Northwestern OCI 2016 Forum

[czpczp]

Jeezee, our OCI thread is dead, especially considering bidding ends in 10 days.

[cookiejar1]

Jeezee, our OCI thread is dead, especially considering bidding ends in 10 days.

Yeah, damn. Pretty surprised.

[Anonymous User]

Help. Lay it on thick. The format of my list is (bid rank) (firm name) (interview spots).

Background: GPA is 3.87-3.95 (dumb but exact GPA would out me); "very good" work experience; significant ties to Chicago. I am only interested in litigation, and only targeting Chicago during OCI (have done/secured callbacks in other markets this summer). I very much prefer to work at a homegrown Chicago firm (not a satellite) with a well-known litigation practice. Also dumb, but I would like to work at a firm with an appellate practice. That's by no means a deal-breaker, but a cherry on top. I prefer legit litigation experience over prestige, but I care about exit options too. W&C is not a typo.

Misc.: Idk much about Eimer/Barack. I'm worried that joining such small firms would put me on an island and pigeonhole me.

1 KIRKLAND & ELLIS - 80
2 SIDLEY AUSTIN - 80
3 JENNER & BLOCK - 60
4 WINSTON & STRAWN - 60
5 MAYER BROWN - 60
6 WILLIAMS & CONNOLLY - 20
7 EIMER STAHL - 20
8 SKADDEN - 60
9 LATHAM & WATKINS - 76
10 MCDERMOTT WILL & EMERY - 80
11 BAKER & MCKENZIE - 30
12 JONES DAY - 40
13 BARACK FERRAZZANO KIRSCHBAUM & NAGELBERG - 30
14 DLA PIPER - n/a
15 KATTEN MUCHIN ROSENMAN - 40
16 REED SMITH  - 20
17 K&L GATES - 20
18 FOLEY & LARDNER - 20
19 PAUL HASTINGS - 20
20 DENTONS - 20
21 STEPTOE JOHNSON - 20
22 mcguirewoods - 20
23 LOCKE LORD - 20
24 SCHIFF HARDIN - 40 for 2 offices
25 SEYFARTH SHAW - 20
26 VEDDER PRICE - 20
27 SEYFARTH SHAW - 20
28 GREENBERG TRAURIG - 20
29 CHAPMAN & CUTLER - 20
30 THOMPSON COBURN - 20 for 3 offices
31 SHOOK HARDY & BACON -17 for 2 offices

[star fox]

I feel like 8-20, except for Barack, are all just going to be wasted bids at those slots.

[Anonymous User]

I feel like 8-20, except for Barack, are all just going to be wasted bids at those slots.

Thanks. What's your suggestion -- moving the big firms currently in positions 1-8 down a few spots or rearranging spots 9-20? I'm probably too risk-averse with the large Chicago firms to move them down.

[cookiejar1]

You can probably drop Williams & Connolly down. If I recall correctly I snagged Williams & Connolly somewhere in the 20+ range. If that's your dream reach firm then I understand bidding them higher. Just know that there are realistically only <10 people in the class who are seriously in the running for this firm so you're likely to pick them up really late.

Is the Skadden bid for Skadden Chicago only or for Skadden Chicago + NYC offices? If it's the latter, you'll probably want to bring Skadden up on your bid list. I would also bid Latham higher. Is there any data in the previous threads w/r/t to where Eimer Stahl ended up going? You could probably safely drop this firm a few spots too. And I know that Jones Day gets a lot of flak on these forums but you should have them ranked higher.

A note on firms like Baker, DLA, Katten, Reed Smith, Dentons, Lock Lord, Seyfarth, etc, etc, etc on your list. You're definitely not going to get them where they're ranked now. These firms are highly competitive in the sense that most students at the school will be bidding on them (our school's natural inclination towards Chicago + the firms' friendly GPA cut-offs). If you want them, you'll have to choose a few of your favorites and put them in your top #8.

If I were you, I'd drop all of them. The firm you choose for next summer may very well be the firm that you'll spend the rest of your career at a significant time at — but there's a great chance that it isn't, especially if your pipe dream one day is to work in an appellate lit group. Imagine a scenario where unfortunately you don't receive offers from any of your top 10. Do you see yourself working at any of these Chicago offices ranked #10+ on your bid list over a, say, Sullivan & Cromwell in NYC or WilmerHale DC? I get it. NYC sucks and nobody in DC knows how to drive in the snow. But when you have a competitive resume, signaling matters. Your "safeties" can easily be top NYC firms and you'll definitely get the DPW, S&C, CSM etc+ in the #10-15 range. In short, I'd drop most of everything on your bid list after #10 and fill it up with selective NYC/DC firms. If you don't get your top Chicago choices this year then reload, get your clerkships and try again down the road. In any case, chances are you'll end up with a decision between Kirkland et. al. in Chicago this summer but playing the prestige game at least lets you cover all your bases.

Boies and Munger Tolles Olsen are firms that you might really like too. Susman has a resume drop on symplicity that you should also pay attention to. If you're a godlike interviewer and feel like you can overperform your GPA, you should also look into some of the litigation boutiques out there (Keker in SF comes to mind).

[Anonymous User]

Hi, I was hoping for some advice on my bid list. Before I get into it, I thought sharing my background (not too much - would prefer anonymity) would help TLSers provide a more accurate advice. I am a transfer from a T25; my overall GPA was just below top third. I have a science B.S. (its not an engineering degree) and thus am patent bar eligible. I would like to work in patent litigation, patent prosecution, or transactions (mergers & acquisitions). I have strong ties to Houston (15+ years there, went to a private university there) but I would prefer Houston as a back up (I don't much like the idea of living there again, but I want to play it safe and be sure I can snag a job out of OCI). Any thoughts are welcome. Thank you in advance.

1. Jenner & Block (Chicago) 60
2. Kirkland & Ellis (Chicago) 80
3. Sidley Austin (Chicago) 80
4. Mayer Brown (Chicago) 60
5. Latham Watkins (Chicago) 76
6. Winston & Strawn (Chicago) 60
7. Shearman Sterling (NYC) 40
8. Ropes & Gray (NYC) 40
9. Cleary Gottlieb (NYC) 40
10. Simpson Thacher (NYC) 40
11. Cadwalader (NYC) 40
12. Wilkie Farr (NYC) 40
13. Kirkland & Ellis (Houston) 20
14. Sidley Austin (Houston) 20
15. Holland & Knight (Chicago) 20
16. Proskauer (NYC) 20
17. Allen & Overy (NYC) 20
18. Katten Muchin (Chicago) 40
19. Paul Hastings (Houston) 20
20. Jones Day (Chicago) 40
21. Greenberg Traurig (Chicago) 20
22. Vinson & Elkins (Houston) 20
23. Dechert LLP (Chicago) 20
24. Reed Smith (Houston) 9
25. Chapman Cutler (Chicago) 20
26. White & Case (NYC) 20
27. Faegre Baker Daniels (Chicago) 20
28. Foley Lardner (Chicago) 20
29. K&L Gates (Chicago) 20
30. Locke Lord (Chicago) 20
31. mcguirewoods (Chicago) 20
32. Cahill Gordon & (NYC) 20
33. Morgan Lewis Bockius (Chicago) 20
34. Nixon Peabody (Chicago) 20
35. Perkins Coie (Chicago) 20
36. Schulte Roth (NYC) 20
37. Vedder Price (Chicago) 20
38. Wilmerhale (NYC) 20
39. Husch Blackwell (Chicago) 9
40. Polsinelli (Chicago) 6

[Anonymous User]

Hi everyone - please share advice/suggestions/concerns:

About me: URM, 3.4
NYC preference, Chicago secondary
Mostly interested in litigation but not completely ruling out transactional


The format of my list is (bid rank) (firm name) (location) (interview spots).

1 Simpson Thacher & Bartlett - NYC - 40
2 Kirkland & Ellis - NYC - 20
3 Cleary Gottlieb - NYC - 40
4 Weil - NYC - 60
5 Paul Weiss - NYC - 40
6 Sidley - NYC - 20
7 Jones Day - NYC - 20
8 White & Case - NYC - 20
9 Ropes & Gray - NYC - 40
10 Wilmerhale - NYC - 20
11 Paul Hastings - NYC - 20
12 O'Melveny & Myers - NYC - 60
13 Clifford Chance - NYC - 20
14 Baker & McKenzie - NYC - 29
15 Proskauer - NYC - 20
16 Hogan Lovells - NYC - 20
17 Mayer Brown - NYC - 20
18 Cooley - NYC - 40
19 Shearman & Sterling - NYC - 40
20 Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft - NYC - 40
21 K&L Gates - CHI - 20
22 Allen & Overy - NYC - 20
23 Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy - NYC - 40
24 Morgan Lewis Bockius - CHI - 20
25 freshfields bruckhaus deringer - NYC - 20
26 Cahill Gordon & Reindel - NYC - 20
27 Greenberg Traurig - MIA - 10
28 Willkie Farr & Gallagher - NYC - 40
29 Winston & Strawn - CHI - 60
30 Jenner & Block - CHI - 60
31 McDermott Will & Emery - CHI - 80
32 Holland & Knight - CHI - 20
33 Kaye Scholer - NYC - 20
34 Foley & Lardner - CHI - 20
35 Schulte Roth & Zabel - NYC - 20
36 Locke Lord - CHI - 20
37 Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson - NYC- 40
38 Seward & Kissell - NYC - 20
39 Quarles & Brady - CHI - 20
40 Taft Stettinius & Hollister - CHI - 9

[gatorade_potato]

Hi everyone - please share advice/suggestions/concerns:

About me: URM, 3.4
NYC preference, Chicago secondary
Mostly interested in litigation but not completely ruling out transactional


The format of my list is (bid rank) (firm name) (location) (interview spots).

1 Simpson Thacher & Bartlett - NYC - 40
2 Kirkland & Ellis - NYC - 20
3 Cleary Gottlieb - NYC - 40
4 Weil - NYC - 60
5 Paul Weiss - NYC - 40
6 Sidley - NYC - 20
7 Jones Day - NYC - 20
8 White & Case - NYC - 20
9 Ropes & Gray - NYC - 40
10 Wilmerhale - NYC - 20
11 Paul Hastings - NYC - 20
12 O'Melveny & Myers - NYC - 60
13 Clifford Chance - NYC - 20
14 Baker & McKenzie - NYC - 29
15 Proskauer - NYC - 20
16 Hogan Lovells - NYC - 20
17 Mayer Brown - NYC - 20
18 Cooley - NYC - 40
19 Shearman & Sterling - NYC - 40
20 Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft - NYC - 40
21 K&L Gates - CHI - 20
22 Allen & Overy - NYC - 20
23 Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy - NYC - 40
24 Morgan Lewis Bockius - CHI - 20
25 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer - NYC - 20
26 Cahill Gordon & Reindel - NYC - 20
27 Greenberg Traurig - MIA - 10
28 Willkie Farr & Gallagher - NYC - 40
29 Winston & Strawn - CHI - 60
30 Jenner & Block - CHI - 60
31 McDermott Will & Emery - CHI - 80
32 Holland & Knight - CHI - 20
33 Kaye Scholer - NYC - 20
34 Foley & Lardner - CHI - 20
35 Schulte Roth & Zabel - NYC - 20
36 Locke Lord - CHI - 20
37 Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson - NYC- 40
38 Seward & Kissell - NYC - 20
39 Quarles & Brady - CHI - 20
40 Taft Stettinius & Hollister - CHI - 9

I am much more familiar with Chicago than NYC, but this bid list looks very risky with your GPA and career interests. People can correct me if I'm wrong, but slightly above median is simply not high enough for STB, K&E, Cleary, and PW, especially since you're leaning litigation, which is demonstrably harder to land in Chicago and NYC. With good interviewing skills, you will probably be able to land at least one of Weil, Sidley NY, Jones Day, or White & Case, but I do think you need to shore up with "safer" firms in your top 10-15. These firms include: Kaye Scholer, Allen & Overy, Cahill, Seward & Kissel, and Willkie (Baker & McKenzie is another, but I think it's okay where you currently have it).

Also, I predict that you will get zero of your Chicago bids. Foley, Jenner, and MWE definitely needed to be in your top 5-10 last year to get a screener. I would also suggest putting in some Chicago firms with lower GPA thresholds into the mix like Vedder Price and Chapman & Cutler.

I'm not trying to be harsh, but you stand a real risk of striking out with this bid list. It's not exactly fun to be conservative for OCI (trust me, I know) and miss out on the fancy, "prestigious" firms, but the point of OCI is to get a job: as it stands now, that looks a little precarious for you.

[Anonymous User]

I appreciate your help. Not too harsh - I want to improve this thing. What about this? Any recommendations for placement of the last four firms?

1. Cleary Gottlieb - NYC – 40
2. Weil - NYC – 60
3. Jenner & Block - CHI – 60Foley & Lardner - CHI – 20
4. Sidley - NYC – 20
5. Jones Day - NYC – 20
6. White & Case - NYC – 20
7. Paul Weiss - NYC – 40
8. Ropes & Gray - NYC – 40
9. Wilmerhale - NYC – 20
10. Paul Hastings - NYC - 20
11. O'Melveny & Myers - NYC – 60
12. Allen & Overy - NYC – 20
13. Cahill Gordon & Reindel - NYC – 20
14. McDermott Will & Emery - CHI – 80
15. Seward & Kissell - NYC – 20
16. Clifford Chance - NYC - 20
17. Baker & McKenzie - NYC – 29
18. Proskauer - NYC – 20
19. Hogan Lovells - NYC – 20
20. Mayer Brown - NYC – 20
21. Cooley - NYC – 40
22. Shearman & Sterling - NYC – 40
23. Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft - NYC – 40
24. K&L Gates - CHI – 20
25. Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy - NYC – 40
26. Morgan Lewis Bockius - CHI – 20
27. freshfields bruckhaus deringer - NYC – 20
28. Greenberg Traurig - MIA – 10
29. Winston & Strawn - CHI – 60
30. Holland & Knight - CHI – 20
31. Kaye Scholer - NYC – 20
32. Schulte Roth & Zabel - NYC – 20
33. Locke Lord - CHI – 20
34. Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson - NYC- 40
35. Quarles & Brady - CHI – 20
36. Taft Stettinius & Hollister - CHI – 9
Vedder Price – CHI - 20
Chapman Cutler – CHI – 20
Bryan Cave – CHI - 20
Drinker Biddle & Reath – CHI - 20

[Anonymous User]

Again: URM, 3.4
NYC preference, Chicago secondary
Mostly interested in litigation but not completely ruling out transactional

I appreciate your help. Not too harsh - I want to improve this thing. What about this? Any recommendations for placement of the last four firms?

1. Cleary Gottlieb - NYC – 40
2. Weil - NYC – 60
3. Jenner & Block - CHI – 60Foley & Lardner - CHI – 20
4. Sidley - NYC – 20
5. Jones Day - NYC – 20
6. White & Case - NYC – 20
7. Paul Weiss - NYC – 40
8. Ropes & Gray - NYC – 40
9. Wilmerhale - NYC – 20
10. Paul Hastings - NYC - 20
11. O'Melveny & Myers - NYC – 60
12. Allen & Overy - NYC – 20
13. Cahill Gordon & Reindel - NYC – 20
14. McDermott Will & Emery - CHI – 80
15. Seward & Kissell - NYC – 20
16. Clifford Chance - NYC - 20
17. Baker & McKenzie - NYC – 29
18. Proskauer - NYC – 20
19. Hogan Lovells - NYC – 20
20. Mayer Brown - NYC – 20
21. Cooley - NYC – 40
22. Shearman & Sterling - NYC – 40
23. Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft - NYC – 40
24. K&L Gates - CHI – 20
25. Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy - NYC – 40
26. Morgan Lewis Bockius - CHI – 20
27. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer - NYC – 20
28. Greenberg Traurig - MIA – 10
29. Winston & Strawn - CHI – 60
30. Holland & Knight - CHI – 20
31. Kaye Scholer - NYC – 20
32. Schulte Roth & Zabel - NYC – 20
33. Locke Lord - CHI – 20
34. Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson - NYC- 40
35. Quarles & Brady - CHI – 20
36. Taft Stettinius & Hollister - CHI – 9
Vedder Price – CHI - 20
Chapman Cutler – CHI – 20
Bryan Cave – CHI - 20
Drinker Biddle & Reath – CHI - 20

[cookiejar1]

Houston, here are my imperfect opinions.

I've crossed out firms that I am confident that you won't get. Firms that I'm worried about are in red. Firms that are green can probably be moved down a few spots. I only looked at your bid list up to #20 as anything after #20 is more or less bonus anyways.

I think your Houston offices can probably go lower, maybe between #15-20. Look through the older threads and see if you can gauge where the Houston offices went. Is Baker Botts not coming to OCI? If you were ballsy, you can try putting in all your Houston firms at #20-25. But who knows maybe Houston is a HOT market these days. Also, you should consider bidding on Weil (either their NYC or Texas offices). Paul, Weiss is another NYC firm that I would consider (top litigation practice and their corp. is no slouch either).

I don't have experience going through OCI as a transfer and I have no idea how your GPA will translate to NU's OCI. However, I think that this list would be somewhat aggressive for a NU student with a 3.65 (1/3rd). There are a lot of historically selective firms on this list but, especially with Houston as a backup, I don't think this is entirely in strike out territory. With that being said, us soon to be lawyers are notorious for being risk adverse and so let's get in the habit of doing so right now. If I were you, I'd focus on peppering in some "safety" firms into your line up . . . choose some firms like: Fried Frank, Milbank, White & Case (NY) or Cahill (either would require a top, top bid), Weil, the other magic circles (Clifford Chance, Linklaters, Freshfields), and the Schulte + Seward & Kissel combo. I no longer have the GPA data so I might be missing out on some obvious candidates too (something like: Kirkland/Mayer Brown/Sidley NYC offices; Kaye Scholer's NYC office; an up and comer like WilmerHale's NYC office) so obviously exercise your best judgment here. Obviously fitting all of these into your bid list will be tough and so you have some hard choices to make right now:

(1) Drop your Houston firms as low as you safely can. Does that mean #21-25 or #16-20? Some gut calls needed here.
(2) Replace some selective firms with less selective firms. Yes, you'll give up an opportunity with a firm that you might love but the harder the swing the higher the risk. Jenner, Kirkland (Chi), Sidley (Chi), Mayer (Chi) (although this data might be suspect), Cleary (NYC) and Simpson (NYC) historically have had pretty high GPA medians. Choose your favorites and replace them with the firms I mentioned above if you want to play it safe.

1. Jenner & Block (Chicago) 60
2. Kirkland & Ellis (Chicago) 80
3. Sidley Austin (Chicago) 80
4. Mayer Brown (Chicago) 60
5. Latham Watkins (Chicago) 76
6. Winston & Strawn (Chicago) 60
7. Shearman Sterling (NYC) 40
8. Ropes & Gray (NYC) 40
9. Cleary Gottlieb (NYC) 40
10. Simpson Thacher (NYC) 40
11. Cadwalader (NYC) 40
12. Wilkie Farr (NYC) 40
13. Kirkland & Ellis (Houston) 20
14. Sidley Austin (Houston) 20
15. Holland & Knight (Chicago) 20
16. Proskauer (NYC) 20
17. Allen & Overy (NYC) 20
18. Katten Muchin (Chicago) 40
19. Paul Hastings (Houston) 20
20. Jones Day (Chicago) 40

[Anonymous User]

I am a transfer student from a T-20 and I'm outside top third at my old school. I'm bidding exclusively on NY because it seems that there are more jobs in that market. Please give your advice on this bid list! Towards the end of the list I just threw in random firms because I really don't know which ones I should bid on. Thanks!

1 White & Case NY
2 Sherman & Sterling NY
3 Allen & Overy NY
4 Baker & McKenzie NY
5 Schulte Roth NY
6 Ropes & Gray NY
7 Baker Botts NY
8 Winston & Strawn NY
9 Wilkie Farr NY
10 Latham Hong Kong
11 Johns Day NY
12 Paul Hastings NY
13 Cadlwalader NY
14 Cahill NY
15 Kaye Scholer NY
16 Clifford Chance NY
17 Seward & Kissel NY
18 Sidley Austin NY
19 Weil NY
20 Simpson Thacher NY
21 Fried Frank NY
22 Dentons Chi
23 Milbank Tweed Hadley NY
24 Schiff Hardin NY
25 Dechert Chi
26 Goodwin Procter NY
27 O'Melveny & Myers NY
28 Chapman & Cutler Chi
29 Foley & Lardner Chi
30 Proskauer NY
31 Dykema Chi
32 Jenner & Block Chi
33 K&L Gates Chi
34 Kirkland & Ellis Chi
35 ???
36 Vedder Price Chi
37 Thompson Coburn Chi
38 DLA Piper Chi
39 mcguirewoods Chi
40 Locke Lord Chi

[cookiejar1]

Move White & Case, Proskauer & Cahill to your top 5. Drop Cleary, Paul, Weiss and Weil to the teens. Why didn't Willkie make your bid list? Milbank + Fried, Frank need to be in your top 10. Cadwalader + Schulte should be in your teens too.

You have a lot of 20 spot NYC firms (Jones Day, Wilmerhale, Hogan, Mayer Brown, Kayle Scholer). It's going to be hard to guarantee interviews with all of them. I would take a hard look at this list: http://www.chambers-associate.com/law-f ... ng-numbers and choose the firms that you like the best (and, if you lack data, just the ones with the largest incoming class size for NYC (the link might aggregate hires for all offices so check the NALP directory).

Again: URM, 3.4
NYC preference, Chicago secondary
Mostly interested in litigation but not completely ruling out transactional

I appreciate your help. Not too harsh - I want to improve this thing. What about this? Any recommendations for placement of the last four firms?

1. Cleary Gottlieb - NYC – 40
2. Weil - NYC – 60
3. Jenner & Block - CHI – 60Foley & Lardner - CHI – 20
4. Sidley - NYC – 20
5. Jones Day - NYC – 20
6. White & Case - NYC – 20
7. Paul Weiss - NYC – 40
8. Ropes & Gray - NYC – 40
9. Wilmerhale - NYC – 20
10. Paul Hastings - NYC - 20
11. O'Melveny & Myers - NYC – 60
12. Allen & Overy - NYC – 20
13. Cahill Gordon & Reindel - NYC – 20
14. McDermott Will & Emery - CHI – 80
15. Seward & Kissell - NYC – 20
16. Clifford Chance - NYC - 20
17. Baker & McKenzie - NYC – 29
18. Proskauer - NYC – 20
19. Hogan Lovells - NYC – 20
20. Mayer Brown - NYC – 20
21. Cooley - NYC – 40
22. Shearman & Sterling - NYC – 40
23. Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft - NYC – 40
24. K&L Gates - CHI – 20
25. Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy - NYC – 40
26. Morgan Lewis Bockius - CHI – 20
27. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer - NYC – 20
28. Greenberg Traurig - MIA – 10
29. Winston & Strawn - CHI – 60
30. Holland & Knight - CHI – 20
31. Kaye Scholer - NYC – 20
32. Schulte Roth & Zabel - NYC – 20
33. Locke Lord - CHI – 20
34. Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson - NYC- 40
35. Quarles & Brady - CHI – 20
36. Taft Stettinius & Hollister - CHI – 9
Vedder Price – CHI - 20
Chapman Cutler – CHI – 20
Bryan Cave – CHI - 20
Drinker Biddle & Reath – CHI - 20

[cookiejar1]

You did well with this list. Some tweaks: I think Cahill/Proskauer needs to go in the top 8. I think Baker Botts NY is really high at 7. I think you should consider swapping Milbank + Fried Frank with one of your other top bids (in another post I recommended checking summer class sizes on NALP directory. Milbank will take 50+ summers. Baker Botts NYC will take 9. This should be a factor in addition to how "expensive" the firm will be when ranking your bid list). Latham Hong Kong at 10 seems high unless they have a tiny amount of interview slots (9?).

You have Shearman at 2, A&O at 3, and Latham Hong Kong. Do you have international experience? If so, then try to snag an interview with Cleary and try to wow them. If you have connections to HK, Mayer Brown actually has the largest foreign presence in that market. Also, why is A&O #3? Surprising pick out of the magic circles. Talk to someone who works at CC, Freshfields or Linklaters and get their thoughts on the strength of the magic circles' American outposts.

I am a transfer student from a T-20 and I'm outside top third at my old school. I'm bidding exclusively on NY because it seems that there are more jobs in that market. Please give your advice on this bid list! Towards the end of the list I just threw in random firms because I really don't know which ones I should bid on. Thanks!

1 White & Case NY
2 Sherman & Sterling NY
3 Allen & Overy NY
4 Baker & McKenzie NY
5 Schulte Roth NY
6 Ropes & Gray NY
7 Baker Botts NY
8 Winston & Strawn NY
9 Wilkie Farr NY
10 Latham Hong Kong
11 Johns Day NY
12 Paul Hastings NY
13 Cadlwalader NY
14 Cahill NY
15 Kaye Scholer NY
16 Clifford Chance NY
17 Seward & Kissel NY
18 Sidley Austin NY
19 Weil NY
20 Simpson Thacher NY
21 Fried Frank NY
22 Dentons Chi
23 Milbank Tweed Hadley NY
24 Schiff Hardin NY
25 Dechert Chi
26 Goodwin Procter NY
27 O'Melveny & Myers NY
28 Chapman & Cutler Chi
29 Foley & Lardner Chi
30 Proskauer NY
31 Dykema Chi
32 Jenner & Block Chi
33 K&L Gates Chi
34 Kirkland & Ellis Chi
35 ???
36 Vedder Price Chi
37 Thompson Coburn Chi
38 DLA Piper Chi
39 McGuirewoods Chi
40 Locke Lord Chi

[star fox]

I appreciate your help. Not too harsh - I want to improve this thing. What about this? Any recommendations for placement of the last four firms?

1. Cleary Gottlieb - NYC – 40
2. Weil - NYC – 60
3. Jenner & Block - CHI – 60Foley & Lardner - CHI – 20
4. Sidley - NYC – 20
5. Jones Day - NYC – 20
6. White & Case - NYC – 20
7. Paul Weiss - NYC – 40
8. Ropes & Gray - NYC – 40
9. Wilmerhale - NYC – 20
10. Paul Hastings - NYC - 20
11. O'Melveny & Myers - NYC – 60
12. Allen & Overy - NYC – 20
13. Cahill Gordon & Reindel - NYC – 20
14. McDermott Will & Emery - CHI – 80
15. Seward & Kissell - NYC – 20
16. Clifford Chance - NYC - 20
17. Baker & McKenzie - NYC – 29
18. Proskauer - NYC – 20
19. Hogan Lovells - NYC – 20
20. Mayer Brown - NYC – 20
21. Cooley - NYC – 40
22. Shearman & Sterling - NYC – 40
23. Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft - NYC – 40
24. K&L Gates - CHI – 20
25. Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy - NYC – 40
26. Morgan Lewis Bockius - CHI – 20
27. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer - NYC – 20
28. Greenberg Traurig - MIA – 10
29. Winston & Strawn - CHI – 60
30. Holland & Knight - CHI – 20
31. Kaye Scholer - NYC – 20
32. Schulte Roth & Zabel - NYC – 20
33. Locke Lord - CHI – 20
34. Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson - NYC- 40
35. Quarles & Brady - CHI – 20
36. Taft Stettinius & Hollister - CHI – 9
Vedder Price – CHI - 20
Chapman Cutler – CHI – 20
Bryan Cave – CHI - 20
Drinker Biddle & Reath – CHI - 20

If you are going to split chi and ny then you should put the chi firms at the top. Cleary for instance can easily be gotten outside your top 10.

[star fox]

And just to follow up on the post cookiejar just made, a firm like baker botts NY was doing open sign ups during the second week of OCI last year, you can bid them pretty low and comfortably get an interview.

[Anonymous User]

A note on firms like Baker, DLA, Katten, Reed Smith, Dentons, Lock Lord, Seyfarth, etc, etc, etc on your list. You're definitely not going to get them where they're ranked now. These firms are highly competitive in the sense that most students at the school will be bidding on them (our school's natural inclination towards Chicago + the firms' friendly GPA cut-offs). If you want them, you'll have to choose a few of your favorites and put them in your top #8.

If I were you, I'd drop all of them.

Thanks for the reality check. I'm pretty obstinate about wanting to land in Chicago (family reasons), but if I won't get bids at all as things now stand there's no reason to waste those bids. Thanks. I'll post an update later.

[star fox]

A note on firms like Baker, DLA, Katten, Reed Smith, Dentons, Lock Lord, Seyfarth, etc, etc, etc on your list. You're definitely not going to get them where they're ranked now. These firms are highly competitive in the sense that most students at the school will be bidding on them (our school's natural inclination towards Chicago + the firms' friendly GPA cut-offs). If you want them, you'll have to choose a few of your favorites and put them in your top #8.

If I were you, I'd drop all of them.

Thanks for the reality check. I'm pretty obstinate about wanting to land in Chicago (family reasons), but if I won't get bids at all as things now stand there's no reason to waste those bids. Thanks. I'll post an update later.

You can throw some token bids really late just because the firm can see if you bid but didn't get an interview. Could be useful when stopping by hospitality suites or contacting recruiters.

[Anonymous User]

Is there a general rule for someone bidding more on New York, but hoping to get a few D.C./LA interviews? I'm interested in Litigation and my GPA is 3.8-3.9. I've been working off the Chambers and Partners bands - should I rank the D.C. LA offices higher than the New York offices?

[star fox]

Is there a general rule for someone bidding more on New York, but hoping to get a few D.C./LA interviews? I'm interested in Litigation and my GPA is 3.8-3.9. I've been working off the Chambers and Partners bands - should I rank the D.C. LA offices higher than the New York offices?

New York is going to be more popular than either.

[Anonymous User]

Is there a general rule for someone bidding more on New York, but hoping to get a few D.C./LA interviews? I'm interested in Litigation and my GPA is 3.8-3.9. I've been working off the Chambers and Partners bands - should I rank the D.C. LA offices higher than the New York offices?

I had your credentials when I went through OCI in Summer '14. Here is my bid list to the extent that it may help you. I targeted CA/NYC mostly. In hindsight, I got too cute and missed out on STB & S&C when I shouldn't have (if I were to redo my list I'd get rid of Debevoise & Schulte to bump them up — but was worried about being risk adverse). Note how low I got some DC firms — was pretty surprised by that. I overbid Irell b/c I really wanted them (pre-hueston hennigan) and I don't think MTO even came to our OCI (mass mail them ASAP or once you get journal notification).

01 KIRKLAND & ELLIS LLP (Chicago)
02 sidley austin llp (Chicago)
03 MORRISON & FOERSTER LLP (SF)
04 GIBSON DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP (LA)
05 FENWICK & WEST LLP (SV)
06 WILSON SONSINI GOODRICH & ROSATI (PA)
07 IRELL & MANELLA LLP (LA)
08 LATHAM & WATKINS LLP (LA)
09 CRAVATH SWAINE & MOORE LLP (NY)
10 WEIL GOTSHAL & MANGES LLP (NY)
11 CLIFFORD CHANCE US LLP (NY)
12 Gunderson Dettmer STOUGH VILLENEUVE FRANKLIN & HACHIGIAN LLP (SV)
13 DAVIS POLK & WARDWELL (NY)
14 DEBEVOISE & PLIMPTON LLP (NY)
15 SCHULTE ROTH & ZABEL LLP (NY)
16 O'MELVENY & MYERS LLP (LA)
17 CAHILL GORDON & REINDEL (NY)
18 SIMPSON THACHER & bartlett llp (NY)
19 CLEARY GOTTLIEB STEEN & HAMILTON LLP (NY)
20 SULLIVAN & CROMWELL LLP (NY)
21 BOIES SCHILLER & FLEXNER LLP (NY)
22 PAUL WEISS RIFKIND WHARTON & GARRISON LLP (NY)
23 BARACK FERRAZZANO KIRSCHBAUM & NAGELBERG LLP (Chicago)
24 GRIPPO & ELDEN LLC (Chicago)
25 MILBANK TWEED HADLEY & MCCLOY LLP (NY)
26 CADWALADER WICKERSHAM & TAFT LLP (NY)
27 PROSKAUER (LA)
28 PAUL HASTINGS (LA)
29 goodwin procter llp (??)
30 COVINGTON & BURLING (DC)
31 WILLIAMS & CONNOLLY LLP (DC)
32 WILMERHALE (DC)
33 WILLKIE FARR & GALLAGHER LLP (NY)
34 FRIED FRANK HARRIS SHRIVER & JACOBSON LLP (NY)
35 VINSON & ELKINS LLP (Dallas)
36 BAKER BOTTS LLP (Dallas)
37 EDELSON LLC (Chicago)

[Anonymous User]

Move White & Case, Proskauer & Cahill to your top 5. Drop Cleary, Paul, Weiss and Weil to the teens. Why didn't Willkie make your bid list? Milbank + Fried, Frank need to be in your top 10. Cadwalader + Schulte should be in your teens too.

You have a lot of 20 spot NYC firms (Jones Day, Wilmerhale, Hogan, Mayer Brown, Kayle Scholer). It's going to be hard to guarantee interviews with all of them. I would take a hard look at this list: http://www.chambers-associate.com/law-f ... ng-numbers and choose the firms that you like the best (and, if you lack data, just the ones with the largest incoming class size for NYC (the link might aggregate hires for all offices so check the NALP directory).

Again: URM, 3.4
NYC preference, Chicago secondary
Mostly interested in litigation but not completely ruling out transactional

Updated list (please help):

1. Sidley - NYC – 20
2. Cahill Gordon & Reindel - NYC – 20
3. Proskauer - NYC – 20
4. Jones Day - NYC – 20 (17 summers)
5. White & Case - NYC – 20
6. Jenner & Block - CHI – 60
7. Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy - NYC – 40
8. Kaye Scholer - NYC – 20 (14 summers)
9. hogan lovells - NYC – 20 (11 summers)
10. Willkie Farr – NYC – 40 (66 summers)
11. Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson - NYC- 40
12. Ropes & Gray - NYC – 40
13. Allen & Overy - NYC – 20
14. Wilmerhale - NYC – 20
15. Baker & McKenzie - NYC – 29
16. Paul Hastings - NYC - 20
17. Schulte Roth & Zabel - NYC – 20
18. Paul Weiss - NYC – 40
19. Cleary Gottlieb - NYC – 40
20. Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft - NYC – 40
21. Seward & Kissell - NYC – 20
22. O'Melveny & Myers - NYC – 60
23. Weil - NYC – 60
24. McDermott Will & Emery - CHI – 80
25. Clifford Chance - NYC - 20
26. Cooley - NYC – 40
27. Shearman & Sterling - NYC – 40
28. K&L Gates - CHI – 20
29. Morgan Lewis Bockius - CHI – 20
30. freshfields bruckhaus deringer - NYC – 20
31. Greenberg Traurig - MIA – 10
32. Winston & Strawn - CHI – 60
33. Holland & Knight - CHI – 20
34. Locke Lord - CHI – 20
35. Quarles & Brady - CHI – 20
36. Taft Stettinius & Hollister - CHI – 9
37. Vedder Price – CHI - 20
38. Baker Botts – NYC
39. Mayer Brown - NYC – 20 (will get callback if bid)
40. Foley & Lardner - CHI – 20 (can get callback if bid)

[Anonymous User]

Want Chicago litigation. 3.9. I have strong ties here, to DC, and to Houston. My strategy is also shaped by the upcoming screeners I have through TLC and offers received in non-Chicago major markets. I really don't want to miss out on my top Chicago firms, Wilmerhale and W&C in DC, or the two Houston firms. ETA: I'm not bidding NYC because I can't work there.

1 KIRKLAND & ELLIS  Chicago
2 SIDLEY AUSTIN  Chicago
3 MAYER BROWN Chicago
4 WINSTON & STRAWN Chicago
5 JENNER & BLOCK  Chicago
6 JONES DAY  Chicago
7 EIMER STAHL Chicago
8 SKADDEN  Chicago
9 LATHAM & WATKINS Chicago
10 MCDERMOTT WILL & EMERY Chicago
11 DLA PIPER  Chicago
12 BAKER & MCKENZIE Chicago
13 BARACK FERRAZZANO KIRSCHBAUM & NAGELBERG Chicago
14 BAKER BOTTS LLP  Houston
15 VINSON & ELKINS LLP Houston
16 O'MELVENY & MYERS DC
17 STEPTOE JOHNSON DC
18 HOGAN LOVELLS DC
19 WILMERHALE DC
20 COVINGTON & BURLING DC
21 WILLIAMS & CONNOLLY DC
22 GREENBERG TRAURIG Chicago
23 ROPES & GRAY LLP  Chicago
24 KATTEN MUCHIN ROSENMAN Chicago
25 FOLEY & LARDNER Chicago
26 SCHIFF HARDIN Chicago
27 mcguirewoods Chicago
28 LOCKE LORD Chicago
29 PAUL HASTINGS Chicago
30 DENTONS Chicago
31 VEDDER PRICE Chicago
32 SEYFARTH SHAW Chicago
33 CHAPMAN & CUTLER Chicago

[Anonymous User]

3.9 anon from above. I haven't massmailed the following non-Chicago, non-exclusively NYC V100 firms that will not be at OCI (I can't work in NY) - should I do so now or should I wait until after OCI?

Linklaters
King Spalding
Haynes and Boone
Crowell Moring
Chadbourne Parke
Hunton and Williams
Fenwick
Venable
Arent Fox
squire patton boggs
Hughes Hubbard
Kramer
Bracewell
Mintz Levin
Patterson Belknap
Haynes and Boone
Blank Rome