At Goodwin, our purpose is and always has been to help our clients achieve great things. To do this, nearly 2,000 Goodwin lawyers across the United States, Europe, and Asia focus on building authentic, long-term relationships with some of the world’s most successful and innovative investors, entrepreneurs and disruptors at the convergence of and within the life sciences, private equity, real estate, technology, and financial industries. To learn more about our global law firm, please visit www.goodwinlaw.com.

Summer Program

Whether it’s Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Silicon Valley, or Washington, DC, gaining real-world experience is critical as you begin your journey as a lawyer. At Goodwin, our summer associates receive the resources and tools necessary to provide best-in-class client service from day one. We offer a robust training and professional development program, while also giving you the opportunity to explore your personal career aspirations. Through various work assignments, pro bono projects and client interactions, Goodwin gives you the guidance necessary to bridge the gap between law school and the start of your legal career.

Pro Bono

Pro bono legal services have been a cornerstone of Goodwin since its founding over a century ago. Today, our lawyers leverage their expertise and passion to serve more than 1,000 pro bono clients each year across a wide range of practice areas, including poverty law, veterans’ benefits, criminal defense, immigration, education law, benefits law, and represent local, national, and international nonprofit organizations working in areas such as education, health and safety, peace-building and democracy initiatives, historic preservation, microfinance, and environmental protection. Through Goodwin’s Neighborhood Business Initiative, our lawyers have forged relationships with community groups and built an innovative program serving the business-related legal needs of low-income entrepreneurs and small business owners. Associate performance on pro bono matters is held to the same standards and evaluated through the same process as are billable matters, and pro bono hours are counted one-to-one for billable hour credit, reflecting the firm’s commitment to giving back to individuals and communities in need through pro bono.

For more information on Goodwin’s pro bono efforts, please visit https://www.goodwinlaw.com/firm/pro-bono.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Goodwin’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is at the forefront of our firm’s core principles. Our DEI strategy is anchored on a two-pronged approach: equity in our systems and centering the lived experiences of those from historically excluded and marginalized populations.

Three years ago, Goodwin launched a firmwide inclusion survey to help gauge our progress on developing an inclusive workplace environment and individuals’ sense of belonging. The survey results were communicated to Firm Leadership, Business Unit (BU) Leaders, Office Chairs, Affinity Group Chairs, and Chiefs to develop action plans which allowed us a mechanism to start working more closely with our BU leadership teams on DEI best practices. Our approach integrates each of Goodwin’s senior DEI team members as each BU’s dedicated DEI consultant. The DEI leaders work with the BU leaders, practice management teams, attorney development managers, learning & professional development team members, and recruiting professionals to ensure that DEI best practices are at the center of every aspect of our talent management processes. One other notable aspect of our work with the BUs centers around the firm’s advisor programs. The advisor programs focus on the integration and development of our associates and seeks to increase connection and engagement. Centering the focus on equity, the advisor programs also allow us to determine whether our associates from historically excluded communities are having different lived experiences within their BUs and allow us to implement any necessary interventions.

Additionally, the six co-chairs of the three affinity groups described below work closely with firm management to drive our DEI strategy. Each affinity group hosts annual retreats at the firm that allow their respective cohorts to build fellowship and learn from their shared experiences at the firm while engaging in a series of professional development and cultural events. Each affinity group also has local councils in each office that serve to build community, develop trainings, execute events, and provide support to historically underrepresented populations of our firm. Our affinity groups are as follows: Women@Goodwin; Committee on Racial and Ethnic Diversity (CRED@Goodwin) ; and Pride@Goodwin. To learn more about our diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, please visit our website.