What big firm should I work at? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Semi-obnoxious post but I could really use some suggestions. I went to law school with no real plan except to work my ass off and get good grades. I am planning to work for a big firm immediately following school, unless I clerk for a year. Regardless, OCI is in a few months. I go a 10-20 usnwr school. I am squarely in the top 5% of my class. I want to practice in California. Areas I am considering pursuing are M&A, corporate litigation, copyright/soft IP/entertainment. Basically I would like to work with companies as opposed to banks. My other main considerations are working at a stable firm that will pay me well, and avoiding being around total douchebags/backstabbers as much as possible. I am not really concerned with firm prestige for its own sake, though of course I appreciate it for resume value.

I need to make like 50 bids this summer for interviews and the amount of firms I know the name of is more like 15.

[rando]

This post would be less obnoxious if it were posted 2 months from now when you are top 5% after 2 semesters of law school.

[Renzo]

Apparently you don't need to understand basic research skills to make it to the top of your school's curve. Have you done anything to investigate the firms that come to your schools OCI?

[2009 Prospective]

To piggy back off of OP's post, I was wondering how important it is going into OCI to know what specific practice group you're interested in besides just transactional v. litigation.

[rando]

To piggy back off of OP's post, I was wondering how important it is going into OCI to know what specific practice group you're interested in besides just transactional v. litigation.

Not important at all. But it is good to have some talking points on interests in general.

[A'nold]

Another piggy-back q: OP wants to work in CA but he/she doesn't say where his/her school is located. What if it is, say WUSTL. How should OP bid? I keep hearing that it's best to stick to one geographical reason, but that kind of freaks me out for situations like this. In this hypothetical, it seems like OP's best chance would be to apply to like St. Luis and Chicago firms instead of targeting only L.A. and San Fran. firms. In my situation, I'd love to eventually work in the NW. Say I was attending like GULC. Wouldn't it be safer to apply to D.C. firms that to put all of my eggs in one basket and apply to Seattle/Portland firms exlcusively? Thanks.

[Anonymous User]

Oh shoot, OK. Maybe I'm lame or maybe you guys are lashing out because you have no input on my question. The problem is that firms are so completely indistinguishable on their faces and I feel like I would benefit from witnessing a discussion between people who had some opinions. It would be like Yelp - unreliable but a good way to get a few impressions.

Here's where I'm at:

Gibson Dunn: good name, met some people who seemed nice, might be a little prestige-oriented for me (I don't particularly care to work with a bunch of people who judge each other based on what appellate cases they have argued)

Paul Hastings: Seems like they do boring work and are squares

Quinn Emmanuel: Successful and growing, so good chance there will be no shortage of work and good bonus potential, but litigation-only seems limiting, great reputation as far as I've heard.

Katten: Originally had a good impression because it seems like they focus on entertainment/IP but have read about salary cuts and general toilet-ness of the firm online.

Shepard-Mullin: Seems kind of second-tier. They have a entertainment-only office in LA which is interesting - would like to know more about what they do there. Partners there told me they are conservative with their investments which could be good for job security although I wouldn't mind benefiting from some fiscal irresponsibility since I don't plan to be at one firm for too long.

I'll post some more impressions if I think of them.

[Lawrence]

Another piggy-back q: OP wants to work in CA but he/she doesn't say where his/her school is located. What if it is, say WUSTL. How should OP bid? I keep hearing that it's best to stick to one geographical reason, but that kind of freaks me out for situations like this. In this hypothetical, it seems like OP's best chance would be to apply to like St. Luis and Chicago firms instead of targeting only L.A. and San Fran. firms. In my situation, I'd love to eventually work in the NW. Say I was attending like GULC. Wouldn't it be safer to apply to D.C. firms that to put all of my eggs in one basket and apply to Seattle/Portland firms exlcusively? Thanks.

I say apply all over the place. I certainly have some strong preferences of where I want to be, but in this economy I'll be happy to get a biglaw job anywhere. At my school you have 50 bids to work with and I really doubt even our home city will have 50 firms there. I plan on applying to jobs in several major markets as well as sending out resumes and cover letters all over the place. If I get an offer in the city I want to be in, great. If not I want as many back up plans as possible.

[A'nold]

OP, are you out of CA?

[ZXCVBNM]

after finals set-up a meeting with career services and they'll help you bid properly and point you in the right direction for research.

[Anonymous User]

after finals set-up a meeting with career services and they'll help you bid properly and point you in the right direction for research.

OCS = useless

[thedogship]

This post would be less obnoxious if it were posted 2 months from now when you are top 5% after 2 semesters of law school.

Completely agree. What an obnoxious thread. The kid hasn't even gotten his second semester grades and he/she's talking about going to Gibson Dunn. Pump the brakes, please. There were a number of kids my first year in the top ten percent after 1st semester that wound up at the 30% mark or worse after second semester. Some of them got shut out in OCI. Other people in the class were in the top 15% and just sucked as people and got shut out as well. Others were at the 40% mark all year and had winning personalities and will be at V10, V50, and V100 firms. I'd focus more on my exams than on if people at Paul Hastings are squares.

[rupert.pupkin]

Sagman, Bennett, Robbins, Oppenheim and Taft

[Anonymous User]

Yeah, I've been to a few. What did you find helpful about them specifically?

[sanpiero]

Sagman, Bennett, Robbins, Oppenheim and Taft

[BradyToMoss]

Without your school we can't give you much help. Feel free to let us know and we can give you some more input, but schools 10-20 can have wildly different prospects in CA.

If you're at one of the two CA schools in the 10-20 range, give me a PM and I can give you some good information.

[Anonymous User]

after finals set-up a meeting with career services and they'll help you bid properly and point you in the right direction for research.

OCS = useless

Even if you have no interest in getting advice your CSO may have useful services. Here's what they can probably provide:

* Specific information about what GPAs firms hire at. You're at the very top of your class, but others reading this thread may be in a different situation.
* Mock interviews. Practice is good, and you don't have to listen to the feedback. Some schools set up mock interviews with alumni who are practicing at firms, so it's a networking opportunity as well.
* Resume review. Again, they'll do it for free and you can opt to ignore their suggestions.

[Anonymous User]

Yeah, I've done one mock interview and am doing another this summer. I'll try to make it to more firm functions - I wonder if they hold any over the summer?

I guess what I should really do is grill my interviewers about their clients and the work that they're doing at OCI. Right now I'm just trying to get familiar with the firms - I don't like working on a complete lack of information. I'm gonna go poke around Vault now.

[Aeroplane]

after finals set-up a meeting with career services and they'll help you bid properly and point you in the right direction for research.

OCS = useless

Even if you have no interest in getting advice your CSO may have useful services. Here's what they can probably provide:

* Specific information about what GPAs firms hire at. You're at the very top of your class, but others reading this thread may be in a different situation.
* Mock interviews. Practice is good, and you don't have to listen to the feedback. Some schools set up mock interviews with alumni who are practicing at firms, so it's a networking opportunity as well.
* Resume review. Again, they'll do it for free and you can opt to ignore their suggestions.

+1. I found CSO to be very similar to my UG pre-law advisor in that respect. Not much help in the strategy (like where to apply, chances of success, etc) department, but very helpful data & great review/editing services. Get your cover letter(s) edited too.

[nealric]

Dewy, Cheatam & Howe in Boston.

I hear they are quite prestigiouf

[rayiner]

This post would be less obnoxious if it were posted 2 months from now when you are top 5% after 2 semesters of law school.

The job search sneaks up on you and it's good OP is at least thinking about his options now.

[Anonymous User]

OP should pick a firm that doesn't distinguish between the words "what" and "which"...because that could be awkward later.

[BradyToMoss]

This post would be less obnoxious if it were posted 2 months from now when you are top 5% after 2 semesters of law school.

The job search sneaks up on you and it's good OP is at least thinking about his options now.

Also agree with this. I spent a lot of time 2nd semester reading about various firms in the markets I liked, and found that many people were scrambling come OCI with questions about bid strategy, differences in firms etc. Never too early to start getting information.

[270910]

This post would be less obnoxious if it were posted 2 months from now when you are top 5% after 2 semesters of law school.

The job search sneaks up on you and it's good OP is at least thinking about his options now.

Also agree with this. I spent a lot of time 2nd semester reading about various firms in the markets I liked, and found that many people were scrambling come OCI with questions about bid strategy, differences in firms etc. Never too early to start getting information.

Credited. Team 1L should be gearing up to spend a lot of this summer learning about firms, cultures, bidding, etc. I can't imagine flying into OCI as blind as I am right now, and I've already done some leg work.

[TTT-LS]

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