One of my favorite things about summer is summer associate stories. There are always a few each year. Life as a summer associate is pretty cool: you're tantalized by three-hour lunches and fun evening events; nobody really expects you to do anything of substance; and the presumption is that you'll get an offer unless you do something stupid.

Like disrobe and jump into the Hudson River, for example.

I was a summer associate at a very nice firm, but we didn't have any characters quite like that. At any rate, this won't be the last great story of 2005--more are sure to come.