To explore his interest in Big Law, Walker Cox, ’28, took on a summer associate position in Skadden’s Chicago office. The work is giving him a taste of day-to-day life in a big firm. He will spend the second half of his summer at the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General and Reporter, where he will get a view of public-service work. Here, he shares what he has learned so far from his experience at Skadden. 

How did you connect with this summer opportunity? 

I applied through the normal hiring process for my year. Skadden is a great firm, and I knew that I wanted to summer in Chicago, my hometown, as I started pursuing Big Law.  

How does your experience connect with what you currently envision doing with your law degree? 

Since I intend to litigate, and I’m considering Big Law as a serious long-term proposition, what I’m doing on a day-to-day basis here is exactly what I envision my career looking like. I’m being staffed on interesting, high-stakes corporate litigation, and I’m getting a valuable look at what that litigation looks like at a more senior level. I’ve had the chance to do caselaw research in support of motions, assist with discovery, and even work on expert witness selection and research.  

What is something you learned or experienced that was surprising or particularly compelling during this summer position? 

I was struck by how much more motivated I was to do the work here than in law school, knowing that the work I’m doing will contribute to winning or losing a lawsuit, rather than it simply being an assignment for a class. This was especially true on more leanly staffed lawsuits, where research I was doing was likely to make it directly onto a brief.  

What are a couple of your key takeaways from the experience so far?

There’s just so much going on in Big Law. My mental image of a law firm was the classic litigation that law school primarily prepares you for, and I’m happy to be doing it, but most of my co-summer associates in finance, real estate and corporate law aren’t planning to use Westlaw again outside of law school.   

Even within litigation, the substantive research work is often balanced by due diligence—reviewing discovery documents and confirming case law for propositions you're already confident about. These are, of course, things that someone has to do, but it's striking how stratified the different types of work are by level of responsibility. It makes me realize that moving from a junior to a senior associate involves learning an almost entirely new skill set, not just becoming more proficient at the work you're already doing. 

What advice would you offer another law student contemplating working in a similar position next summer? 

Go for it!  The hiring schedules have been very odd the last few years, and it’s unclear whether firms will keep doing full 1L summer offers.  If you know that you’re interested in Big Law, doing two summers lets you work with some of the same people and get a better sense for the culture of the firm you’re with. UChicago’s long summers also mean that you can make time to do something outside of that field as well, as I’m looking forward to. 

How are you spending your free time this summer? 

I’ve been doing a lot of physical activity: weight training, running and hiking, and mixed martial arts. The free time has also been great for me to catch up on my reading for fun, without the ever-present specters of class reading and assignments. At least as a summer associate, my free time feels much more my own. Of course, my firm has also put on a wide variety of social events outside of work, all of which have been fantastic. 

What are you most looking forward to in returning to UChicago Law this fall? 

Since I’m in Hyde Park for the summer, I’m really just missing all of my friends.  The neighborhood is a lot quieter over the summer, and most of my best friends at the Law School aren’t in Chicago for the summer.