Careers

Professional Development

Associates at Gibson Dunn are immediately exposed to high-profile matters and targeted training curricula. Our associates benefit from our unique Free Market System, giving them the chance to chart their own development.

This includes the guidance and coaching of our Professional Development team, which ensures that each associate feels supported at every stage of their career. Gibson Dunn provides the foundation for your future success, whether as one of our partners, a Fortune 500 general counsel, a leading government official, or faculty at a top law school.

Limitless Associate Development

From day one, Gibson Dunn associates can access a wide variety of opportunities to develop their professional skills and further their careers, such as scheduling confidential coaching, participating in a live or on-demand CLE program, or calling a partner mentor for advice. To help attorneys think holistically about their development and make accessing resources as easy as possible, Gibson Dunn’s Professional Development team created the “Limitless: Associate Development” framework. We use the term “Limitless” to highlight the multitude of enriching opportunities available to Gibson Dunn associates, including fantastic career paths (partnership and otherwise). Akin to the Free Market System, the Limitless: Associate Development framework empowers each of our attorneys to choose the types of content and resources that best serve their needs and professional goals.

Launch

Our multi-faceted integration program is designed to give our newest attorneys the best possible foundation for the years ahead. Within months of onboarding, new associates’ legal skills are enriched through our comprehensive departmental bootcamps, providing attendees with the fundamental substantive training they need to thrive on their matters and deals. First year associates join “Pods”: small groups of new associates, in the same departments across offices, who meet monthly with a Professional Development coach to discuss their experiences, gain support from the group, and discuss resources and tips for success. The highlight of a new associate’s first year is the celebrated New Lawyer Academy, a firm tradition for over 30 years. The academy serves as an introduction to Gibson’s Dunn’s history and culture, provides a top-notch training curriculum, and offers our new lawyers the opportunity to meet their colleagues from around the globe.

Learn

Gibson Dunn hosts hundreds of cutting-edge training programs each year, led by partners and others at the top of their game, including substantive legal programs, executive skills, diversity and inclusion, and well-being. Beyond this internal curriculum, associates receive a dedicated budget to pursue continuing legal education through external sources. Our attorneys also have access to a vast collection of on-demand recordings of internal programs, and membership to PLI and other e-Learning providers. Associates also have the chance to take part in client secondments during their time at Gibson Dunn, which are valuable opportunities to gain meaningful experience while also serving our clients.

Lift

While practicing law can be demanding, having the right support and resources makes all the difference. Gibson Dunn’s trained in-house coaches—all of whom practiced law at elite law firms, most right here at Gibson Dunn—provide individual, confidential career guidance to associates in a variety of areas. Likewise, our coaches proactively check in with different associates each month, offering them a convenient opportunity to ask top-of-mind questions about their development, get connected to firm resources, and share their real time experiences. Each associate is also assigned a partner mentor to promote internal networking and foster meaningful connections among varying experience levels.

Lead

While often not taught in law school, executive skills are essential to all successful legal careers. Gibson Dunn offers an array of programs to help our associates find their leadership style, hone their management skills, and grow critical business development expertise. Our second-year associates, for example, take part in an interactive communication skills workshop to help them to convey ideas and present clearly and effectively. Our Mid-Level Academy equips third- through fifth-year associates with the skills needed to be impactful leaders.

Leap

Gibson Dunn associates receive dedicated assistance on their next steps, whether those are within the firm or beyond. Our Professional Development team offers individual partnership planning coaching, and we regularly offer panels detailing the paths of our most recently elevated partners. Our in-house Alumni and Career Path team acts as a sounding board and collaborator as associates seek their next adventure, whether in-house, in a government role, or otherwise. Our associates also benefit from an outstanding alumni network of industry-leading clients who regularly look to us when adding to their organizations.

“Attending the New Lawyer Academy was the greatest thing the firm did for my integration. It was the highlight of my year.”

Gibson Dunn’s New Lawyer Academy (NLA) is a three-day in-person retreat for new associates and laterals from around the world who joined Gibson Dunn in the prior year. Co-hosted by Professional Development and the Associates Committee, and with the help of over 30 of our most esteemed partners and senior attorneys serving as presenters and faculty, the NLA’s programming and activities are designed to connect the newest attorneys to the firm, the people, the work, and the culture.

Theane Evangelis

Partner, Los Angeles

I joined Gibson Dunn after clerking on the U.S. Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and have had the opportunity at the firm to work on groundbreaking constitutional cases that have made history and changed society for the better.

As an associate, I was asked to prepare the complaint that began the first federal challenge to a same-sex marriage ban – the case against Proposition 8, Hollingsworth v. Perry. From crafting the complaint, through winning at trial, and all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, I worked closely with mentors who have helped shaped and guide my career, including Ted Olson and Ted Boutrous. I was also part of the team representing nine school children in the landmark challenge to California’s teacher tenure laws, Vergara v. California. My work on these important civil rights cases has been tremendously gratifying, and I’m grateful for the opportunities the firm has given me.

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Osma Hudda

Partner, London

The firm’s commitment to excellence in everything that it does meant I was in safe hands.

I joined Gibson Dunn’s London office in August 2005 to help start and build the disputes practice in London. I was excited and nervous all at the same time but one thing was for sure, the firm’s commitment to excellence in everything that it does meant I was in safe hands. We are a growing and dynamic office building on the firm’s stellar reputation and extending our services to clients on this side of the Atlantic. From the day I joined and having worked with many offices I was struck by the quality of the lawyers that the firm attracts and this high standard has been maintained for the decade I have been with the firm. While legal excellence is critical, more is required to build a strong and successful team. We look for collegiate, innovative and resourceful lawyers who can meet the demands of our clients while making the workplace enjoyable. Our lawyers are always willing to help and I have enjoyed a strong support network from them. Now that I am involved with recruitment, I apply the same rigour and search for excellence.

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Oliver Welch

Partner, Hong Kong

From D.C. to Hong Kong, Gibson Dunn is a place where you can find your place.

I recall the trepidation with which I started my first day as a new associate in Gibson Dunn’s Washington, D.C. office. Sitting among D.C.’s legal elite was intimidating, to say the least, for a newly minted associate fresh out of the familiar confines of law school. Likely sensing my anxiety, my assigned firm mentor gave me a bit of sage advice: Be patient, and find your place. During those first few years, the firm provided the platform to do just that. Working alongside those same legal superstars, I became a member of a team involved in a headline-grabbing class action lawsuit. When I expressed interest in our unique Congressional Investigations practice, I was quickly enlisted in the fast-paced world of representing clients before U.S. Senate inquiries. I further found my place in the D.C. Superior Court, representing a juvenile criminal defendant on a pro bono basis. It was not long before the firm’s increasing international profile beckoned me abroad. Becoming a member of the Hong Kong office has taken me from the sparkling lights of Seoul, to small farming villages in rural India; from slurping khao soi in northern Thailand, to dodging motorcycle taxis in Central Java. And while the scenery has changed during my career, Gibson Dunn’s core values remain constant: the free market system, a sincere commitment to pro bono and diversity, a strict “no jerks” hiring policy, and phenomenal staff support. From D.C. to Hong Kong, Gibson Dunn is a place where you can find your place.

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James O. Springer

Partner, Washington, D.C.

We do not hire into practice groups, we hire the person.

I am a homegrown partner. I did not start at the firm thinking that I would be in “Big Law” for the long haul, but, through a little bit of luck and circumstance, quickly found myself in a place I never really thought of leaving. The main reason why I’m still at Gibson Dunn? The firm stands alone in empowering attorneys to take charge of their legal careers. We do not hire into practice groups, we hire the person. A Gibson Dunn attorney excels in any situation. Practically speaking, this translates into the firm trusting each of our attorneys to forge the right path for them. I was no exception, and perhaps took such flexibility to the extreme. As a junior, I had free rein in my choice of matters, pivoting several times across disparate practices (litigation, corporate, regulatory) well into my mid-level years before choosing a permanent home in the M&A group. If I were practicing anywhere else, I may not have been granted the same level of autonomy and thus may have been pigeonholed early on in my career. Instead, Gibson attorneys senior to me trusted in the firm’s method and provided me with ample opportunities to continue to develop and hone my version of a legal practice. The firm’s promotion of self-determination not only empowers each attorney to build substantive skill sets, but also creates an environment in which you can develop organic, long-lasting friendships and mentors across practice groups, specialties, and offices. In addition to the support of the D.C. corporate group, my elevation to partner was due, in no small part, to the mentorship and guidance of colleagues in practices wholly apart from M&A. The firm’s free market approach is truly a (hidden) gem. I could not be the practitioner I am today without it.

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