Jenner & Block LLP - The Inside View

There’s no getting past it, litigation is a serious business, and when it comes to litigators, “Jenner is built on a foundation of excellence and integrity.” The firm currently have nine American College of Trial Lawyers fellows, and one the firm’s namesakes, Albert Jenner, was the chief Republican counsel in the impeachment proceedings against President Nixon. This practice strength applies across almost every sector you can think of, from education to law, insurance, politics and media. In fact, Chambers USA awards the firm nationwide recognition for its work in areas such as government relations, artificial intelligence, higher education, intellectual property, law firm defence and Native American law. This is alongside top-tier rankings in general commercial litigation and white-collar crime & government investigations in the firm’s home state of Illinois.  

“…on the cultural side of things, everything that Jenner had said has rung true.”  

With all of their accolades accounted for, though, Jenner seems just as keen to foster a “respectful and friendly environment” as they are to develop formidable litigators. As one associate put it: “Jenner definitely respects work/life balance… way more so than I thought. On the cultural side of things, everything that Jenner had said has rung true.” The firm’s US offices are located Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Washington, DC and are joined across the pond by a London office.   

Jenner & Block is recognized as The Elite for Junior Satisfaction and an Excellent Performer for Mid to Senior Satisfaction in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey. Jenner & Block is also recognized as The Elite for Junior Satisfaction in Chicago and Washington, DC specifically.

Strategy & Future 

Coming soon...

Jenner & Block is recognized as a Strong Performer for AI Integration in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey.

Summer Program 

Associates on Jenners’ summer program undertake a mix of pro bono and billable work. Summers are brought on to work in a mix of practices, with room to take on tasks such as legal research and drafting briefs. They also get to sit in on practice group and legal education meetings, as well as attend bespoke training courses.

Understandably, there’s also quite a bit of emphasis on properly integrating summers into the firm, with social events varying across the offices, but covering things like comedy nights, baseball games, plays, dinners. Though there is a ‘summer summit’ event in Chicago that does unite all the offices together during the summer. 

The Work 

The majority of associates are situated in firm’s Chicago head office, but there are also sizeable associate populations in the firm’s DC and New York offices. For their first two years at Jenner, associates aren’t specifically assigned to one practice group. Instead, they can take work from a number of practice groups before being assigned to one at the end of the two years. We were told that one thing that associates had appreciated “was being able to bounce around groups organically.” Juniors are initially given work through the firm’s centralized system, but it is eventually expected that associates will have work allocated directly by the partners they have developed relationships with. As one associate explained: “After the initial assignments I was assigned, I developed relationships with partners and now, I very rarely have the capacity to take on additional work from the centralized system.” 

Jenner & Block is recognized as The Elite for Work Allocation & Autonomy in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey.

“…you always have to look at the bigger picture, in addition to dealing with problems of the day.” 

Associates in the business litigation group frequently find themselves drafting briefs, writing witness statements and undertaking legal research to ensure they are up to date on the latest developments in a case. We heard that work in the group must often be very reactive to cases and clients. As one associate explained: “Occasionally, there are days where you’ll get questions from clients, and you have to draft a response and respond to fillings very quickly.” The department is adept at everything from IP, contracts and transactions disputes through to fraud. One associate highlighted that they have enjoyed working on a matter for a Fortune 500 company.  “It’s very interesting, you always have to look at the bigger picture, in addition to dealing with problems of the day,” they explained. 

Business litigation clients: McDonalds, Motorola, Kraft Heinz. Represented Colgate-Palmolive in a consumer fraud class action alleging that Colgate engaged in greenwashing by misleadingly labeling several of its toothpaste products as ‘recyclable.’ 

Over in media & entertainment, matters can be either litigious or primarily focused on investigations. One junior associate told us about an international investigation they had worked on recently, recalling that “it was incredibly exciting to fly out. I didn’t know investigations work was such a big part of law until working at Jenner.” They also added that there was something to be enjoyed about the less adversarial nature of investigations. On the litigation side, we heard that juniors are often occupied with conducting discovery tasks and preparing for trial.  

Media & entertainment clients: Apple, Meta, Paypal. Represents Live Nation and Ticketmaster in a series of class action lawsuits in federal and state courts alleging ‘drip pricing’ and violations of state pricing laws.  

Career Development 

According to interviewees, the firm is standout when it comes to helping associates build their book of business. Formal training includes a three-day long course on deposition for first years. During these extended events, the firm advises associates to defer billing, as they believe in the value of the hands-on training. On top of this, when associates undertake a matter with practice groups, they are often asked which legal skills they want to develop. As one associate recounted, “the other day, a partner asked me if there was anything on the project I wanted to get involved with.” The consensus? “As long as I’m working in BigLaw, I don’t want to be with anyone else. I get emails from recruiters promising better, and I delete them all!”  

“As long as I’m working in BigLaw, I don’t want to be with anyone else. I get emails from recruiters promising better, and I delete them all!”  

Juniors at Jenner have different mentors every year in their first three years, and an advisor from the fourth onwards which they select once they are in their practice group. Insiders reported having frequent scheduled meetings with their advisor. As one told us: “I’m constantly speaking to the professional development manager. Before I started, I would’ve thought that would have been a bad sign, but it’s really useful!” During their first two years at the firm, official review meetings are scheduled every six months. In a more informal capacity, every three months associates are also able to check in with their mentor, which allows them to receive off-the-record, candid feedback where they are told “these are the things you need to improve on.”  

Staying in BigLaw isn’t for everyone, and Jenner knows that. As a result, the firm offers a careers support infrastructure for people to go into government. Some people do stick around at Jenner for longer than they anticipated though, and for good reason. As one source put it: “The thought of staying is way more enticing than I thought. There’s no world where I get to do that work elsewhere with the same work/life balance.” At any rate, we were told that the firm wants to be “really open about the path to partner,” and that Jenner attorneys are very open about their future plans.

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

Pro Bono 

The breadth and depth of the pro bono work on offer is something that impressed associates, even the ones drawn to the firm for its reputation for pro bono: “I don’t know many places that have it better.” When associates first join Jenner & Block they are provided with a list of the available pro-bono matters which they can then pick from. When selecting what to work on, coordinators work actively with associates in order to help develop the exact skills associates are looking to improve. If, for example, an associate wanted to work on a matter that would go to trial, the coordinators would help to find a case that would.  

Associates told us that they had worked on death penalty cases, prisoner’s rights cases, innocence cases, immigration work, foster care cases, matters regarding tribal law and civil rights cases. We did hear that associates were slightly disheartened at firm’s recent decision to change its bonus structure which no longer allows for unlimited pro bono. That being said, the firm told us that associates are still able to do plenty of this kind of work, and that the reality of being able to do a truly unlimited amount of this work is narrow in any case.

Pro bono hours 

• For all (US) attorneys: 75,887
• Average per (US) attorney: 152

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

Culture  

While you’ll hear your fair share of stories about BigLaw offices, we were told that this is a firm where “people expend extra effort to be kind.” Jenner associates should expect people to say ‘Hi’ to them in the hallways and should prepare to make quite a few friends in their class year. This is a good thing to know, especially as in March, most practice groups moved from three days a week to four days in the office. 

“I was encouraged to give my opinion on case strategy because they believed that I had interesting things to say.” 

In the words of one associate: “Every partner has been super approachable, and we have good conversations that are not super formal.” Associates told us that the feedback they received from partners was encouraging and “not just a few sentences. I got told to speak up in meetings and get feedback from the people above me. I was encouraged to give my opinion on case strategy because they believed that I had interesting things to say.” 

The firm offers a busy program of internal events such as book talks and lectures from political candidates. Every week, the firm hosts a dinner at the office, a lunch a couple of times a month, and breakfast. Associates even highlighted enjoying all company meetings and appreciated the fact that the firm is open about its financials and the direction they want to go. We heard that the firm makes an active effort to try and get people to stay and socialize after, and people do.  

One aspect that came in for particular praise was the firm’s support for parents.  There are two community groups at Jenner for parents, one for working mothers and one for fathers. We heard that it is common for associates to take three or four months of parental leave and in the lead up to this leave, partners are very supportive in helping associates to transition on and off matters. One associate told us: “The partners were very supportive before, during and after my leave. Most partners are working parents and said to me ‘look, we get it’.”

Jenner & Block is recognized as The Elite for Culture in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey. 

Hours & Compensation 

Billable hours: 1,950 target 

Salaries at Jenner & Block increase year on year on a lockstep basis. Of the 1,950 target, 100 of these hours can be put towards pro-bono, meetings, and affinity group-related activities. Upon reaching the billable hour target, associates become eligible for a bonus. There are also bonuses available for those who move significantly beyond it. Overall, the consensus amongst associates was that they were fairly compensated for the work they put in.  

Juniors were pleased to report that Jenner offers its associates a reasonable degree of flexibility while working. We were reassured by associates that the firm doesn’t expect you to be “occupied with a young child or dealing with an emergency in order to take pockets of time off.” One associate recalled that “even on a filing day, can I go to a yoga class for an hour.” We heard that typically, associates bill 40 or 50 hours a week. One associate argued that the firm encourages its associates to take their vacations and tries to ensure that they are undisturbed whilst away.

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

Inclusion 

The firm reportedly places a big emphasis on inclusion, and we heard that the inclusion events it puts on are well attended. The firm hosts monthly “fireside chats” on topics relating to engagement and inclusion, and schedules dedicated events on the inclusion calendar (such as Black History Month) with organized speakers. The firm is also reportedly happy for groups to attend conferences and will cover the cost. There is a yearly summit for all lawyer affinity group members at the firm, and groups are open for anyone to join.

Get Hired 

The first stage: recruitment on and off campus 

The scope of Jenner’s recruitment includes 16 of the top law schools across the country. However, the firm also tells us that “applications for the Summer Program from candidates at all schools are welcome.” 

“Candidates should be prepared to talk about anything listed on their resume,” with a particular premium placed on those who are “intellectually curious, driven individuals who thrive in a collaborative, high-performance environment.” Jenner welcomes candidates with “strong academic credentials, sound judgment, and a genuine interest in tackling complex, high-stakes matters for top clients.” Jenner values those who are “committed to excellence, eager to learn from top lawyers, and invested in both client service and team success. Interested candidates should be sure to highlight any areas in their backgrounds that point towards those ideals,” the firm emphasizes. 

Callbacks 

While the callback process varies slightly by office, “students can expect to meet with five to six lawyers during their callback interview,” the firm tells us, adding that “depending on the office, one to three of those interviewers are usually associates. At this point, we are interested in learning more about the candidate’s interests and experience. We are also evaluating their leadership ability and initiative.” 

Jenner & Block summer associates can work on both short-term and long-term projects during their summer experience. Assignments are tailored to individual practice area and pro bono interests, subject to client needs and availability. Summer associates have the flexibility to work with various practice teams during the program. The firm also offers a variety of specially designed training opportunities focusing on helping summer associates develop a broader range of skills, including legal writing courses and a communications workshop. 

Summer program 

While most of the firm’s summers return as first-year associates, the firm encourages summers who wish to clerk before joining the firm to do so. For example, the firm tells us that “many, but not all, of our summer associates clerk prior to re-joining us as second- or third-year associates.” Finally, the firm recommends hopefuls consult the firm’s website to learn more.