Let's talk about Seattle Law Firms Forum

[BearState]

Can anyone tell me anything about Foster Pepper?

They have a strong municipal practice in transactional and litigation areas, and represent a lot of towns and cities as in-house counsel. The lawyers there struck me as down to earth. They recently took over K&L Gates' outpost in Spokane, who do good work.

[Anonymous User]

Can anyone tell me about Lee & Hayes?

[Anonymous User]

And what about Stoel Rives? (For litigation specifically).

[Anonymous User]

And what about Stoel Rives? (For litigation specifically).

They do a lot of general commercial litigation, but I'm not sure of the overall quality of that group. Certainly not the highest level of litigation work available in the area, but I know they're handling the ongoing Bertha drilling litigation (opposite Perkins Coie). The Seattle office is mostly known for its environmental group, although they only hire sporadically. The firm as a whole is very relaxed and friendly, and that applies to the people I've met in the litigation group too.

[Anonymous User]

Thank you. Would you say the quality of lit work is higher at FP?

[Anonymous User]

Thank you. Would you say the quality of lit work is higher at FP?

I can't comment on the quality of litigation at Foster because I don't know anything about their litigation group. Hopefully someone else can chime in here. Their corporate/transactional practice has a solid reputation though.

[Anonymous User]

Thank you. Would you say the quality of lit work is higher at FP?

I can't comment on the quality of litigation at Foster because I don't know anything about their litigation group. Hopefully someone else can chime in here. Their corporate/transactional practice has a solid reputation though.

Hi there, finding this thread interesting and would love to hear from anyone who participated in OCI's w/ Foster Pepper, Lane Powell, Stoel, DWT or K & L in Seattle.

Would love to know as much as possible about Foster Pepper and Lane Powell

[Anonymous User]

Hi there, finding this thread interesting and would love to hear from anyone who participated in OCI's w/ Foster Pepper, Lane Powell, Stoel, DWT or K & L in Seattle.

Would love to know as much as possible about Foster Pepper and Lane Powell

What specifically do you want to know? As far as I know, they all have the standard screener/callback interview process. FYI, an "informational interview"/coffee often counts as a screener. Lane Powell seems to have a strategy of hiring very few summers, and instead relies on laterals from big markets like NYC. That said, they still hire summers, so it's worth your time considering how few spots there are in seattle. Also, Perkins has by far the most spots, so you might want to focus on them, followed by K&L, then DWT and FP.

[Anonymous User]

Hi there, finding this thread interesting and would love to hear from anyone who participated in OCI's w/ Foster Pepper, Lane Powell, Stoel, DWT or K & L in Seattle.

Would love to know as much as possible about Foster Pepper and Lane Powell

What specifically do you want to know? As far as I know, they all have the standard screener/callback interview process. FYI, an "informational interview"/coffee often counts as a screener. Lane Powell seems to have a strategy of hiring very few summers, and instead relies on laterals from big markets like NYC. That said, they still hire summers, so it's worth your time considering how few spots there are in seattle. Also, Perkins has by far the most spots, so you might want to focus on them, followed by K&L, then DWT and FP.

I would like to know about how many spots each has, where they hire from and what screeners look at most (GPA, Law Review, Externships, etc.) Does someone from SU have a decent chance at any -- also, kind of for a different thread, but should an SU person transfer to UW --?

I'm a 1L who is from SU trying to determine best path forward...

[Anonymous User]

Hi there, finding this thread interesting and would love to hear from anyone who participated in OCI's w/ Foster Pepper, Lane Powell, Stoel, DWT or K & L in Seattle.

Would love to know as much as possible about Foster Pepper and Lane Powell

What specifically do you want to know? As far as I know, they all have the standard screener/callback interview process. FYI, an "informational interview"/coffee often counts as a screener. Lane Powell seems to have a strategy of hiring very few summers, and instead relies on laterals from big markets like NYC. That said, they still hire summers, so it's worth your time considering how few spots there are in seattle. Also, Perkins has by far the most spots, so you might want to focus on them, followed by K&L, then DWT and FP.

I would like to know about how many spots each has, where they hire from and what screeners look at most (GPA, Law Review, Externships, etc.) Does someone from SU have a decent chance at any -- also, kind of for a different thread, but should an SU person transfer to UW --?

I'm a 1L who is from SU trying to determine best path forward...

To find out what firms hire SAs, go here and search for Seattle under location: http://www.nalpdirectory.com/Page.cfm?PageID=34
It will tell you how many SAs each firm had and how many got offers to become associates. That should indicate how many SAs each firm will have next summer.

If I remember correctly, a recent year had the following:
Perkins - 16
KL Gates - 7
DWT - 4
Foster - 4
Lane Powell - 2
WSGR - 2
Cooley - 2
Fenwick - 2
Garvey - 1
Hillis Clark - 1

and there were some more that had 1 or 2. My numbers might be off a little, so you can check yourself on NALP.

For transferring, I don't think there is much reason to transfer. You'll have access to the same firms at SU, and firms will judge you based on your 1L grades at SU relative to your SU peers. Firms here generally want a higher class rank from SU, but they do hire a lot of SU grads, and transferring won't change the fact that your 1L grades came from SU.

[Anonymous User]

Hi there, finding this thread interesting and would love to hear from anyone who participated in OCI's w/ Foster Pepper, Lane Powell, Stoel, DWT or K & L in Seattle.

Would love to know as much as possible about Foster Pepper and Lane Powell

What specifically do you want to know? As far as I know, they all have the standard screener/callback interview process. FYI, an "informational interview"/coffee often counts as a screener. Lane Powell seems to have a strategy of hiring very few summers, and instead relies on laterals from big markets like NYC. That said, they still hire summers, so it's worth your time considering how few spots there are in seattle. Also, Perkins has by far the most spots, so you might want to focus on them, followed by K&L, then DWT and FP.

I would like to know about how many spots each has, where they hire from and what screeners look at most (GPA, Law Review, Externships, etc.) Does someone from SU have a decent chance at any -- also, kind of for a different thread, but should an SU person transfer to UW --?

I'm a 1L who is from SU trying to determine best path forward...

FP and LP hire 2-3 summers a year. LP seems to pick people who do well at UW and SU, but they also choose people from T-14 schools with solid links to Seattle (which isn't that surprising). I'd say GPA is key. I know someone who transferred from SU to UW and got an SA at one of these firms, but I can't possibly say whether transferring would be a good idea overall. If you're at SU or UW, I see no reason to try for each firm if you want an SA.

K&L and Perkins gets T-14s and the best of UW and SU, and they have the biggest classes. I'm aware of Seattleites who went to HYS and wanted to come back and went to K&L, PC, and DWT.

[Anonymous User]

Trying to revive this thread... can anyone comment on the status of the Seattle market in 2017?

I'm especially curious about options coming from UW, looking at really any firm size, or experiences of those who clerked and then secured a firm job. I know that Biglaw is difficult to get (top 10% in UW likely necessary), but how are prospects for small-midlaw firms looking now?

Also, can anyone comment on why the employment rate at UW is low-ish (86%, breakdown 87% bar/13%Jd advantage)? Is it because the Seattle market is just too small, UW grads get out-competed by t-14, or some other reason?

[Anonymous User]

Does anybody have information on Seattle clerkship bonuses?

[MrT]

Trying to revive this thread... can anyone comment on the status of the Seattle market in 2017?

I'm especially curious about options coming from UW, looking at really any firm size, or experiences of those who clerked and then secured a firm job. I know that Biglaw is difficult to get (top 10% in UW likely necessary), but how are prospects for small-midlaw firms looking now?

Also, can anyone comment on why the employment rate at UW is low-ish (86%, breakdown 87% bar/13%Jd advantage)? Is it because the Seattle market is just too small, UW grads get out-competed by t-14, or some other reason?

86% is not low. Also, that number is not being propped up by school-funded positions . For reference, UCLA is also 86% when you remove the school-funded roles. Berkeley is 88%. Even HYS are in the low 90% range. Admittedly, these students are getting better jobs but I wouldn't stress too much about not finding anything.

[TakeItToTrial]

Trying to revive this thread... can anyone comment on the status of the Seattle market in 2017?

I'm especially curious about options coming from UW, looking at really any firm size, or experiences of those who clerked and then secured a firm job. I know that Biglaw is difficult to get (top 10% in UW likely necessary), but how are prospects for small-midlaw firms looking now?

Also, can anyone comment on why the employment rate at UW is low-ish (86%, breakdown 87% bar/13%Jd advantage)? Is it because the Seattle market is just too small, UW grads get out-competed by t-14, or some other reason?

86% is not low. Also, that number is not being propped up by school-funded positions . For reference, UCLA is also 86% when you remove the school-funded roles. Berkeley is 88%. Even HYS are in the low 90% range. Admittedly, these students are getting better jobs but I wouldn't stress too much about not finding anything.

[Anonymous User]

Trying to revive this thread... can anyone comment on the status of the Seattle market in 2017?

I'm especially curious about options coming from UW, looking at really any firm size, or experiences of those who clerked and then secured a firm job. I know that Biglaw is difficult to get (top 10% in UW likely necessary), but how are prospects for small-midlaw firms looking now?

Also, can anyone comment on why the employment rate at UW is low-ish (86%, breakdown 87% bar/13%Jd advantage)? Is it because the Seattle market is just too small, UW grads get out-competed by t-14, or some other reason?

86% is not low. Also, that number is not being propped up by school-funded positions . For reference, UCLA is also 86% when you remove the school-funded roles. Berkeley is 88%. Even HYS are in the low 90% range. Admittedly, these students are getting better jobs but I wouldn't stress too much about not finding anything.

Agreed. T14ers aren't hurting UW employment overall. Rather, they make it harder to get biglaw in Seattle.