Part of the Program

Joel Birch, a business/corporate attorney at UB Greensfelder in St. Louis, has served on the firm’s recruiting committee—which includes the summer associate program—for the past two years.

Prior to joining the committee, Birch sat in on interviews with prospective associates. “There’s a vested interest in making sure you work with the best and the brightest. You want to have a hand in that,” he says. “I enjoy mentoring and being able to help out.”

While Birch was a summer associate with a smaller St. Louis firm, he says UB Greensfelder’s size allows them to have a very formalized program. “Part of the program is seeing how a law firm actually works. You’re kind of in this bubble in law school, and I think that actually working at a law firm gives you a sense of the real world,” he says, noting that a number of 2025 summer associates started as first-years in 2026.

“We all used to be law students,” he adds. “It can be a daunting experience, because you’re so young and inexperienced. You don’t know a lot, and you’re new to an environment. I try to help them relax and reduce their anxieties.”