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Career OpportunitiesDrummond Woodsum emphasizes professional excellence in service to its clients; provides its attorneys with a progressive and dynamic work environment; and encourages and supports its attorneys in their performance of public service. Click on the topics at right to learn more about what sets us apart from other firms in Maine, New Hampshire and around the country.View our current openings. Thinking about looking for a legal job in a big city? THINK AGAIN! Too few law students and new lawyers consider an obvious fact: they are launching a new career in the legal profession when they look for a position as a summer or permanent associate. Many students are lured to large firms in large cities—so called Big Law—by the prospect of higher salaries and exciting work. But more often than not, these attorneys are disappointed when they find themselves toiling away at an incredible pace without much prospect or desire for making a career at the Big Law firm. They ask themselves if this is what they worked so hard for in law school. That’s hardly the way to start a life in the law. Drummond Woodsum knows that there is a better option. We are a diverse group of attorneys who enjoy what they do and who do it well. As a result, we have created one of the top law firms in Maine with a growing presence in New Hampshire. We do not experience the high attrition facing many law firms when disillusioned and burned out attorneys leave the firms within the first few years of practice (the National Association for Law Placement estimates that almost 40% of new associates leave their place of employment within the first three years of practice). The vast majority of new law school graduates who started their careers at Drummond Woodsum within the past decade are still practicing law and more than half are now shareholders ("partners") in the firm. Why do Drummond Woodsum lawyers choose to stay and build their careers with us? The reasons are clear:
Diversity of Practice AreasDrummond Woodsum is one of Maine’s leading full service law firms, with a growing presence in New Hampshire. Our attorneys have the expertise and experience to provide a full spectrum of legal services for our clients, which include some of the country's largest corporations, small start-up companies, Indian Tribes, school districts, national and state financial institutions, municipalities and individuals. We take pride in promptly delivering the highest quality legal advice in a cost efficient manner. We have organized the firm into service groups developed according to the particular needs of business sectors so that we can better meet our clients' needs. However, service group lines are not rigid. When a client's legal needs require the attention of attorneys from more than one group, we form a coordinated team with the appropriate mix of legal expertise.Working at Drummond WoodsumDrummond Woodsum enjoys a well-deserved reputation as providing its employees with a superior environment in which to work. The firm takes a team-based approach to client service, often involving interdisciplinary approaches to problem-solving and client counseling, and our shareholder-compensation system reflects this philosophy.An Innovative Approach to Law Firm Structure and GovernanceDrummond Woodsum stands apart from most other law firms, particularly those of comparable size, in terms of the management and organization of the firm. The firm’s operations are overseen by a Managing Director and a Board of Directors, comprised of attorneys from the various practice areas within the firm. Each department also has a Group Head. The firm governance is highly democratic (non-hierarchical), with much of the work being done in committees overseen by other members of the firm and, in many instances, with active participation by associates. All attorneys in the firm are provided information regarding the work of the Board of Directors, as well as detailed information regarding the financial performance of the firm and individual attorneys on at least a monthly basis. Our shareholder compensation system encourages teamwork, not competition, in providing services to our clients. The firm has also broken new ground by its employment of full-time non-attorney consultants who provide direct services to clients in the areas of labor relations negotiation, educational policy development, Indian affairs and governance.Achieving Work/Life BalanceDrummond Woodsum encourages its attorneys to lead lives beyond the billable hour. Accordingly, the billable hour goal for associates is 1700 hours, far lower than that demanded of attorneys in larger cities and many of the firms in Portland. This permits our attorneys to have more time to devote to community involvement, family, and enjoying the beautiful Maine and New Hampshire environments.Associate Training and MentoringEvery associate is assigned a mentor, who is responsible for monitoring the associate’s workload and professional development. Associates are regularly provided feedback on their work and progress in the firm through one-on-one conversations with attorneys, as well as through the more formal process overseen by the Associate Review Committee. Each associate’s performance is reviewed every six months for the first few years of employment and then annually each year thereafter. Attorneys evaluate the performance of summer associates as well through the director of our Summer Associate program.Associates are trained by working closely with other attorneys on actual matters, as well as through continuing legal education programs and seminars. For example, associates who do litigation-related work participate in the intensive workshops offered by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy on topics such as effective depositions and trial skills. The firm also offers attorneys in-house seminars on legal ethics and other matters on a regular basis. Drummond Woodsum Values DiversityDrummond Woodsum is an equal opportunity employer committed to hiring, retaining and advancing lawyers of diverse backgrounds. Our staff and attorneys include individuals who are starting careers in the law later in life, and others from diverse racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and religious backgrounds.Drummond Woodsum’s BenefitsDrummond Woodsum offers attorneys a competitive and generous benefits package that includes a superior medical, dental and eye care plan, participation in a 401(k) plan that includes contributions from the firm, parking, and payment of professional dues, to name some of the benefits. Drummond Woodsum has for several years offered benefits for unmarried domestic partners of its staff and employees, and it was the first large law firm in Maine to do so.Our Commitment to Public ServiceDrummond Woodsum values our attorneys’ outstanding contributions to public service. Our attorneys serve on boards of nonprofit organizations and government entities including Maine Businesses for Social Responsibility, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Portland, Equity Institute of Maine, Maine Equal Justice Project, Children's Museum of Maine, Cerebral Palsy Center of Greater Portland, Natural Resources Council of Maine, the Maine Women's Fund, Episcopal Diocese of Maine, Preble Street Resource Center, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, The Osher Map Library, Portland West Neighborhood Planning Council, local planning boards, and several area churches and synagogues. Through the Portland Partnership, the firm is the "partner" of a local middle school. Attorneys have also served in leadership of bar and professional organizations, including the Maine Bar Journal. One attorney has sat on the state’s Board of Bar Overseers. The firm is a regular sponsor of local arts programs.Drummond Woodsum and its attorneys have been recognized for their contributions to pro bono work for Maine’s low-income citizens. Drummond Woodsum is a recipient of the Pro Bono Publico Award from the Maine Bar Foundation and Drummond Woodsum attorneys have been individually recognized for their pro bono and civil rights work. As part of its commitment to pro bono work, every attorney is encouraged to participate in the Volunteer Lawyers Project by either locating attorneys to take pro bono cases or by representing individuals unable to afford legal representation. All associates are required to complete 100 hours of pro bono service in order to be considered for partnership. Our LocationMany of Drummond Woodsum’s attorneys have come to Maine to experience the superior lifestyle that southern Maine has to offer. Maine has consistently rated high in national surveys of locations providing excellent quality of life to its residents. Whether one enjoys our natural beauty or diverse cultural offerings, the Greater Portland area has it all. Further, the Portland area provides nationally-recognized health care and educational institutions for our attorneys and their families. Portland is less than a two hour drive or train ride from Boston, three hours from beautiful Acadia National Park, five hours from Quebec City, and two to three hours from some of the top ski resorts in the East.Portland Area LinksCity of Portland State of Maine Chamber of Commerce Portland Events Portland Symphony Portland Art Museum Portland Stage Company Children’s Museum of Maine Portland Seadogs AA Baseball Portland Pirates Pro Hockey Sunday River Ski Resort Portland’s Urban Trails Portland Press Herald Newspaper
The Summer Associate ProgramMany of our lawyers are introduced to Drummond Woodsum during the summer between their second and third years of law school. The summer program seeks to provide our summer associates with an accurate sense of what it is like to work here. Over the course of the summer, summer associates will work with a number of the firm’s lawyers on meaningful client matters from all areas of the firm’s practice.Our summer program includes students from top law schools all over the United States. We are fortunate to receive many applications for each summer associate position. We select summer associates based on academic performance, personal skills, motivation, work and leadership experience and practice area interests. One attorney serves as the Summer Associate Coordinator for all of the summer associates. He or she distributes projects to the summer associates and provides feedback on the work completed. However, a summer associate will work on the actual projects assigned with a variety of the firm’s attorneys, not only one or two advisors or coordinating lawyers. The summer associates do not just receive assignments, complete them and send the completed work back to the Summer Associate Coordinator. Instead, for each project, the summer associate will meet with the assigning attorney both at the beginning of the project to discuss what is expected from the summer associate and again at the completion of the assignment when the summer associate will receive feedback on his or her work. As a result, a summer associate will gain an accurate sense of what it is like to work at Drummond Woodsum as an associate. In addition to working with many of Drummond Woodsum’s lawyers, summer associates go to lunch with two or three lawyers one day each week so that, by the end of the summer, they will have met every attorney in the firm. We prefer that summer associates work for a minimum of ten weeks starting at the beginning of the summer. We generally do not hire 1Ls for the summer program. We welcome applicants who are considering judicial clerkships after law school. Compensation for summer associates is competitive with that of our peer firms in Portland. Employment ContactsFor Attorney positions send resume in confidence to:
For Summer Associate positions send a resume, cover letter, writing sample and a copy of your transcript to:Kathy Larkin For Staff positions send a resume and cover letter to:Tanya Lowell |
