Baker Botts Dallas Forum

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Baker Botts Dallas

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Aug 09, 2013 5:30 pm

There's some scattered information about the Texas Big 3 and specifically about BB. However, can anybody speak specifically to the BB Dallas office?

How is the culture?
Do they generate their own work, or is it generally farmed down from the Houston HQ?
Is there much cross-office staffing?
Any financial concerns (layoffs, debt, etc.)?
What role does this office play in the firm's strategy?
What are the partnership prospects of the Dallas office compared to the Houston HQ? (I know making partner anywhere is difficult, but still really interested in this)

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Re: Baker Botts Dallas

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Aug 09, 2013 9:10 pm

friend told me the dallas office is very involved in the highland park / dallas socialite culture. if you're from here you know what i mean and are either into that or repulsed. if you're not, imagine Allison's "square" group from Cry-Baby. i didn't get that impression so much during my call-back, but i was in their offices for three hours and she spent the summer there.

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Re: Baker Botts Dallas

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Aug 10, 2013 1:01 pm

Anonymous User wrote:friend told me the dallas office is very involved in the highland park / dallas socialite culture. if you're from here you know what i mean and are either into that or repulsed. if you're not, imagine Allison's "square" group from Cry-Baby. i didn't get that impression so much during my call-back, but i was in their offices for three hours and she spent the summer there.
I know that Dallas in general is often criticized by people for its culture; that it is too uptight, snobby, formal, etc. when compared to other Texas cities like Austin (who's residents like to view themselves as more laid back and open minded). On the other hand, Dallas residents see Austin people as liberal hippies. While both are exaggerated, its a common running rivalry between Dallas and Austin folks. It sounds like you're from Dallas, so you know what I'm talking about. So is your friend's criticism of the Dallas office really just reflective of that overarching criticism of the city in general? Is she from Dallas? Or did her experience at this firm differ from some other Dallas firm she summered with?

What was your impression of the people and the firm based on your own research and interviews?

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Re: Baker Botts Dallas

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Aug 12, 2013 10:12 am

Gonna give this one more bump..anybody?

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Re: Baker Botts Dallas

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Aug 12, 2013 4:10 pm

Had a friend that cb'd in that office and said it was awful (stuffy etc., basically living up to its rep). Got an offer and told me he would sooner be unemployed than work there. This is a laid back but generally normal/likeable guy.

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Re: Baker Botts Dallas

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Aug 12, 2013 4:48 pm

i've known a few people who have summered or worked there and they all say similar things. It's definitely a dallas-ish vibe from everything i've heard, which may or may not be bad for you. I also heard that it's kind of family oriented so not a big social/drinking type place

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Re: Baker Botts Dallas

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Aug 12, 2013 10:46 pm

Anonymous User wrote:There's some scattered information about the Texas Big 3 and specifically about BB. However, can anybody speak specifically to the BB Dallas office?

How is the culture?
Do they generate their own work, or is it generally farmed down from the Houston HQ?
Is there much cross-office staffing?
Any financial concerns (layoffs, debt, etc.)?
What role does this office play in the firm's strategy?
What are the partnership prospects of the Dallas office compared to the Houston HQ? (I know making partner anywhere is difficult, but still really interested in this)
Culture is less stuffy than BB in Austin or Houston. BB as a whole has more serious personalities (think less drinking or partying and 1-2 events a week as opposed to something every night)

Work is generated by each separate BB office. There is some sharing between offices depending on the group and the needs. BB collaborates well using strengths in other offices but each office is self sufficient.

No debt, no recent layoffs, good offer rate (not sure what the final rate in Dallas this year was yet but everyone I've heard from got one).

Strategy for the Dallas office is solid. It's the 2nd largest. It's a satellite but stands on its own.

Partnership prospects are decent. BB has all partners vote for prospective partners, so if you're in Austin or Dallas you need people from Houston to vote for you. That's more difficult for people in the satellite offices but not impossible b/c there is a lot of interaction between the offices.

It's a great firm for people with families or who aren't as interested in the party lifestyle. The work is substantive and sophisticated. Much moreso than my other half at another TX firm.

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Re: Baker Botts Dallas

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Aug 12, 2013 10:58 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:There's some scattered information about the Texas Big 3 and specifically about BB. However, can anybody speak specifically to the BB Dallas office?

How is the culture?
Do they generate their own work, or is it generally farmed down from the Houston HQ?
Is there much cross-office staffing?
Any financial concerns (layoffs, debt, etc.)?
What role does this office play in the firm's strategy?
What are the partnership prospects of the Dallas office compared to the Houston HQ? (I know making partner anywhere is difficult, but still really interested in this)
Culture is less stuffy than BB in Austin or Houston. BB as a whole has more serious personalities (think less drinking or partying and 1-2 events a week as opposed to something every night)

Work is generated by each separate BB office. There is some sharing between offices depending on the group and the needs. BB collaborates well using strengths in other offices but each office is self sufficient.

No debt, no recent layoffs, good offer rate (not sure what the final rate in Dallas this year was yet but everyone I've heard from got one).

Strategy for the Dallas office is solid. It's the 2nd largest. It's a satellite but stands on its own.

Partnership prospects are decent. BB has all partners vote for prospective partners, so if you're in Austin or Dallas you need people from Houston to vote for you. That's more difficult for people in the satellite offices but not impossible b/c there is a lot of interaction between the offices.

It's a great firm for people with families or who aren't as interested in the party lifestyle. The work is substantive and sophisticated. Much moreso than my other half at another TX firm.
This info is 2 years old, but I heard their office wasn't doing super great. I knew of people getting offers from the houston office (after a summer in dallas) because the dallas office couldn't take on any additional associates.

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Re: Baker Botts Dallas

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Aug 13, 2013 1:24 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Culture is less stuffy than BB in Austin or Houston. BB as a whole has more serious personalities (think less drinking or partying and 1-2 events a week as opposed to something every night)

Work is generated by each separate BB office. There is some sharing between offices depending on the group and the needs. BB collaborates well using strengths in other offices but each office is self sufficient.

No debt, no recent layoffs, good offer rate (not sure what the final rate in Dallas this year was yet but everyone I've heard from got one).

Strategy for the Dallas office is solid. It's the 2nd largest. It's a satellite but stands on its own.

Partnership prospects are decent. BB has all partners vote for prospective partners, so if you're in Austin or Dallas you need people from Houston to vote for you. That's more difficult for people in the satellite offices but not impossible b/c there is a lot of interaction between the offices.

It's a great firm for people with families or who aren't as interested in the party lifestyle. The work is substantive and sophisticated. Much moreso than my other half at another TX firm.
+1. I loved it. The work is very sophisticated for TX. It's great working with friendly and smart people who are always willing to help. My feedback and one-on-one interactions with attorneys were very substantive. They don't try to monopolize your time outside of the office and the events are relaxed and casual.

I think Dallas is a major factor in the overall firm strategy. There are a lot of interactions between offices. Partnership prospects seem good out of Dallas. The impression I got was that if you consistently hit your hours (think 2200 or so rather than the "expected" 2000), then you are in good shape for making partner. Obviously you can't completely control your work flow, but it seemed to me that if making partner was a priority of yours then it was an attainable goal.

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Re: Baker Botts Dallas

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Aug 13, 2013 5:55 pm

All very helpful. Thanks!

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Re: Baker Botts Dallas

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Sep 14, 2014 2:27 pm

Resurrecting this thread for this year's recruiting season. Is there a way to look up past year's Dallas office offer rates? (Baker Botts has a scarily low offer rate, at least compared to New York firms, though none of them were from the Dallas office). Also, what do exit options look like out of a Dallas law firm for transactional work?

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Re: Baker Botts Dallas

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Sep 14, 2014 2:36 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Baker Botts has a scarily low offer rate, at least compared to New York firms
Isn't this a function of TX's firms proclivity to accept split summers?

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Re: Baker Botts Dallas

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Sep 14, 2014 3:03 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Baker Botts has a scarily low offer rate, at least compared to New York firms
Isn't this a function of TX's firms proclivity to accept split summers?
Baker Botts also has a STRICT grade cut off which includes 2L grades. They are open about this; they will no offer for grade drops with no hesitation.

They also seem wayyy more willing to no offer in general, compared to NY firms anyways.

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Re: Baker Botts Dallas

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Sep 14, 2014 3:26 pm

Do you know what their grade cut-off, then? Or would this be something the recruiter would be willing to disclose, since it's a strict expectation?

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Re: Baker Botts Dallas

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Sep 14, 2014 5:55 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Do you know what their grade cut-off, then? Or would this be something the recruiter would be willing to disclose, since it's a strict expectation?
Varies by school bro. You could ask, as they are very open about it, but I doubt the recruiter would know any particular exact number for any particular school.

If you got an offer already, it's obviously lower than that. I think this matters a lot more coming from TTTs. I will 75% sure be accepting at BB, and I had a well below median T14 GPA, so feel pretty confident that with easy 2L classes I shouldn't possibly be able to drop (think, like 3.1 @ upper T14)

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Re: Baker Botts Dallas

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Sep 15, 2014 12:40 am

Dallas native here. Did a CB at BB some years back - and everyone seemed perfectly nice to me. But on the other hand, the facts about Dallas culture are also probably true. Just as the OC said - CB seemed normal but who can really say.

Like OC, I've also heard some horror stories from friends of friends who summered at BB Houston that suggested to me the typical classism, elitism, racism, heteronormativity, etc., that, unsurprisingly, are a pillar of Texas culture, are pervasive there as well. Take this for what you will. Use your CB to get a good feel for the people, the work, etc. and you'll probably be fine.

One final note: I would say Dallas, to my perspective as someone who only returns a couple weeks a year at this point, seems to be drifting away, at least somewhat, from that narrow Highland Park, etc., culture as the city gets bigger, more diverse, more arts oriented and realizes that the old-school provincialism isn't a good growth strategy. So if you're thinking about this with a view to partnership which you appear to be, these Dallas culture things might change a lot over the coming years.

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Re: Baker Botts Dallas

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Sep 15, 2014 9:57 am

Thanks! At the moment, I think that my general lack of enchantment with NYC puts Dallas and NYC on par in quality of life (although they offer very different experience, the pros and cons of each balance for me), which puts Dallas ahead because of significantly lower CoL, less taxes, etc.

I'm pretty much trying to determine whether it's worth risking the no-offer.

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Re: Baker Botts Dallas

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Sep 15, 2014 10:55 am

Anonymous User wrote:Thanks! At the moment, I think that my general lack of enchantment with NYC puts Dallas and NYC on par in quality of life (although they offer very different experience, the pros and cons of each balance for me), which puts Dallas ahead because of significantly lower CoL, less taxes, etc.

I'm pretty much trying to determine whether it's worth risking the no-offer.
Offers the last couple of years have been 100% for BB Dallas

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Re: Baker Botts Dallas

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Sep 15, 2014 11:37 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Thanks! At the moment, I think that my general lack of enchantment with NYC puts Dallas and NYC on par in quality of life (although they offer very different experience, the pros and cons of each balance for me), which puts Dallas ahead because of significantly lower CoL, less taxes, etc.

I'm pretty much trying to determine whether it's worth risking the no-offer.
Offers the last couple of years have been 100% for BB Dallas
Can confirm the 100% offer rate for the past two summers.

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