Wachtell Lipton 2026 Summer Associate Program

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz's 2026 Summer Associate Program provides a small, highly selective cohort of 2Ls with meaningful work on significant M&A, corporate governance, restructuring, and litigation matters. Summer associates are assigned to transactions and cases with full responsibility and partner-level supervision. The firm's training program includes weekly lunches with partners, negotiation simulations, and one-on-one writing workshops. Wachtell pays a market-leading weekly salary and is known for exceptionally high bonuses at the associate level. 2L recruiting for Summer 2026 closed in fall 2025; the firm does not run a traditional 1L program but accepts limited 1L diversity applications.