NEW YORK — The law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is teaming up with Columbia Business School Executive Education to launch STBReady, an new training program designed to prepare Simpson Thacher’s incoming associates to do more sophisticated legal work, more efficiently, earlier in their careers.
The evolving nature of legal work due to technology innovations and alternative service providers prompted the launch of this intensive approach to associate training.
The Firm will launch STBReady for its next incoming class of associates, expected to start in late-September 2018. Incoming associates across all offices will participate in this eight-day training program, hosted at Simpson Thacher’s New York office.
Using actual transactions and disputes as case studies, STBReady will provide associates with:
- Business and financial literacy training, led by Columbia Business School faculty, supplemented by Simpson partners, to demonstrate how business and financial contexts impact the Firm’s legal practice, advice and decisions
- Experiential practice-specific sessions designed to let associates understand the broader context for, and practice, the tasks that will be required of them on their matters
- Deep industry-specific knowledge sessions led by Simpson Thacher partners and key clients of the Firm, designed to introduce our associates to industry-specific issues, deal structures, financing techniques and other matters faced by our clients
- Sessions focused on teamwork, efficiency, knowledge sharing, technology utilization and other Simpson Thacher core values
“We are extremely pleased to launch STBReady with Columbia Business School,” said Bill Dougherty, Chairman of Simpson Thacher’s Executive Committee. “Technology continues to improve the way we serve our clients. We have always trained our associates to be versatile professionals able to adapt to the changing legal field, and STBReady takes this approach to the next level, enabling our associates to meaningfully contribute to their matters from day one.”
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Simpson Thacher on this important initiative. Columbia’s expertise will provide associates with the business tools to be successful as they start their legal careers in an evolving market,” said Dil Sidhu, Associate Dean of Columbia Business School Executive Education. “We feel our executive education program is uniquely suited to deliver this type of learning here at the very center of business to attorneys who will work on headline cases and transactions around the globe.”
Olga Gutman, Co-Chair of the Firm’s Attorney Development Committee, said, “The use of artificial intelligence is increasing the efficiency of legal work, particularly that of junior associates. We need to prepare our new associates to perform more advanced legal work for our clients from day one.” Craig Waldman, Co-Chair of the Firm’s Attorney Development Committee, added, “Expectations for our junior associates have increased. STBReady will prepare our associates to meet these heightened expectations and enable them to continue to be key contributors on our Simpson Thacher team.”
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett was established in 1884 and has more than 900 lawyers. Headquartered in New York, the firm has offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Palo Alto, São Paulo, Seoul, Tokyo and Washington, D.C.
