Law Practice
Aug. 14, 2002
Associates and Clerks, Like a Good Roux
SAN FRANCISCO - Marisa Arrona, one of seven summer associates at Hancock Rothert & Bunshoft this year, expected to be wined and dined by the San Francisco firm.
She didn't expect to have to cook, too.
Yet Thursday found Boalt Hall student Arrona and her fellow clerks at Tante Marie's Cooking School in North Beach, completing their summers by whipping up a final feast along with a dozen Hancock lawyers.
The team-building task - a daunting one for law students, who usually dine on burritos and fast food - was to create a full meal in about two hours. At their disposal were two professional kitchens, ingredients including basil, olive oil, ginger and prosciutto, a handful of recipes and a few words of encouragement from the cooking school instructors.
That's usually enough, according to the cooking school's catalog, which declares, "You can learn to cook well by actually doing the cooking yourself."
The idea, said Cathy Christ, who is in charge of Hancock's recruiting, was to promote interaction between the summer clerks and the firm's attorneys. Building personal relationships is the key to a summer program, in Christ's view. "The more interaction they have with attorneys, the more successful it is," she said.
"A law firm is its people and it's very important to get energetic, enthusiastic, bright law students who are interested and enthusiastic," said Hancock litigation partner Rick Seabolt. "The only way you can tell that is by interacting with people. In retrospect, this was a good idea."
Despite their nervousness and lack of any formal cooking skills, Hastings student David Kennedy and USF student Mike Dickman felt they were up to the task as the project got under way. Wearing checkered aprons, the two launched into an elaborate corn soup recipe that included tomatillos, jalapeños, cilantro, cream cheese and tortilla chips.
"It seems pretty simple," Kennedy said as he was preparing the 12-ingredient dish. "We'll make it."
Seabolt, a cooking class first-timer, created the evening's main course, seared ahi tuna on fried cannelini beans with a vinaigrette.
It was perfect, he said.
So was the evening, aside from a few mishaps like melting homemade ice cream, a electric mixer that sprayed flour all over an associate and a guest, and a missing ingredient or two.
Arrona, who worked beside Seabolt on the tuna, was certainly energetic and enthusiastic, at least when it came to preparing and serving dinner and celebrating the results afterward by leading a few toasts.
Teresa Lee, an associate who has worked closely with members of this year's summer class, said she already feels close to the affable Arrona and the other clerks.
"I think we'll be friends," she said to Arrona.
Hancock hopes to build lasting relationships with these future lawyers, Lee said.
"If we like them, we want to make seven offers," she said of this year's class.
As she shelled fava beans for a crostini appetizer, Hastings student Christina Roland Terplan said there was another fringe benefit to the cooking class at Tante Marie's. Recently married and loaded with kitchenware she doesn't know how to use, she said the course will inspire her to learn more.
Even more important, it was fun, said sixth-year Hancock associate Niloo Savis.
"It's the fun event of the summer," said Savis, a veteran of the annual event. "People are comfortable."
Erik Cummins
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