Our Associates & Laterals

Our Hiring Philosophy

From new law school graduates to lateral candidates from law firms, companies or clerkships, we look for lawyers with the strengths, talents, and passion to ultimately become shareholders of Wolf Greenfield. We hire a small number of people in whom we believe strongly, and then we heavily invest in them.

We are highly selective, requiring not only outstanding academic and legal credentials, but a demonstrated commitment to our core values of teamwork and mutual respect. We seek lawyers who excel at work without neglecting the bigger picture of their lives at home. By populating the firm with likeminded attorneys, we preserve and enhance an extraordinarily healthy and exciting law firm culture.

How We Hire

Hiring at Wolf Greenfield is a joint effort between the members of a particular practice group, with whom you will do most of your work, and our Hiring Committee, which ensures that consistent hiring goals and criteria are applied across the firm. Each new hire should fit with, and enhance, not only his or her practice group, but the firm as a whole.

We hire first year associates from our Summer Associate Program and, in some cases, from among third-year law students who have not spent a summer with us. We also hire lateral attorneys when we find a mutual, beneficial relationship that is a positive step for both the firm and the attorney.

In most cases, your first contact with Wolf Greenfield will be with our Hiring Manager or one of our attorneys, either at a career fair or an on-campus interview, or by telephone after we have received your resume. The next step in our hiring process is for you to visit the firm to meet a number of attorneys and technology specialists (tech specs) within – and beyond – the practice group to which you are applying. This visit usually lasts at least half a day, and often includes lunch.

Just as we are selective in hiring, we hope and expect that you will be diligent in exploring whether our firm is a good match for you. We encourage candidates to be in touch with our attorneys and to return to the firm for follow-up visits if desired.

Transitioning to Wolf Greenfield

Whether you are coming from law school, private practice or a corporate law department, we want to make your transition into the firm as smooth as possible. You will be assigned a mentor, who will provide guidance and answer questions you may have about the firm and your work assignments. Your mentor will also help you get to know your colleagues and the firm’s various practices areas. We pride ourselves on being a firm where everyone knows everyone else and understands what others are doing.

Your orientation to the firm will, of course, include a number of formal training sessions and meetings with administrative staff, as well as attorney lunches and practice group meetings. The firm’s social events are an equally important part of your orientation too!

How We Work

Our practice group structure provides a framework for training and workflow, without limiting what you can do or the groups you can work with outside of your core area of expertise. Your Practice Group Leader will coordinate your workflow to ensure that you are doing interesting and enjoyable work that enhances your professional development.

You will be working closely with clients from your first day at the firm, and you will join several different client teams. After a period of time, you will become the primary point of contact for some of these clients. You will be encouraged to take on as much client responsibility as possible, as quickly as possible.

Our work is collaborative and cross-disciplinary. For example, members of our core technical practice groups frequently support our litigators in contested matters, and vice versa. Bringing these talents together enables us to serve all aspects of our clients’ IP needs efficiently and effectively.

Your primary practice group will usually be the group which hired you, but you can also join a secondary practice group with which you would like to work. You will enjoy a mix of work consistent with your interests and professional development.

Life at Wolf Greenfield

Our core cultural values set us apart and enable us to attract and retain the best people to create a unique law firm environment. We work as a team, we support one another, we respect every employee, and together we zealously pursue the best interests of our clients. We apply the highest ethical standards to everything we do. With hard work and unwavering commitment to these values, we have achieved, and continue to nurture, a reputation second to none in the IP field.

Our core values also emphasize life beyond intellectual property law. Our professionals are committed to their families and have a wide variety of interests outside of work. At the office, we all pull our own weight. Unlike some law firms today, our associates and shareholders all have the same billable hour expectation (1,800 hours). With consistent effort and commitment across the firm, we can provide superior client service without sacrificing our personal interests and commitments.