The Center for Women in Law’s renowned Accelerate Career Start program is specially designed to increase success for first year associates as they enter the practice of law. This multi-year program focuses on transitioning new lawyers from high-performing law students to high-achieving law firm associates. Accelerate Career Start believes that a strong foundation during the first years in practice will have a lasting impact on legal careers.
The goal of Accelerate Career Start is to improve the retention of first-year lawyers and strengthen the pipeline to partnership and leadership positions. This comprehensive program, developed and implemented by the Center, can positively impact the career trajectories of lawyers.
Despite entering in equal numbers, women continue to leave the legal profession at higher rates than men. Accelerate Career Start creates a unique opportunity for associates to enhance skills that accelerate the transition from law student to lawyer while developing strong and diverse networks of associates and mentors. With that in mind, Accelerate is a multi-year program.
In the first year, new lawyers will participate in an initial program followed by four plenary sessions addressing such topics as best practices for starting a legal career, the business of law, and productive communications. These programs are led by expert speakers curated by the Center and provide a targeted educational foundation. In the second and third years of the program, participants will explore career opportunities and challenges with small cohorts facilitated by senior lawyers, including partners and general counsel. This unique opportunity provides access to significant and personalized mentoring from the Center for Women in Law and the sessions will reinforce the learnings from the first year of program while providing a supportive community to discuss challenges, answer questions, and offer real-time guidance as needed throughout the year. These meetings, co-facilitated by an attorney coach, will serve as further foundation for building networks.
Accelerate’s goal is to maximize potential, increase confidence, and accelerate the transition from high-achieving law students to high-performing lawyers, while providing a space for networking, open discussion and mentorship that provides a solid foundation in legal success.
Law firms provide orientation and training on how a law firm works, billing requirements, and how to prepare timesheets. The Accelerate Career Start program’s breadth will demonstrate to employers the value of investing in early professional development. Successful completion of the Accelerate Career Start program results in increased success for the associate and the employer through prolonged retention and leadership engagement.
Accelerate Career Start levels of sponsorship are as follows:
- BENEFACTOR ($10,000) – Benefactor sponsors will be acknowledged on our website, our annual impact report, Accelerate webinars, and can send an unlimited amount of first-year associates to the Accelerate 2025 program;
- GOLD ($5,000) – Gold sponsors will be acknowledged on our website, Accelerate webinars, our annual impact report, and can send up to five (5) first-year associates to the Accelerate 2025 program; and
- SILVER ($2,500) – Silver sponsors will be acknowledged on our website, our annual impact report, and can send up to two (2) first-year associates to the Accelerate 2025 program.