Top Law Schools

I've heard that different offices have different reputations and can have different hiring criteria. How true is this? Are offices that aren't the firm's headquarters less prestigious/selective than the firm's main office?

I'm particularly asking for firms in the V10-V25 range. I'm top 5-10% at a T20 and I'm only going to bid on NYC offices. While I would love to work for a Simpson/Cleary/Weil type firm, they're probably a little out of my reach. But, most firms in the V10-V25 range aren't HQed in NY.

Is Covington/Arnold and Porter NY easier to get than Covington/Arnold and Porter DC?
Kirkland/Sidely NY easier than Kirkland/Sidely Chicago?
Ropes NY easier than Ropes Boston?

At one school, I have the following data for Kirkland:

LA is easiest (decently above median GPA required historicallu), then NY (about .05 higher), then DC ~= Chicago (substantially higher GPAs than NY).

This is going to vary substantially from firm to firm. Some firms have tiny, tiny branch offices and others have huge ones. It also depends on the connection to your law school. Career services will have more info.

In general, NYC is easier and DC branches are always harder to get. But those are just generalizations. But any given person will always have best luck applying to a reasonably sized office to which they have ties.