Melissa DiVincenzo Unplugged

After the on-campus interviews and firm call-backs, Melissa DiVincenzo was certain:  “I received multiple offers, but Morris Nichols was where I wanted to be,” she says.  “For me, it’s all about the people, and the opportunity to learn from attorneys with extraordinary backgrounds and experience.”

Melissa’s summer at Morris Nichols was “eye-opening in many ways,” she says.  “I found that even in Philadelphia, the firms had more of a local practice.  Morris Nichols is one of the few with clients and issues from all over the country and the world.” 

At a board meeting in New York that she attended during her first year, she learned the trust that the firm places in the work of its young attorneys.  She says, “I didn’t even have business cards yet, but I found that advice was being given and decisions were being made based on my research.”

That summer experience helped her to identify more than her choice of firm; it narrowed her focus to the type of law she wanted to practice.  “I had thought I wanted to practice in intellectual property,” she says, “but by the end of the summer I knew that what I really wanted, and what I was better suited for, was a transactional practice.”

Melissa states that the firm gives associates a lot of flexibility and the opportunity to “let you fit yourself in,” but she has been most impressed at the active interest the partners have demonstrated in her career individually.  “Each new stage is challenging,” she says, “and sometimes the magnitude of the deals and the high level of work can be intimidating.  But even though the assignments may be difficult, the partners know when you are ready to take on something new.  It’s a real vote of confidence from the firm.”

When asked about the pay scale, Melissa states, “We are paid very well here.  We receive excellent support in terms of technology and other resources.  Morris Nichols is doing well, and that means there is a lot of interesting work."