Hogan Lovells U.S. Careers

Our work

Practice areas

Under the umbrella of six main practice groups — Corporate; Finance; Litigation, Arbitration and Employment; Government Regulatory; Intellectual Property; and Pro Bono — our lawyers practice in more than 50 substantive areas. Virtually every practice group has a significant presence in our Washington, D.C. office.

Significant clients

• Black & Decker
• Ford Motor Company
• Government of Mexico
• IBM
• Laboratory Corp. of America
• Martek Biosciences Corporation
• Morgan Stanley
• News Corporation
• Office Depot
• Red Bull GmbH and Red Bull North America
• Western Alliance Bancocorporation
• The Presidential Inaugural Committee

Read more about our work in Washington, D.C.

Summer program

Size

We expect to have 30-35 summer associates in 2012.

Assignments and training

Work assignments are designed to provide summer associates with broad exposure to our many practice areas, including pro bono, and opportunities to interact with a diverse group of lawyers. Summer associates select projects from a “pool” of requests from lawyers in all practice areas. Many practice groups also offer two-week “mini-rotations” that provide interested summer associates with extended exposure to a particular practice group.

Our summer program includes an extensive series of training sessions and simulation exercises, which provide summer associates with an introduction to law practice in general and Hogan Lovells in particular. Students learn from our lawyers in a variety of settings, participate in skills-training courses, and attend closings, depositions, and legislative and administrative hearings. Summer associates meet with members of our alumni who serve in prominent leadership roles in government and business. Summer associates enjoy both partner and associate mentors and benefit from the guidance of the many lawyers involved in the summer program.

Recruitment

We look for candidates with the intellect, creativity, skills, and commitment needed to provide our clients with the high quality and effective service they have come to expect from Hogan Lovells. Lawyers from the Washington, D.C. office conduct interviews at several area law schools. Please contact your law school's career services or placement office to sign up for an on-campus interview.

Billable hours

Associates can chose between 1800 and 1950 billable hours. Credit is given for up to 100 pro bono hours.

Pro bono commitment

Hogan Lovells’ commitment to pro bono legal work is deeply rooted in our culture and history. Our pioneering U.S. pro bono practice began more than 40 years ago, with the founding of the first law firm legal department dedicated to pro bono legal services. Drawing on the experience of our professionals worldwide, we take seriously our responsibility to improve the lives of those without access to justice or the means to hire lawyers, and to meet the legal needs of charities and nonprofit social enterprises.

The pro bono practice has been honored with tributes such as the American Bar Association “Pro Bono Publico Award,” the District of Columbia Bar’s “Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year Award,” and a Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year for 2011 from Law360.  Recent major pro bono representations and public recognitions include:

• Working with the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project and the Innocence Project, our lawyers advocate for the exoneration -- and have succeeded in obtaining the release -- of a client who spent the last 27 years incarcerated for a series of rapes that DNA evidence now convincingly shows he did not commit.
• We succeeded during 2011 in winning federal habeas corpus relief for a client incarcerated for 11 years for a rape and murder that he did not commit.  He was released on a conditional pardon, for which we also advocated, in 2009.
• Teams of lawyers from our offices around the world responded to the humanitarian crisis caused by the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti by participating in major pro bono projects to assist in the rebuilding effort and the representation of individuals and families seeking immigration assistance to relocate temporarily to the United States.
• Some of our current major pro bono litigation matters seek redress for African-American Secret Service agents discriminated against in their employment, elderly homeowners deprived of title to their homes by mortgage foreclosure scam artists, and asylum seekers from various countries around the world.
• Pro bono work involving international development includes a project through the International Senior Lawyers Project (ISLP) to assist a national government in reviewing and renegotiating long-term mining and agricultural concession agreements.
• Our health law professionals helped establish a general counsel’s office at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in Liberia, and advised on proposed legislation and regulation governing pharmaceuticals and healthcare.
• Through Freedom Now, we advocate for the release of nonviolent prisoners of conscience in various parts of the world. In 2011, clients from Cuba and Syria for whom we advocated in forums, including the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, have been released.
• For the sixth consecutive year, the Washington, D.C. office was named a “40 at 50” office by the Pro Bono Committee of the U.S. Courts for the District of Columbia because more than 40 percent of our lawyers performed 50 or more hours of pro bono work.
• Other recent accolades for Hogan Lovells and our lawyers include selection as the 2011 Community Champion of the Year for Fair Chance's annual Graduation Ceremony, a Defender of Justice Award from the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, the American Jewish Committee 2010 Pro Bono Law Firm Award, a Chambers Choice Award from the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, a Heroes Award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Montgomery County, and the Thurgood Marshall Academy Champion Award.

Community outreach

Lawyers and staff from the Washington, D.C. office participate in several important community activities and programs, including:

• We partner with Marie Reed Elementary School to participate in EVERYBODY WINS!, a literacy program for low-income children.
• Once a month, we provide dinner for Calvary Women's Shelter, a 25-bed transitional housing program for women in need. Our Guest Services department prepares the food and provides all of the materials needed to serve it. Hogan Lovells personnel take the food and materials to the shelter and serve the meal.
• We recently nominated SOME (So Others Might Eat) to be our Touch charity of the year. SOME is the only interfaith, community-based organization in the District of Columbia that offers a comprehensive, holistic approach to caring for the homeless and extremely poor citizens of our city. Throughout the year, Hogan Lovells personnel will participate in a variety of programs to raise money for SOME.
• For more than a decade, we have collected used clothing and cash donations for Gifts for the Homeless, Inc. (GFTH), a not-for-profit founded in 1986 and run by members of the Washington, D.C. legal community. Hogan Lovells is a recognized leader in donations to GFTH, which is the main source of clothing desperately needed by many in the area.
• Our lawyers serve as Mentor-Advocates for College Advocates, a local program for promising public and charter high school students in the District who are seeking college admission.
• Each summer we sponsor a lunch program called “Eat Less, Give More.” The program is a simple and easy way for us to make a valuable contribution to our community. Under the program, lawyers and their summer associate lunch guests can donate the cost of their lunch to one of three local nonprofit organizations that provide much valuable services to our community. In 2011 proceeds from the program were donated to Calvary Women’s Services, Metro TeenAIDS, and Capital Partners for Education (CPE).

Office-specific benefits

Back-up childcare

An onsite, emergency childcare center for children ages 2 months – 12 years is available for all lawyers and staff to use.

Chez Hogan Lovells cafeteria

Open Monday-Friday, our onsite cafeteria offers a variety of delicious and healthy food options, including soup and salad bar, deli, pizza counter, and daily hot food and pasta specials. Recently, our chef has been cooking with fresh herbs from our very own rooftop garden.