Let's talk about Atlanta! Forum

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Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by Anonymous User » Sat May 28, 2011 10:23 pm

:oops: :oops: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :oops: :oops: :oops: :!: :!: :o :o :o :shock: Now updated to reflect one associate's opinion! :mrgreen: :roll: :roll: :oops: :oops: :twisted: :shock: :o :oops: :idea:

I started this thread back in 2011 when I was getting ready to go through OCI. Here's the original post:
Is it still a shithole full of landmines?
Potential firms to discuss:
King and Spalding: proudly recognizes itself as a sweatshop, probably the most prestigious--but has some baggage. Seems like they're extending the partnership track out for 2+ years. Very low likelihood of making partner generally, nearly nonexistent outside of Atlanta. In the words of a person I know there, "better clear that 2000 mark by a significant amount or shit gets real."
Alston + Bird (the + is why their satisfaction is so high): People seem to think it's the more touchy-feely firm, but supposedly just like K&S but less alpha male.
Paul Hastings: xo bitch about Atlanta PH as the biggest sweatshop without the prestige associated with other big name firms.
Mckenna: heard good things, but their pay took a huge hit.
Rogers and Hardin (heard they're good now, but will have issues in the mid-future due to older partners leaving).
Bondurant (just kidding, nobody here is qualified enough to work there)
Arnall Golden Gregory
Jones Day: I'd like more information here.
Finnegan/Fish
Freeman Mathis
Hunton Williams
Morris Manning Martin: had the infamous associate sacrifice, didn't help the infinitely deferred find new jobs. Douchey behavior, but it seems to be doing fairly well for itself now. PPP is very high, I won't say exactly how much--but it's competitive with the big boys.
Kilpatrick Townsend
DLA Piper
Sutherland
Troutman Sanders

Any guestimates of school/grades? Any firms I missed?
Now I'm old and wizened from my billable hour requirement, but I think I know a bit more about the market. I work for one of the firms listed below. So, for what it's worth, here's my take on the major ATL firms:

King and Spalding: Very high PPP and very high associate turnover. I know quite a few folks who really like working here, but it's practice group dependent. I wouldn't go here unless I had aspirations to be in a marquee practice group. I have heard nothing but horror stories about the toxic tort and products liabilities groups. I get the sense that working here is more political than other firms. I've had two cases against them and wasn't impressed either time.

Alston + Bird : One time, I went to a panel put on by A&B. A panelist talked about how they put together a panel on being a female partner and invited all the female associates to attend. They did the presentation, and the superstar female senior associate in the panelist's group quit the same week. Don't know what that says about the firm, but I thought it was hilarious. Even though A&B ostensibly has a band 1 practice group in the same area I practice in, I've had zero interaction with their team and am not close to any associates here. There's some salary compression when you get more senior.

Paul Hastings[: Above-market comp. Don't go here. It has a bunch of issues: (1) satellite office; (2) charges NYC rates in ATL; (3) used to have terrible partners.

Dentons: When it was McKenna, I heard good things about it.

Rogers and Hardin: I fully expect the firm will be gone in 5 years--maybe sooner. The firm hasn't done any succession planning and goes through associates like nobody's business, particularly on the corporate side.

Bondurant: the one person I know here likes it, but good luck getting a position. Above-market comp.

Arnall Golden Gregory : "Chill" midlaw firm with a lower billable requirement. Great middle-market firm to work for.

Jones Day: Above-market comp. Seems to be highly practice group dependent. All the lit associates I know over there like it, but I've heard terrible things about the corporate group.

Finnegan/Fish: Idk.

Freeman Mathis: Decent firm that's basically the farm team for biglaw firms in Atlanta. If you don't get a biglaw offer, go work for FMG for 2-3 years and you'll get picked up. However, be aware you'll be working close to biglaw hours. Don't go to the construction group--insane partners.

Hunton Williams: Hunton hasn't really grown or contracted. The two associates I know really like working there, though.

Morris Manning Martin : I will forever hold a grudge against MMM for fucking over SAs in the Great Recession. At one point, they canned all their corp/real estate associates except 2 (total). It's a good firm, but sorta backstabby. It also has only one class of partnership, which means that making partner is really hard. MMM is also in Buckhead, and I hate Buckhead.

Kilpatrick Townsend: Very good firm and great people.

dla piper

Burr Forman: IMO, a quintessential example of a firm that's going to get squeezed out of high-end work by national firms and have their low-end work stolen by smaller shops. Good people, but they don't do a lot of really sophisticated work. An associate friend of mine left them to join my firm, and he says he's doing more sophisticated work here.


Sutherland: Heard bad things about the securities litigation group. An associate at my current firm used to work at Eversheds and made it clear that she hated working there, though I never asked for specifics. The corporate folks I know over there seem to like it, though. Eversheds has a non-billable requirement, so enjoy writing blog posts.

Troutman Sanders: An old-line Atlanta firm that I can't really get a handle on. They have some groups that are being squeezed out due to rate pressure.

Nelson Mullins : below-market comp and a middle-market firm, but you'll have to work market hours.

Quick notes (or just names) on some other firms
Balch - just say no. Satellite office that services one major client (NEWELL RUBBERMAID).
Squire Sanders - just entered the ATL market
Baker Hostetler - basically McKenna's healthcare group
Baker Donelson - I have a negative opinion of them because they shanked someone who I really like. I can't go into more detail than this.
Chamberlain Hrdlicka - Above-market, but some insane partners.
Parker Hudson -
Ogletree -
Fisher Phillips -
Ford Harrison -
Duane Morris -
Locke Lorde -
Seyfarth Shaw -
Smith Gambrell -
Last edited by Anonymous User on Thu Jul 19, 2018 4:24 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by Anonymous User » Mon May 30, 2011 8:32 pm

With fall OCI bidding coming up for a lot of schools, and the Southeastern minority job fair happening in July, let's keep this thread going to discuss Atlanta biglaw. Bidding tips, firm culture, firm health whatever can all be discussed here. Let's get this thing going!

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by Anonymous User » Mon May 30, 2011 9:02 pm

Alston & Bird - Probably true at every ATL firm, but make sure you stress why you want to be in Atlanta. I got slammed with questions regarding why I wanted to be in Atlanta, whereas East Coast firms didn't care at all. Typically recruits from a few of the T-14s and local schools. Not as prestige-whorish w/r/t school as NYC/DC. As for grades, no idea what their usual cut-off is, but it probably varies by school. I was top 1/3 at a T-14 and got a callback (but no offer).
Last edited by Anonymous User on Mon May 30, 2011 9:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by Anonymous User » Mon May 30, 2011 9:04 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Alston & Bird - Make sure you stress why you want to be in Atlanta. I think that was a huge part of why I got dinged post-callback. Typically recruits from local schools and a few of the T-14s. Not as prestige-whorish w/r/t school as NYC/DC. (As for grades, no idea what their usual cut-off is. I was around top 1/3 at a t-14.)
Thank you--that was EXTREMELY helpful! Did you have any connection to Atlanta?

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by Anonymous User » Mon May 30, 2011 9:06 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Alston & Bird - Make sure you stress why you want to be in Atlanta. I think that was a huge part of why I got dinged post-callback. Typically recruits from local schools and a few of the T-14s. Not as prestige-whorish w/r/t school as NYC/DC. (As for grades, no idea what their usual cut-off is. I was around top 1/3 at a t-14.)
Thank you--that was EXTREMELY helpful! Did you have any connection to Atlanta?
Not really. I wanted to be down South for personal reasons, but nothing on my resume gives me ties to the South. I think they spent about half the time during callbacks asking me why I wanted to be there.

Re: A&B - The firm gets practically all of their partners from within the firm, so you have a better shot at making partner at A&B than at other firms.

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by Anonymous User » Tue May 31, 2011 2:21 pm

Is all the animosity around MMM based on legitimate economic concerns about the firm or is it more about (rightfully) pissed off associates who were let go?

Anyone have experience with PH or Jones Day? I've read nothing but negative things (from xo) about both firms. More generally, thoughts about a homegrown firm v. a satellite of a larger firm?

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by Anonymous User » Tue May 31, 2011 10:00 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Is all the animosity around MMM based on legitimate economic concerns about the firm or is it more about (rightfully) pissed off associates who were let go?

Anyone have experience with PH or Jones Day? I've read nothing but negative things (from xo) about both firms. More generally, thoughts about a homegrown firm v. a satellite of a larger firm?
Basically I would ignore autoadmit when it comes to most things.

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Jun 03, 2011 11:18 am

Reposting this here in hopes that I get a response. I'm interested in my odds at Fish/Finnegan/IP without a science background. T16-30, top 5% (potentially higher, no ranking yet), likely flagship journal, no relevant WE but I've done every IP-related thing I could do as a 1L. Any thoughts?

edit:
CanadianWolf wrote:Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan.
I've heard they're a pretty traditionally southern firm. Puts a lot of emphasis on pro bono work. Some of their partners are very involved with Atlanta Legal Aid. Additionally, they seem to have a heart; the firm used their in-house career services or whatever to find any no-offered associates positions at other firms. Downside is that it's definitely an Atlanta firm--little to no reach outside of the state.
Last edited by Anonymous User on Fri Jun 03, 2011 3:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by CanadianWolf » Fri Jun 03, 2011 11:31 am

Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan.

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Jun 04, 2011 9:38 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Reposting this here in hopes that I get a response. I'm interested in my odds at Fish/Finnegan/IP without a science background. T16-30, top 5% (potentially higher, no ranking yet), likely flagship journal, no relevant WE but I've done every IP-related thing I could do as a 1L. Any thoughts?
Assuming you're talking about Finnegan & Fish in Atlanta—your odds are very low. Finnegan does do some soft IP work out of this office, but not much. Any interview or job posting I've ever seen from either for these offices *requires* science background. Maybe if you're a minority candidate that changes (Finnegan has a great Diversity Scholarship program), but I still kinda doubt it.

Just my anecdotal feel. In DC or other offices, they do more of the TM work. But in Atlanta it's almost all patent.

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by Anonymous Loser » Sat Jun 04, 2011 10:50 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Any firms I missed?
Troutman

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by NonTradHealthLaw » Sat Jun 04, 2011 11:12 pm

Tagging for future reference.

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Grizz

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by Grizz » Sat Jun 04, 2011 11:53 pm

Jones Day - "Intellectual" reputation. Weathered the economic storm well. 10 week summer program this summer, 100% offer rate for 12 summers last summer.

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by Sup Kid » Sun Jun 05, 2011 12:21 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Anyone have experience with PH or Jones Day? I've read nothing but negative things (from xo) about both firms. More generally, thoughts about a homegrown firm v. a satellite of a larger firm?
Basically I would ignore autoadmit when it comes to most things.
JD and PH are the only two I believe (according to NALP) that pay market salary, aka $150,000, in Atlanta. King and Alston each only start at $135,000. Obviously fit is a factor, but if you want to be in Atlanta, and hypothetically could pick your firm, seems strange not to follow the extra $15k...

Also, most of these posts do not need to be anonymous (makes it hard to follow who is saying what...)

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by Aberzombie1892 » Sun Jun 05, 2011 12:59 am

Atlanta has 25 firm offices that have 61 or more attorneys.

Make sure to apply to the top 10 firm offices by size, as they probably would take the most summer associates (ranked in 2009):
Alston & Bird
King & Spalding
Troutman Sanders
Kilpatrick Stockton
Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan
McKenna Long & Aldridge
Jones Day
Morris, Manning & Martin
Smith, Gambrell & Russell
Arnall Golden Gregory (tie)
Bryan Cave (tie)

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Grizz

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by Grizz » Sun Jun 05, 2011 1:03 am

You mind listing the other ones, or did you just look them up on NALP or Martindale?

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by Pricer » Mon Jun 06, 2011 2:06 pm

Sup Kid wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Anyone have experience with PH or Jones Day? I've read nothing but negative things (from xo) about both firms. More generally, thoughts about a homegrown firm v. a satellite of a larger firm?
Basically I would ignore autoadmit when it comes to most things.
JD and PH are the only two I believe (according to NALP) that pay market salary, aka $150,000, in Atlanta. King and Alston each only start at $135,000. Obviously fit is a factor, but if you want to be in Atlanta, and hypothetically could pick your firm, seems strange not to follow the extra $15k...

Also, most of these posts do not need to be anonymous (makes it hard to follow who is saying what...)
From my understanding, $135k is the market salary in Atlanta. The two that pay $150k are paying above market.

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by Omerta » Mon Jun 06, 2011 3:57 pm

rad law wrote:Jones Day - "Intellectual" reputation. Weathered the economic storm well. 10 week summer program this summer, 100% offer rate for 12 summers last summer.
Yeah, I've heard they're "traditional" or "stuffy" depending on who you're talking to. Are there any strong litigation boutiques in Atlanta besides Bondurant and Rogers and Hardin? I know there are a few that specialize in L&E like Ashe Rafuse & Hill.

edit: After looking at NALP, looks like Parker Hudson no offered all of its 2010 and 2011 SA's... am I misreading the info?

edit #2: on this packet we (Emory) got from a presentation, the most grade-selective firms are Ashe Rafuse, Bondurant, Dow Lohnes, Paul Hastings, Rogers and Hardin, and Sutherland FYI

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by de5igual » Mon Jun 06, 2011 7:31 pm

Aberzombie1892 wrote:Atlanta has 25 firm offices that have 61 or more attorneys.

Make sure to apply to the top 10 firm offices by size, as they probably would take the most summer associates (ranked in 2009):
Alston & Bird
King & Spalding
Troutman Sanders
Kilpatrick Stockton
Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan
McKenna Long & Aldridge
Jones Day
Morris, Manning & Martin
Smith, Gambrell & Russell
Arnall Golden Gregory (tie)
Bryan Cave (tie)
Does anyone know what the GPA cutoff is typically for these firms? I'm guessing UT would be similar to Vandy as far as these cutoff #s are concerned?

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by Aberzombie1892 » Mon Jun 06, 2011 8:34 pm

rad law wrote:You mind listing the other ones, or did you just look them up on NALP or Martindale?
I purchased the business journal firm list. I also have the lists for Phoenix, Birmingham, Arkansas, Jackson, New Orleans and Memphis. I lost Oklahoma City, Houston, and some others.

Firm offices by size for Atlanta (ranked in 2009):
Alston & Bird
King & Spalding
Troutman Sanders
Kilpatrick Stockton
Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan
McKenna Long & Aldridge
Jones Day
Morris, Manning & Martin
Smith, Gambrell & Russell
Arnall Golden Gregory (tie)
Bryan Cave (tie)

All firm offices below Bryan Cave have fewer than 100 attorneys in Atlanta.

Swift, Currie, McGhee & Hiers
Greenberg Taurig
Dre Eckl & Farnham
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough (tie)
Seyfarth Shaw (tie)
Paul Hastings
Hall, Booth, Smith & Slover (tie)
Hunton & Williams (tie)
Weinberg, Wheeler, Hudgins, Gunn & Dial (tie)

Hawkins & Parnell (tie)
Parker, Hudson, Rainer & Dobbs (tie)
Carlock, Copeland & Stair
Taylor English Duma
Morris Hardwick Schneider

The lowest firm on this list has 61 attorneys in Atlanta. Only two firms, Morris Manning & Martin and Morris Hardwick Schneider, have multiple offices in Atlanta (although their totals are included in the above ranking).

Let me know if you have any questions.

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by Grizz » Mon Jun 06, 2011 8:35 pm

Thanks broseph

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jun 06, 2011 8:49 pm

rad law wrote:Jones Day - "Intellectual" reputation. Weathered the economic storm well. 10 week summer program this summer, 100% offer rate for 12 summers last summer.
Having received an SA offer from Jones Day ATL, I don't really think it's the wisest career move, whether they pay "above" ATL market or not. It seems like working for HQ of an ATL firm (A+B, K+S, Sutherland, Kilpatrick) is going to get your career moving faster than a satellite office of JD, vault rank notwithstanding. Disagree?

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by Omerta » Mon Jun 06, 2011 9:05 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
rad law wrote:Jones Day - "Intellectual" reputation. Weathered the economic storm well. 10 week summer program this summer, 100% offer rate for 12 summers last summer.
Having received an SA offer from Jones Day ATL, I don't really think it's the wisest career move, whether they pay "above" ATL market or not. It seems like working for HQ of an ATL firm (A+B, K+S, Sutherland, Kilpatrick) is going to get your career moving faster than a satellite office of JD, vault rank notwithstanding. Disagree?
Definitely agree. The already laughably low odds of making partner go down further when you're not at the "mothership" office. Additionally, the office may focus heavily on one area (like Atlanta PH in Labor and Employment) and only have a few rainmaking partners that, if they left, could really hurt the office.

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by Grizz » Mon Jun 06, 2011 9:31 pm

f0bolous wrote: Does anyone know what the GPA cutoff is typically for these firms? I'm guessing UT would be similar to Vandy as far as these cutoff #s are concerned?
I'd think so, but I don't have them right now haha.

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Re: Let's talk about Atlanta!

Post by de5igual » Mon Jun 06, 2011 11:55 pm

rad law wrote:
f0bolous wrote: Does anyone know what the GPA cutoff is typically for these firms? I'm guessing UT would be similar to Vandy as far as these cutoff #s are concerned?
I'd think so, but I don't have them right now haha.
eek...i just hope the cutoffs posted on the semjf symplicity (where every firm basically was T10%+LR) don't hold true for every school

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