Vinson & Elkins is committed to our lawyers' professional growth. We offer comprehensive training and career development programs for our attorneys that include valuable work experience, a wide variety of training programs, practice outlines, practice-specific training, core competencies, and individualized professional development through evaluations, feedback, mentoring, and career planning.
We are proud of our extensive attorney training and development programs, which are acknowledged as being some of the best in the United States.
Training for New Attorneys
To coordinate all attorney training and career development efforts, Vinson & Elkins established the Attorney Development Office (ADO), which is directed by partners from every office. In this way, the ADO helps ensure consistent quality across practice areas and establish standards to be used throughout V&E's global offices.
Beginning with orientation upon joining the firm, soon thereafter new arrivals attend a New Attorney Retreat. During the retreat, firm policies and procedures are reviewed, new lawyers are trained on the firm’s technology, and substantive legal and practice management training begins. Additionally, two nationally recognized communication professionals offer communication coaching, covering skills not taught in law school such as managing expectations and understanding different personality traits.
It is just the start of the career-long investments V&E makes in its attorneys. For associates third year and above, V&E’s partners teach an eight-part Associate Practice Business Development course. Topics covered include networking, marketing yourself, developing a niche practice and building a professional reputation, public speaking, and many other beneficial topics.
New attorneys receive further learning opportunities related to their general practice areas: business lawyer training, litigation training, or regulatory training. Additionally, each section in the firm conducts training tailored to its practice area to continuously improve V&E's ability to serve clients.
V&E also equips its attorneys through hands-on experience, such as mock trial workshops and negotiation skills workshops. These workshops are led by highly skilled outside consultants and are assisted by a number of firm partners. Each year the firm also sends mid-level litigation associates to the National Institute of Trial Advocacy Trial Skills Workshop or to the International Association of Defense Counsel Trial Academy.
Accredited CLE Courses
The firm offers more than 250 CLE courses a year at the practice group level and firm wide, which often are open to clients as well. The topics range from elemental subjects (such as "How to Take a Deposition" or "Basic Fundamentals of Bankruptcy Law for the Business Lawyer") to advanced or specialized courses, as well as courses covering cutting edge legal developments. V&E is accredited as a CLE provider by Texas and New York, and all our programs are available for California CLE credit as well. We also apply for CLE credit in Virginia for each program.
The firm gives special emphasis to training on current ethical issues, and every "all attorney" meeting begins with a comment on an ethical issue of current relevance. The firm regularly participates in Attorneys’ Liability Assurance Society (ALAS) Regional Loss Prevention Seminars and the Annual Meeting Loss Prevention Program.
Vinson & Elkins is a privileged member of the Practicing Law Institute (PLI), which is a CLE provider in most states. All firm attorneys can take a variety of PLI courses live, on-line, or by video, generally at no charge to the attorneys. The firm also has an agreement with the American Law Institute and American Bar Association (ALI-ABA) allowing firm attorneys to receive a discount for attending ALI-ABA programs either live, online, or by video.
Career Development
In addition to formal training programs like our Associate Business Development training, Vinson & Elkins has instituted other career development initiatives to help associates develop into excellent attorneys. The firm has defined core competencies that articulate what a V&E attorney should strive to achieve as he or she develops and serves as a road map for advancement.
Helping associates to understand their professional duties as well as navigate daily life at the firm, V&E has instituted a Mentoring Program for first- through third-year attorneys. A valuable new tool used as part of the Mentoring Program is The Workbook: An Associate Development Guide. The publication is designed to help new attorneys, with help from mentors, take a pro-active role in their career development at V&E. We encourage the attorneys to review the workbook periodically with their assigned mentor or another more senior attorney with whom they look to for guidance.
In 2008 V&E implemented a new feedback system for associates where first- through third-year associates are assigned a review partner as part of the evaluation process and receive evaluations twice a year. The review partner is a partner in their section and assists the associate with his or her career goals as does the assigned mentor.
V&E is continuously seeking ways to enhance its training program. We are in the process of rolling out an innovative partner feedback program, through which partners are evaluated by other partners, associates, and staff members. The purpose of the feedback program is to help the partners improve their leadership and management skills, and thereby to improve their individual performance and overall performance.
Lastly, the firm retained an attorney training and development consultant, Jackie Martin, principal consultant at J.S. Martin & Associates. Jackie provides consultation to firm leadership on strategies and actions to further the objectives of firm-wide attorney initiatives. She also serves as an ombudsman and career coach for our summer associates.