Careers

UPDATE: After careful consideration, Day Pitney has decided that it will be unable to offer the Barbara Rosenthal Internship this year due to the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. We apologize and wish students the best during this challenging time.

Day Pitney's Barbara Rosenthal Summer Internship Program provides an opportunity for a rising diverse student in the junior or senior year of high school to experience working in a law firm during six weeks of the summer. The program is named in memory of the firm's former Executive Director Barbara Rosenthal, whose legacy inspires its spirit and purposes:

(1) to expose diverse youth to a law firm and the corporate experience;

(2) to help prepare them for corporate and community leadership; and

(3) to provide a pipeline for minority students to enter the legal profession.

Program Core Curriculum

The Program curriculum includes two main components:

First, the intern will work with several of the administrative departments at the firm. Working with the diverse departments will help the intern learn how the law firm operates and understand the business functions of different administrative areas, including Human Resources, Legal Recruiting and Diversity, Professional Development, Finance and Firm Administration.

Second, as appropriate, the intern will participate in internal firm meetings and programs, including with the Day Pitney Summer Associates, law students working for the firm as law clerks over the summer. The meetings will include training sessions and informational practice group meetings that are designed to give both the intern and the summer associates exposure to substantive areas of law.

Mentoring

The intern will be assigned a mentor, who is a first-year attorney. The mentor will assist the intern in integrating into the firm during the program, and offer support and serve as a designated resource for any questions or issues.

Hiring Process, Selection Criteria, Wages and Terms and Conditions of Employment

Qualified and motivated diverse students from area high schools in and around Hartford, CT, and Parsippany, NJ, are encouraged to apply. Candidates must be residents of Connecticut or New Jersey. Relatives of current Day Pitney partners or employees are not eligible to be hired as an intern.

The intern will work approximately 20 hours per week. Interns work full days Tuesday through Thursday, and will be paid $11.00 per hour for all time worked, with appropriate and lawful deductions taken from his or her pay. As a seasonal/temporary employee, the intern will not be eligible for benefits.

To be eligible to be hired as an intern, interested students must demonstrate and provide the following:

• The intern candidate should be a rising senior or junior and at least 16 years of age on the date the program is scheduled to start.
• The intern candidate must submit an application packet that includes:
  • a completed Day Pitney employment application a copy of his or her most recent high school transcript
  • two letters of recommendation from individuals not related to the student or to a Day Pitney partner or employee
  • a personal essay explaining why he or she would like to be selected for the program and their interest in pursuing a career in law
  • consent form signed by a parent or legal guardian evidencing consent should the candidate be selected as an Intern

After soliciting application packets from local high schools, the directors supporting the program will meet to select intern candidates to be interviewed. Candidates will be interviewed with the goal of selecting an intern with the following qualifications: at least a 3.0 GPA, very strong written recommendations, an excellent essay and strong interpersonal skills.

We have completed our hiring for the 2016 Barbara Rosenthal Internship program.  We will begin accepting applications for the 2017 program in March 2017. 

Please stay tuned for further information about the upcoming program. If you have questions about the program, please contact Jill Little or Marilyn Olivo.