Litigation boutiques Forum

[A'nold]

How does one find out about these firms? Do they do OCI as well?

I got EXTREMELY lucky with my firm. No, they'd never do OCI. They are kind of a "come knock on our door and show us what you've got" kind of firm. You can, however, find a firm like this if you look at the writing on the wall plastered everywhere, especially in local newspapers.

Just out of curiosity, do they regularly (every year? every 2 years?) hire entry-level attorneys? Are they as credential driven as some of the other places listed? (W&C, MTO, Susman, etc.)

No dude, I'm talking really local, really small firms started by ex-biglaw guys that branch out on their own and do trial work on high profile cases. At my firm, they would hire a barely accreditted student if they liked them. It is not credential oriented at all b/c it is not corporate, i.e., you work closely with the founding attorney and he cares more about work product and personality than anything else. In fact, when I was being interviewed, they kept telling me how grades (I had very good grades) do not translate to performance.

The firm is growing and they seem to be hiring 1 or 2 entry level attorneys each year. I believe they plan on expanding quicker into the future. But, the salary is crazy good when you factor in bonuses and the work is very satisfying.

I guess my attempt at annonymity failed, haha.

[abl]

Not the OP--what about Chicago? Are there other small ones besides Bartlit Beck (which doesn't hire 2Ls)?

[enygma]

Not the OP--what about Chicago? Are there other small ones besides Bartlit Beck (which doesn't hire 2Ls)?

look at miller shakman, grippo & elden, and to a lesser extent barack ferrazzano.

[Renzo]

Morvillo Abramowitz should probably be on your list too.

[underdawg]

Morvillo Abramowitz should probably be on your list too.

and friedman kaplan

[Person]

Not the OP--what about Chicago? Are there other small ones besides Bartlit Beck (which doesn't hire 2Ls)?

look at miller shakman, grippo & elden, and to a lesser extent barack ferrazzano.

Barack Ferrazzano is not a boutique. They do a bit of everything, and are far heavier in real estate than anything else. Even their corporate is bigger than their litigation.

[NYAssociate]

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[LawSchoolWannaBe]

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[Anonymous User]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, especially as a first-time anonymous poster, but I was wondering if anybody could offer insights into my prospects at a place like W&C. Stats: above median at HLS (7 H's, for what its worth), but no LR or significant pre-LS work experience. 1L summer job speaks to serious interest in litigation. W&C is my number 1 choice, but I know it's super-competitive, and my guess is I'll be blown out by my LR peers. Thoughts?

[abl]

Isn't 7Hs pretty well above median at HLS? As in, top 25% or so? That's 7Hs and 3Ps, right? In a system where only ~35% of people are getting Hs in each class, it's hard to imagine that more than a quarter of the class is getting more than 7/10 Hs, right? Or am I missing something big?

[Anonymous User]

At least at Stanford, 70% Hs would be around top 10-15%. Then again, Stanford has a bit stricter of a grading curve than Harvard, so Hs are harder to come by.

[Anonymous User]

Yeah, median at HLS is roughly 4 H's under the new grading system, but I have no idea what the breakdown is for top 25%, top 10%, etc. That's why all I said was above median. But assuming I'm in the top quarter of the class, anybody think I have a realistic shot at W&C w/o LR?

[Anonymous User]

I'm confused why you think 4H is median. Say you have 35% of the class getting Hs. That means even if grades are independently distributed, at best you're looking at median of 3.5H (which could be rounded to 4 or 3). Assuming that there is at least a weakly strong positive correlation among grades, median being 3H (or even lower) is a more tenable position.

Furthermore, since median isn't skewed by the top performers who net a huge amount of Hs (and thus leave fewer Hs for the rest of the class), median should be even lower.

[Anonymous User]

I admit my figure of 4 H's as the median is only based on hearsay. Having talked to quite a few members of the class of 2011, it seems like the median falls around 3-4 H's.

...but that's not really the point. I'm clearly above median. I really just wanted to know if anybody had thoughts as to whether or not I have a shot at W&C considering my grades and lack of LR...

[Anonymous User]

I admit my figure of 4 H's as the median is only based on hearsay. Having talked to quite a few members of the class of 2011, it seems like the median falls around 3-4 H's.

...but that's not really the point. I'm clearly above median. I really just wanted to know if anybody had thoughts as to whether or not I have a shot at W&C considering my grades and lack of LR...

Of course you have a shot. I think you have a pretty good shot at that.