NYC Lit: S&C vs. Paul Weiss Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm from DC originally and may want to return there eventually if that makes a difference. I'm not exactly sure what I want to do within lit and I generally liked most of the people I met at both firms.

One of the associates at PW said that PW has a decent amount of lit work that doesn't come from corporate clients--does that actually matter? If so, is it a good or a bad thing?

I'm leaning S&C/PW about 60/40, so if pressed I'd say S&C at this point but want to make sure there aren't any considerations I haven't weighed.

Thoughts? Thanks!

[smaug]

Why are you leaning S&C? I don't think there's a wrong choice here, but you could choose one or the other for the wrong reasons maybe.

Getting work from non-Corp clients is good and bad. It means more variety in what you do, and means that the firm is able to snag clients on the strength of its lit work alone. But, it means that people are pitching clients for work/trying to grab more things. I would guess that some people take comfort in the fact that a place like S&C will never be slow because it'll always have work from its corporate clients.

[Anonymous User]

Just chose between the same firms.

Just be conscious of S&C's recruiting machine (for example, nobody at any other firm I interacted with ever said their firm was "better," but literally everyone I spoke with at my Sullcrom offer dinner said their firm was stronger and a better career move than PW (one person even went so far to tell me, after several drinks, that "PW fucking sucks")) and don't let that factor in, as it makes absolutely no difference how much the firm appears to want you. Especially considering PW doesn't really attempt to sell you. I say this because a lot of my classmates bought into it and chose S&C over firms like PW while factoring in these kind of considerations, which was frustrating to watch.

I ended up picking PW, but I can't really say I can articulate a great answer as to why; I suppose it was that the vast majority of contacts I had at top NYC firms in lit suggested PW. You probably can't go wrong here.

[Anonymous User]

Just chose between the same firms.

Just be conscious of S&C's recruiting machine (for example, nobody at any other firm I interacted with ever said their firm was "better," but literally everyone I spoke with at my Sullcrom offer dinner said their firm was stronger and a better career move than PW (one person even went so far to tell me, after several drinks, that "PW fucking sucks")) and don't let that factor in, as it makes absolutely no difference how much the firm appears to want you. Especially considering PW doesn't really attempt to sell you. I say this because a lot of my classmates bought into it and chose S&C over firms like PW while factoring in these kind of considerations, which was frustrating to watch.

I ended up picking PW, but I can't really say I can articulate a great answer as to why; I suppose it was that the vast majority of contacts I had at top NYC firms in lit suggested PW. You probably can't go wrong here.

Interesting, I did not end up choosing either firm, but had offers at both and I experienced the opposite. I felt like Paul Weiss did a lot of selling. S&C's recruiting machine is certainly impressive but partners I spoke to were very much "both firms are good you can't go wrong."

Regardless, I don't think you should factor recruiting efforts at all into your decision, it's just noise. Get a feel for what people are like, do second looks, keep gathering information from outside sources, but don't think about the recruiting machines of either firms.

[Anonymous User]

Just chose between the same firms.

Just be conscious of S&C's recruiting machine (for example, nobody at any other firm I interacted with ever said their firm was "better," but literally everyone I spoke with at my Sullcrom offer dinner said their firm was stronger and a better career move than PW (one person even went so far to tell me, after several drinks, that "PW fucking sucks")) and don't let that factor in, as it makes absolutely no difference how much the firm appears to want you. Especially considering PW doesn't really attempt to sell you. I say this because a lot of my classmates bought into it and chose S&C over firms like PW while factoring in these kind of considerations, which was frustrating to watch.

I ended up picking PW, but I can't really say I can articulate a great answer as to why; I suppose it was that the vast majority of contacts I had at top NYC firms in lit suggested PW. You probably can't go wrong here.

Also just chose between the same firms and had the same experience. At first I never even really considered S&C, but their recruiting almost turned me, so I definitely agree with the S&C recruiting machine talk. In the end, I wanted to be at PW all along, and I don't think they really needed to sell me. That being said, the only contact I had with them after receiving my offer was when I reached out to schedule my second visit.

When I went to PW, several associates and partners said the same thing about getting a decent amount of litigation work that doesn't come from corporate clients. At S&C, the associates and partners emphasized how much of their litigation work comes from corporate clients. So I would say those sentiments are probably generally true.

I was surprised how much I really liked the people at both, so it really came down to work opportunity for me. I would say that I picked PW because of this larger variety of clients and industries as well as what I viewed as a better opportunity to choose your own path in actual client work and in pro bono, but who knows if that is true.

Good luck with your decision!