2016 Texas OCI (UT/University of Texas + All Others) Forum

[Anonymous User]

If someone had a K&E Houston offer and an offer from a more well-established firm in another market, what would you do? Is K&E gonna limit me to energy work? Is it a risky firm to start your career right now/would it be smarter to go to a firm that isn't so new?

K&E is a great firm. However, it's unclear how great it will remain to be in Houston. It has a notorious reputation for being very difficult to work with and the partners they took from BB/V&E are a reason for that reputation. Their bankruptcy is booming, but it's unclear what will happen when the markets shift. I personally declined them for these very reasons; but, to each their own. If you like the people there, go with it.

I would take a look at the K&E Houston thread...you can see how strong the koolaid is in that office.

This is such nonsense. K&E is not a risky firm to start your career at. They're 2 years old and have already garnered significant market share. They've got a lease on new office space in the newest building in Houston and have invested significantly in the market. Bankruptcy has been a huge revenue source undoubtedly, but each one of the practice groups is (and was pre-downturn) plenty busy with non-bankruptcy related work. It's just a nice hedge when the markets go down. I wouldn't worry about the firm being "new" at all. Most of the work is energy related, but that really just means that it is M&A, capital markets, finance etc. for energy companies. I've done both energy M&A and middle market general M&A and they are honestly no different at all.

Also - don't take advice from random anonymous law students who don't know the market and post baseless gossip on TLS. Do second looks and ask these questions of the associates at all the firms you have offers at.

Yup. That post read like a laundry list of gossip pushed out by a recruiter unhappy about the number of recruits and laterals going to another firm. Even if any of those things were true, none of them are things a law student would be in a position to confirm or predict. I think any practicing attorney familiar with the nature of different practice groups in a law office and the Houston market stats for the last few quarters would tell you to take that post with a lot of salt.

As someone strongly considering going to KE Houston, are you saying not to believe the "unclear" and "very difficult" rumors? Or should I believe the post above saying KE is not a risky firm to start my career at?

I was saying that the person making the "unclear" comments was making uninformed statements that are in any case not of the type a law student can reliably opine on. There could be valid reasons to go to one of the other top Houston firms instead of KE (depends on the person), but none of the concerns mentioned by the poster were among them. As the other poster noted, don't listen to rando anon law students who try to tell you how a firm operates or how good / bad / uncertain its workload is looking in different practice groups. Ask an attorney who has thousands and thousands of hours of experience working in that legal market, rather than zero.

If you have an offer from KE Houston you should probably take it unless you have some sort of very clear and compelling reason (or several reasons) to go to some other particular office instead. Listening to gossip about an "unclear" future is terrible reason not to go some place, particularly when you can easily go read up on market activity by office for the past year and see for yourself how active a given office is (or ask people who work there).

[Anonymous User]

Any Porter Hedges offers?

[Anonymous User]

Any K&L Gates (Houston) offers?

[oopsigotdingedagain]

Any Porter Hedges offers?

I would like to know too

[Anonymous User]

If someone had a K&E Houston offer and an offer from a more well-established firm in another market, what would you do? Is K&E gonna limit me to energy work? Is it a risky firm to start your career right now/would it be smarter to go to a firm that isn't so new?

K&E is a great firm. However, it's unclear how great it will remain to be in Houston. It has a notorious reputation for being very difficult to work with and the partners they took from BB/V&E are a reason for that reputation. Their bankruptcy is booming, but it's unclear what will happen when the markets shift. I personally declined them for these very reasons; but, to each their own. If you like the people there, go with it.

I would take a look at the K&E Houston thread...you can see how strong the koolaid is in that office.

This is such nonsense. K&E is not a risky firm to start your career at. They're 2 years old and have already garnered significant market share. They've got a lease on new office space in the newest building in Houston and have invested significantly in the market. Bankruptcy has been a huge revenue source undoubtedly, but each one of the practice groups is (and was pre-downturn) plenty busy with non-bankruptcy related work. It's just a nice hedge when the markets go down. I wouldn't worry about the firm being "new" at all. Most of the work is energy related, but that really just means that it is M&A, capital markets, finance etc. for energy companies. I've done both energy M&A and middle market general M&A and they are honestly no different at all.

Also - don't take advice from random anonymous law students who don't know the market and post baseless gossip on TLS. Do second looks and ask these questions of the associates at all the firms you have offers at.

Yup. That post read like a laundry list of gossip pushed out by a recruiter unhappy about the number of recruits and laterals going to another firm. Even if any of those things were true, none of them are things a law student would be in a position to confirm or predict. I think any practicing attorney familiar with the nature of different practice groups in a law office and the Houston market stats for the last few quarters would tell you to take that post with a lot of salt.

As someone strongly considering going to KE Houston, are you saying not to believe the "unclear" and "very difficult" rumors? Or should I believe the post above saying KE is not a risky firm to start my career at?

I was saying that the person making the "unclear" comments was making uninformed statements that are in any case not of the type a law student can reliably opine on. There could be valid reasons to go to one of the other top Houston firms instead of KE (depends on the person), but none of the concerns mentioned by the poster were among them. As the other poster noted, don't listen to rando anon law students who try to tell you how a firm operates or how good / bad / uncertain its workload is looking in different practice groups. Ask an attorney who has thousands and thousands of hours of experience working in that legal market, rather than zero.

If you have an offer from KE Houston you should probably take it unless you have some sort of very clear and compelling reason (or several reasons) to go to some other particular office instead. Listening to gossip about an "unclear" future is terrible reason not to go some place, particularly when you can easily go read up on market activity by office for the past year and see for yourself how active a given office is (or ask people who work there).

Thank you for clarifying and that is what I thought you meant. I don't have an offer from BB/VE so I am accepting.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone heard from Winstead (Houston)? They are still only doing first half summer for six weeks. What on earth are their summers supposed to do the second half of summer when nearly everyone else has gone full summer???

Travel.

Relax.

Not panic.

^^^ agreed, but there goes thousands of dollars you're missing out on and Winstead doesn't pay big money already so you're really missing out.

[Anonymous User]

Any GDC Dallas offers?

[Anonymous User]

Ar this point I wonder if the firms haven't sent offers or if it's just few students with many offers who are not informing the rest of us on TLS

[Anonymous User]

Ar this point I wonder if the firms haven't sent offers or if it's just few students with many offers who are not informing the rest of us on TLS

my impression is a lot of people are sitting on offers and so I would assume there is a big batch of "on hold" offers that firms are waiting to give once they start getting declines.

encourage all your friends to let firms loose and narrow it down so "on hold" offers can start trickling out.

[Anonymous User]

Any Porter Hedges offers?

I would like to know too

I know of two given to UT students.

[Lalabatman]

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post, but didn't want to start a new thread. I figure who would know better than UT kids?

What are people's views on Wilson Sonsini Tech Trans in Austin and Baker Botts Corporate in Austin? Dirty Californian here who is trying to relocate to your great state (and make friends!)

Gratitude!

[Anonymous User]

For those with experience, is it appropriate to follow up with a firm by email reiterating interest if you haven't heard back 2+ weeks after a callback?

[Anonymous User]

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post, but didn't want to start a new thread. I figure who would know better than UT kids?

What are people's views on Wilson Sonsini Tech Trans in Austin and Baker Botts Corporate in Austin? Dirty Californian here who is trying to relocate to your great state (and make friends!)

Gratitude!

Did you receive offers from both places?

[Anonymous User]

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post, but didn't want to start a new thread. I figure who would know better than UT kids?

What are people's views on Wilson Sonsini Tech Trans in Austin and Baker Botts Corporate in Austin? Dirty Californian here who is trying to relocate to your great state (and make friends!)

Gratitude!

Did you receive offers from both places?

[Anonymous User]

The more stories I hear, the more Texas, especially Houston, seems like a desolate wasteland this year.

[Anonymous User]

The more stories I hear, the more Texas, especially Houston, seems like a desolate wasteland this year.

Elaborate..?

[Anonymous User]

Eh. Percentage of class with offers seems proportionate with Texas's usual Big Law employment numbers, maybe a bit slower but we're not done yet. To the extent that there's a slowdown, most of it is probably what you'd expect with the Cravath matching and the switch to full summers. Vast majority of peeps I know sitting on offers have Houston offers.

[Anonymous User]

i think the move to full summer everywhere is making people more weird than normal. 5 years ago i would have made a decision already because i would have split between the two i like best. this year, i'm sitting and trying to figure it out

[Anonymous User]

Any movement from Schiff Hardin (D)?

[Anonymous User]

Student and at a non TX school who has had CBs at Paul Hastings Houston and K&E Houston, does anyone know their timelines? Would love to know the anecdotal CB-->offer/ding timelines.

[Poldy]

Student and at a non TX school who has had CBs at Paul Hastings Houston and K&E Houston, does anyone know their timelines? Would love to know the anecdotal CB-->offer/ding timelines.

KE has been within 24 hours from what I've seen.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone have anticdotal info on CB --> offer/ding for STB Houston?

[Anonymous User]

For those who've gone through this process before, how late do Texas firms make offers/is there such a thing as a second wave? Could it be different given that most firms are first half this year? What does it mean if you haven't heard from a firm after a CB in 2+ weeks?

[Anonymous User]

Anyone here who doesn't go to a Texas school and has no Texas ties that got CB's in Texas? lol ...just trying to gauge whether there's hope in massmailing Texas.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone here who doesn't go to a Texas school and has no Texas ties that got CB's in Texas? lol ...just trying to gauge whether there's hope in massmailing Texas.

Do it. I've got no real Texas ties and have gotten 5 screeners and 1 CB.