Potluck Dinner Produces Awkward Start to Firm's Summer Associate Program

As Kelly Picardo scooped some coleslaw onto her paper plate, she took a moment to finally relax. As firms began laying off associaties, freezing salaries and deferring start dates left and right, Picardo had been worried that this day, the start of her Summer Associate Program at Alston & Bird LLP, might never come. Then, two Tuesdays ago and a couple of weeks before her scheduled start date, she felt like she had been kicked in the gut. Ms. Picardo had just received word via email that Alston & Bird had decided to substitute the usual kick-off celebration at an upscale restaurant with a potluck dinner in a conference room on the 32nd floor of their downtown Atlanta offices.

Well aware that the firm was planning to be stingy with offers, she had been counting on making a strong first impression and riding its wave to a (hopefully) guaranteed pay day next fall. But as someone who could mess up a bowl of cereal, Picardo knew that she had the potential to garner an unfavorable reputation if she tried to cook anything. To make matters worse, the cheesy direction from the Alston & Bird summer chairs was to “make something that defines you”. In the end, she decided that her best bet was to pass off spinach and cheese ravioli from Whole Foods as her own creation.

Picardo went as far as to come up with a mantra of sorts to help promote her ravioli at the potluck. Throughout the day leading up to the kick-off dinner she could be heard explaining to any and all that spinach and cheese ravioli is her favorite thing to cook because “like her, it’s something that looks ordinary on the outside but is filled with greatness on the inside.” Now, as she fixed herself a plate of food, she felt relieved that she had passed the first test of what was likely to be a draining summer.

Unfortunately, Picardo’s relaxed feeling was short-lived. As she was cutting into a piece of her fellow summer’s famous meat loaf, she received a small tap on the shoulder from Melanie Straykowski, one of the firm’s hiring partners. Much to Picardo’s delight Straykowski noted that she was really enjoying the ravioli. She then handed Picardo a receipt from Whole Foods that she picked up over by the food table. “Just wanted to make sure you had this so you could stay on top of your expenses,” stated Straykowski with a wry smile. “You’ll probably need to stay on top of those when you don’t have a job next year."