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Re: Wilson Sonsini (Palo Alto)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Aug 29, 2016 2:02 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Does WSGR do any corporate work out of the SF office?

What are the chances a lateral has at landing in the SF office (I am looking to lateral from an NYC v5 but I will not work in the valley)
Former PA summer anon from above. WSGR seemed very lateral-friendly and on the lookout for talent, so you should definitely reach out if you're interested. Regarding the two SF offices, experience in the following corporate areas probably gives you the best shot for each...

SOMA office (139 Townsend): Start-ups
SF office (1 Market Street): M&A

Best of luck!
Thanks for this - does WSGR allow someone to choose SF over PA, though? I am just trying to get a feel for how realistic it is to land in the SF office.

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Re: Wilson Sonsini (Palo Alto)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Aug 29, 2016 2:17 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Does WSGR do any corporate work out of the SF office?

What are the chances a lateral has at landing in the SF office (I am looking to lateral from an NYC v5 but I will not work in the valley)
Former PA summer anon from above. WSGR seemed very lateral-friendly and on the lookout for talent, so you should definitely reach out if you're interested. Regarding the two SF offices, experience in the following corporate areas probably gives you the best shot for each...

SOMA office (139 Townsend): Start-ups
SF office (1 Market Street): M&A

Best of luck!
Thanks for this - does WSGR allow someone to choose SF over PA, though? I am just trying to get a feel for how realistic it is to land in the SF office.
No problem. And yeah, with the right background and an expressed preference for SF, laterals could end up at one of the SF offices. (Anecdotal, but a majority of the SF M&A team members that I met during my summer were laterals.) I'd recommend just reaching out to a couple attorneys in each office, particularly to those who were prior laterals per their firm bios. In addition to the internal referral, they could give you a better idea of the ongoing hiring needs and qualifications/experience.

Sorry I don't have more specifics, but I can tell you that I met laterals in both those offices who came from backgrounds similar to yours. Hopefully that helps.

Anonymous User
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Re: Wilson Sonsini (Palo Alto)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Aug 29, 2016 2:20 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Does WSGR do any corporate work out of the SF office?

What are the chances a lateral has at landing in the SF office (I am looking to lateral from an NYC v5 but I will not work in the valley)
Former PA summer anon from above. WSGR seemed very lateral-friendly and on the lookout for talent, so you should definitely reach out if you're interested. Regarding the two SF offices, experience in the following corporate areas probably gives you the best shot for each...

SOMA office (139 Townsend): Start-ups
SF office (1 Market Street): M&A

Best of luck!
Thanks for this - does WSGR allow someone to choose SF over PA, though? I am just trying to get a feel for how realistic it is to land in the SF office.
No problem. And yeah, with the right background and an expressed preference for SF, laterals could end up at one of the SF offices. (Anecdotal, but a majority of the SF M&A team members that I met during my summer were laterals.) I'd recommend just reaching out to a couple attorneys in each office, particularly to those who were prior laterals per their firm bios. In addition to the internal referral, they could give you a better idea of the ongoing hiring needs and qualifications/experience.

Sorry I don't have more specifics, but I can tell you that I met laterals in both those offices who came from backgrounds similar to yours. Hopefully that helps.
Is it common at all as a junior associate to work remotely? I'm sure it's dependent on the group, but as someone who what's to live in SF and commute down to PA - wondering how people in the office generally feel about doing some work remotely or even visiting a day here or there in the SF office to get work done

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Re: Wilson Sonsini (Palo Alto)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Aug 29, 2016 2:47 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Is it common at all as a junior associate to work remotely? I'm sure it's dependent on the group, but as someone who what's to live in SF and commute down to PA - wondering how people in the office generally feel about doing some work remotely or even visiting a day here or there in the SF office to get work done
Again, just speaking from my experience as a former summer on the corporate side; hopefully a current associate can chime in to add more value.

Regarding working remotely, I did see some of this flexibility among junior associates. You're right that it seems to vary by group. But once you've established yourself on your team and built trust, those opportunities seemed to open up. As long as people got their work done, there did not seem to be a particularly burdensome "face time" requirement.

[Note that for corporate juniors, there is a 6-month Launch rotation through the SOMA office that you could potentially do if you're interested.]

Many of the attorneys I worked with did the SF-PA commute. You'd be in good company.

Anonymous User
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Re: Wilson Sonsini (Palo Alto)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Aug 29, 2016 2:48 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Again, just speaking from my experience as a former summer on the corporate side; hopefully a current associate can chime in to add more value.

Regarding working remotely, I did see some of this flexibility among junior associates. You're right that it seems to vary by group. But once you've established yourself on your team and built trust, those opportunities seemed to open up. As long as people got their work done, there did not seem to be a particularly burdensome "face time" requirement.

[Note that for corporate juniors, there is a 6-month Launch rotation through the SOMA office that you could potentially do if you're interested.]

Many of the attorneys I worked with did the SF-PA commute. You'd be in good company.
Thanks - do you know where a lot of juniors tend to live if not in SF? Sounds like a hellish commute to deal with everyday haha

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Anonymous User
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Re: Wilson Sonsini (Palo Alto)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Aug 29, 2016 3:13 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Thanks - do you know where a lot of juniors tend to live if not in SF? Sounds like a hellish commute to deal with everyday haha
Yeah, commutes in the area are far from pretty. As I recall, associates were spread out across SV, with concentrations in nearby areas like Redwood City, Menlo Park, and Mountain View. You might be able to find something in PA if you're willing to pay a bit more for the proximity.

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Re: Wilson Sonsini (Palo Alto)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Aug 29, 2016 3:15 pm

I think the vast majority of juniors lives in Mountain View, Redwood City, etc. Basically the cities on either side of Palo Alto. When we started we had like 3/13 in SF. Still have about that many I think.

The commute is hellish. Midlevels and seniors do it more as they have more control over their schedules and are just more accustomed to BL in general. I would not recommend someone start off in the City.

Also working remotely is not the best way to build your reputation, which is important as a junior. I believe that is true regardless of where you go.

Anonymous User
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Re: Wilson Sonsini (Palo Alto)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Aug 29, 2016 4:42 pm

Anonymous User wrote:I think the vast majority of juniors lives in Mountain View, Redwood City, etc. Basically the cities on either side of Palo Alto. When we started we had like 3/13 in SF. Still have about that many I think.

The commute is hellish. Midlevels and seniors do it more as they have more control over their schedules and are just more accustomed to BL in general. I would not recommend someone start off in the City.

Also working remotely is not the best way to build your reputation, which is important as a junior. I believe that is true regardless of where you go.
Right - I guess working remotely maybe wasn't the right wording - I meant more whether or not people generally pack up their things at some point in the early evening and continue to work from home as opposed to staying in the office till late

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Re: Wilson Sonsini (Palo Alto)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Aug 29, 2016 5:05 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:I think the vast majority of juniors lives in Mountain View, Redwood City, etc. Basically the cities on either side of Palo Alto. When we started we had like 3/13 in SF. Still have about that many I think.

The commute is hellish. Midlevels and seniors do it more as they have more control over their schedules and are just more accustomed to BL in general. I would not recommend someone start off in the City.

Also working remotely is not the best way to build your reputation, which is important as a junior. I believe that is true regardless of where you go.
Right - I guess working remotely maybe wasn't the right wording - I meant more whether or not people generally pack up their things at some point in the early evening and continue to work from home as opposed to staying in the office till late
Yeah I think that's probably what most people do most nights. That's probably not gonna be appreciated so much in the middle of a frantic signing or closing. Otherwise should be cool I think.

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Re: Wilson Sonsini (Palo Alto)

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Aug 30, 2016 10:11 pm

Anyone have some insight into what the summer program is like? Lots of social events/lunches/baseball games? etc.

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Re: Wilson Sonsini (Palo Alto)

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Aug 31, 2016 1:31 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Anyone have some insight into what the summer program is like? Lots of social events/lunches/baseball games? etc.
Given the wording, I'm guessing you are the same poster from the Skadden PA thread.

I felt like the WSGR recruiting team did a great job planning a fun mix of summer events. Biggest event each summer is a weekend at a resort in Asilomar, exploring nearby Monterey Bay. Other activities (e.g., happy hours, client site visits, dinners, service projects, softball, go-karts, etc.) probably average 2 per week by the end of the summer. And you are encouraged (and given a budget) to go to lunches with attorneys everyday to get to know people. It's a good time.

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