Northwestern OCI 2015 Forum

[Dr. Filth]

General question, does anyone have any thoughts on what its like to work in a firm's non-primary office? (e.g. Kirkland's NY office). Any specific reason why this would be a bad/good idea?

It will depend heavily based on firm. Kirkland NY is huge, and your experience there would differ greatly than, for example, Kirkland Houston.

[cookiejar1]

Plz help i dont know how to do this

gpa: over 4.0
ties: all chicago
practice area: transactional

1. Baker & McKenzie: Chicago
2. Sidley Austin: Chicago
3. Kirkland & Ellis: Chicago
4. Mayer Brown: Chicago
5. DLA Piper: Chicago
6. Jones Day: Chicago
7. Latham & Watkins: Chicago
8. Skadden: Chicago
9. Winston & Strawn: Chicago
10. McDermott Will & Emery: Chicago
11. Proskauer: Chicago
12. Katten Muchin Rosemann: Chicago
13. Dykema Gossett PLLC: Chicago
14. Jenner & Block: Chicago
15. Foley & Lardner: Chicago
16. K&L Gates: Chicago
17. Schiff Hardin
19. Simpson & Thatcher: New York
20. Sullivan & Cromwell: New York
21. Cravath: New York
22. Paul Weiss: New York
23. Proskauer: New York
24. Wilkie Farr: New York
25. Barrack Ferrazono: Chicago
26. Ropes & Gray: New York
27. Shearman & Sterling: New York
28. Baker Botts LLP
29. Dentons: Chicago
30. Dechert LLP: Chicago
31. Greenberg Traurig: Chicago
32. McGuire Woods: Chicago
33. Chapman & Cutler: Chicago
34. Miller Shakman & Beem: Chicago
35. Paul Hastings: Chicago
36. Perkins Coie: Chicago
37. Seyfarth Shaw: Chicago
38. Sidley Austin: New York
39. Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren: Milwaukee
40. Michael Best & Friedrich: Milwaukee
41 (extra). Michael Best & Friedrich: Chicago

You risk not getting STB/S&C/CSM by bidding them that low. You have above a 4.0. You're extremely competitive. Are you a good interviewer? I'd drop all firms you wouldn't work at and just focus on guaranteeing your top 10 firms. As long as your interviewing doesn't hurt you you'll get whatever you want - you don't need to go hard on the safeties so early.

[Anonymous User]

General question, does anyone have any thoughts on what its like to work in a firm's non-primary office? (e.g. Kirkland's NY office). Any specific reason why this would be a bad/good idea?

It will depend heavily based on firm. Kirkland NY is huge, and your experience there would differ greatly than, for example, Kirkland Houston.

So the takeaway is, in general, to view firm offices in different cities simply as different firms?

I guess what I'm trying to get at is is there ever a disadvantage to going to a firm's non-primary office? (For instance, Jones Day has offices in a bunch of cities - are any considered worse?) I vaguely remember hearing it mentioned (either here or in RL) that going to a firm's smaller office in a different city carried some disadvantages. This may not be true at all, or it may be entirely dependent on the particular firm/office under discussion.

[Cobretti]

Plz help i dont know how to do this

gpa: over 4.0
ties: all chicago
practice area: transactional

1. Baker & McKenzie: Chicago
2. Sidley Austin: Chicago
3. Kirkland & Ellis: Chicago
4. Mayer Brown: Chicago
5. DLA Piper: Chicago
6. Jones Day: Chicago
7. Latham & Watkins: Chicago
8. Skadden: Chicago
9. Winston & Strawn: Chicago
10. McDermott Will & Emery: Chicago
11. Proskauer: Chicago
12. Katten Muchin Rosemann: Chicago
13. Dykema Gossett PLLC: Chicago
14. Jenner & Block: Chicago
15. Foley & Lardner: Chicago
16. K&L Gates: Chicago
17. Schiff Hardin
19. Simpson & Thatcher: New York
20. Sullivan & Cromwell: New York
21. Cravath: New York
22. Paul Weiss: New York
23. Proskauer: New York
24. Wilkie Farr: New York
25. Barrack Ferrazono: Chicago
26. Ropes & Gray: New York
27. Shearman & Sterling: New York
28. Baker Botts LLP
29. Dentons: Chicago
30. Dechert LLP: Chicago
31. Greenberg Traurig: Chicago
32. McGuire Woods: Chicago
33. Chapman & Cutler: Chicago
34. Miller Shakman & Beem: Chicago
35. Paul Hastings: Chicago
36. Perkins Coie: Chicago
37. Seyfarth Shaw: Chicago
38. Sidley Austin: New York
39. Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren: Milwaukee
40. Michael Best & Friedrich: Milwaukee
41 (extra). Michael Best & Friedrich: Chicago

You risk not getting STB/S&C/CSM by bidding them that low. You have above a 4.0. You're extremely competitive. Are you a good interviewer? I'd drop all firms you wouldn't work at and just focus on guaranteeing your top 10 firms. As long as your interviewing doesn't hurt you you'll get whatever you want - you don't need to go hard on the safeties so early.

I agree you don't need that many safeties. I think you might want to put Latham and Skadden higher too.

[bananasplit19]

In re: that 3L who wrote the OCI guide that got sent out this morning. That guy definitely needs to get out more, but in all seriousness, it's a good read with a lot of good tips. Wish we had something like that last year.

[cookiejar1]

General question, does anyone have any thoughts on what its like to work in a firm's non-primary office? (e.g. Kirkland's NY office). Any specific reason why this would be a bad/good idea?

It will depend heavily based on firm. Kirkland NY is huge, and your experience there would differ greatly than, for example, Kirkland Houston.

So the takeaway is, in general, to view firm offices in different cities simply as different firms?

I guess what I'm trying to get at is is there ever a disadvantage to going to a firm's non-primary office? (For instance, Jones Day has offices in a bunch of cities - are any considered worse?) I vaguely remember hearing it mentioned (either here or in RL) that going to a firm's smaller office in a different city carried some disadvantages. This may not be true at all, or it may be entirely dependent on the particular firm/office under discussion.

I think there are colorable differences between a firm's offices but I wouldn't, as a general rule, view firm offices in different cities as different firms. Jones Day (ONE FIRM. WORLDWIDE.) is a pretty good example of a firm that has more or less built its practice around interoffice collaboration and I expect that its culture is more or less uniform throughout the country (to the extent that it can be). Latham also claims that it doesn't have a HQ firm office too so I wouldn't be too concerned between deciding between Latham NY or LA or Chicago.

There are "outposts" for sure but they generally exist because of specialized work. I don't think there's a general rule to be had here. You'll just have to get to the bottom of these nuances and figure it out.

I imagine that people might point to smaller offices and say partnership prospects or advancement may be better but partnership prospects are so slim that it's silly to make any decision based on that. I imagine that people might point to flagship offices and say exit opportunities will be better but specialized practices might be better for you personally depending on your interests. Again, it all depends!

[Anonymous User]

3.88; all in for litigation. Are there any big lit firms in Chicago I'm missing here? Downside: I don't have any real ties to Chicago.

1 Gibson Dunn & Crutcher (LA, Denver, NY, etc)
2 Morrison & Foerster (LA, Denver, NY, DC, etc)
3 Polsinelli (Chicago, Denver, LA, DC)
4 Perkins Coie (LA, Portland, Denver)
5 Dorsey & Whitney (Seattle, Denver)
6 Latham & Watkins (Chicago)
7 Sidley (Chicago)
8 Schiff Hardin (Chicago)
9 Jenner (Chicago)
10 Barack Ferrazzano (Chicago)
11 Kirkland & Ellis(Chicago)
12 Greenberg Traurig (Chicago)
13 Faeger Baker Daniels (Chicago)
14 Baker & Hostetler (Chicago)
15 Bryan Cave (Chicago)
16 Husch Blackwell (Chicago)
17 Dentons (Chicago)
18 Winston & Strawn (Chicago)
19 Skadden (Chicago)
20 McDermott Will & Emery (Chicago)
21 Eimer Stahl (Chicago)
22 Katten (Chicago)
23 Baker & McKenzie (Chicago)
24 Foley & Lardner (Chicago)
25 K & L Gates (Chicago)
26 McGuire Woods (Chicago)
27 Reed Smith (Chicago)
28 Neal Gerber Eisenberg (Chicago)
29 Schopf & weiss (Chicago)
30 Jones Day (Chicago)
31 Morgan Lewis (Chicago)

[Anonymous User]

A word to the wise from a rising 3L. Bid DC with utmost caution. Unless you have very close ties or a 3.9+, it's going to be very difficult. I struck out in DC with a 3.86 (and wish I would have used some of my middle tier bids for NYC firms).

[Anonymous User]

Plz help i dont know how to do this

gpa: over 4.0
ties: all chicago
practice area: transactional

1. Baker & McKenzie: Chicago
2. Sidley Austin: Chicago
3. Kirkland & Ellis: Chicago
4. Mayer Brown: Chicago
5. DLA Piper: Chicago
6. Jones Day: Chicago
7. Latham & Watkins: Chicago
8. Skadden: Chicago
9. Winston & Strawn: Chicago
10. McDermott Will & Emery: Chicago
11. Proskauer: Chicago
12. Katten Muchin Rosemann: Chicago
13. Dykema Gossett PLLC: Chicago
14. Jenner & Block: Chicago
15. Foley & Lardner: Chicago
16. K&L Gates: Chicago
17. Schiff Hardin
19. Simpson & Thatcher: New York
20. Sullivan & Cromwell: New York
21. Cravath: New York
22. Paul Weiss: New York
23. Proskauer: New York
24. Wilkie Farr: New York
25. Barrack Ferrazono: Chicago
26. Ropes & Gray: New York
27. Shearman & Sterling: New York
28. Baker Botts LLP
29. Dentons: Chicago
30. Dechert LLP: Chicago
31. Greenberg Traurig: Chicago
32. McGuire Woods: Chicago
33. Chapman & Cutler: Chicago
34. Miller Shakman & Beem: Chicago
35. Paul Hastings: Chicago
36. Perkins Coie: Chicago
37. Seyfarth Shaw: Chicago
38. Sidley Austin: New York
39. Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren: Milwaukee
40. Michael Best & Friedrich: Milwaukee
41 (extra). Michael Best & Friedrich: Chicago

You risk not getting STB/S&C/CSM by bidding them that low. You have above a 4.0. You're extremely competitive. Are you a good interviewer? I'd drop all firms you wouldn't work at and just focus on guaranteeing your top 10 firms. As long as your interviewing doesn't hurt you you'll get whatever you want - you don't need to go hard on the safeties so early.

Same anon - how high do those 3 ny firms need to go to likely snag an interview? Which of the really big Chi firms do I have a chance at getting with a late bid or should I pick 2 or 3 and just bump them off entirely since they will all go high?

Katten without a high bid just not worth it at all based on what others said? Any others later on my list that are like that and put other ny firms instead? Want to mainly maximize chi interviews.

[cookiejar1]

A word to the wise from a rising 3L. Bid DC with utmost caution. Unless you have very close ties or a 3.9+, it's going to be very difficult. I struck out in DC with a 3.86 (and wish I would have used some of my middle tier bids for NYC firms).

I want to balance this out. I don't think DC is impossible (i.e., someone with a 3.75+ should not be deterred from bidding DC) but I agree that it's definitely a tough market so be prepared going in.

You risk not getting STB/S&C/CSM by bidding them that low. You have above a 4.0. You're extremely competitive. Are you a good interviewer? I'd drop all firms you wouldn't work at and just focus on guaranteeing your top 10 firms. As long as your interviewing doesn't hurt you you'll get whatever you want - you don't need to go hard on the safeties so early.

Same anon - how high do those 3 ny firms need to go to likely snag an interview? Which of the really big Chi firms do I have a chance at getting with a late bid or should I pick 2 or 3 and just bump them off entirely since they will all go high?

Katten without a high bid just not worth it at all based on what others said? Any others later on my list that are like that and put other ny firms instead? Want to mainly maximize chi interviews.

I don't blame you for trying to maximize your opportunities. You know that S&C/CSM are selective and you're trying to bid them low in order to maximize the # of interviews you get through OCI. I get that. But you're also at the top of your class. Don't worry about maximizing your opportunities (i.e., getting 20+ interviews). Worry about getting interviews with the firms that you want to interview with. The reason why we try to maximize bidlists is because OCI is sometimes a crapshoot. It, in all likelihood, will not be a crapshoot for you. Carefully think about the 15 firms that you really want and overbid them to guarantee that you get interviews with them. S&C/CSM are likely to drop to the 15-20+ range. Will probably be super safe at 14 and 15. Bid them 10 and 11.

If you want transactional in Chicago you NEED to interview with Kirkland. Put them at #1. Drop Baker entirely. Sidley #2 is good. Drop DLA entirely. Bump Skadden up to your top 5 bids. Latham should be up there too. Mayer Brown should round off the top. I think Winston, McDermott and Jenner are doable at 6, 7, 8 but someone else correct me if I'm wrong.

Also, carefully weigh your interview skills against your classmates. If you are middle of the pack or better then only having 15 interviews with selective firms as a top 5% Northwestern Law student will be okay. If you aren't as comfortable with your interviewing skills then be a little bit more risk adverse but remember you're at a good spot right now. Congrats on doing well.

Edited to add: Don't let your grades go to waste. Really, really prepare for your interviews. Practice! Get comfortable. Do your homework. Some firms are going to be skeptical about your interest. Demonstrate that you really want to work there. The best thing you can do right now is practice your interviewing, polish off your conversational skills, and learn more about the firms that you are really interested in. If you do this right then hardest part about OCI will be deciding between WLRK and Kirkland for you. Good luck.

[Anonymous User]

I agree with the above. I had eight offers in DC with a 3.5+LR so it is certainly not impossible. Only one of those was received outside of OCI, but I did prep every interview as much as possible.

One trick I did was to research a partner in a practice group I really wanted to work with before going in to the interview (or that the firm had a big practice in). So if I knew they had a standout partner in government contracts named 'Nancy' I would research the hell out of Nancy and then tell the interviewer, 'I am really interested in government contracting and would love to work in Nancy's group.' Then the interviewer would by like, "Oh yeah, Nancy is amazing I have worked with her on issue X & Y" or whatever. I found that to be very effective.

[feralinfant]

3.88; all in for litigation. Are there any big lit firms in Chicago I'm missing here? Downside: I don't have any real ties to Chicago.

1 Gibson Dunn & Crutcher (LA, Denver, NY, etc)
2 Morrison & Foerster (LA, Denver, NY, DC, etc)
3 Polsinelli (Chicago, Denver, LA, DC)
4 Perkins Coie (LA, Portland, Denver)
5 Dorsey & Whitney (Seattle, Denver)
6 Latham & Watkins (Chicago)
7 Sidley (Chicago)
8 Schiff Hardin (Chicago)
9 Jenner (Chicago)
10 Barack Ferrazzano (Chicago)
11 Kirkland & Ellis(Chicago)
12 Greenberg Traurig (Chicago)
13 Faeger Baker Daniels (Chicago)
14 Baker & Hostetler (Chicago)
15 Bryan Cave (Chicago)
16 Husch Blackwell (Chicago)
17 Dentons (Chicago)
18 Winston & Strawn (Chicago)
19 Skadden (Chicago)
20 McDermott Will & Emery (Chicago)
21 Eimer Stahl (Chicago)
22 Katten (Chicago)
23 Baker & McKenzie (Chicago)
24 Foley & Lardner (Chicago)
25 K & L Gates (Chicago)
26 McGuire Woods (Chicago)
27 Reed Smith (Chicago)
28 Neal Gerber Eisenberg (Chicago)
29 Schopf & weiss (Chicago)
30 Jones Day (Chicago)
31 Morgan Lewis (Chicago)

This is going to echo cookie's advice about not being overly cautious with high grades like this.

(1) Isn't Barack Ferrazzano just real estate? Someone else should weigh in.
(2) The top Chicago firms are too low, you risk missing them. If you want Lit and Chicago and have grades like yours I would put Kirkland, Sidley, Jenner, Skadden, and Latham all a lot higher, even at the very top. Definitley above Schiff and GGreenberg.LA is not as likely to be popular and can probably go lower (Definite exception-GIbson, this will have to be a high bid if you want to interview there). Having grades like yours its not a problem to bid all the top firms high because (1) you grades arent what will hold you back, and its not like Greenberg takes people who are median grades and median awkward, your interviewing affects these places in the same way (2) these firms have the biggest class sizes, so if your grades arent going to DQ you, you have a better shot in someways of snagging a CB.

[Cobretti]

Also re ties... If you go to nu you have ties. It's on you to convince them you love the city and want to stay, if they question your ties after that you said something that undermined you. Just be confident in your commitment to Chicago and you'll be fine.

[Anonymous User]

Halp! I have literally no idea what I'm doing.
3.80
NYC transactional (half-hoping to split the summer between a firm's NYC and London offices)

1. Davis Polk & Wardwell
2. Latham & Watkins
3. Kirkland & Ellis
4. Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson
5. Sullivan & Cromwell
6. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
7. Proskauer
8. Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
9. Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett
10. freshfields bruckhaus deringer
11. White & Case
12. Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
13. Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy
14. Shearman & Sterling
15. Ropes & Gray
16. Allen & Overy
17. Wilkie Farr & Gallagher
18. Debevoise & Plimpton
19. Sidley Austin
20. Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft
21. Dechert
22. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
23. Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
24. Clifford Chance
25. Kaye Scholer
26. Jones Day
27. Morrison & Foerster
28. Mayer Brown
29. Baker & McKenzie
30. Winston & Strawn
31. Paul Hastings
32. Schulte Roth & Zabel
33. O’Melveny & Myers
34. Cooley
35. Reed Smith
36. Seward & Kissel
37. Wilmerhale
38. Baker & Hostetler
39. Holland & Knight
40. Foley & Lardner

[cookiejar1]

Halp! I have literally no idea what I'm doing.
3.80
NYC transactional (half-hoping to split the summer between a firm's NYC and London offices)

1. Davis Polk & Wardwell
2. Latham & Watkins
3. Kirkland & Ellis
4. Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson
5. Sullivan & Cromwell
6. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
7. Proskauer
8. Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
9. Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett
10. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
11. White & Case
12. Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
13. Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy
14. Shearman & Sterling
15. Ropes & Gray
16. Allen & Overy
17. Wilkie Farr & Gallagher
18. Debevoise & Plimpton
19. Sidley Austin
20. Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft
21. Dechert
22. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
23. Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
24. Clifford Chance
25. Kaye Scholer
26. Jones Day
27. Morrison & Foerster
28. Mayer Brown
29. Baker & McKenzie
30. Winston & Strawn
31. Paul Hastings
32. Schulte Roth & Zabel
33. O’Melveny & Myers
34. Cooley
35. Reed Smith
36. Seward & Kissel
37. Wilmerhale
38. Baker & Hostetler
39. Holland & Knight
40. Foley & Lardner

Who is it that you hate at Cravath

[homestyle28]

General question, does anyone have any thoughts on what its like to work in a firm's non-primary office? (e.g. Kirkland's NY office). Any specific reason why this would be a bad/good idea?

It will depend heavily based on firm. Kirkland NY is huge, and your experience there would differ greatly than, for example, Kirkland Houston.

So the takeaway is, in general, to view firm offices in different cities simply as different firms?

I guess what I'm trying to get at is is there ever a disadvantage to going to a firm's non-primary office? (For instance, Jones Day has offices in a bunch of cities - are any considered worse?) I vaguely remember hearing it mentioned (either here or in RL) that going to a firm's smaller office in a different city carried some disadvantages. This may not be true at all, or it may be entirely dependent on the particular firm/office under discussion.

I can speak to Jones Day. In general there are no better or worse offices, but some might be better for a particular practice group (e.g. DC for antitrust). The firm really does staff things across offices, so you can find work from other offices/get put on things with people in other offices. In general the sense is that secondary market offices (e.g. Pittsburgh, Columbus, Atlanta) generally work a little less than the major offices, but that's more conjecture than real fact.

Also people transfer offices fairly often when life calls for it.

[Anonymous User]

Who is it that you hate at Cravath

Oops... Thank you, great catch! Now I'm not sure where I want to put it, tho.

[BaberhamLincoln]

Forgive my ignorance, I'm trying to comb through NU documents and this thread and a couple others. General consensus is not to bid on firms I'll interview with at PLIP, and I only want Chicago

This really narrows down my options right? And then just rank them according to who I'm most interested in from that subset?

[moneyball026]

Halp! I have literally no idea what I'm doing.
3.80
NYC transactional (half-hoping to split the summer between a firm's NYC and London offices)

1. Davis Polk & Wardwell
2. Latham & Watkins
3. Kirkland & Ellis
4. Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson
5. Sullivan & Cromwell
6. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
7. Proskauer
8. Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
9. Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett
10. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
11. White & Case
12. Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
13. Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy
14. Shearman & Sterling
15. Ropes & Gray
16. Allen & Overy
17. Wilkie Farr & Gallagher
18. Debevoise & Plimpton
19. Sidley Austin
20. Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft
21. Dechert
22. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
23. Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
24. Clifford Chance
25. Kaye Scholer
26. Jones Day
27. Morrison & Foerster
28. Mayer Brown
29. Baker & McKenzie
30. Winston & Strawn
31. Paul Hastings
32. Schulte Roth & Zabel
33. O’Melveny & Myers
34. Cooley
35. Reed Smith
36. Seward & Kissel
37. Wilmerhale
38. Baker & Hostetler
39. Holland & Knight
40. Foley & Lardner

move skadden WAY up. probably top 3. you are right in the skadden wheelhouse and no use getting fancy here - bid them high. I would suggest moving Debevoise way up as well - that needs to be in your top 10. Fried frank youve got high, and we can call that a safety school for you, but it's always smart to bid conservatively. No reason Latham needs to be below Davis Polk - Latham has fewer spots, but let's be honest you'll get anything NY you bid top 3 if there are no other offices they are recruiting for. If I were you, I'd keep 2 or so safety firms in the top 12 or so (Prosk is good where you have it, 20 spots is not a lot) but bid aggressively near the top - Simpson at 9 you will most likely get, but why not throw it at 7? This is a great target firm for you and you shouldn't mess around with strong target firms if you have 3.7+ and are still including safety firms, which you are. You're gonna have to put Cravath around 12-15 to get it this year in my opinion. The recruiting is strong with them this year with so many NU kids over there now.

[moneyball026]

3.71, any advice would be greatly appreciated!

1 Cleary Gottlieb New York
2 Skadden New York
3 Simpson Thacher New York
4 Weil Gotshal New York
5 Paul Weiss New York
6 Sullivan & Cromwell New York
7 White & Case New York
8 Latham & Watkins New York
9 Davis Polk New York
10 Paul Hastings New York
11 Wachtell New York
12 Cravath New York
13 Debevoise & Plimpton New York
14 Sidley Austin New York
15 Boies Schiller New York
16 Jenner & Block Chicago
17 Skadden Chicago
18 Allen & Overy New York
19 Freshfields Bruckhaus New York
20 Linklaters New York
21 Clifford Chance New York
22 Curtis Mallet New York
23 Baker & McKenzie Chicago
24 Katten Muchin Chicago
25 Winston & Strawn Chicago

Switch Weil and Latham, Debevoise should be top 10. Is Boies even coming? Edit: And Wachtell - huh?

[Anonymous User]

Whoops, I very stupidly assumed all the firms on the callbacks by GPA spreadsheet were coming to campus. Thanks for helping us noobs!

[cookiejar1]

Wachtell is invite only. Like Hogwarts.

[Anonymous User]

move skadden WAY up. probably top 3. you are right in the skadden wheelhouse and no use getting fancy here - bid them high. I would suggest moving Debevoise way up as well - that needs to be in your top 10. Fried frank youve got high, and we can call that a safety school for you, but it's always smart to bid conservatively. No reason Latham needs to be below Davis Polk - Latham has fewer spots, but let's be honest you'll get anything NY you bid top 3 if there are no other offices they are recruiting for. If I were you, I'd keep 2 or so safety firms in the top 12 or so (Prosk is good where you have it, 20 spots is not a lot) but bid aggressively near the top - Simpson at 9 you will most likely get, but why not throw it at 7? This is a great target firm for you and you shouldn't mess around with strong target firms if you have 3.7+ and are still including safety firms, which you are. You're gonna have to put Cravath around 12-15 to get it this year in my opinion. The recruiting is strong with them this year with so many NU kids over there now.

This was super helpful. Thank you!

[Anonymous User]

How much of a boost does being on law review provide? Here's some of my relevant info:

GPA: 3.15
No work experience
Law review
EXCELLENT letters of rec (less relevant, I realize)

Can I bid on some of the firms whose medians are closer to 3.4? Or would that be a total waste?

[Anonymous User]

You can assume about a .15 GPA bump for LR is what was stated in last year's thread and it seemed pretty correct in my experience.