bid list @ BMVP, 3.67 Forum

[Anonymous User]

Probably ~10 percent. Interested primarily in litigation, and the potential opportunity to get into a strong appellate practice later on, though I realize that's unlikely. Glaring omissions, or suggestions? Thank you.

DC:
Gibson Dunn
WilmerHale
hogan lovells
O'Melveny Myers
Mayer Brown
Akin Gump
Latham Watkins
Williams Connolly
Covington
Jones Day
Arnold Porter
Sidley Austin
Steptoe

NYC:
Davis Polk
Debevoise
Paul Weiss
Cravath
Cleary
Sullivan Cromwell
Skadden
Simpson Thacher
White & Case
Fried Frank
Proskauer
Milbank

Chicago:
Kirkland
Jenner Block

[soj]

you're ok with having basically 3-5 firms that aren't super grade-selective?

[Anonymous User]

This was my first attempt, and I wasn't really sure at what ratio to allocate my bids (safety/target/reach), so I based my list roughly off of GPA ranges provided by OCS, with a few reaches and a few below. But, yeah, I am definitely open to suggestions.

[5ky]

I think this is a little aggressive. You'd probably be fine, but this is more of a top 5%+ bidlist than top 10%. I'd cut out some of the hyper selective DC firms or something

[Anonymous User]

Ok, that's helpful actually. I'll probably get rid of some of the ones that I thought were a stretch anyway (e.g. W&C, Covington, etc.) and replace them with less selective firms. Do you all have any suggestions for what to replace them with?

[Pokemon]

Too much DC.... put some more NYC on.

[Person1111]

I'd drop W&C and switch Gibson and Covington to NYC, at a minimum.

[koalatriste]

I'd drop W&C and switch Gibson and Covington to NYC, at a minimum.

Agreed, but Covington NYC has a very, very small class. I don't think either office is worth putting on this list.

Also, I think you should delete S&C. If you remember from seeing their Michigan recruiting materials leak, they have a cutoff of 3.7. I realize you're close to that (no clue how hard that cut is), but I would probably recommend omitting them because your list is so aggressive (no sense in bidding a firm you know you're not going to get a CB for, especially with this list).

[Anonymous User]

I'd drop W&C and switch Gibson and Covington to NYC, at a minimum.

I think he has a shot at Gibson DC. I received an offer from them and was right on the edge of top 10% at a lower T14.

But I'd agree with other posters that OP needs to round out his bid list with some less selective firms with decent class sizes.

EDIT: A little more advice since we had similar grades and I was also interested in litigation.

Don't be afraid to bid (or send your resume to) different offices of the same firm, particularly if it's a big firm that hires a good amount of SAs in two different cities. When I was going through OCI, TLS common wisdom was that you weren't supposed to do this because then the firm would know you weren't committed to either city, and that it would reduce your chances of getting an offer. However, I got the impression that with some of these firms, each office had it's own recruiting process and didn't really know or care if you were interviewing with one of their sister offices. I'd have an interview through the bidding process with the DC office of a firm, and their NY office would call and offer me an interview via resume drop. I had a friend get offers with two different offices of the same firm.

Also, I got crushed with the less selective firms in NY despite having good grades. I don't think I convinced them that I wanted NY enough. So make sure you do that.

[Anonymous User]

Sorry to hijack your thread. I have similar grades and a similar list from a CCN with strong NY ties. Should I have similar concerns?

[Anonymous User]

For DC, you're missing a lot of firms that have decent litigation practices (and regulatory work which you may find you like as a mix of litigation/corp/appellate work). While they may not be V15 firms, there is a chance you could do more substantive work earlier on and quite frankly you have a better shot of breaking into DC than with your current bid list. Not to mention, in my experience you are much more likely to survive past the first few years (although the odds still show this isn't a sure bet).

E.g. Vinson & Elkins, Baker Bots, etc.

I'm sure the same is true in other markets. Your list seems prestige heavy and Vault rankings should not be how you are orchestrating your bid list. Vault ≠ T14 in terms of importance.

Finally, personal preference but I think I'd drop hogan lovells off the list. The firm seemed extremely disjointed and mashed together when I did a callback and I've heard similar things from people who summered there.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. Thanks for the help, and I appreciate the insight. I've removed some of the more selective firms with smaller class sizes and substituted them with those that have larger class sizes. Also have looked into some smaller firms that do the type of work that I may be interested in. Should be better now.