Litigation is our Business  
Staff photo Careers  
Home button
Firm overview button
Practice areas button
Attorneys button
Contact button
Press releases button
Careers button
Historic vista button
Supporting green button

1310 Gadsden Street, P.O. Box 11449, Columbia, SC 29211, Phone 803 929 1400

 

At Sowell Gray Stepp & Laffitte, we pride ourselves on hiring the best – from legal assistants, secretaries, and runners to paralegals and attorneys – and we’re constantly on the lookout for qualified applicants for these positions. While we don’t always have positions available, we will be happy to accept your resume and keep it on file for future possible openings. To submit your resume for consideration, click here to email Robin Carroll.

Summer Associate Program

Sowell Gray Stepp & Laffitte offers a challenging and rewarding summer associate program designed to give second-year law students intellectually stimulating, real-world litigation experience. With over twenty lawyers and over thirty staff members, Sowell Gray provides a unique summer experience competitive with firms much larger in size.

Real Stuff

Summering at Sowell Gray Stepp & Laffitte gives students legal experience with a diversified team of lawyers in a wide range of litigation fields. Every summer associate will work with each lawyer in our practice on projects ranging from legal research and writing to assisting in depositions, motions practice, trials and appeals. Frequent "Day in the Life" lunches expose associates to the day-in, day-out life of a practicing lawyer in the various types of litigation we handle, and the Summer Mentor program offers the student good advice from someone who’s been there. And while it may be hard work at the office, it’s fun after hours as we engage in a full calendar of social activities involving summer associates and lawyers.

Feedback

We have designed an evaluation process that focuses on the quality of the law clerk’s work on a project-by-project basis in addition to allowing the law clerk to provide his or her feedback on the summer program to us. Constructive evaluations are vital to the summer associate program, and each project will be assigned, supervised and evaluated by a firm attorney to help the summer associates improve important legal skills during their time here. The assigning lawyer completes an evaluation after each project in order to give immediate and constructive feedback, offering plenty of opportunities to enhance those skills learned in law school and put them to work in a real-world environment. Each law clerk is also asked for his or her evaluation of our program and all suggestions are used to improve the next year’s summer associate experience.

Mentor

Each summer associate will be assigned a mentor from the firm to help with the transition from school to work. Mentors assist law clerks with navigating life in a law firm, from practical assistance with the necessary tools and technology to guidance in the nuances of working with clients and the judicial system. By pairing experienced lawyers with summer associates, the firm provides the opportunity for the summer associate to learn, be challenged, and engage in a rewarding summer experience.

Qualified applicants for our Summer Associate Program can contact Daniel Hayes here to apply by submitting the following:

  • Resume indicating a 3.0 GPA or better, and strong research and writing skills
  • Excellent references
  • Cover letter

Writing samples will be required from selected applicants.