Lets Talk Paul Hastings Forum

[Anonymous User]

has any heard back from one of their super interview days last week?

Curious to know this as well. There is very little info on PH cbs and offers on TLS

[cookiejar1]

I'm also interested in this. I have an offer from Paul Hastings NY and I'm quite tempted to believe there is something to all of those top lifestyle rankings on Vault. However, this is Manhattan we are talking about so I figure it's too good to be true. Is it naive to think lifestyle would be better at PH than V15/V10 type firms?

AHHHHAHAHAHAHAHA


I'm sorry, I just had to laugh. PH is a notoriously brutal place to work in NYC. God, the stories out of their high yield practice would curdle the blood of a vampire. And the recent laterals . . . oh yeah, those partners are known for their, um, good graces and pleasant personalities. There are some kick-ass stories out of that office, none of them good.

I am certain of very few things in the world. The sun will rise in the east. If I don't drink, I will die of thirst. One day, will get old and die. And PH NY is one of the worst places to work in the city, and will be a massively worse experience than working at any (checks to see if K&E is in the V10 yet. ) I mean, all but one V10 firm.

Can you explain your view of the firm? What gives you this idea - did you work there?

Also, let's say this is true. Then what accounts for their ridiculously high rankings in "lifestyle"-type categories? Even if it's not a walk in the park, surely it can't be that much more brutal than all of the other firms that are unranked for those lifestyle categories.

so that "hours" survey is a joke dont make any decisions based off of those rankings

[Anonymous User]

My offer came <48 hours after CB

[Anonymous User]

My offer came <48 hours after CB

Did you interview last week?

[Anonymous User]

No, three weeks ago. Good luck!

[Anonymous User]

Re: rankings - They don't make a whole lot of sense. The firm is highly ranked in areas that it probably shouldn't be like: compensation, diversity, substantive work and formal training.

I wouldn't later to another firm baring some other circumstances, but compensation? The firm is a follower on comp. Sure it pays market, but it'll never beat it. And it has a hard minimum for bonus hours (1950). Plenty of firms don't.

I think the rankings are just the result of associates generally just liking the firm and voting it high on purpose no matter what. But no biglaw firm is a "lifestyle firm." 2000 hours sucks. It's just a little better at a place where people tend to be nicer. I can't imagine working at a place that requires 2400 a year (informally, no firm is explicit about it).

[Anonymous User]

I have a CB scheduled next week with the NY office.
PH is my top choice and I would really appreciate some advice.
What was your CB like, and did you go to the optional lunch?

[Anonymous User]

I have a CB scheduled next week with the NY office.
PH is my top choice and I would really appreciate some advice.
What was your CB like, and did you go to the optional lunch?

All 4 of my interviews were really conversational and laid-back. I think I got more questions about the things in my interests section than about my work experiences. Mixed in with that, I got a couple easy behavioral questions from 3 of my 4 interviewers (and in my screener), so be prepared with a couple stories about working in a team, overcoming a challenge, meeting a deadline, etc. It seems like they were trying to get a sense of my personality and how I think. Of course, have lots of questions that you actually want the answer to and can't find on the firm website.

Lunch was really low-key, and the couple associates I talked to told me about the firms they were considering, why they picked PH, and what their friends don't like about other firms. It felt much more like a conversation than a recruiting event, which was really refreshing. Unless you get social anxiety or are really awkward in a group setting, definitely go to the lunch.

Good luck!!

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

A very good firm but some practice groups much stronger than others.

[Anonymous User]

What's the consensus on Paul Hastings LA?

[Anonymous User]

Anything on the LA office's litigation practice?

[Anonymous User]

"I wouldn't later to another firm baring some other circumstances, but compensation? The firm is a follower on comp. Sure it pays market, but it'll never beat it. And it has a hard minimum for bonus hours (1950). Plenty of firms don't."

hard minimum? so 1949 gets nothing?

[Anonymous User]

There are legends about someone counting wrong and going from 1952 to 1948 and getting nothing, but could be flame.

There is no stated policy about pro rating a bonus. I'd imagine if you had someone fighting for you, maybe you could get something.

But a guy I worked with who billed like 1850 got nothing after his partner fought for him.

The firm says 2000 is the minimum. But every year they end up giving 1950. I'm sure they'd say "hey 2000 is the minimum and we already gave a 50 hour grace period, we gotta cut it off somewhere."

[Anonymous User]

FUCK

looks like ill be lateraling back out in the near future

[Anonymous User]

Anyone have thoughts on this?

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2015/08/27/law ... -new-york/


I'd love to hear what current first year associates think about going from offices to cubicles...

[Anonymous User]

Meanwhile Paul Hastings topped AmLaw's midlevel satisfaction survey AGAIN. Another survey too, but I forget which and don't feel like searching. If the general vibe of this board is that these surveys are COMPLETE AND UTTER NONSENSE, why do they keep coming out the same way?

Not attempting to argue with the hivemind, just legitimately curious and considering an offer in DC. I get what everyone is saying about not being great at anything besides Labor & Employment, but what about all the job satisfaction stuff? In theory, like, in a complete vacuum where exit options don't matter, the "happy associates" stuff sounds much better than the alternative, but is it even a little bit real?

(I'll fully concede the cubicles aren't a great look for the incoming class.)

[Anonymous User]

Any ideas on Super Interview Day -> offer timeline?

[Anonymous User]

A little less than 1 week

[Anonymous User]

Meanwhile Paul Hastings topped AmLaw's midlevel satisfaction survey AGAIN. Another survey too, but I forget which and don't feel like searching. If the general vibe of this board is that these surveys are COMPLETE AND UTTER NONSENSE, why do they keep coming out the same way?

Not attempting to argue with the hivemind, just legitimately curious and considering an offer in DC. I get what everyone is saying about not being great at anything besides Labor & Employment, but what about all the job satisfaction stuff? In theory, like, in a complete vacuum where exit options don't matter, the "happy associates" stuff sounds much better than the alternative, but is it even a little bit real?

(I'll fully concede the cubicles aren't a great look for the incoming class.)

FWIW i had a CB with PH and i bought up the survey results to a partner as a reason I would love to work at PH and he didn't seem super over enthused about them. He basically said management is really good at getting associates to answer positively on the the surveys, implying that they somehow "game" the system by giving associates positive impressions/experiences of the things that the surveys ask about like pro bono. I'm not quite sure what he meant by everything but i get the feeling that he firm is relatively well managed at least.

[nealric]

Anyone have thoughts on this?

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2015/08/27/law ... -new-york/


I'd love to hear what current first year associates think about going from offices to cubicles...

Not a current first year, but I was one years ago. I also worked in a cube farm once upon a time. My thoughts: I can't imagine trying to do biglaw without a door that closes. As a result, I would pick literally any AMLAW 100 firm over Paul Hastings NYC if I were in the position of picking a firm today.

[Anonymous User]

Any thoughts on culture and work opportunities in the Chicago office?

[Anonymous User]

Meanwhile Paul Hastings topped AmLaw's midlevel satisfaction survey AGAIN. Another survey too, but I forget which and don't feel like searching. If the general vibe of this board is that these surveys are COMPLETE AND UTTER NONSENSE, why do they keep coming out the same way?

Not attempting to argue with the hivemind, just legitimately curious and considering an offer in DC. I get what everyone is saying about not being great at anything besides Labor & Employment, but what about all the job satisfaction stuff? In theory, like, in a complete vacuum where exit options don't matter, the "happy associates" stuff sounds much better than the alternative, but is it even a little bit real?

(I'll fully concede the cubicles aren't a great look for the incoming class.)

I think you have to keep in mind the TLS culture. TLS likes to bad talk certain firms because all the cool kids TLSers do it, because they once heard a guy do it. While I didnt accept the offer, I met tons of really nice people at PH while interviewing, but accepted elsewhere. I also know one classmate who summered at NYC PH and loved the people and the environment.

While the surveys very likely don't matter and can be gamed (as the above states), also know that they probably matter as much as what some 1L, who hasn't even done OCI, thinks about the firm b/c of his TLS prestige.

[Anonymous User]

Any news from NY office after 9/1 CB?

[Anonymous User]

Also want to know if anyone's heard from this Tuesday's CB (9/1).

Also, does anyone know if they do dings through email or mail?

[Anonymous User]

Dings by email