2027 Summer Associate Program

Job Description

Job Description

2027 Summer Associate Program – Future Family Law Attorneys (Current Law School Students)

Law School Teaches You to Think Like a Lawyer. Spend Your Summer Learning How to Become One.

Real Clients. Real Cases. Real Courtrooms. A Real Path Toward Your First Associate Position.

This Is Not a Typical Summer Associate Program

Law school teaches you how to think like a lawyer. Our Summer Associate Program is designed to begin teaching you how to be one .

At Attorney Sharon Jackson, LLC, summer associates don't spend the summer watching lawyers practice law from the sidelines. You'll work alongside experienced Georgia family law attorneys on real cases involving real clients, real families, real strategy, and real consequences.

You'll research legal issues, draft pleadings and motions, analyze discovery, participate in case strategy, observe client consultations, attend mediations and hearings, and experience the preparation that goes into taking a case to trial.

Most importantly, this program isn't designed simply to give students something impressive to put on a résumé. It is part of our attorney-development and recruiting pipeline.

We created our Summer Associate Program to identify promising future attorneys early, train them, mentor them, and potentially develop them into the next generation of associate attorneys at Attorney Sharon Jackson, LLC.

For exceptional summer associates, the summer may be the beginning of a much longer relationship with our firm.

Compensation:

$25 - $35 per hour

Responsibilities: WHAT YOU'LL ACTUALLY LEARN TO DO

Summer associates will receive substantive assignments connected to active Georgia family law matters.

Depending upon the firm's caseload and the nature of individual matters, assignments may include:

Legal Research & Analysis

Research Georgia family law issues and prepare legal memoranda that help attorneys evaluate actual client problems, legal arguments, and litigation strategy.

The goal isn't simply to find the law. You will begin learning how lawyers use the law to solve problems.

Pleadings

Assist in drafting complaints for divorce and other pleadings used in Georgia domestic-relations cases.

You'll begin seeing how the facts a client tells an attorney are transformed into allegations, claims, defenses, and requests for relief.

Motions & Briefs

Research and assist with motions, briefs, and other persuasive legal writing.

You'll learn that strong legal writing requires more than correctly stating the law—it requires understanding the client's objective and persuading a court.

Discovery

Assist with drafting, reviewing, organizing, and analyzing discovery.

You'll begin learning how attorneys use discovery to uncover evidence, understand finances, evaluate the opposing party's position, identify weaknesses in a case, and prepare for negotiation or trial.

Financial Issues

Assist attorneys and clients with Domestic Relations Financial Affidavits and financial information relevant to divorce, child support, alimony, and related matters.

You'll gain exposure to an important lesson many students don't receive in law school: litigation often requires understanding numbers as well as law.

Client Interaction

Observe and, when appropriate, assist with client meetings and case preparation.

You'll see how experienced attorneys gather information, explain complicated legal issues, manage expectations, communicate difficult information, and help clients make decisions during stressful circumstances.

GET BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

There are some things you cannot learn from a casebook.

Our goal is to expose summer associates to the real-life practice of law.

Depending upon the firm's active caseload and court schedules, summer associates may have opportunities to:

• Observe client consultations;

• Participate in attorney case-strategy meetings;

• Observe mediations and settlement negotiations;

• Attend hearings and other court proceedings;

• Assist attorneys with exhibits and case materials;

• Assist with witness and trial preparation;

• Participate in pretrial case preparation; and

• Attend at least one in-person trial, when court schedules permit.

Whenever possible, we want you to do more than simply observe.

We want you to understand why an attorney chose a particular strategy, why a particular argument worked—or didn't—and what an experienced lawyer might do differently the next time.

Qualifications:

• Enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school

• Strong writing and analytical skills

• Love for learning and continuous growth

• Excellent speaking, debate, and presentation skills

• Interest in litigation and family law (as demonstrated by completion of family law classes, enrollment in family law organization or family law internships or work experience)

• Ability to handle sensitive client matters with professionalism

• Strong technology and computer skills

• Superior proofreading and editing skills

• High ethical standards, honest and trustworthy

• Dependable, reliable, and on time

• Superior problem-solving, critical thinking skills, and ability to apply past lessons learned to new situations

• Ability to build and maintain positive professional work relationships

• Independent thinker not influenced by external pressures - Thought leader, not group thinker

• High self-esteem and the ability to accept regular and constant feedback as a trainee

• Ability to handle and manage sensitive and confidential information - Strong protection for client and company privacy

Preferred Candidates

• 2L students (priority)

• 1Ls and 3Ls considered for select positions

About Company

Attorney Sharon Jackson, LLC is a Georgia law firm based in Lawrenceville and serving clients throughout Metro Atlanta. Our practice focuses on helping individuals and families navigate consequential family-law matters, including divorce, child custody, child support, legitimation, modifications, contempt, and enforcement, and related domestic-relations disputes.

The firm and its founder have received numerous professional and community recognitions, including consecutive Best of Gwinnett honors and recognition by Super Lawyers and Georgia Trend's Legal Elite , among others.