CitiSelect is an innovative program that Citi developed to attract gifted lawyers. The CitiSelect program offers talented law students a unique career path by which they can obtain legal training at a top-tier law firm in New York, as well as an in-house position at Citi. Our goal is to attract the best and brightest lawyers to join our ranks and to help increase our diverse population of attorneys.
The financial-services industry is constantly evolving. New businesses, products and services are being developed almost daily. To address those needs, Citi historically has employed highly credentialed, seasoned attorneys. Part of the evolution in the business is the evolution of the legal department. Like all smart business functions, we need to grow our talent pool not only by hiring experienced professionals but also by developing our lawyers from the ground up as soon as they graduate from law school. To be frank, this program is something we and others in the industry should have been doing already, which is why we expect the program to spread throughout the industry.
We are continually looking for innovative ways to enhance our pool of talented attorneys. Our diversity committee came up with a good idea about how to accomplish this goal by creating an associate program. That good idea became a great idea when we realized that the best way to do that was to partner with outside law firms.
The CitiSelect program begins with a summer internship that includes training at both Citi and a partner law firm. After graduating, you'll spend up to three years at one of our host law firms, where you'll receive top-flight training and develop your core set of legal skills. You'll also continue to develop close relationships with Citi lawyers and business people during this period by working primarily on Citi matters. Once you've completed your law-firm training, you'll join Citi as an in-house lawyer. From there, your career opportunities within Citi are virtually endless.
Currently, the firms we are partnered with are Paul, Weiss, Bingham McCutchen, Cleary Gottlieb, Davis Polk & Wardwell, Skadden, WilmerHale and Shearman & Sterling.
The law firms that have partnered with us are among the top law firms in New York and are firms with which we have worked successfully for years.
The law firms benefit in three ways. First, they have the opportunity to be part of what we believe is an incredibly innovative program. Second, their participation makes each of the firms in the program an even more valued adviser and partner to Citi. And third, they have the ability to train lawyers who will ultimately be their clients. CitiSelect is a win-win program for all involved.
We want to help gifted lawyers build a career. We've developed an entirely new career track for high-quality lawyers. We believe no other company has taken this approach, where a student coming out of law school gets both incredible training from a top law firm as well as the opportunity to go in-house and build a long-term career. We are extremely excited about it, and have already received a good deal of positive feedback.
In addition to the tremendous career-building opportunities that are available through the program, CitiSelect offers highly competitive New York law-firm compensation and benefits. Our selected participants will also receive an incentive payment post-graduation.*
We're looking for top talent—people who are willing to take a unique opportunity and turn it into an exciting career. Top talent means individuals who have excelled across the board—high grades, law review, moot court and intriguing extracurricular activities. We're interested in smart, hard-working people with a demonstrated track record. Because we are committed to the principles of diversity, we strongly encourage candidates of diverse backgrounds to apply.
What career opportunities won't be available to you? We have attorneys in every sector of the financial-services industry, and a presence in more than 100 countries. The only thing that will limit you is your imagination with respect to where you ultimately want to go.
No. With size comes great opportunity. One of the things that makes Citi unique is that, from where I sit, it is possibly the most meritocratic organization in the industry.
If you want a career as a high-end business counselor, working in-house at a leading global corporation like Citi is one of the best places to be. Yet opportunities to go in-house straight from law school have traditionally been very limited. In-house counsel positions require experienced attorneys who provide competent legal advice and guidance regarding the best interests of the company. No in-house law department that I know of has the ability to develop the core set of legal skills for this role as effectively as a law firm.
CitiSelect therefore offers aspiring business counselors the best of both worlds: the excellent legal training that premier law firms provide, as well as the business exposure and execution skills that come from being in-house. You will launch your career with one of the finest combinations of experience and credentials a young lawyer could hope to have in our field.
Due to Citi's broad-based global business, we have attorneys around the world. We have a presence in many countries, including the UK, Italy, Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong, India and Australia. Given our opportunities for permanent positions or temporary assignments, we are constantly striving to move our folks around. So it's not a question of whether we have the opportunities; it's a question of where you want to go.
In many ways, working in-house will be even more challenging. As a Citi lawyer, you will be called to develop an in-depth understanding of our global business and strategic goals and to provide legal advice and solutions to help achieve our objectives. You'll have a full seat at the table, working closely with our business people to help address the broad and diverse array of law-related issues that affect Citi globally.
As a general matter, focus foremost on taking the right professors, not courses. Like a good manager, a good professor will teach you to look beyond surface issues and get to the heart of the matter quickly, across various subject areas. That said, it would be worthwhile to become familiar with the basics of securities laws, contracts and financial instruments. But again, we're mainly interested in smart, hard-working people with a demonstrated track record. We have put together a first-rate program to train you. What you need to bring to the table is the ability to learn quickly so that you can become skilled at effectively managing the one constant of our business—change.
There is no catch. If you decide that this is not the right career for you (which we think will be highly unlikely), the only thing that will happen is that a prorated portion of the incentive payment that you have received will be subject to repayment to Citi, if you leave within a three-year period.
CitiSelect is a career track intended for talented lawyers. You accordingly must meet the hiring standards of both Citi and the associated law firm you select, since you will be working at both organizations as a Citi employee. The interview process therefore has three rounds: a first round interview with Citi (typically on-campus); a second round of interviews at the New York office of the selected law firm; and a third and final round of interviews in Citi's offices in New York. We are committed to making the CitiSelect program a success, and we consider the hiring process to be a critical part of this investment.
*More information regarding the incentive payment will be made available during the interview process.
