Alston & Bird LLP - The Inside View

Finding a firm that does sophisticated, high-stakes work without making you pay for it with your quality of life is harder than it sounds in BigLaw, yet Alston & Bird has done a great job of making it look easy. “It offers sophisticated work but also, as a firm in the South, it has a lot more recognition for a work/life balance – it’s a happy medium.” This, coupled with investment in associate development, were clear pull factors for our sources: “Everyone kept saying great things about the people being nice and supportive; there’s a large number of homegrown partners, so there’s that longevity,” which certainly left associates feeling peachy about their partnership prospects. It's a firm that clearly cares about its roots: “This is a national firm, but it’s got a localized focus in the city.” And, like any true local, it knows its neighbors well, regularly working with other ATL heavyweight mainstay names including The Coca Cola Company, Home Depot, and Delta Airlines among many others. 

The firm’s certainly got the expertise to warrant its star-studded client list; just take it from our sister guide Chambers USA, where Alston & Bird boasts the highest recognition in Georgia across key areas including antitrust, banking & finance, corporate/M&A, healthcare, litigation, white-collar crime and investigations, as well as employee benefits & executive compensation – to name just a few (head over to chambers.com for the full list). The firm also picks up top tier nationwide accolades for its work across capital markets securitization, government contracts, and international arbitration.

“It offers sophisticated work but also, as a firm in the South, it has a lot more recognition for a work/life balance – it’s a happy medium.”

Atlanta hosts most of the firm’s associates but having long-ago spread its wings, the firm now boasts an additional ten offices stateside – with the most recent additions including Chicago and Century City. It also maintains its bird’s eye view with international hubs in London and Brussels too.

Alston & Bird is recognized as an Excellent Performer for Junior Satisfaction and an Excellent Performer for Mid to Senior Satisfaction in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey. Alston & Bird is also recognized as The Elite for Junior Satisfaction in Northern California and Southern California specifically.

Strategy & Future

“The hope is our people will flourish and develop,” says managing partner Richard Hays, outlining a future focused on deliberate growth, innovation, and cross-office collaboration. “Last year, we had an extraordinary year,” he notes, “we were very busy across the board, and that gave associates opportunities for development.”

Hays points out the firm’s diversification as key strength for success: “One of the good things is, we are fairly diversified in our practices and that’s deliberate,” ready to withstand cyclical challenges. He adds: “We manage practice groups and offices one firm; we don't manage by office location, so we want our partners, when they have challenging matters, to be able to pull together the best talent from wherever they’re located.”

Looking ahead, Hay’s highlights the firm’s focus on innovation, particularly in how it engages with emerging technologies: “[AI is] the type of thing we need to stay very close to… We’ve formed multiple task forces to keep their fingers on the pulse and to advise us on how we can responsibly engage AI in our training and our practices.” Hays emphasizes the need to stay ahead of technological changes, saying the firm has “rolled out a number of AI tools both generally and also in specific practice groups. I believe the best way to approach it is to continue to educate ourselves about how it’s being used and how it can be used for our clients.”

Read more from managing partner, Richard Hays under the ‘Get Hired’ tab.

Alston & Bird is recognized as an Excellent Performer for AI Integration in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey.

Summer Program

At Alston & Bird, summers are able to have a breadth of experience across different practice areas. Partners take the lead and assign summers to projects based on their practice group interests. Interviewees recalled getting involved with drafting opportunities, gathering closing checklists and sitting in on calls during the program.

“Get a broad array of experience… what really shapes your experience is who you’re surrounded with,” an associate recommended. In turn, another advised, “talk to as many people as you can, don’t stress about the work – it’s an opportunity to get to know people.”

The Work

Work allocation at Alston & Bird takes a hybrid approach. Associates are able to fill out a weekly workload survey to help seniors and partners stay aligned on their availability and to assess whether anyone is overloaded or underutilized before assigning work. Over time, sources explained that work starts to come more organically once you’ve built those relationships.

Alston & Bird is recognized as an Excellent Performer for Work Allocation & Autonomy in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey.

In Alston’s finance practice, associates gain exposure to a wide range of financing agreements involving lenders and borrowers. As such, lenders including banks and private credit institutions, and borrowers such as private equity funds and corporations make up the client lists. Juniors can step up the plate with substantive work early on. “Partners are good at letting you take on as much as you can bear,” said one associate, explaining that straightforward deals often see juniors in lead roles, while larger, bespoke matters follow a more traditional hierarchy. While building the reps, insiders emphasized that “attention to detail and being communicative” is essential as that “substantive knowledge comes with more deals and the repetition of what you’ve seen.”

Finance clients: Wells Fargo, The Home Dept, Truist Bank. Represented Astec Industries on its acquisition financing facility of up to an aggregate sum of $600 million obtained from Wells Fargo Bank.

The firm’s litigation and trial practice is expansive; here, associates enjoy a varied docket from insurance, antitrust, cybersecurity, white-collar defense, and higher education disputes to large class actions. When asked about junior tasks, one associate shared: “They’re going to get more of the groundwork… they will do a lot of document review.” Often for juniors this entails “diving into a new world and figuring out the facts.” While rookies typically start out with foundational tasks, they’re encouraged to prove themselves and take on further responsibilities: “It doesn’t matter how young you are, partners want associates who are ready to take those steps to further their career.”

Litigation clients: The Coca Cola Company, Delta Air Lines, Cigna Healthcare. Represented Five Point Holdings in a putative class action and a lawsuit relating to personal injury and property damage claims from the alleged failure to disclose the presence of radioactive substances at a former naval shipyard in San Francisco.

Alston’s IP litigation practice handles a broad range of matters, including trademark and copyright infringement, false advertising claims, as well as handling patent prosecution claims before the PTAB. Matters truly span a range of industries from telecommunications and wireless internet to medical devices and artificial intelligence. Here, rookies are expected to get involved and contribute meaningfully to cases at every stage – and even manage small caseloads. “People are relying on you to take the time, work things through, and give it the attention it needs,” an insider emphasized. Given the nature of the work, associates who thrive in this group tend to be proactive and quick to adapt. As such, one associate explained, “The willingness to go out and take initiative, and make headways on cases and the ability to learn on the fly” lends to success in this practice.

Intellectual Property clients: GoPro, Verizon, Chick-fil-A. Represented T-Mobile and Ericsson against General Access Solutions who sought $253 million for alleged patent infringement relating to 4G and 5G cellular base station technology.

Pro Bono

“You can always find something you enjoy; they have a whole team dedicated to pushing pro bono.”

Pro bono is actively encouraged at Alston & Bird with up to 150 hours counting towards associates’ billables targets. Associates can take on a wide range of matters, from immigration and domestic violence cases to upgrading veteran’s discharge statuses, trusts and wills, and record expungement as well as child abduction cases under the under the international Hague Convention. Frequent email blasts are circulated advertising opportunities associates can take on. “You can always find something you enjoy; they have a whole team dedicated to pushing pro bono,” an associate highlighted, adding that “It’s a matter of raising your hand when an opportunity comes up!”

Pro bono hours 

• For all US attorneys: 55,870
• Average per US attorney: 61

Alston & Bird is recognized as an Excellent Performer for Pro Bono in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey.

Career Development

“It’s those small impromptu training sessions that made the learning curve a lot easier.”

From day one, fresh-faced associates at Alston & Bird are met with an environment of support and investment. There is formal training and programming at the firm, but as one associate explained, “Everyone’s excited to teach and willing to get you up to speed.” Indeed, this hands-on approach was a constant theme throughout our interviews, with associates highlighting how senior associates and partners take the time to guide them through unfamiliar territory and provide feedback whenever needed. “It’s those small impromptu training sessions that made the learning curve a lot easier,” a junior pointed out.

While support is readily available, associates emphasized the importance of taking initiative: “If you’re not willing to put yourself out there, you’ll fall under the radar.” In addition to informal guidance, associates are paired with a senior associate and partner mentor as part of the firm’s associate and patent agent mentoring program. A program which aims to enhance the informal relationships developed by offering different perspectives as associates navigate their early years at the firm. Juniors are encouraged to share everything and anything with their mentors, whether it be client work or queries surrounding practice expectations. An annual budget is also provided for mentors and mentees to help them build their relationship over a coffee or lunch.

Sources agreed that the firm takes a long-term view of associate development, with a clear and transparent approach to career progression. At the fourth-year mark, associates are able to join the Alston & Bird Career Development Initiative. This initiative is centered on group coaching (called Coaching Circles) with members meeting periodically to discuss career goals and steps needed to be taken to succeed at developing the relevant skills to achieve them. Interviewees praised how effective and transparent their annual reviews are each year. As one detailed, “They have been honest about where they see me going and my path to partnership.” To further clarify the path, the firm hosts a mid-level associates meeting outlining the steps to partnership.

Alston & Bird is recognized as The Elite for Career Development in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey.

Culture

According to our interviewees, Alston’s culture encourages openness at every level. “Everyone’s got an open door-policy,” one source beamed, going onto highlight, “I don’t have an issue going to a senior associate, counsel, or partner – everyone at every level is willing to speak with me.” Others agreed: “People are big and social with each other outside of the very strict ‘let’s get our work done’ mindset.” In fact, one divulged, “there’s significantly less hierarchy than I ever could have imagined.”

Laterals praised the firm’s welcoming environment, with one noting “the integration was about as seamless as it could be,” adding that “you can do top quality work with market compensation, but the expectations are not giving your entire life to the firm.”

Alston & Bird is recognized as an Excellent Performer for Culture in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey.

Hours & Compensation

Billable hours: 2,000 target

Alston & Bird sets a 2,000-hour billable target for bonuses. Associates have a bucket of 150 non-billable hours allowed for pro bono and up to 50 for approved inclusion activities. Further, compensation at the firm is market-rate, matching BigLaw standards.

Associates typically work eight to ten-hour days, with longer weeks during periods of heavy workloads or trials. They are also expected in the office most days – typically four or more per week. We heard that it wasn’t uncommon for associates to have to log back on to clock in a few more hours after leaving the office, but it’s rare to have consistent weekend work.

One associate shared: “I had a late night and was getting ready for work the next morning when the partner called and said, ‘Don’t come in – you’ve done enough!’ You always get a break after to reset.” On that note, we heard the firm looks out for associates, particularly if they are hitting extreme highs in hours “and re-shifts their work as it’s not a sustainable pace long-term.”

Alston & Bird is recognized as an Excellent Performer for Benefits & Quality of Life in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey.

Inclusion

Alston & Bird’s approach to inclusion was described as an intentional and on-going effort. Associates noted that there is strong, diverse representation across the firm. As Hays tells us, “We believe our workforce needs to reflect the communities and the world around us, and include excellent lawyers foremost. We’re proud of that and having diverse teams.” Recognizing the firm’s commitment, one associate reflected, “While it’s not where I believe it could or should be, it’s something we’re trying to work on.”

The firm is home to a range of affinity groups which host socials as well as informative events. These include, the African American, Asian American, Hispanic, LGBT, and Women’s Initiative. “They try to make sure they have a diverse workplace, and that’s how they recruit the best lawyers,” said one associate. The firm was also recognized for providing good support for those with childcare and caregiver responsibilities. For example, in Atlanta employees have access to a daycare facility across the street for parents who need somewhere for their little ones during the workday, though it’s not a complimentary service. 

Get Hired  

The first stage: recruitment on and off campus  

OCI applicants interviewed: undisclosed  

Interviewees outside OCI: undisclosed  

Alston & Bird recruits through on-campus interview programs, direct applications, resume collections, and job fairs. Its online job portals open to 1L candidates on November 1 and to 2L candidates no later than May 1. The firm takes a “one-firm approach” to law school recruitment, which Chief Legal Talent Partner, Holly Hawkins Saporito, tells us “permits students to express interest in any of our offices when interviewing.” On campus, the firm interviews between 18 to 40 students depending on the number of schedules for which they have registered. Interviews are conducted by teams of “enthusiastic” lawyers – usually one partner and one associate.  

Interviews focus on “four key factors – preferred office location, skills and behaviours, integrity and character, and a genuine interest in Alston & Bird” says Saporito. Interviewers also note that while they are interested in an interviewee’s practice area interest, they understand that not everyone knows exactly what they want to practice so early in their career. “We do, however, want to make sure that a particular candidate is a good cultural fit, and we want to get to know them as a person” explained Saporito.  

Top tips for this stage:  

“Make your office preference clear and show why you are interested in starting your career at Alston & Bird.” –Chief Legal Talent Partner, Holly Hawkins Saporito. 

Callbacks  

Applicants invited to second stage interview: undisclosed  

Each office handles the callback process differently. Some offices conduct interviews over lunch or dinner, others may conduct them in pairs with interviewers. Saporito tells us that “however, in each instance, all candidates receive their schedules in advance of their interview.” There is opportunity to meet with a variety of attorneys from various practice groups, levels of seniority and firm committees. 

Saporito tells us that the callback “helps us get to know candidates and assist them in learning about the firm and whether they want to begin their career at the firm.” For that reason, the firm ensures they interview candidates with open dialogue and two-way conversations. This is to “encourage them to provide us with examples of their past experiences and achievements.”  

Top tips for this stage:  

“Being prepared and confident. Come armed with questions for each interviewer. Beyond this, know that our interviewing team wants to get to know the ‘you’ behind the resume. Be yourself and do not shy away from sharing your personality.” – Chief Legal Talent Partner, Holly Hawkins Saporito. 

“When I interviewed here I got this feeling that everyone really cared about me and was actually nice. There were no fake interactions.” –a junior associate  

Summer program  

Historically, Alston & Bird has a nine-week summer program that’s designed to “maximise the interaction between summer associates with attorneys and various practice groups,” Saporito explains. Some smaller offices hire summer associates to fill specific practice group needs, but all offices encourage “flexible work assignments and do not require formal rotation.”  The firm also provides “a variety of training opportunities,” including a firmwide retreat in Atlanta, for “team building, hands-on training, presentations, and lots of fun.”  

Almost all summer associates return to the firm as first-year associates, while some decide to pursue a judicial clerkship. During the summer, work is assigned “flexibly based on one’s interests, which allows our summer associates to explore a variety of practice groups during their time with us.” At the end of the program, summer associates flag their practice group preferences, and group-specific offers are subsequently determined with this information in mind.  

Top tips for this stage:  

“I always encourage our summer associates to take advantage of the many opportunities provided by the firm, whether it’s a project in an unfamiliar practice area, coffee with lawyers they haven’t met yet, the opportunity to attend a hearing, deposition, client meeting or negotiation, or a fun social activity.” – a junior associate  

“Remember that while you should enjoy your time with the firm, the summer program is a nine-week mutual interview. Take advantage of doing projects in the various practice groups you are interested in, and get to know as many attorneys as possible so you can see for yourself why Alston & Bird is so highly regarded for its firm culture.” – Chief Legal Talent Partner, Holly Hawkins Saporito. 

Interview with managing partner, Richard Hays

Commercial strategy, market position and trends

Chambers Associate: How would you define your firm’s current position and identity in the legal market? What differentiates your firm from your peer firms in the market?

Richard Hays: We receive a lot of positive feedback on the supportive culture that we have and the awareness to have and give everyone the opportunity to advance and succeed. The hope is our people will flourish and develop, whether that be the staff or lawyers. Our systems are designed around client support and the support of our people, and I’m really proud of that.

CA: Have there been any developments at the firm over the past year that you’d like law students to know about?

Hays: I would say, as you are thinking about where you want to spend your career, you want to be with a supportive firm: one that is doing well and is growing and successful and continues to offer pathways for growth. Last year, we had an extraordinary year where we were very busy across the board, and that gave associates opportunities for development. You need those opportunities to develop your craft, so being busy and having the relationships to do that is very important. We’ve had a good year and will continue to succeed going forward. We welcomed 20 new partners who were promoted to partnership from across seven to eight offices and a range of practice groups. We had about 60 new associates who joined us this fall and they are up and running and happily on board.

CA: What is your firm’s commercial strategy focusing on, and how do you expect the next year to unfold?

Hays: One of the good things is, we are fairly diversified in our practices and that’s deliberate, because the economy can go up and down. Issues can go up and down, but fortunately we’ve not found ourselves in a spot where all things are down for a long period of time. You’ll go through periods where litigation will be busy and corporate will be slow, and vice versa. So, our core strategy is to remain close to our clients and to assemble teams internally that are positioned to answer the questions that they have.

CA: How do you see AI shaping the skillsets required of future lawyers? Is the firm adapting its training or recruitment strategies to reflect this shift?

Hays: We’ll see, and it will continue to evolve, but it’s the type of thing we need to stay very close to and be adaptable and flexible with how things unfold. It unfolds many ways out of our control; we’ve formed multiple task forces to keep their fingers on the pulse and to advise us on how we can responsibly engage AI in our training and our practices. As a result, we’ve rolled out a number of AI tools both generally and also in specific practice groups. I believe the best way to approach it is to continue to educate ourselves about how it’s being used and how it can best be used for our clients.

CA: Are clients beginning to expect AI-enhanced legal services? How is the firm balancing innovation with the need for human judgement and client trust?

Hays: Yes, they are. It’s interesting: when AI first came out, there were some concerned clients and they were resistant, but now we’re fielding more requests from clients asking how we’re engaging with the use of AI. They are very focused on what we’re using, how we’re using it in terms of the advisory services we provide, and the hope is AI services will enable us to develop that.

Inside the Firm

CA: How is the firm evolving to accommodate the needs/expectations of the next generation of lawyers?

Hays: You evolve alongside them and let them make informed decisions. We have a very open culture; we’re not overly bureaucratic and I view that as a strength of the firm. My belief is that professional service organizations like law firms should not be overly controlled. We’re populated with extraordinarily talented people who have been through demanding training and preparation, and who have very good judgment and understand the business community. Command central can’t dictate things too much! We embrace all generations in all our committees, and we are very deliberate about that.

CA: How is the firm continuing to advance its diversity and inclusion goals? Are there any recent initiatives or areas of focus you’d like to highlight?

Hays: We have long been recognized as a great place for parents, and our adoption initiatives have been highlighted. We believe that our workforce needs to reflect the communities and the world around us, and include excellent lawyers foremost. We’re proud of that and having diverse teams within the firm. One of the things we’re proud of is our practice group diversity partners. We have designated one or more influential and well-respected partners within each practice group to be the diversity partner or partners for that practice group. It’s important to have someone within the practice groups monitoring workload and making sure special needs are met for everyone. Thus far it seems to be working pretty well.

The Legal Profession

CA: The firm opened new offices in Chicago and Century City in 2024. What strategic goals were behind these expansions, and how do these locations fit into the firm’s broader market positioning? 

Hays: It was driven by multiple things. First, we want to be in those places so that we are able to deliver client services more effectively and efficiently than otherwise possible. We also want to be in locations where we can attract talent. That’s a significant driver because we manage practice groups and offices as one firm; we don’t manage by office location, so we want our partners, when they have challenging matters, to be able to pull together the best talent from wherever they are located.

The Fun Bit

CA: Throwing it back to law school: it's been a long day of classes and studying. What's your go-to easy meal to have before you crash?

Hays: A Wendy’s chicken sandwich.

CA: What was the first concert you attended?

Hays: I remember it well: Elvis Presley. I went there and had good seats. It was wonderful outing, and it was just a few years before he passed away.

CA: Thinking about the ways in which the legal profession is developing, what is the one skill you have learnt in your career that you think is key for young attorneys to learn?

Hays: Responsiveness. Absolute unquestioned responsiveness and trying to make life easier for the client, so when they hang up, they don’t think, ‘I have a problem.’ They think, ‘Oh great, they can help me solve my problems.’ And communicate that you genuinely care about the client!

CA: Are you a morning person or an evening person?

Hays: Morning.

CA: Phone call or email?

Hays: It depends on the topic and who it is… If I have a phone call, it will take 15 mins, but all will be communicated, and I can respond with what’s been asked.

CA: Cats or dogs?

Hays: Dogs.

CA: Business suit or business casual?

Hays: Casual. But I’m gravitating back towards a suit.