2013 Texas OCI (+all Texas firms) Forum

[Anonymous User]

Anyone heard from Latham Houston?

I know of a couple of people with offers. Both received offers within two weeks of CB.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone heard from Latham Houston?

I know of a couple of people with offers. Both received offers within two weeks of CB.

2Ls, I'm assuming? I heard Latham is also interviewing 3Ls.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone heard from Latham Houston?

I know of a couple of people with offers. Both received offers within two weeks of CB.

2Ls, I'm assuming? I heard Latham is also interviewing 3Ls.

Not at UT, but got an offer from Latham Houston about 10 days after my CB. Im a 2L, I know Latham is hiring 3L's in some offices. Not sure whether Houston has spaces for 3L's or not.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone heard from Latham Houston?

I know of a couple of people with offers. Both received offers within two weeks of CB.

2Ls, I'm assuming? I heard Latham is also interviewing 3Ls.

Not at UT, but got an offer from Latham Houston about 10 days after my CB. Im a 2L, I know Latham is hiring 3L's in some offices. Not sure whether Houston has spaces for 3L's or not.

Got a callback a week and a half after my CB. 2L non-UT. Not sure how many 3L's they interviewed, if any, at my school.

For those of you with Latham Houston offers, how many of you accepted?

[Anonymous User]

Not at UT, but got an offer from Latham Houston about 10 days after my CB. Im a 2L, I know Latham is hiring 3L's in some offices. Not sure whether Houston has spaces for 3L's or not.

Got a callback a week and a half after my CB. 2L non-UT. Not sure how many 3L's they interviewed, if any, at my school.

For those of you with Latham Houston offers, how many of you accepted?

Anon poster from above, I accepted. Not sure of anyone else that did, I think I was the only person to get an offer at Latham in Houston.

[Anonymous User]

Not at UT, but got an offer from Latham Houston about 10 days after my CB. Im a 2L, I know Latham is hiring 3L's in some offices. Not sure whether Houston has spaces for 3L's or not.

Got a callback a week and a half after my CB. 2L non-UT. Not sure how many 3L's they interviewed, if any, at my school.

For those of you with Latham Houston offers, how many of you accepted?

Anon poster from above, I accepted. Not sure of anyone else that did, I think I was the only person to get an offer at Latham in Houston.

Anon you responded too: I accepted as well. Only person to get an offer from Latham at your school? You at a school inside or outside of Texas?

[Anonymous User]

Not at UT, but got an offer from Latham Houston about 10 days after my CB. Im a 2L, I know Latham is hiring 3L's in some offices. Not sure whether Houston has spaces for 3L's or not.

Got a callback a week and a half after my CB. 2L non-UT. Not sure how many 3L's they interviewed, if any, at my school.

For those of you with Latham Houston offers, how many of you accepted?

Anon poster from above, I accepted. Not sure of anyone else that did, I think I was the only person to get an offer at Latham in Houston.

Anon you responded too: I accepted as well. Only person to get an offer from Latham at your school? You at a school inside or outside of Texas?

Only person to get a Latham offer from Houston (I think only 2 of us got CB's). There are 4 ppl I think that got offers from Latham nationwide. School is outside of TX.

[downinDtown]

Anon you responded too: I accepted as well. Only person to get an offer from Latham at your school? You at a school inside or outside of Texas?

Only person to get a Latham offer from Houston (I think only 2 of us got CB's). There are 4 ppl I think that got offers from Latham nationwide. School is outside of TX.

Trolling 101, ha ha.

[Anonymous User]

Anon you responded too: I accepted as well. Only person to get an offer from Latham at your school? You at a school inside or outside of Texas?

Only person to get a Latham offer from Houston (I think only 2 of us got CB's). There are 4 ppl I think that got offers from Latham nationwide. School is outside of TX.

Trolling 101, ha ha.

How? I think he's talking about the numbers just from his school.

[Anonymous User]

Anon you responded too: I accepted as well. Only person to get an offer from Latham at your school? You at a school inside or outside of Texas?

Only person to get a Latham offer from Houston (I think only 2 of us got CB's). There are 4 ppl I think that got offers from Latham nationwide. School is outside of TX.

Trolling 101, ha ha.

How? I think he's talking about the numbers just from his school.

ding Ding Ding, reading comprehension, this guy can haz it.

4 offers nationwide from Latham at my school. All accepted, one of them, mine, was in Houston.

[downinDtown]

Trolling 101, ha ha.

How? I think he's talking about the numbers just from his school.

ding Ding Ding, reading comprehension, this guy can haz it.

4 offers nationwide from Latham at my school. All accepted, one of them, mine, was in Houston.

Reading comprehension fail...I guess when you go back and read the whole thing, this makes more sense. Explains my 120 LSAT score.

[Anonymous User]

Have any 3Ls heard back from Bell Nunnally following callback interviews???

[Anonymous User]

Anyone heard from Mayer Brown Houston?

[Anonymous User]

Anybody heard from Gardere Houston?

[Anonymous User]

Anybody heard from Gardere Houston?

Got dinged by Gardere Houston.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone heard from Mayer Brown Houston?

Haven't heard anything yet

[Anonymous User]

Anyone heard from JW Houston recently?

[Anonymous User]

Anybody heard from Gardere Houston?

Got dinged by Gardere Houston.

Sorry to hear it, but when was your CB and when did you get the ding? Also was it ding by snail mail or email?

[Anonymous User]

Anyone have a Baker Donelson screener? CB?

[Anonymous User]

Here is a question, and I am honestly not trying to sound like a jerk or anything but very curious

Did people who took Latham's Houston office just not get offers at V&E/Baker Botts in Houston? I interviewed at all 3, and just dont understand how one could justify taking Latham in that situation. My decision is down to V&E and Baker Botts, I already turned down Latham but I am curious to hear people's thoughts.

Here is my take:

Baker Botts and V&E are both HQ in Houston. The partner chances (though slim) will be a hell of a lot better than a satellite. We have no idea if Latham will ever make a partner at that office (I think they will) but when you look at Skadden's office there, I think they have made 0 since they opened.

The Latham culture is very similar to V&E (I felt), and if you dont like that you can go to Baker Botts which has a very different culture.

Latham is trying to get 8 weeks from people, making it harder to split which is one big positive about Texas.

V&E is known for having the best corporate department in Texas. Baker Botts is known for having tons of huge institutional clients that will always go to them (think Haliburton, Trans Ocean, etc.)

The one positive I see for Latham is that they might have more pull outside of Texas. But if you want to stay in Texas, why take a satellite over one of the Texas Elite?

[Anonymous User]

Here is a question, and I am honestly not trying to sound like a jerk or anything but very curious

Did people who took Latham's Houston office just not get offers at V&E/Baker Botts in Houston? I interviewed at all 3, and just dont understand how one could justify taking Latham in that situation. My decision is down to V&E and Baker Botts, I already turned down Latham but I am curious to hear people's thoughts.

Here is my take:

Baker Botts and V&E are both HQ in Houston. The partner chances (though slim) will be a hell of a lot better than a satellite. We have no idea if Latham will ever make a partner at that office (I think they will) but when you look at Skadden's office there, I think they have made 0 since they opened.

The Latham culture is very similar to V&E (I felt), and if you dont like that you can go to Baker Botts which has a very different culture.

Latham is trying to get 8 weeks from people, making it harder to split which is one big positive about Texas.

V&E is known for having the best corporate department in Texas. Baker Botts is known for having tons of huge institutional clients that will always go to them (think Haliburton, Trans Ocean, etc.)

The one positive I see for Latham is that they might have more pull outside of Texas. But if you want to stay in Texas, why take a satellite over one of the Texas Elite?

Latham is pretty up-and-coming in Houston. They're expanding quickly and it's looking like their Houston office might be on the same level as BB and VE soon if they aren't already. Already, they're the most profitable Latham office. Some people just wanna be a part of something like that.

[Anonymous User]

I think if you want transactional, and you want to work on the biggest deals, the choice comes down to Latham and V&E. At that point, you're probably just splitting hairs, and you go with whichever firm seems like the best fit for you (although, as you said, they are pretty similar from a culture standpoint).

But if you can land an offer at Latham/V&E, you presumably have a bunch of great options, including BB, AK, BG, etc.

Also, as the poster above said, being part of something that has already been very successful and is still expanding can be pretty exciting.

[Anonymous User]

Here is a question, and I am honestly not trying to sound like a jerk or anything but very curious

Did people who took Latham's Houston office just not get offers at V&E/Baker Botts in Houston? I interviewed at all 3, and just dont understand how one could justify taking Latham in that situation. My decision is down to V&E and Baker Botts, I already turned down Latham but I am curious to hear people's thoughts.

Here is my take:

Baker Botts and V&E are both HQ in Houston. The partner chances (though slim) will be a hell of a lot better than a satellite. We have no idea if Latham will ever make a partner at that office (I think they will) but when you look at Skadden's office there, I think they have made 0 since they opened.

The Latham culture is very similar to V&E (I felt), and if you dont like that you can go to Baker Botts which has a very different culture.

Latham is trying to get 8 weeks from people, making it harder to split which is one big positive about Texas.

V&E is known for having the best corporate department in Texas. Baker Botts is known for having tons of huge institutional clients that will always go to them (think Haliburton, Trans Ocean, etc.)

The one positive I see for Latham is that they might have more pull outside of Texas. But if you want to stay in Texas, why take a satellite over one of the Texas Elite?

While it wasn't an easy decision by any means (for reasons that many have discussed), I chose Latham (over offers from V&E and BB and others), and did so for several reasons:

1) While I like Texas, it's not the only place I could see myself ending up, so I thought L&W gave more flexibility and future opportunity in regards to not only location but also quality of exit options (although V&E and Baker Botts have plenty of offices elsewhere, they are still predominantly known as Texas firms).

2) Partner isn't the end-all, be-all for me like it may be for others. Even if it was, I felt like at BB and V&E my likelihood of making partner is 10-15%, and 5%-10% at L&W, so I wouldn't base my decision on that. If you did make partner at L&W, it would be more money. Rates are higher, but for the type of high-end energy work that L&W is targeting, those clients have the money for it. As other posters have mentioned, Houston is a cash-cow for the firm and is targeted for even more growth, so this could lead to those inside the firm being advanced.

3) With the increasing popularity of laterals in Texas, there is a likelihood that I could end up switching firms anyway. And it's easier to slide down the ladder than climb up. Unless you burned bridges during the recruiting process, are there reasons why someone could not switch from L&W to V&E or BB after a few years? And from what I gathered from interviewing, the few people who have left L&W in the short time the office has been open have been going in-house, so it appears that's an option available to those who want it.

4) As mentioned previously, L&W has been on a impressive growth streak. 3 years, from 8 attorneys up to ~60+ attorneys, and getting laterals from V&E, BB, AK, et al. So I definitely don't think there is any question that L&W is at least peer to the Texas Big 3. And if you look at Merger Market's tables, L&W has actually been outproducing just about everybody lately (see pp. 24-27: http://www.mergermarket.com/pdf/Mergerm ... Report.pdf).

5) In talking with associates, these firms are all competing and sitting across the table on all of these deals. So the "quality of work" is a push.

6) Offer rates: (For 2012) L&W = 100%; V&E (Houston) = 90%; BB (Houston) = 83%. While L&W does push for 8-week to 10-week, I think this has been (and will continue to be) a growing trend as firms realize that they don't want to spend ~20K for 6 weeks to recruit someone who will then go work at the other firm they split with. And if I have a very high chance of getting a full-time offer, there's less incentive to split.

7) While not a major factor, if I'm going to be working a ton, compensation was something to consider. L&W has NYC market lockstep comp and bonuses. I know V&E just switched their comp structure (changed from some of it being deferred until you hit your hours requirement) and BB has the "levels" which I didn't really like (you get paid the same base for 2 years unless you level up early, and some associates said that their bonuses didn't always square them up with typical lockstep comp).

8. Culture - I really liked the people at L&W and V&E. BB was "meh." But there is some upside to work in a (relative to V&E and BB) smaller office, even if it is a satellite office (but like mentioned above, partner isn't a big concern); you get to know people better and it wasn't as much of the "cog-in-the-wheel" feel, though in the big scheme of things, you are anyway. But just the impression that I got. I also think stated hours minimum is a little lower at L&W (1900) versus 2000+ at the other 2. I know I'll be working more, but if things ever do slow a little, the benchmark for a bonus is lower. L&W also has a reputation for being fairly family-friendly, which isn't relevant for me now, but could be down the road.

9) Unassigned practice group. L&W gives you an extra year (if you want) to be unassigned and work across practice groups before settling into one (similar to JD's New Lawyer's Group); V&E has you double between 2 (corporate and capital markets are a common pair for transactional folks); BB doesn't give you much flexibility to speak of.

And to directly answer poster's question above: "if you want to stay in Texas, why take a satellite over one of the Texas Elite?" I think that L&W, which is elite in its own right on a global scale, has been able to do something that other "satellite" firms haven't been able to in Houston: get a foothold and really grow on a scale that other peer-firms haven't been able to achieve with ~60+ attorneys in 3 years (for comparison: Skadden--20 attorneys; Cadwalader--4; STB--16; McGuire Woods--19; as well as some others listed here: http://www.dallasnews.com/business/head ... ouston.ece)

[Anonymous User]

Welp, it's settled then. I'll be applying to Latham as a 3L.

[Anonymous User]

Have any 3Ls heard back from Latham Houston?