Development

Our reputation for excellence is built upon a foundation of hiring the best people and providing them with outstanding training. We are dedicated to ongoing professional development, with offerings that include:

• A firmwide orientation program for new associates 
• A Trial Advocacy Training Program designed to help associates improve oral advocacy skills through presentations and mock trials 
• A mentoring program in which new associates are paired with more senior lawyers 
• Training programs approved for state CLE credit 
• Seminars on legal writing, financial analysis and mock closings 
• The Annual Corporate College for new associates in transactional groups 
• The Annual Mid-Level Associates Conference for fifth-year associates, focusing on issues such as client relationships, professional development and practice development.

All associates are hired with the hope and expectation that they will find working at Sidley a rewarding experience, and that in time they will be considered for partnership. As a benchmark for professional development and advancement toward partnership, associates are evaluated on a twice-yearly basis.

The firm's policy regarding compensation and development also includes:

• Performance-based salary distinctions for most mid-level and senior associates 
• Bonuses that reflect and reward associates' contributions to the firm 
• Consideration for partnership an average of eight years after law school