HLS EIP 2015 Forum

[TripTrip]

I won't comment on the bid list, but I do want to address backgrounds and practice groups real quick. Backgrounds are a great way to start a conversation about why you are interested in a particular area of law. But that's it. Attorneys assume you have no working knowledge about practicing law in your particular area of interest and will roll their eyes if you try to convince them otherwise. My background screams white collar criminal defense (I used to conduct internal investigations) and my firm has a huge WC practice, but when I first got here they put me on pharmaceutical patent litigation because that's where the work was.

0L here (pls don't hurt me), but I have a question: does this apply for tech people as well? I'm interested in some GP firms for their patent lit practice. Should I not expect to be put in patent lit during an SA? Would it be better to apply to boutique firms that only do patent work if that's all I'm interested in?

You should just go to a firm that does a lot of patent lit. If the firm does a lot of it, there's a good chance you'll get to do some. Be careful of patent lit boutiques though. If you go to work for a troll you may be conflicted out of biglaw for the rest of your career.

As for neruoticism, your time would be better spent reading course outlines than perusing the EIP thread on TLS, which is saying something.

[Anonymous User]

...

[TripTrip]

With 2 H's and the rest p's, is bidding primarily on Chicago (25 bids) and the rest in Boston (10 bids) an acceptable strategy? I have strong Midwestern ties, and OCS signed off on this fairly enthusiastically (they seemed really confident about Chicago). If so, which 10 firms in Boston should make the cut? The 25 bids on Chicago basically covers all the firms there for EIP. Is this a viable strategy, or am I being stupid and should throw the remaining bids on NY?

Note: No prior ties to Boston other than liking it a lot (far more than NY) and living there for 1L year.

EDIT: KJD, Non-URM

Chicago is the easiest market to get in every regard, from bidding to offers. Some Chi firms will, no joke, write you off if your grades are too high at HLS. The only market that compares is Texas, and mostly because of the booming energy sector.

Look at Skadden or Winston. For both, almost all the Chi interviews got callbacks, and over 90% of callbacks got offers. They're hardly interviewing HLS students. They're just throwing offers at the 2L class to see what sticks.

All that to say, 2 Hs is just fine in Chicago. Just bid what you want otherwise. If you smather Chicago then you'll want your other bids to be at places you'd genuinely consider taking over the offers you'll get in the midwest. And you'll want to be able to justify why you're bidding elsewhere when you're inevitably asked.

[Anonymous User]

Who is elite in Chicago besides Bartlit Beck?

[Anonymous User]

As someone from Los Angeles, how dangerous would it be to split my list LA/DC rather than LA/NY with 2 H, 8 P? I've gotten mixed messages from people in OCS vs. the lawyers at the agency I'm at this summer. Assume my bid list has something like ~10 selective/highly selective firms and the rest at ordinary or lower selectivity.

[Anonymous User]

1 DS, 3H, 6P. Bidding all Boston (fiance is from the area and works here). Chances? More specifically, do I have a shot at Wilmer/Ropes?

[Anonymous User]

4H / 6P, good WE. Only want NYC. I want to do transactional, and am interested in private equity work. I already have an offer from a NYC firm I would take, but is this bidlist still too aggressive? Are there any other firms I should be targeting for PE work?

1. Cravath (69%)
2. S&C (74%)
3. Skadden (62%)
4. DPW (76%)
5. Cleary Gottlieb (82%)
6. Simpson Thacher (91%)
7. Latham (66%)
8. Debevoise (63%)
9. Weil Gotshal (57%)
10. Kirkland Ellis (66%)

[TripTrip]

4H / 6P, good WE. Only want NYC. I want to do transactional, and am interested in private equity work. I already have an offer from a NYC firm I would take, but is this bidlist still too aggressive? Are there any other firms I should be targeting for PE work?

1. Cravath (69%)
2. S&C (74%)
3. Skadden (62%)
4. DPW (76%)
5. Cleary Gottlieb (82%)
6. Simpson Thacher (91%)
7. Latham (66%)
8. Debevoise (63%)
9. Weil Gotshal (57%)
10. Kirkland Ellis (66%)

If you already have an offer, there's no such thing as too aggressive.

[Blessedassurance]

So how comfortable should I be bidding exclusively Bay Area with median grades and ties?

You'll probably be fine but strategically, you need a back-up plan. You need to throw in a couple of New York firms for security. Also, spots will open up for plenty of firms. Make sure you try to sign up for those w/r/t to the New York firms.

[Blessedassurance]

Any idea whether H's in LRW or a 2 credit seminar are seen as "less" than 1L BLL classes?

Generally, they just count H's, but you never know (sometimes the interviewers are actually associates at the firm, some went to HLS etc). The H's in LRW generally work to your advantage if you're focused on litigation.

[Blessedassurance]

Thoughts on 2DS, 6H (both LRWs), and 2P, and bidding primarily DC?

I can't tell if you're serious, but you're good to go. If you're really worried because of some serious personality defect (no offense, but seeing as it's HLS and you're asking this question...okay just kidding), you can throw in the V5 (New York).

Good job, by the way.

[Anonymous User]

Agree with above poster. Is this DC person trolling?

[Anonymous User]

I'm the DC poster above and no, I'm not trolling. I only asked once, and having looked through last year's thread, it's a reasonable question to ask. Bidding all DC seems risky, even for really good grades.

And no, as far as I can tell my personality is normal and I'm a good interviewer.

[TripTrip]

Asking wasn't unjustified. They're great grades to be sure, but they're not Sears prize or grade-on grades. And the DC market is painful, as you saw by reading through DC results last year and looking at stats. Bidding exclusively DC is risky regardless of grades.

[Anonymous User]

6 H's. All Texas bids, and really just Houston. Is it even worth posting a bid list? There aren't enough firms to fill a bid-list.

-Sam H.

[TripTrip]

6 H's. All Texas bids, and really just Houston. Is it even worth posting a bid list? There aren't enough firms to fill a bid-list.

-Sam H.

No.

Did you do a 1L firm? You should have done a 1L firm. Then you'd have two choices.

[Anonymous User]

If anyone could take a glance at my list and give some feedback that'd be swell. These are all NYC offices and the order isn't finalized yet. I focused mostly on firms with large SA classes and high bid->interview or bid->offer rates (and some more selective lit-focused firms since that's my area of interest). I might throw in a second market, hence only having ~20 listed at the moment.

3H/7P. Am I shooting too high, generally, with my list? Thanks!

Cahill Gordon & Reindel
Quinn Emanuel
Boies Schiller
Davis Polk
Kirkland & Ellis
Simpson Thacher
Skadden
Cleary
Hogan Lovells
Paul Weiss
Sidley
Shearman & Sterling
Gibson Dunn
Ropes
Schulte Roth & Zabel
Covington
Fried Frank
Willkie
Milbank Tweed
Cadwalader
Proskauer

[Anonymous User]

Should you bid on the same office of a firm if you already have an interview with that office through a pre-EIP fair? Some firms directly stipulate that you should interview once with them, but many firms don't say one way or the other. You still shouldn't bid them, right?

[wwwcol]

If anyone could take a glance at my list and give some feedback that'd be swell. These are all NYC offices and the order isn't finalized yet. I focused mostly on firms with large SA classes and high bid->interview or bid->offer rates (and some more selective lit-focused firms since that's my area of interest). I might throw in a second market, hence only having ~20 listed at the moment.

3H/7P. Am I shooting too high, generally, with my list? Thanks!

Cahill Gordon & Reindel
Quinn Emanuel
Boies Schiller
Davis Polk
Kirkland & Ellis
Simpson Thacher
Skadden
Cleary
Hogan Lovells
Paul Weiss
Sidley
Shearman & Sterling
Gibson Dunn
Ropes
Schulte Roth & Zabel
Covington
Fried Frank
Willkie
Milbank Tweed
Cadwalader
Proskauer

I have no thoughts on the NYC market, just want to point out that Quinn (all offices) would be a wasted bid as they're effectively getting rid of their summer program

[Anonymous User]

If Quinn isn't hiring anybody, why are they coming? Last I heard was ~10 nationwide, similar to Susman.

[TripTrip]

If Quinn isn't hiring anybody, why are they coming? Last I heard was ~10 nationwide, similar to Susman.

They want one Harvard summer.

But you're right. This is why if you draft bid Quinn you got an email from me last week.

[Anonymous User]

Ah, well that's good to know! I'll strike them from the list, then.

[Anonymous User]

So, where should we look for HLR decisions being released (I know they are supposed to be this next week)? I don't expect to get a phone call but I would like to know when the phone calls happen so I know to expect the ding email. I am guessing there won't be updates in this thread. Anyone know where they will be?

[Anonymous User]

Monday

[ddoodle]

So, where should we look for HLR decisions being released (I know they are supposed to be this next week)? I don't expect to get a phone call but I would like to know when the phone calls happen so I know to expect the ding email. I am guessing there won't be updates in this thread. Anyone know where they will be?

Decisions will go out over several days starting Monday.