Associate Life – Building A Career
Associates are integral to our firm’s ability to provide high caliber legal services to our clients. Potter Anderson & Corroon is committed to our associates' development and well-being to ensure that associates become the best lawyers they can be as well as leaders in our community. A primary focus of associate development is to constantly challenge associates with sophisticated work assignments designed to hone legal and communication skills, increase confidence, and encourage personal responsibility. Our open door, collegial atmosphere makes associate training a natural and everyday occurrence. Recently, the firm hired Kimberly L. Gattuso as the Director of Associate Development and Recruiting. Click here to learn more about how this position supports the firm's associates.
Continuous Teaching And Learning
Associates are provided with numerous opportunities to learn and educate themselves in their practice areas and other areas of interest, both inside and outside the firm. Within the firm, in addition to the one-on-one training associates receive by working with partners and their fellow associates, the firm’s practice groups hold regular meetings focused on relevant topics in that practice area. Associates are also encouraged to participate in educational opportunities outside the firm by attending seminars and conferences, such as the Tulane Corporate Law Institute, and meetings of the American and Delaware State Bar Associations. Furthermore, associates are encouraged to be teachers as well as students: there are multiple opportunities to write articles, design programs, and make presentations internally and externally on topics of interest to the associate.
Diversity
At Potter Anderson & Corroon we are committed to providing and promoting a diverse and inclusive environment for all, within which each person can succeed professionally regardless of race, ethnicity, culture, nationality, gender, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, age or disability.
Recently, a member of the firm's Diversity Committee spoke out about diversity in the practice of law . . .
Click here to watch Terri Brown-Edwards' live interview on WHYY Delaware Tonight discussing the need to increase the number of women of color practicing in large law firms. Ms. Brown-Edwards is the Immediate Past Chair of the Multicultural Judges & Lawyers Section of the Delaware State Bar Association and was asked to comment on a recent study published in the August 2006 issue of the ABA Journal which focuses on female attorneys of color at large law firms.
Mentoring
One of the most important aspects of associate life at Potter Anderson & Corroon is the mentor program, which is designed specifically to help 
associates succeed both professionally and personally. Upon starting at Potter Anderson & Corroon, each associate is assigned a Developmental Mentor, who is typically a partner in the associate’s practice group. The Developmental Mentor is responsible for ensuring that the associate has an appropriate workload, tracking the associate’s professional development, and making sure the associate receives opportunities that are suitable in light of the associate's practice area and experience level.
After new associates become acclimated to the firm and better acquainted with its attorneys (generally, about six months), they are encouraged to select a Personal Mentor from the partnership. Personal Mentors are responsible for helping associates with all other aspects of firm life and act as informal “sounding boards” for associate questions and concerns, addressing everything from timekeeping and administrative procedures to questions about firm policies and maintaining the “work-life balance.”
Professional Career Development
The professional development of all associates is vital to the firm. Potter Anderson & Corroon encourages its associates to undertake new and challenging work assignments that will expand their knowledge and understanding of the law. Associates, with guidance from their Developmental Mentor and Personal Mentor, are provided with the opportunity from an early stage of their career to take an active role in shaping their own professional development. The firm also encourages associates to develop as individuals and citizens, not just as attorneys. Many associates participate in firm committees, sit on charitable boards of directors, and become involved in community services and activities.
Work Assignments
Each functional group within the firm (business, corporate, and litigation) is unique and thus has designed its own system for distributing work to associates. Generally, however, associates have the opportunity to work with all of the partners in their functional group and are given assignments based on their level of experience and availability. Potter Anderson & Corroon maintains an open door policy. Associates are encouraged to ask questions about their assignments, and partners endeavor to provide informal feedback on each assignment. In addition, associates receive annual evaluations, during which their overall performance is reviewed and assessed. These reviews address associate development in a broad range of professional skills, from legal research and writing to client communications.
Compensation And Benefits
Salaries and benefits for associates compare favorably to those offered by other major firms in Wilmington and the most prestigious firms in Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and other large cities. First year associates in 2008 will receive a starting salary of at least $145,000, a $5,000 stipend, and reimbursement of expenses related to sitting for the Delaware bar examination.
Work Life Balance
Potter Anderson & Corroon understands the importance of maintaining a balance between one’s personal and professional life and does not expect associates to give up relationships and outside interests that are important to them when joining the firm. In fact, we know that spending time with family and friends, participating in charitable and community groups, and having interests outside of work are essential to the success of our associates.
To help maintain an appropriate work-life balance, associates are treated as professionals. They are able to independently manage their time when completing assignments and are given the tools to facilitate that processs. For example, associates are given Blackberrys so they may remotely access their emails and Potter Anderson & Corroon’s computer and document network is remotely accessible, so associates can work from home when circumstances require.