Compensation for Summer Associates is set on an hourly basis and will be updated annually. For the 2027 Summer Associate class, compensation is $48 per hour.
At D.Law we believe in an inclusive environment in which all employees feel invested in their work, care about their colleagues, and are invested in the success of both their teams and the firm more broadly. To that end, D.Law solicits feedback on Summer Associates from the entire litigation team – from Senior attorneys to paralegals and support staff. Individual assignments are also evaluated, as well as performance in live exercises such as the deposition workshop and mock trial.
D.Law believes in regular, substantive feedback for participants in the NextGen Academy Summer Associate Program. As such, to the extent possible, all work will be initially reviewed by the program director. Participants are asked to fill out a self-reflection form identifying the assignment, its goals, what the participant thought they did well on, and where they struggled. The program director then provides reflective feedback identifying areas where the participant did well, what part(s) of the assignment show potential for future success, and areas that the participant can improve for the next assignment. Summer Associates can also solicit feedback from the handling attorney for any particular assignment on which they work.
D.Law’s plaintiff-side employment practice falls into two broad categories: Economic Justice (Wage and Hour Class and PAGA), and Civil Rights (FEHA and Retaliation/Wrongful Termination) D.Law recognizes that students are often still exploring their interests, passions, and options. To avoid prematurely pigeonholing Summer Associates, D.Law does not assign Summer Associates to a particular team, but instead tries to spread work out amongst many different teams to give Summer Associates as broad a view of the areas of law in which we practice as possible and exposure to many types of attorneys.
All participants in the NextGen Academy Summer Associate Program are paired with an attorney mentor. Attorney mentors meet with Summer Associates on a weekly basis to provide insight into plaintiff-side practice, answer questions, and provide guidance. Many mentors also invite Summer Associates to court hearings, depositions, and mediations.
D.Law is a firm focused exclusively on plaintiff-side employment litigation. As such, it is difficult to forecast the exact assignments that will be available or the practice group (Wage and Hour/PAGA or FEHA/Wrongful Termination) the assignments will come from. The goal is for Summer Associates to draft one or more Complaints, draft one or more sets of discovery requests or discovery responses, and draft one or more motions. Assignments are typically given out by the program director, but Summer Associates are free to seek assignments from any attorney in the office.
The NextGen Academy Summer Associate Program is structured around Learning Modules that track the types of work participants are expected to perform. These Learning Modules include:
- Welcome and Introductions
- Effective Legal Research
- Substantive Law (Wage & Hour and FEHA)
- Drafting a Complaint
- Written Discovery
- Deposition Workshop
- Law and Motion
- Mock Trial
The NextGen Academy Summer Associate Program is designed as a structured 10-week program typically beginning the Tuesday after Memorial Day and continuing for 10 weeks to late July or early August.
The size of the NextGen Academy Summer Associate class will vary based upon multiple factors, including forecast hiring needs and the quality of candidates. The goal is typically to have a class of 4-8 Summer Associates.
While the timeline will vary somewhat from year-to-year, D.Law aims to select participants in the NextGen Academy Summer Associate program by or before October of each year for the following Summer (i.e. for Summer 2028, decisions will be made by or before October of 2027).
No. Unfortunately, the NextGen Academy Summer Associate Program is intended solely for second year (2L) law students or their part-time/evening equivalents.
The application period for the NextGen Academy Summer Associate Program will vary by year. D.Law will open applications in early August of the year prior to the start of the Summer Associate Program, following the conclusion of that year’s Summer Associate Program. Applicants may apply directly through D.Law’s website at https://d.law/careers/. D.Law also participates in Fall on-campus interviews at many California-based law schools, and prospective applicants can apply through their school’s OCI program. No preference is given based upon method of application.