Help me choose a NY firm (Poll) - Round 2! Forum

[Anonymous User]

I have offers at Kirkland NY and Weil NY. Could you guys help me with this decision?

Criteria:
- Interested in M&A and/or Private Equity
- Exit Options
- Prestige

Kirkland:
Great M&A and Private Equity clients --> great exit options. But KE is based in Chicago, so I'm not sure whether its NY office is a good decision, compared to Weil's HQ

Weil:
Awesome corporate practice all around, but I heard that they have less exposure to great PE firms and bulge bracket banks, in the context of M&A, due to the focus on bankruptcy (hence, negatively impacting the exit options consideration). Also, I'm not really interested in bankruptcy.

Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

Rationale is appreciated as well, if you care to share it. Thanks.

[Anonymous User]

Weil NY is by far the best firm in the list. I wonder why it gets no respect on these boards. If, let's say, Cleary or Simpson were one of your choices, they would get all the votes. The distribution could just be a function of you letting people vote twice, though.

[Anonymous User]

Weil NY is by far the best firm in the list. I wonder why it gets no respect on these boards. If, let's say, Cleary or Simpson were one of your choices, they would get all the votes. The distribution could just be a function of you letting people vote twice, though.

I was operating under the presumption that if I had Weil in that mix with a single vote per person, I wouldn't have very meaningful results - I think you're right that it's a function of people voting twice.

[Anonymous User]

Weil NY is by far the best firm in the list. I wonder why it gets no respect on these boards. If, let's say, Cleary or Simpson were one of your choices, they would get all the votes. The distribution could just be a function of you letting people vote twice, though.

No it isn't. And If Cleary or simpson were on the list and did get much more votes, it would be because that choice would be more clear cut than Weil. K&E > Weil on financial stability and comp. can't speak to the other factors.

[Anonymous User]

K&E > Weil on financial stability and comp. can't speak to the other factors.

OP here. Could you please clarify? My only resource is Lateral Link, which shows that compensation is identical between the two firms. Also, we're talking about NY offices, exclusively. Does that change your perspective?


--
As to one of the other factors, I was under the impression that Weil's culture was much better than K&E's. At my school, K&E has a reputation for overwhelming its associates with an unreasonable amount of work.

[bk1]

My only resource is Lateral Link, which shows that compensation is identical between the two firms.

Base comp is the same. KE gives out above market bonuses based on hours (which can be quite significant). I'm not 100% sure, but I'd imagine Weil is on the Cravath scale (which are relatively minimal lockstep bonus amounts). You can find info on this sort of stuff here: http://abovethelaw.com/bonuses/

[Anonymous User]

My only resource is Lateral Link, which shows that compensation is identical between the two firms.

Base comp is the same. KE gives out above market bonuses based on hours (which can be quite significant). I'm not 100% sure, but I'd imagine Weil is on the Cravath scale (which are relatively minimal lockstep bonus amounts). You can find info on this sort of stuff here: http://abovethelaw.com/bonuses/

Thanks BK

[Anonymous User]

OP here.

I kinda wanted to get some feedback on Sidley and Shearman, but I have a better understanding of things now. Thanks everyone!

[Anonymous User]

Updated poll, reflecting changed preferences & offers.

[Anonymous User]

K&E. They're NY office is known to be an awesome place to work and their private equity practice is outstanding. Also, from what I've seen, it seems K&E is growing their NY corp. practice and is really treated like a satellite.

[Anonymous User]

K&E. They're NY office is known to be an awesome place to work and their private equity practice is outstanding. Also, from what I've seen, it seems K&E is growing their NY corp. practice and is really treated like a satellite.

Thanks for your input. Can you make a comparison to Weil NY? Is Weil's New York PE practice inferior? I was under the assumption that Kirkland's Chi PE practice was outstanding, and that the same could not be said about the NY office.

[keg411]

OP: it sounds like you liked Weil better. Also, Weil isn't a non-entity or anything close to it when it comes to M&A according to Chambers; they're actually "ranked" higher than K&E NY (Weil is in the Elite Band 2, while K&E is Band 3). And from Weil's profile it sounds like they do plenty of PE M&A. Since you seem to like Weil better anyway just, go to Weil.

(If you said you preferred K&E, I'd say go there. It's really splitting hairs. Doesn't matter that you don't want BK)

[Anonymous User]

K&E. They're NY office is known to be an awesome place to work and their private equity practice is outstanding. Also, from what I've seen, it seems K&E is growing their NY corp. practice and is really treated like a satellite.

Thanks for your input. Can you make a comparison to Weil NY? Is Weil's New York PE practice inferior? I was under the assumption that Kirkland's Chi PE practice was outstanding, and that the same could not be said about the NY office.

False. K&E's PE practice is just as good in NYC. Arguably, the corporate center of the firm is no longer even in Chicago.

[Anonymous User]

OP: it sounds like you liked Weil better. Also, Weil isn't a non-entity or anything close to it when it comes to M&A according to Chambers; they're actually "ranked" higher than K&E NY (Weil is in the Elite Band 2, while K&E is Band 3). And from Weil's profile it sounds like they do plenty of PE M&A. Since you seem to like Weil better anyway just, go to Weil.

(If you said you preferred K&E, I'd say go there. It's really splitting hairs. Doesn't matter that you don't want BK)

OP here, Thanks a lot - I kinda needed to hear that. Looks like it'll be Weil.

[Anonymous User]

K&E. They're NY office is known to be an awesome place to work and their private equity practice is outstanding. Also, from what I've seen, it seems K&E is growing their NY corp. practice and is really treated like a satellite.

Thanks for your input. Can you make a comparison to Weil NY? Is Weil's New York PE practice inferior? I was under the assumption that Kirkland's Chi PE practice was outstanding, and that the same could not be said about the NY office.

False. K&E's PE practice is just as good in NYC. Arguably, the corporate center of the firm is no longer even in Chicago.

Thanks for clarifying