Have you considered... Delaware? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Yes, offer early in the week and accepted at the end of the week.

[Anonymous User]

RLF went 100% for offer rates 2 and 3 years ago, but has a no-offer listed on their NALP forms from 2014. Fluke? Cause for concern?

[Anonymous User]

It's one of the cool things about it. Warning, living in Philly and working in DE costs a hefty bit in taxes because of the city tax.

What's the credited place to live in order to split Philly - Wilmington commutes? I'm starting a job in Wilmington in the next few months and my wife might be at Drexel - my commute is probably more flexible than hers, which really needs to be < 20 mins.

[Anonymous User]

It's one of the cool things about it. Warning, living in Philly and working in DE costs a hefty bit in taxes because of the city tax.

What's the credited place to live in order to split Philly - Wilmington commutes? I'm starting a job in Wilmington in the next few months and my wife might be at Drexel - my commute is probably more flexible than hers, which really needs to be < 20 mins.

I'm not sure if you mean that your commute or her commute needs to be <20 mins, but West Chester, PA may be a good option for you. It's roughly 20-25 from Wilmington, 30-45 to Philly. Good area to be around for a short period of time (or longer), cost would probably be $500-700/month for a 1 br apartment. I'd also check out places in Chester or Delaware County, both PA, if you wanted to broaden your search

[Anonymous User]

It's one of the cool things about it. Warning, living in Philly and working in DE costs a hefty bit in taxes because of the city tax.

What's the credited place to live in order to split Philly - Wilmington commutes? I'm starting a job in Wilmington in the next few months and my wife might be at Drexel - my commute is probably more flexible than hers, which really needs to be < 20 mins.

I'm not sure if you mean that your commute or her commute needs to be <20 mins, but West Chester, PA may be a good option for you. It's roughly 20-25 from Wilmington, 30-45 to Philly. Good area to be around for a short period of time (or longer), cost would probably be $500-700/month for a 1 br apartment. I'd also check out places in Chester or Delaware County, both PA, if you wanted to broaden your search

Anon, can you speak to living in Cherry Hill, NJ? (i.e., cost, how nice it is, realistic commutes to Wilmington given traffic)

[seespotrun]

Gross and its outside of your commute timeframe

[Anonymous User]

It's one of the cool things about it. Warning, living in Philly and working in DE costs a hefty bit in taxes because of the city tax.

What's the credited place to live in order to split Philly - Wilmington commutes? I'm starting a job in Wilmington in the next few months and my wife might be at Drexel - my commute is probably more flexible than hers, which really needs to be < 20 mins.

I'm not sure if you mean that your commute or her commute needs to be <20 mins, but West Chester, PA may be a good option for you. It's roughly 20-25 from Wilmington, 30-45 to Philly. Good area to be around for a short period of time (or longer), cost would probably be $500-700/month for a 1 br apartment. I'd also check out places in Chester or Delaware County, both PA, if you wanted to broaden your search

Second anon that asked the Q here - sorry, it's the opposite (i.e., must be < 20 mins to philly), so W Chester is too far. Even Chester might be too far SW.

[Anonymous User]

To the commute-splitter- I worked in Wilmington this past summer and live in south-center city, Philadelphia. The commute was an easy 40 minutes to district court in Wilmington via car (and similar via train, but I never did that--easy access to 95 south means easy drive to DE). Commute to Drexel would be about 20 minutes from here. You'll definitely pay more in city tax though, as mentioned.

I would say take a look at Bryn Mawr or Ardmore, but 476 is hellish during rush hour and your wife's commute would still be about 30 minutes. Bala Cynwyd is about a 50 minute drive to Wilmington and 20 minutes to Drexel, so that's an option. Keep in mind though that each of these three suburbs is fairly expensive- it's possible to find cheaper housing in non-center city Philly. I would counsel against looking at Chester- I believe the poster before was referring to Chester County generally, but the city of Chester itself is not a very nice place to live (and this is coming from someone who enjoys the grittiness of city life).

If you want to talk about any of this, I can dm. Grew up in the Philly area and now in school here so I have a good sense for commute times/character of various areas.

[Anonymous User]

To the commute-splitter- I worked in Wilmington this past summer and live in south-center city, Philadelphia. The commute was an easy 40 minutes to district court in Wilmington via car (and similar via train, but I never did that--easy access to 95 south means easy drive to DE). Commute to Drexel would be about 20 minutes from here. You'll definitely pay more in city tax though, as mentioned.

I would say take a look at Bryn Mawr or Ardmore, but 476 is hellish during rush hour and your wife's commute would still be about 30 minutes. Bala Cynwyd is about a 50 minute drive to Wilmington and 20 minutes to Drexel, so that's an option. Keep in mind though that each of these three suburbs is fairly expensive- it's possible to find cheaper housing in non-center city Philly. I would counsel against looking at Chester- I believe the poster before was referring to Chester County generally, but the city of Chester itself is not a very nice place to live (and this is coming from someone who enjoys the grittiness of city life).

If you want to talk about any of this, I can dm. Grew up in the Philly area and now in school here so I have a good sense for commute times/character of various areas.

Gotcha. Thanks for this - anon posting makes it easy to forget to respond/thank.

Looking more at the map, I guess places like Folcroft/Glenolden/Tinicum T'ship might work as well? But there also don't seem to be that many options in those areas unless we look to buy rather than rent.

[Anonymous User]

To the commute-splitter- I worked in Wilmington this past summer and live in south-center city, Philadelphia. The commute was an easy 40 minutes to district court in Wilmington via car (and similar via train, but I never did that--easy access to 95 south means easy drive to DE). Commute to Drexel would be about 20 minutes from here. You'll definitely pay more in city tax though, as mentioned.

I would say take a look at Bryn Mawr or Ardmore, but 476 is hellish during rush hour and your wife's commute would still be about 30 minutes. Bala Cynwyd is about a 50 minute drive to Wilmington and 20 minutes to Drexel, so that's an option. Keep in mind though that each of these three suburbs is fairly expensive- it's possible to find cheaper housing in non-center city Philly. I would counsel against looking at Chester- I believe the poster before was referring to Chester County generally, but the city of Chester itself is not a very nice place to live (and this is coming from someone who enjoys the grittiness of city life).

If you want to talk about any of this, I can dm. Grew up in the Philly area and now in school here so I have a good sense for commute times/character of various areas.

Gotcha. Thanks for this - anon posting makes it easy to forget to respond/thank.

Looking more at the map, I guess places like Folcroft/Glenolden/Tinicum T'ship might work as well? But there also don't seem to be that many options in those areas unless we look to buy rather than rent.

Alright, so it's been confirmed - wife is going to be at Penn, actually. Is there any reason not to live near 30th st/university and just take SEPTA to Wilmington? 1 hr train commute seems >>> 40-minute car commute. She really needs to be within a 20ish minute drive of ~38th & Market.

[Anonymous User]

To the commute-splitter- I worked in Wilmington this past summer and live in south-center city, Philadelphia. The commute was an easy 40 minutes to district court in Wilmington via car (and similar via train, but I never did that--easy access to 95 south means easy drive to DE). Commute to Drexel would be about 20 minutes from here. You'll definitely pay more in city tax though, as mentioned.

I would say take a look at Bryn Mawr or Ardmore, but 476 is hellish during rush hour and your wife's commute would still be about 30 minutes. Bala Cynwyd is about a 50 minute drive to Wilmington and 20 minutes to Drexel, so that's an option. Keep in mind though that each of these three suburbs is fairly expensive- it's possible to find cheaper housing in non-center city Philly. I would counsel against looking at Chester- I believe the poster before was referring to Chester County generally, but the city of Chester itself is not a very nice place to live (and this is coming from someone who enjoys the grittiness of city life).

If you want to talk about any of this, I can dm. Grew up in the Philly area and now in school here so I have a good sense for commute times/character of various areas.

Gotcha. Thanks for this - anon posting makes it easy to forget to respond/thank.

Looking more at the map, I guess places like Folcroft/Glenolden/Tinicum T'ship might work as well? But there also don't seem to be that many options in those areas unless we look to buy rather than rent.

Alright, so it's been confirmed - wife is going to be at Penn, actually. Is there any reason not to live near 30th st/university and just take SEPTA to Wilmington? 1 hr train commute seems >>> 40-minute car commute. She really needs to be within a 20ish minute drive of ~38th & Market.

The only reason I can think of for not living near 30th street is that housing near 30th street is pretty limited. Housing directly around 30th street is predominantly student housing. They're building some residential building on 29th and walnut, but idk when it will be done. The other option is living across the Schuylkill towards Center City--which would be like a 5-10 minute walk.

[Anonymous User]

The only reason I can think of for not living near 30th street is that housing near 30th street is pretty limited. Housing directly around 30th street is predominantly student housing. They're building some residential building on 29th and walnut, but idk when it will be done. The other option is living across the Schuylkill towards Center City--which would be like a 5-10 minute walk.

Thanks. Yeah we're rapidly approaching the conclusion that living near Fitler Sq/Grad Hospital is really the only option that makes sense. That way I can just bike to the university city SEPTA stop.

[Manali]

Do you need ties to DE for public interest (i.e. PD, legal aid, etc.) No interest in corporate whatsoever. I go to one of the Philly schools, so not too far away.

[EzraFitz]

Do you need ties to DE for public interest (i.e. PD, legal aid, etc.) No interest in corporate whatsoever. I go to one of the Philly schools, so not too far away.

I think it is one of those situations where not having it won't have a net negative effect, but having it will have a net positive effect. Part of the draw of Delaware for the corporate folks is that they can do "Big town" work in a "Small town" setting. That doesn't really translate to PI, as PI is relatively similar no matter where you do it (this is obviously simplified, but the point stands). Delaware has a super tiny bar. So to some degree, it is helpful to have ties, because they know you truly have a desire to be part of the relatively small club of DE lawyers. But if you don't have ties, it won't hurt any worse than it will looking for PI jobs in any other market.

[Anonymous User]

Are there any clear reasons to choose one of the big 4 offer another? If have offers from multiple big 4 firms. I am having a hard time distinguishing one firm from another.

I want to do transactional work, if that helps!

Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

Does MNAT snail or email ding? Had a callback a little over a week ago and silence, except for three interviewers responding to my thank you notes and thanking me for sending them (though a thank you for a thank you note was pretty funny lol). Assuming I am either in some sort of wait list pile as I heard their yield is low or my ding is in the mail if they do snail mail not email dings.

[Anonymous User]

Does MNAT snail or email ding? Had a callback a little over a week ago and silence, except for three interviewers responding to my thank you notes and thanking me for sending them (though a thank you for a thank you note was pretty funny lol). Assuming I am either in some sort of wait list pile as I heard their yield is low or my ding is in the mail if they do snail mail not email dings.

I heard back within a week, but I've heard they have a wait list.

[Anonymous User]

MNAT does have a waiting list. But they make decisions pretty fast and let you know where you stand.

Keep in mind they raised Wilmington salaries first, and have historically been the local comp leader (not just a recruiting tactic).

[Anonymous User]

Are there any clear reasons to choose one of the big 4 offer another? If have offers from multiple big 4 firms. I am having a hard time distinguishing one firm from another.

I want to do transactional work, if that helps!

Thanks!

I have the same question. I'm trying to decide between Potter and RLF?

Opinions??

[eastcoast_iub]

To the extent you want to leave DE at some point, RLF has an advantage. Much better name recognition outside the state because they serve as local counsel on a lot more deals.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know about the time between callback and offer this year at RLF?

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know about the time between callback and offer this year at RLF?

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know about the time between callback and offer this year at RLF?

I heard back approximately a week and a half later. When did you interview?

[EzraFitz]

Are there any clear reasons to choose one of the big 4 offer another? If have offers from multiple big 4 firms. I am having a hard time distinguishing one firm from another.

I want to do transactional work, if that helps!

Thanks!

I have the same question. I'm trying to decide between Potter and RLF?

Opinions??

In general, the opinion seems to be RLF/MNAT > PAC/YCST. Within those categories is more debate.

[Anonymous User]

Are there any clear reasons to choose one of the big 4 offer another? If have offers from multiple big 4 firms. I am having a hard time distinguishing one firm from another.

I want to do transactional work, if that helps!

Thanks!

I have the same question. I'm trying to decide between Potter and RLF?

Opinions??

+1 to the assertion that RLF gives you an easier time leaving DE if you ultimately want that; I've heard that from actual Delaware attorneys as well.

As for between Potter and RLF, having weighed both (ultimately choosing Potter), I felt like the atmosphere of the offices couldnt've been more different. For my personality Potter was definitely the right choice. RLF felt much more traditionally hierarchical; Potter was tremendously informal. Your personal work habits and preferences obviously may vary, but something else to consider alongside (or ahead of) raw prestige and/or exit options.

For what it's worth, from conversations with multiple attorneys at each of the Big 4 as well as prominent figures in the local legal market, RLF apparently hews closer to the "up or out" grindstone model that you get in biglaw in other markets, whereas Potter & YCST apparently hire with the eye of finding new partners. Each of these have their strengths based on what you want in your career, but to the extent those rumors are true, it's something else to consider.