Most competitive CA firms? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Which firms/offices in California, and specifically Los Angeles, are generally regarded as the most competitive based on grades?

I would guess Munger leads the list. But which other firms essentially require YHS, T6 top 25%, or T14 LR? And where do Irell, QE, Latham, OMM, GDC, etc. fall?

[imchuckbass58]

So, take this with a grain of salt because I have don't OCI yet, but my understanding is as far as general selectivity goes:

Munger>Irell>>>>Latham=GDC>>Quinn Emmanuel>OMM>>>>>>>>>>everyone else (Shephard Mullin, Mannatt Phelps, etc.)

There are some weird dynamics, like Irell and Quinn are pretty much exclusively lit shops, so if your resume/transcript reads corporate they might not want you even with great grades. Irell is also really heavy on IP lit so I bet a technical background would help.

There's also practice group/office differences. GDC has a great appellate lit practice, but I imagine getting into that would be much, much harder than other practice area at the firm.

I don't know where firms based elsewhere with big LA offices fit in. I know Sidley and Skadden have pretty big LA offices. Skadden probably fits in near Latham/GDC, while Sidley might be somewhere slightly below. Not sure though.

[Anonymous User]

So, take this with a grain of salt because I have don't OCI yet, but my understanding is as far as general selectivity goes:

Munger>Irell>>>>Latham=GDC>>Quinn Emmanuel>OMM>>>>>>>>>>everyone else (Shephard Mullin, Mannatt Phelps, etc.)

There are some weird dynamics, like Irell and Quinn are pretty much exclusively lit shops, so if your resume/transcript reads corporate they might not want you even with great grades. Irell is also really heavy on IP lit so I bet a technical background would help.

There's also practice group/office differences. GDC has a great appellate lit practice, but I imagine getting into that would be much, much harder than other practice area at the firm.

I don't know where firms based elsewhere with big LA offices fit in. I know Sidley and Skadden have pretty big LA offices. Skadden probably fits in near Latham/GDC, while Sidley might be somewhere slightly below. Not sure though.

Munger is the most selective, but after that it probably looks like Gibson Dunn >>> Irell/QE > Latham. Skadden was particularly selective in LA this year, but GDC/Irell/QE can normally be seen as peers in terms of selectivity.

[Anonymous User]

Munger Tolles and Irell are the most prestigious generally. If you are talking about SF in addition to SoCal, Altshuler Berzon is the cream of the crop.