Voice of Maslon
The OCI process was a daunting one. I vividly remember reading firm websites and bios in an attempt to learn about and differentiate between all the participating firms, but having a lot of difficulty figuring out what would make my experience at any given firm unique. After interviewing with Maslon, however, something felt different. Even though I still did not know exactly what I was looking for in a firm, I knew that something about the culture at Maslon and my personality seemed to fit.
After starting my summer at Maslon, I quickly discovered that my experience would easily exceed my high expectations. At Maslon, I found a group of people who were not just work colleagues, but friends. Everyone at the firm genuinely cares about one another, and celebrates each other's accomplishments. We were assigned three mentors at the beginning of the summer who ended up being invaluable sources of advice, feedback, guidance, and companionship. As the summer progressed I discovered that I not only felt comfortable talking about everything from questions I had regarding my projects to personal details of my life and goals with my mentors, but with everyone else I met and interacted with at the firm as well. That kind of supportive, friendly, and open environment really helped someone who is more introverted like me feel comfortable diving deep into the firm's culture and activities and engaging in ways I would never have expected myself to before the summer began.
In addition to the fantastic culture and people at Maslon, the other thing that stood out to me was the quality and variety of the work. From the very first week at the firm I was working on projects that had significant substantive impacts on cases and, in multiple instances, ended up producing work that was shared directly with the clients. Although the latter experience was terrifying, it felt incredibly rewarding to see the work I had produced used to directly help a client solve their problem. There was also no shortage of practical experience, whether it was the opportunity to help create estate planning documents for first responders through the Wills for Heroes program, or travelling with attorneys to observe multiple depositions. Attorneys were always willing to find time in their schedules to help me get the experiences I was looking for. On one occasion, I just happened to walk past a partner in the lobby who immediately invited me to jump into the elevator and go with them to a settlement and strategy meeting with multiple firms regarding some significant complex estate litigation.
I feel extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend my summer with attorneys who are not just incredibly talented and good at the work they do, but who are genuinely caring and enjoyable to be around. I cannot think of a better place to spend my legal career and highly recommend the Maslon summer program to all aspiring attorneys.
Clayton Carlson
University of Minnesota Law School, Class of 2019