Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions Forum

[Emma.]

Thoughts on thank you letters for callbacks at SV offices? General advice is that they can only hurt, but that seems to be for NYC. Worried about being too generic since I can barely remember what we talked about.

Wrote no thank you letters. Can't see why anyone would.

[Anonymous User]

Are SF/SV corporate firms generally considered relatively financially stable? Does this very based on if the firm is homegrown (Wilson, Fenwick, etc) or an outpost of a NYC mega firm? I'm a bit worried about Tech Bubble 2.0 but hope that is unfounded. Anyone have any perspective on how is general work/deal flow right now in the Bay?

[Anonymous User]

Are SF/SV corporate firms generally considered relatively financially stable? Does this very based on if the firm is homegrown (Wilson, Fenwick, etc) or an outpost of a NYC mega firm? I'm a bit worried about Tech Bubble 2.0 but hope that is unfounded. Anyone have any perspective on how is general work/deal flow right now in the Bay?

My firm is wildly busy and looking for 3d-4th year corporate associates (hell, they're also looking for similar-level lit associates). I think a lot of firms in SF are doing very well, though some (the usual suspects...I'm looking at you, Pillsbury) may be struggling. The larger offices seem very stable; one that might have been a little shaky, Howard Rice, merged with A&P and seems to be in strong shape.

It does seem like fewer people want to do corporate work than lit in SF, so that's a strong sell for you if you want the city. There seems to be a higher percentage of summers/associates doing corporate work in the Valley, to me, but that's anecdotal at best.

[sbalive]

Thoughts on thank you letters for callbacks at SV offices? General advice is that they can only hurt, but that seems to be for NYC. Worried about being too generic since I can barely remember what we talked about.

Wrote no thank you letters. Can't see why anyone would.

I suggest brief but personalized emails thanking anyone you felt like you had a connection with / was especially candid / maybe was a last-minute sub in your schedule / etc. + the attorney who did the screener + the HR person who put together all the logistics, i.e. the usual common sense sort of stuff.

[jess]

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[Anonymous User]

Are most of the big SF/SV firms back on the cravath base salary scale?

[sundance95]

Anyone summer at shartsis friese or know someone who did? Would love to hear more about the firm, the more I read the more I like them. PM if you prefer

[Anonymous User]

Are most of the big SF/SV firms back on the cravath base salary scale?

Nearly every firm here pays 160. Not sure if the lockstep raises are on the same scale as NYC, but I think only a couple of the smaller, indigenous shops (Gunderson, maybe Farella?) pay less, and even then I think it's 145.

[Anonymous User]

Are most of the big SF/SV firms back on the cravath base salary scale?

Nearly every firm here pays 160. Not sure if the lockstep raises are on the same scale as NYC, but I think only a couple of the smaller, indigenous shops (Gunderson, maybe Farella?) pay less, and even then I think it's 145.

To add: most firms seem to have Cravath lockstep bonuses but a decent amount seem to do KE style bonuses.

[Anonymous User]

what are KE style bonuses? i presume reference is to Kirkland Ellis, but i'm unfamiliar with their bonus structure.

[Anonymous User]

Any thoughts on Sheppard Mullin?

I can't say anything, other than I got a "ding" from them because they say they don't take on additional candidates beyond OCI. But that doesn't convince me much, because they bothered asking which practice groups I was interested in. (For your reference, my stats are T-30, top 10%, Law Review, and native of SF).

[Anonymous User]

what are KE style bonuses? i presume reference is to Kirkland Ellis, but i'm unfamiliar with their bonus structure.

Paying based on number of hours over your target.

[jarofsoup]

Any thoughts on Sheppard Mullin?

I can't say anything, other than I got a "ding" from them because they say they don't take on additional candidates beyond OCI. But that doesn't convince me much, because they bothered asking which practice groups I was interested in. (For your reference, my stats are T-30, top 10%, Law Review, and native of SF).

I am going to go to school in another state and want to live in SF where I am from originally. Should I target it heavily during mass mailing? Any advice...?

[Anonymous User]

Any thoughts on Sheppard Mullin?

I can't say anything, other than I got a "ding" from them because they say they don't take on additional candidates beyond OCI. But that doesn't convince me much, because they bothered asking which practice groups I was interested in. (For your reference, my stats are T-30, top 10%, Law Review, and native of SF).

I am going to go to school in another state and want to live in SF where I am from originally. Should I target it heavily during mass mailing? Any advice...?

It's been tough for me so far, so definitely try to network on top of getting out as many personalized apps as you can. The only screening interview I have so far is because I networked. But perhaps it's still early for me.

[Anonymous User]

Friendly "nothing to do at the office on a Friday morning" bump.

[MaxWeber]

what are KE style bonuses? i presume reference is to Kirkland Ellis, but i'm unfamiliar with their bonus structure.

Paying based on number of hours over your target.

does this mean:

(A) you get $X bonus for hitting your target hours (say, 1950 hrs) and then additional money on top of $X for hours work beyond 1950, or
(B) you get no bonus for hitting your target hours (say again 1950), and only begin to accrue a bonus for hours on top of 1950

[Anonymous User]

what are KE style bonuses? i presume reference is to Kirkland Ellis, but i'm unfamiliar with their bonus structure.

Paying based on number of hours over your target.

does this mean:

(A) you get $X bonus for hitting your target hours (say, 1950 hrs) and then additional money on top of $X for hours work beyond 1950, or
(B) you get no bonus for hitting your target hours (say again 1950), and only begin to accrue a bonus for hours on top of 1950

A.

[Anonymous User]

Friendly "nothing to do at the office on a Friday morning" bump.

What's the general pecking order for lit and corporate work respectively in SF? Does it matter much or are firms doing very similar types of work?

[Anonymous User]

Friendly "nothing to do at the office on a Friday morning" bump.

What's the general pecking order for lit and corporate work respectively in SF? Does it matter much or are firms doing very similar types of work?

For lit, it's probably in tiers:

Top tier: Keker, Gibson, A & P, MTO, Covington, MoFo, Quinn, K&E.
Second tier: Latham, OMM, Jones Day, Wilson.
Third tier: Cooley, Orrick, Pillsbury, Farella.

All of these places are good, though, for their own reasons. Focus on culture & practice group once you find yourself picking between them.

I don't know much about corporate work up here, but from what I hear, K&E is very good at what they do.

[Anonymous User]

What grades are necessary for WSGR Palo Alto?

[Anonymous User]

Friendly "nothing to do at the office on a Friday morning" bump.

What's the general pecking order for lit and corporate work respectively in SF? Does it matter much or are firms doing very similar types of work?

For lit, it's probably in tiers:

Top tier: Keker, Gibson, A & P, MTO, Covington, MoFo, Quinn, K&E.
Second tier: Latham, OMM, Jones Day, Wilson.
Third tier: Cooley, Orrick, Pillsbury, Farella.

All of these places are good, though, for their own reasons. Focus on culture & practice group once you find yourself picking between them.

I don't know much about corporate work up here, but from what I hear, K&E is very good at what they do.

Thanks, that's definitely helpful.

[target]

What grades are necessary for WSGR Palo Alto?

Also interesting in this.

Any firms that have the reputation of LR whoring?

[Anonymous User]

What grades are necessary for WSGR Palo Alto?

Also interesting in this.

Any firms that have the reputation of LR whoring?

Also very interested in WSGR - Palo Alto

On top of the above question, is this firm (or other SV firms for that matter) very concerned about ties? I have none but would like to move there to work with all the start-ups that come out of the area.

[Anonymous User]

At two lower T14s, the median callback GPA for WSGR (as well as the other SV heavyweights) was around median.

From what I've seen, SA classes at SV firms have been around 80% people with ties or CA schools (this was very unscientifically calculated though and could be off). I know people have been able to overcome a lack of ties by demonstrating a significant interest in and being able to talk intelligently about startup/tech/emergingcompany work. I have also seen people who have IP creds and want to do IP be able to overcome a lack of ties. That being said, these people are definitely the minority.

[Anonymous User]

Now that OCI is coming up, and folks are asking questions about SF/SV in many of the OCI threads, I thought I'd bump this thread for directed questions about firms and the Bay Area in general.

Starting at a major SF firm in the fall, interviewed with most of the major firms and some of the SF-boutiques during OCI. Happy to take any questions people might have! I'll go by the name "Brian Wilson's Beard" in my responses