General Questions about Wachtell Forum

[09042014]

I wonder why they dont do OCI at MVDN yet do it at UT and UCLA.

Apparently they haven't been reading USNWR.

I bet it is geographic diversity.

[APimpNamedSlickback]

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[A'nold]

OP: Have you taken the LSAT yet?

[RisingMichigan3L]

They might interview at those schools, but that doesn't mean they actually give offers there

Just kidding, well sort of. I'm sure they've given offers there in the past. Even funnier is that, if I'm not mistaken, Berkeley was added as of 2009 OCI. Wonder what prompted that. WLRK doesn't have any attorneys from there...

[kittenmittons]

They might interview at those schools, but that doesn't mean they actually give offers there

Just kidding, well sort of. I'm sure they've given offers there in the past. Even funnier is that, if I'm not mistaken, Berkeley was added as of 2009 OCI. Wonder what prompted that. WLRK doesn't have any attorneys from there...

They needed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act

[APimpNamedSlickback]

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[imchuckbass58]

Don't listen to this. Like any firm, Wachtell hires what they need when they need it. I personally know someone who started as an associate there coming from Duke, and he wasn't even on law review. Granted, he was a higher-up editor for the duke IP/technology journal and that is his specialty, but anyone who tells you that they ONLY hire top 7 with few exceptions is lying. Yes, there is probably a greater amount of Yale graduates there than from other schools (and compared to other firms), but there are still quite a lot of Fordham/Cardozo and others in there.

Then you know Ryan McLeod, the only duke grad WLRK has hired in the last decade (literally).

OP, to have a decent shot at WLRK, you need to be Top 10% or so at HYS, Top 5% or so at CCN, or top 2-3 people anywhere else. Yes, there are exceptions. But they are exceedingly rare. Take the T14 distribution of WLRK associates:

Yale: 12
Harvard: 29
Stanford: 9
Columbia: 20
NYU: 17
Chicago: 9
Penn: 10
Berkeley: 0
Michigan: 0
Virginia: 0
Northwestern: 3
Duke: 4
Cornell: 1
Georgetown: 0

This should make it abundantly clear that it just doesn't happen outside the Top 7 schools unless you are #1 or #2 in the class. Even at HYSCCNP, if you look at the bios they are all magna, law review, etc.

[BlueCivic]

Ugh, so people here just want WLRK because it's "#1" and thus the new "thing to get." Get good grades in high school, go to a good college, go right to a good law school, go to the #1 firm, die. That's the life path and why on earth would anyone want to deviate from it? It's almost not living.

What percentage of the people who are gunning for WLRK really have a passion for securities and white collar defense work? Do people realize how miserable people are who follow the brass ring path blindly once they get to the "top"?

[soundgardener]

LOL, PLATONIC's next thread is going to be: What's the best way to catch a unicorn? How many unicorn's should I own? Can I breed my unicorns? Do unicorns really shit rainbows?

[d34d9823]

LOL, PLATONIC's next thread is going to be: What's the best way to catch a unicorn? How many unicorn's should I own? Can I breed my unicorns? Do unicorns really shit rainbows?

Now imagining people chasing Wachtell partners with nets through a forest.

[clintonius]

I spoke with a former paralegal at Wachtell, and he said the bios of the attorneys are insane -- Olympiads, etc. Even hiring only the students with the best grades from only the very top-ranked schools they can afford to be picky, given the small size of the firm and therefore the summer classes (24 in '08, 25 in '09, and an anticipated 17 this year, according to NALP). Seems to me it's sort of the Yale of law firms in that you need the X factor as well as the numbers.

[stratocophic]

They might interview at those schools, but that doesn't mean they actually give offers there

Just kidding, well sort of. I'm sure they've given offers there in the past. Even funnier is that, if I'm not mistaken, Berkeley was added as of 2009 OCI. Wonder what prompted that. WLRK doesn't have any attorneys from there...

They needed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act

1
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[09042014]

They might interview at those schools, but that doesn't mean they actually give offers there

Just kidding, well sort of. I'm sure they've given offers there in the past. Even funnier is that, if I'm not mistaken, Berkeley was added as of 2009 OCI. Wonder what prompted that. WLRK doesn't have any attorneys from there...

They needed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act

Hahaha

You should come back to BP. Your mom won't ground you.

[APimpNamedSlickback]

[.

[Anonymous User]

lol this thread is UBB

[twistedwrister]

From some kid on xoxo - this year's SA breakdown at WLRK.

Yale: 4

Harvard: 4

NYU:3

Columbia 2

Chicago: 1

UPenn: 1

Unknown: 5 (I do know that none of these 5 is from CLS.)

One of the CLSers is a 1L.

[chitown825]

Also, why do people use the anonymous feature unnecessarily? Probably because they don't want to be ridiculed for saying stupid things.

lolwut

[RisingMichigan3L]

What percentage of the people who are gunning for WLRK really have a passion for securities and white collar defense work?

Third funniest post in the thread. You don't need a passion for securities and white collar defense work for WLRK, since–while they do handle that work–it's by far why you go to the firm. You go to the firm for M&A, which is how the firm itself rose to prominence. And yes, many do have a passion for M&A. It might not be you, but that doesn't mean such people don't exist.

And yes, many others have a passion for securities and white collar litigation. I'm one of them. And no, I'm not going to WLRK (and I didn't have the choice), and no I'm not chasing after prestige.

[RisingMichigan3L]

One of my favorite articles on the firm. Discusses the business model of the firm, how it is that the four name partners came from NYU, how they were on the brink of collapse at one point, etc:

http://lawshucks.com/2009/07/wachtell-c ... ng-offers/

Anyone who has taken a basic corporations (or M&A) course will know why Wachtell is the place for sellers.

[RisingMichigan3L]

Another informative article, going into significant detail about what makes WLRK... WLRK:
http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~wstarbuc/wa ... erfly.html

[BradyToMoss]

Can top 5% at Emory (just some random school I picked for no reason) get into watchell or any other V10?

Not at Wachtell, for sure. If WLRK is not doing interviews at your school, no way in hell is top 5% getting you an interview there.

[Mickey Quicknumbers]

Another informative article, going into significant detail about what makes WLRK... WLRK:
http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~wstarbuc/wa ... erfly.html

1. Awesome article

2. I was just curious peeps, and now my ingorance is rectified. I didn't sit down and make a personal promise to get Watchell, no need to go hurling insults

[BlueCivic]

What percentage of the people who are gunning for WLRK really have a passion for securities and white collar defense work?

Third funniest post in the thread. You don't need a passion for securities and white collar defense work for WLRK, since–while they do handle that work–it's by far why you go to the firm. You go to the firm for M&A, which is how the firm itself rose to prominence. And yes, many do have a passion for M&A. It might not be you, but that doesn't mean such people don't exist.

And yes, many others have a passion for securities and white collar litigation. I'm one of them. And no, I'm not going to WLRK (and I didn't have the choice), and no I'm not chasing after prestige.

I think you may want to look up the difference in definitions between "many" and "all"

[Always Credited]

Another informative article, going into significant detail about what makes WLRK... WLRK:
http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~wstarbuc/wa ... erfly.html

1. Awesome article

2. I was just curious peeps, and now my ingorance is rectified. I didn't sit down and make a personal promise to get Watchell, no need to go hurling insults

I feel ya. People tend to get ruffled up when someone whom they don't believe to be worthy shows interest in a position in which they also have interest.

Emory is teh suxx around here, brah.

[underdawg]

Ugh, so people here just want WLRK because it's "#1" and thus the new "thing to get." Get good grades in high school, go to a good college, go right to a good law school, go to the #1 firm, die. That's the life path and why on earth would anyone want to deviate from it? It's almost not living.

What percentage of the people who are gunning for WLRK really have a passion for securities and white collar defense work? Do people realize how miserable people are who follow the brass ring path blindly once they get to the "top"?

it's because they often pay 2x what other biglaw firms do (while it's not 2x the hours) while it opens almost every door for government work, in-house, etc. (i'm guessing), and the work environment there is one of the best (while they work you to death, partners supposedly treat you almost like equals, etc.). especially for young law graduates (or non-family minded graduates), it's actually a quite logical choice to do for 4-5 years out of law school. and if you are a get-in-get-out guy, 2 years at WLRK gets you what you'd get in 3 years at other biglaw firms, $$-wise

get your head out of your ass.