Whether joining our firm fresh from law school, upon completion of a judicial clerkship or after years of practice, Robinson+Cole utilizes comprehensive attorney integration plans tailored to help each new hire acclimate to life at our firm. Members of executive leadership, practice group leaders, mentors, the Talent Management team and business professionals collaborate to implement these plans throughout the course of the attorney’s first year at our firm.

Associates joining us in the fall from law school or a judicial clerkship participate in a multi-day orientation that provides them the training, tools and resources needed to successfully launch their careers at our firm. Past fall associate orientation program topics have included:

• Overview of Firm Values & Culture
• Mentoring at Robinson+Cole
• Accepting Assignments
• What I Wish I Knew as A First-Year Associate
• Timekeeping and Billing

Our Advising Programs

At Robinson+Cole, we are committed to fostering professional growth and development through mentorship. We go beyond conventional mentoring by offering robust advising programs designed to provide personalized guidance, meaningful connections, and support across various levels of your career.

• Junior Advising: For our Junior Advisor program, small groups of entry-level associates are paired with one seasoned associate advisor. This structure promotes a supportive learning environment and facilitates early career development along with integration to life at the firm.
• Lateral Advising: The Lateral Advising program assists new lateral hires in seamlessly integrating into our firm. We match these hires with experienced lateral associates who can offer valuable insights and advice based on their own transition experiences.
• Senior Advising: Each associate is paired with an experienced senior-level attorney, ensuring personalized guidance and support. Senior Advisors help their advisees gain exposure to professional opportunities, build client relationships, and understand how to be successful in their practice area.
• Our firm offers innovative opportunities to create internal relationships with attorneys across practice groups, geographies and levels of seniority.
  • RCNEXT provides opportunities for attorneys to network internally to build business development and marketing skills with colleagues in a small group setting.
  • Robinson+Cole’s Women’s Committee and Associates Council jointly facilitate a program which provides associates the chance to develop or deepen relationships with senior attorneys at our firm through an informal coffee chat or lunch meeting.
  • Women attorneys at Robinson+Cole (“WARC”) matches women associates with more senior women attorneys at our firm for coffee or lunch.

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Professional Development Committee

• Comprised of experienced attorneys across practice areas, the Professional Development Committee curates firmwide CLE programs to keep our lawyers engaged and provide opportunities to grow their substantive knowledge. CLE programs include emerging developments in law, practice fundamentals, active listening, time management, and loss-prevention pointers.
• In addition to CLE programming, our firm encourages attorneys to participate in client panels and various other programs to assist with their professional development.

The Academies

• Litigation Academy is a series of lectures and litigation skill-building exercises for litigation associates, taught by internal faculty. This training culminates in a one-day mock jury trial where the associates present and argue a case. 
• Transactional Academy is a training program for associates in the Business Transactions, Real Estate and other related practices, in which they participate in a series of lectures and practical exercises spanning the experiences and documents/contracts transactional attorneys will encounter in their careers. 

Additional Training

• Many practice groups deliver training sessions, summits and retreats focused on specific aspects of their industry or practice.
• Robinson+Cole attorneys have access to thousands of hours of live and on-demand seminars and web courses and the ability to attend conferences and outside events.

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Receiving meaningful, regular feedback is an essential aspect of career growth. In addition to feedback received from more senior attorneys during work on a client matter, Robinson+Cole has a formal feedback program designed to help associates understand their performance and progress.

New hires meet with their practice group leader 90 days after arriving at our firm to check-in on their integration and discuss initial feedback on performance.

Following this, associates receive performance evaluations every six months. To help ensure this feedback is robust:

• Associates annually complete a comprehensive self-evaluation that provides them the opportunity to review their accomplishments, set goals and assess progress on their development. These are reviewed by practice group leaders, reviewing partners and the Talent Management team.
• Associates receive a copy of their performance evaluation prior to the review meeting.
• Evaluations are delivered by the attorney’s practice group leader and other firm leaders, which, for 6th year and above associates, includes the Chief Talent Officer.

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• Associates work one-on-one with an Attorney Career Development Manager (“ACDM”), vital members of our firm’s Talent Management team. ACDMs are former practicing attorneys who guide associates throughout their careers at our firm, including overseeing integration, mentorship, workflow, evaluations, coaching and engagement. 

• Our Chief Talent Officer, Cathy Duke, is also a former practicing attorney. She provides support, guidance and coaching to attorneys across our firm.
• Beginning at the 6th year, associates receive comprehensive written Career Development Plans (“CDPs”) which highlight areas for growth and guide development of their internal and external profiles, as well as their overall career progression.
• The Managing Partner and Chief Talent Officer conduct annual Town Halls discussing our firm’s Promotion Standards and Processes so that associates understand the expectations, criteria, timing, and mechanics of the promotion process.

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We understand that feeling engaged with our firm and connected to your colleagues is critically important to your experience here. We consistently aim to foster a culture of engagement by creating opportunities for our attorneys and business professionals to participate in our firm culture and interact with one another.

• Firm Citizenship: Attorneys at all levels are encouraged to contribute as firm leaders in a variety of ways including by:
  • Working on one of our firm’s numerous committees or task forces, including: 
    • Associates Council
    • Attorney Engagement + Connection Task Force
    • Diversity, Equity, Inclusion + Belonging Committee
    • Hiring Committee
    • Pro Bono Committee
    • Professional Development Committee
    • Safety Committee
    • Wellbeing Committee
    • Women’s Committee
  • Serving as mentors to new attorneys and/or summer associates
  • Participating in on-campus and lateral associate interviewing
  • Providing work projects to summer associates and attending summer program events
  • Contributing to thought leadership by drafting blogs, articles and presentations, providing trainings and engaging in speaking opportunities
  • Participating in pro bono projects and initiatives
• Robinson+Cole Community: Similarly, we encourage our attorneys to actively participate in the myriad of opportunities meant to connect our people across the firm including:
  • Attending practice group and industry group meetings, retreats and events
  • Being part of in-office meetings and events
  • Participating in DEI+B, Wellbeing, State of the Firm and other Town Hall programs and initiatives
  • Joining our CLE and DEI+B training programs
  • Having fun with colleagues at summer office outings, service opportunities and seasonal celebrations
  • Participating in networking opportunities like RCNext and WARC
  • Attending associate and all attorney retreats
• Bar, Industry and Community Involvement: Many of our Robinson+Cole attorneys are actively involved in bar association and industry groups, as well as serve in leadership roles and on boards for not-for-profit organizations. We encourage and support associates to get involved in these organizations from an early stage in their career.
• Awards + Recognition: Recognizing the contributions of our colleagues across the firm — whether a senior partner, an associate or a junior member of our Business Professional team — is an essential part of Robinson+Cole’s culture.
  • Robinson+Cole Awards: We annually honor the outstanding contributions of our attorneys and business professionals, within our firm and within our communities, in the following categories: Community Service, Diversity Equity, Inclusion + Belonging, Mentorship, Pro Bono and Wellbeing
  • ReCognize: Our quarterly ReCognize awards highlight members of the Robinson+Cole community for going above and beyond for their colleagues and clients.
• Stay Interviews: Why do our associates continue to choose to practice at Robinson+Cole? That question, and others, are posed to our associates by members of the Talent Management team when they conduct annual ‘stay interviews’ meant to gauge what motivates our attorneys and what ultimately drives them to stay at our firm.
• Surveys: We regularly utilize and participate in various internal and external qualitative surveys to take a pulse on engagement and gather feedback on how the firm can better support our attorneys and business professionals.

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