Top Law Schools

I wouldn't mind some quick comments on my bid list. They're due this evening by 11pm. I tried to mix safe with aggressive, and keeping in mind expected summer class sizes according to NALP. What to bid on is a little tricky - I'm a UCLA transfer student from Davis/Hastings. Better than Top 10% first year, going to try to write on to law review. Or join a journal.

Too aggressive? Too unfocused? I'm looking to get into corporate or general business litigation, but would like to be somewhere that does a mix of things, so I can change my mind if I find something I like better.

Number of estimated interview slots in parentheses. I kind of lost focus near the second half of the bid list. My hunch is those don't matter. But my hunches are sometimes wrong.

1) Manatt, Phelps & Phillips (Los Angeles, CA) (18)
2) Winston & Strawn LLP (Los Angeles, CA) (23)
3) Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP (Los Angeles, CA) (72)
4) Reed Smith LLP (18)
5) Latham & Watkins (Los Angeles, CA) (119)
6) Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP (42)
7) Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP (Los Angeles, CA)
8 ) O'Melveny & Myers, L.L.P. (Los Angeles, CA)
9) Alston & Bird (Los Angeles, CA)
10) cooley llp (Palo Alto, CA) (all offices) (33)
11) proskauer rose llp (Los Angeles, CA) (29)
12) dla piper (Los Angeles, CA) (18)
13) Bingham McCutchen LLP (Santa Monica, CA) (28)
14) Bryan Cave LLP (Irvine, CA) (14)
15) Kirkland & Ellis (Los Angeles, CA) (54)
16) Rutan & Tucker, LLP (Costa Mesa, CA) (36)
17) Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (Los Angeles, CA) (8 offices) (24)
18) White & Case LLP (Los Angeles, CA) (36)
19) Kirkland & Ellis (San Francisco, CA) (18)
20) sidley austin llp (Los Angeles, CA) (18)
21) venable llp ( Los Angeles, CA) (18)
22) Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP (Los Angeles, CA) (18)
23) Irell & Manella LLP (Los Angeles, CA) (72)
24) Crowell & Moring LLP (Irvine, CA) (18)
25) Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P. (Los Angeles, CA) (18)
26) Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP (Los Angeles, CA) (18)
27) Jenner & Block LLP (Los Angeles) (18)
28) troutman sanders llp (Irvine, CA) (18)
29) Foley & Lardner (Los Angeles, CA) (36)
30) Fulbright & Jaworski, L.L.P. (Los Angeles, CA) (36)
31) Greenberg Traurig (Santa Monica, CA) (18)
32) Holland & Knight (Los Angeles, CA) (all offices) (18)
33) K&L Gates LLP (Los Angeles, CA) (12)
34) Ropes & Gray (San Francisco, CA)
35) downey brand llp (Sacramento, CA) (18)
36) Fenwick & West, LLP (Mountain View, CA) (18)
37) Dechert LLP (Los Angeles, CA) (18)
38) Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton (New York, NY) (18)

What should move up? What should move down? What should disappear completely?

Sorry to bump this and be pushy, but if anyone has *anything* to say about the bid list on the last post before the 11pm deadline, I'd appreciate it greatly.

I'm confused by the totally random Cleary bid last on the list.

Like I said, I kind of lost focus at the end.

Same anon poster as above. I dropped dla piper altogether and replaced it with MoFo. I checked NALP again for DLA and it listed an expected class size of 2. I'm not sure what I was thinking there.

MoFo SF has a pretty healthy class size, though probably hugely competitive.

Added Morgan Lewis, which I seemed to have missed during my first go-around - healthy class sizes expected too.

Anonymous User wrote:Same anon poster as above. I dropped DLA Piper altogether and replaced it with MoFo. I checked NALP again for DLA and it listed an expected class size of 2. I'm not sure what I was thinking there.

MoFo SF has a pretty healthy class size, though probably hugely competitive.

Added Morgan Lewis, which I seemed to have missed during my first go-around - healthy class sizes expected too.

LA poster here.
You know the NALP data is not very accurate right? It lists proskauer as having a class size of 5-6, when they actually are at 2. It lists Akin Gump as having a tiny class, when they really have eight or so spots.

I know nothing about DLA, but just based on common sense: would a shop the size of dla piper in LA (80 some odd attorneys) only hire 2 summers? I think they are more likely to go for 5 or 6.

Anonymous User wrote:You know the NALP data is not very accurate right? It lists proskauer as having a class size of 5-6, when they actually are at 2. It lists Akin Gump as having a tiny class, when they really have nine or ten spots.

Where did you get this info from?

existenz wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:You know the NALP data is not very accurate right? It lists proskauer as having a class size of 5-6, when they actually are at 2. It lists Akin Gump as having a tiny class, when they really have nine or ten spots.

Where did you get this info from?

Anon poster here.

Too late to change anything. If the NALP data is inaccurate, then where do you find out a firm's expected class size?

existenz wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:You know the NALP data is not very accurate right? It lists proskauer as having a class size of 5-6, when they actually are at 2. It lists Akin Gump as having a tiny class, when they really have nine or ten spots.

Where did you get this info from?

People who are doing hiring will tell you if you ask them nicely. Obviously, take this with a grain of salt because I'm some anon person on the internet, but it's just what I've been told.

(1) Besides Akin Gump, what are some other firms in LA with big class sizes? Currently I have Kirkland, Munger, Irell, Gibson, Latham, Sheppard, Skadden, MoFo, and OMM leading the pack. Any that I'm missing besides Akin (already mentioned)?
(2) Same question for SF--biggest classes seem to be MoFo, Morgan Lewis, Ropes, Kirkland, Latham? Any others?

Anonymous User wrote:(1) Besides Akin Gump, what are some other firms in LA with big class sizes? Currently I have Kirkland, Munger, Irell, Gibson, Latham, Sheppard, Skadden, MoFo, and OMM leading the pack. Any that I'm missing besides Akin (already mentioned)?
(2) Same question for SF--biggest classes seem to be MoFo, Morgan Lewis, Ropes, Kirkland, Latham? Any others?

According to NALP (accuracy in question), Paul Hastings (LA) would qualify.

Median at MVP. Want transactional. Ties to CHI. All firms are NY unless noted. Have at it!

1. McDermott (CHI)
2. Katten (CHI)
3. Milbank
4. Chapman (CHI)
5. K & L Gates (CHI)
6. Morgan Lewis
7. Schiff (CHI)
8. Kramer
9. Seward
10. Winston (CHI)
11. Hughes Hubbard
12. SNR Denton (CHI)
13. Vedder Price (CHI)
14. Dewey
15. Chadbourne
16. Jones Day (CHI)
17. Dechert
18. Cadwalader
19. Linklaters
20. Willkie
21. Paul Hastings
22. GDC
23. Fried Frank
24. Proskauer Rose
25. Lantham
26. Allen & Overy
27. Shearman
28. Weil
29. White & Case
30. Ropes & Gray

.

Alright, second try. T30 ---> NU. All Chicago. My one major question is whether to just skip K&E/Sidley all together and bid more conservatively. It's just hard to ignore the big class sizes. At the same time I don't want to miss out on interviews with some of those less competitive firms, because obviously those are the firms I will have the best chances of receiving a CB at. Bids due in ~22 hours.

1. Katten
2. Winston
3. Vedder
4. Kirkland
5. Sidley
6. Schiff Hardin
7. DLA
8. K&L Gates
9. mcguirewoods
10. Jones Day
11. SNR
12. Drinker
13. Paul Hastings
14. Holland & Knight
15. McDermott
16. Mayer
17. Dykema
18. Baker
19. Foley
20. Chapman
21. Reed Smith
22. Perkins Coie
23. Jenner
24. Greenberg
25. Latham
26. Locke Lord
27. Quarles & Brady
28. Edelson McGuire
29. Morgan Lewis
30. Bryan Cave
31. goldberg kohn
32. Ropes & Gray
33. Skadden
34. Neal Gerber
35. Swanson Martin
36. Wildman Harrold
37. Barack Ferrazzano
38. Grippo & Elden
39. Proskauer Rose
40. Pircher Nichols
41. Quinn Emanuel

.

Anonymous User wrote:Alright, second try. T30 ---> NU. All Chicago. My one major question is whether to just skip K&E/Sidley all together and bid more conservatively. It's just hard to ignore the big class sizes. At the same time I don't want to miss out on interviews with some of those less competitive firms, because obviously those are the firms I will have the best chances of receiving a CB at. Bids due in ~22 hours.

1. Katten
2. Winston
3. Vedder
4. Kirkland
5. Sidley
6. Schiff Hardin
7. DLA
8. K&L Gates
9. McGuireWoods
10. Jones Day
11. SNR
12. Drinker
13. Paul Hastings
14. Holland & Knight
15. McDermott
16. Mayer
17. Dykema
18. Baker
19. Foley
20. Chapman
21. Reed Smith
22. Perkins Coie
23. Jenner
24. Greenberg
25. Latham
26. Locke Lord
27. Quarles & Brady
28. Edelson McGuire
29. Morgan Lewis
30. Bryan Cave
31. Goldberg Kohn
32. Ropes & Gray
33. Skadden
34. Neal Gerber
35. Swanson Martin
36. Wildman Harrold
37. Barack Ferrazzano
38. Grippo & Elden
39. Proskauer Rose
40. Pircher Nichols
41. Quinn Emanuel

depending on your rank and the school you attended before, i wouldn't say you're out of the running at least for sidley and maybe kirkland too. sidley comes to OCI at some t30s, and someone said kirkland has an SA from depaul now. those people were almost certainly top 5%, and a minimum of 10% at their pre-transfer schools, but i am guessing you probably were too.

Sidley and K&E both come to NDLS and UIUC (I think?). There's no reason to think you're out of the running.

tww909 wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Alright, second try. T30 ---> NU. All Chicago. My one major question is whether to just skip K&E/Sidley all together and bid more conservatively. It's just hard to ignore the big class sizes. At the same time I don't want to miss out on interviews with some of those less competitive firms, because obviously those are the firms I will have the best chances of receiving a CB at. Bids due in ~22 hours.

1. Katten
2. Winston
3. Vedder
4. Kirkland
5. Sidley
6. Schiff Hardin
7. DLA
8. K&L Gates
9. McGuireWoods
10. Jones Day
11. SNR
12. Drinker
13. Paul Hastings
14. Holland & Knight
15. McDermott
16. Mayer
17. Dykema
18. Baker
19. Foley
20. Chapman
21. Reed Smith
22. Perkins Coie
23. Jenner
24. Greenberg
25. Latham
26. Locke Lord
27. Quarles & Brady
28. Edelson McGuire
29. Morgan Lewis
30. Bryan Cave
31. Goldberg Kohn
32. Ropes & Gray
33. Skadden
34. Neal Gerber
35. Swanson Martin
36. Wildman Harrold
37. Barack Ferrazzano
38. Grippo & Elden
39. Proskauer Rose
40. Pircher Nichols
41. Quinn Emanuel

depending on your rank and the school you attended before, i wouldn't say you're out of the running at least for sidley and maybe kirkland too. sidley comes to OCI at some t30s, and someone said kirkland has an SA from depaul now. those people were almost certainly top 5%, and a minimum of 10% at their pre-transfer schools, but i am guessing you probably were too.

ndirish2010 wrote:Sidley and K&E both come to NDLS and UIUC (I think?). There's no reason to think you're out of the running.

OP here, Sidley actually IS coming to my old school for OCI and that is one of the reasons I decided to bid on them. Any other glaring issues with the list? Thanks everyone!

Looking for feedback on my bidlist to see if I should shift a few firms around, take off a few, or add a few.

Background: Attending HLS, grades are 10Hs with two DS (I assume around top 5% or so), 5 years interesting work experience, non-URM, want to work in litigation, focused on NY and Boston markets, list is based both on my desire to work for the firm and how competitive bidding for the firm was on the last two OCIs.

1. Boies Schiller (NY)
2. Paul Weiss (NY)
3. Davis Polk (NY)
4. Ropes & Gray (Boston)
5. Debevoise (NY)
6. Gibson Dunn (NY)
7. Cleary Gottlieb (NY)
8. Patterson Belknap (NY)
9. Weil Gotshal (NY)
10. Latham & Watkins (NY)
11. Quinn Emanuel (NY)
12. Kirkland & Ellis (NY)
13. Kasowitz (NY)
14. Simpson Thacher (NY)
15. WilmerHale (Boston)
16. Goodwin Proctor (Boston)
17. Paul Hastings (NY)
18. Shearman & Sterling (NY)
19. Milbank (NY)
20. Bingham McCutchen (Boston)
21. Cadwalader (NY)
22. Fried Frank (NY)
23. Cahill Gordon (NY)
24. Allen & Overy (NY)
25. Sidley Austin (NY)
26. Dewey & Leboeuf (NY)
27. foley hoag (Boston)
28. Mintz Levin (Boston)

Anonymous User wrote:Looking for feedback on my bidlist to see if I should shift a few firms around, take off a few, or add a few.

Background: Attending HLS, grades are 10Hs with two DS (I assume around top 5% or so), 5 years interesting work experience, non-URM, want to work in litigation, focused on NY and Boston markets, list is based both on my desire to work for the firm and how competitive bidding for the firm was on the last two OCIs.

1. Boies Schiller (NY)
2. Paul Weiss (NY)
3. Davis Polk (NY)
4. Ropes & Gray (Boston)
5. Debevoise (NY)
6. Gibson Dunn (NY)
7. Cleary Gottlieb (NY)
8. Patterson Belknap (NY)
9. Weil Gotshal (NY)
10. Latham & Watkins (NY)
11. Quinn Emanuel (NY)
12. Kirkland & Ellis (NY)
13. Kasowitz (NY)
14. Simpson Thacher (NY)
15. WilmerHale (Boston)
16. Goodwin Proctor (Boston)
17. Paul Hastings (NY)
18. Shearman & Sterling (NY)
19. Milbank (NY)
20. Bingham McCutchen (Boston)
21. Cadwalader (NY)
22. Fried Frank (NY)
23. Cahill Gordon (NY)
24. Allen & Overy (NY)
25. Sidley Austin (NY)
26. Dewey & Leboeuf (NY)
27. Foley Hoag (Boston)
28. Mintz Levin (Boston)

Your grades are closer to top 1-3%. Your top 15 looks fine, and I would be highly surprised if you don't get at least one assuming you're not a bad interviewer and don't look like a flight risk.

T16? Lol sup Vanderbilt

ndirish2010 wrote:Sidley and K&E both come to NDLS and UIUC (I think?). There's no reason to think you're out of the running.

Indeed. Sidley just added to Hastings for their SF / PA offices too.

Anonymous User wrote:Looking for feedback on my bidlist to see if I should shift a few firms around, take off a few, or add a few.

Background: Attending HLS, grades are 10Hs with two DS (I assume around top 5% or so), 5 years interesting work experience, non-URM, want to work in litigation, focused on NY and Boston markets, list is based both on my desire to work for the firm and how competitive bidding for the firm was on the last two OCIs.

1. Boies Schiller (NY)
2. Paul Weiss (NY)
3. Davis Polk (NY)
4. Ropes & Gray (Boston)
5. Debevoise (NY)
6. Gibson Dunn (NY)
7. Cleary Gottlieb (NY)
8. Patterson Belknap (NY)
9. Weil Gotshal (NY)
10. Latham & Watkins (NY)
11. Quinn Emanuel (NY)
12. Kirkland & Ellis (NY)
13. Kasowitz (NY)
14. Simpson Thacher (NY)
15. WilmerHale (Boston)
16. Goodwin Proctor (Boston)
17. Paul Hastings (NY)
18. Shearman & Sterling (NY)
19. Milbank (NY)
20. Bingham McCutchen (Boston)
21. Cadwalader (NY)
22. Fried Frank (NY)
23. Cahill Gordon (NY)
24. Allen & Overy (NY)
25. Sidley Austin (NY)
26. Dewey & Leboeuf (NY)
27. Foley Hoag (Boston)
28. Mintz Levin (Boston)

Looks great, but out of curiosity, why no:

-Cravath
-Wachtell
-Susman Godfrey

Anonymous User wrote:

tww909 wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Alright, second try. T30 ---> NU. All Chicago. My one major question is whether to just skip K&E/Sidley all together and bid more conservatively. It's just hard to ignore the big class sizes. At the same time I don't want to miss out on interviews with some of those less competitive firms, because obviously those are the firms I will have the best chances of receiving a CB at. Bids due in ~22 hours.

1. Katten
2. Winston
3. Vedder
4. Kirkland
5. Sidley
6. Schiff Hardin
7. DLA
8. K&L Gates
9. McGuireWoods
10. Jones Day
11. SNR
12. Drinker
13. Paul Hastings
14. Holland & Knight
15. McDermott
16. Mayer
17. Dykema
18. Baker
19. Foley
20. Chapman
21. Reed Smith
22. Perkins Coie
23. Jenner
24. Greenberg
25. Latham
26. Locke Lord
27. Quarles & Brady
28. Edelson McGuire
29. Morgan Lewis
30. Bryan Cave
31. Goldberg Kohn
32. Ropes & Gray
33. Skadden
34. Neal Gerber
35. Swanson Martin
36. Wildman Harrold
37. Barack Ferrazzano
38. Grippo & Elden
39. Proskauer Rose
40. Pircher Nichols
41. Quinn Emanuel

depending on your rank and the school you attended before, i wouldn't say you're out of the running at least for sidley and maybe kirkland too. sidley comes to OCI at some t30s, and someone said kirkland has an SA from depaul now. those people were almost certainly top 5%, and a minimum of 10% at their pre-transfer schools, but i am guessing you probably were too.

ndirish2010 wrote:Sidley and K&E both come to NDLS and UIUC (I think?). There's no reason to think you're out of the running.

OP here, Sidley actually IS coming to my old school for OCI and that is one of the reasons I decided to bid on them. Any other glaring issues with the list? Thanks everyone!

if it were me i wouldn't waste my time with quarles. they cancelled their summer class firm wide in 09 and had only 2 SAs in chicago last year.

edited for reading comp fail.

imchuckbass58 wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Looking for feedback on my bidlist to see if I should shift a few firms around, take off a few, or add a few.

Background: Attending HLS, grades are 10Hs with two DS (I assume around top 5% or so), 5 years interesting work experience, non-URM, want to work in litigation, focused on NY and Boston markets, list is based both on my desire to work for the firm and how competitive bidding for the firm was on the last two OCIs.

1. Boies Schiller (NY)
2. Paul Weiss (NY)
3. Davis Polk (NY)
4. Ropes & Gray (Boston)
5. Debevoise (NY)
6. Gibson Dunn (NY)
7. Cleary Gottlieb (NY)
8. Patterson Belknap (NY)
9. Weil Gotshal (NY)
10. Latham & Watkins (NY)
11. Quinn Emanuel (NY)
12. Kirkland & Ellis (NY)
13. Kasowitz (NY)
14. Simpson Thacher (NY)
15. WilmerHale (Boston)
16. Goodwin Proctor (Boston)
17. Paul Hastings (NY)
18. Shearman & Sterling (NY)
19. Milbank (NY)
20. Bingham McCutchen (Boston)
21. Cadwalader (NY)
22. Fried Frank (NY)
23. Cahill Gordon (NY)
24. Allen & Overy (NY)
25. Sidley Austin (NY)
26. Dewey & Leboeuf (NY)
27. Foley Hoag (Boston)
28. Mintz Levin (Boston)

Looks great, but out of curiosity, why no:

-Cravath
-Wachtell
-Susman Godfrey

I didn't think Cravath, SullCrom, or Skadden really fit my personality type (from what I am able to gather and I think there are a bunch of other great firms out there. While I know they all require a ton of hours, I just didn't get a pleasant vibe from those three. I didn't include Wachtell because their focus is on M&A, and I want to do litigation. I realize they have a litigation department, but I think I would rather go to a firm with a larger litigation practice for training opportunities and more exposure to various forms of litigation practice. As for Susman, I'm not on law review (though I'm on a supervising editor and member of the board for a secondary journal).