Top Law Schools

Allen & Overy
Cadwalader
Cahill
Chadbourne
clifford chance
Dechert
Dewey
Fried Frank
Gibson Dunn
Jones Day
Latham
Linklaters
Mayer Brown
Milbank
OMM
Paul Hastings
Paul Weiss
Proskauer
Shearman & Sterling
Sidley
STB
Skadden
Weil Gotshal
White & Case
Willkie

Don't work at White and Case unless you're packing heat...

Could you clarify what you mean by safe/dangerous?

Safest on this list: I have a friend going to Gibson Dunn DC in the fall. He has indicated that it is doing (relatively) very well. Jones Day proclaims that it is doing well.

Dangerous: White & Case, on the other hand, is "most dangerous." It has had a lot of partner defections and doesn't seem to be on the upswing. Paul Hastings made all their summers compete in a writing competition this summer, which sounds dangerous to me. Dechert no-offered at least half of their summers last year, although who knows what they'll do with their current summers.

I don't know about the others.

I think the question you meant to ask is "Which firms are less dangerous than others?"
With stories of Top 5% at T-14s getting no-offered, I'm not sure much of anything is safe (even public interest jobs are swamped lol)

...

Most dangerous:
Bendini, Lambert and Locke (Memphis)

dood wrote:DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!

\

felt compelled to quote the only part of your post anyone should pay attention to (just in case people can't pick up on the dripping sarcasm that i can only hope laced your "ranking")

deadpanic wrote:Most dangerous:
Bendini, Lambert and Locke (Memphis)

TITCR!!!!!!!!!!! Love it.

deadpanic wrote:Most dangerous:
Bendini, Lambert and Locke (Memphis)

I heard they've been closed for some time now.

The safest firms are probably W&C and Covington. Covington in particular seems amusingly bullet proof ITE. In general, there's been a 'cream rising to the top' effect at many law firms, so higher vault / chambers / whatever ranked firms in your practice area/market will be more likely safe.

Here's a tip: We are entering a world of new government regulation. Big law firms with regulatory and lobbying practices are going to get long term work in insurance, health care, and financial services reform markets. I know several attorneys and am currently working for a law firm in that area, and it's hilariously counter-cyclical. More work than can be done, new clients coming in at a steady pace, etc.

What's hard is predicting who isn't safe based on past occurrences. Yeah, Latham fired 400 people. But they're done firing, so maybe it's OK now? What's more interesting is: WHY did Latham fire 400 people? Hint: aggresive and dramatic expansion into NYC. Heller Ehrman collapsed. Obviously you won't work there since it no longer exists - but what dragged it under? Hint: it has a lot to do with the reason people are cautioning you about White & Case ITT.

Sadly, the safest firm may be the one that gives you an offer. Many people will only have 1-2 offers, so your research might be best focused on what firms you can actually get hired at for the summer before you focus on what firms are likely to not lay you off 30 minutes into your first day.

Not safe: Cadwalader, Proskauer, White & Case. They started doing layoffs even before ITE really hit.
Also not safe: Latham. Because you'll get Lathamed.
Also not safe: Dechert. Just as I understand it.

Relatively safe: Skadden (kept market bonuses when everyone else dropped them), Weil (all that bankruptcy work), Jones Day (by all reports).

...

dood wrote:SAFE:
Cadwalader
Clifford Chance
Gibson Dunn
Shearman & Sterling
Skadden
Weil Gotshal

NOT SAFE:
Jones Day
Mayer Brown
Paul Hastings
White & Case

Not sure about others. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!

REALLY?! How can you call Cadawalader safe or Shearman safe and then say that Jones Day is not?!

.

NYAssociate wrote:Dood doesn't know what he's talking about.

Re: Covington; how is the firm "bullet proof" when their HQ salaries are still frozen. Other offices were too, but they've since done raises.

No deferrals, nearly consistent (large) summer class sizes 08, 09, and '10. I challenge you to show me ANY other firm that can say that. Wachtell may be the only one. Even W&C reduced class size by a large amount for summer 2010. A few dollars and cents on the margin mean much less than getting a job to those of us entering the work force.

Edit: I just checked, W&C and Wachtell both reduced their (already small) summer class sizes by a greater percentage than Covington.

dood wrote:

doyleoil wrote:

dood wrote:DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!

\

felt compelled to quote the only part of your post anyone should pay attention to (just in case people can't pick up on the dripping sarcasm that i can only hope laced your "ranking")

wut ranking? its in alphabetical order, just as OP posted.

I think the placement of Cadwalader and Jones Day should have been switched.

steve_nash wrote:Safest on this list: I have a friend going to Gibson Dunn DC in the fall. He has indicated that it is doing (relatively) very well. Jones Day proclaims that it is doing well.

Dangerous: White & Case, on the other hand, is "most dangerous." It has had a lot of partner defections and doesn't seem to be on the upswing. Paul Hastings made all their summers compete in a writing competition this summer, which sounds dangerous to me. Dechert no-offered at least half of their summers last year, although who knows what they'll do with their current summers.

I don't know about the others.

fuck. really? fuck.

.

let/them/eat/cake wrote:

steve_nash wrote:Safest on this list: I have a friend going to Gibson Dunn DC in the fall. He has indicated that it is doing (relatively) very well. Jones Day proclaims that it is doing well.

Dangerous: White & Case, on the other hand, is "most dangerous." It has had a lot of partner defections and doesn't seem to be on the upswing. Paul Hastings made all their summers compete in a writing competition this summer, which sounds dangerous to me. Dechert no-offered at least half of their summers last year, although who knows what they'll do with their current summers.

I don't know about the others.

fuck. really? fuck.

Wow. Just, wow. (to the writing contest.....not that the Dechert no-offers is any better)

NYAssociate wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

NYAssociate wrote:Dood doesn't know what he's talking about.

Re: Covington; how is the firm "bullet proof" when their HQ salaries are still frozen. Other offices were too, but they've since done raises.

No deferrals, nearly consistent (large) summer class sizes 08, 09, and '10. I challenge you to show me ANY other firm that can say that. Wachtell may be the only one. Even W&C reduced class size by a large amount for summer 2010. A few dollars and cents on the margin mean much less than getting a job to those of us entering the work force.


Edit: I just checked, W&C and Wachtell both reduced their (already small) summer class sizes by a greater percentage than Covington.

You used the term "bulletproof." Salary freeze does not imply bulletproof. And while that might not mean much to you, it sure as hell means a lot to associates working there. Did you even see their 2009 financials?

Just be quiet.

Every other law firm that I have heard of deferred associates and/or slashed summer class sizes ITE. Every single one. 100%. Can you really refute that Covington stands out in that context? If not be bulletproof, how about least-bullet-vulnerable-as-compared-to-every-other-law-firm-in-the-nation?

deadpanic wrote:Most dangerous:
Bendini, Lambert and Locke (Memphis)

I would also stay away from Milton, Chadwick and Waters.

IzziesGal wrote:

let/them/eat/cake wrote:

steve_nash wrote:Safest on this list: I have a friend going to Gibson Dunn DC in the fall. He has indicated that it is doing (relatively) very well. Jones Day proclaims that it is doing well.

Dangerous: White & Case, on the other hand, is "most dangerous." It has had a lot of partner defections and doesn't seem to be on the upswing. Paul Hastings made all their summers compete in a writing competition this summer, which sounds dangerous to me. Dechert no-offered at least half of their summers last year, although who knows what they'll do with their current summers.

I don't know about the others.

fuck. really? fuck.

Wow. Just, wow. (to the writing contest.....not that the Dechert no-offers is any better)

Clarification: I'm assuming it's nation-wide because friends in both the NY and Atlanta office had to do it.

Most dangerous: dla piper East St. Louis

romothesavior wrote:Most dangerous: DLA Piper East St. Louis

Surely some Camden, NJ or Oakland, CA firms would give this a run for its money.....

Anonymous User wrote:

NYAssociate wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

NYAssociate wrote:Dood doesn't know what he's talking about.

Re: Covington; how is the firm "bullet proof" when their HQ salaries are still frozen. Other offices were too, but they've since done raises.

No deferrals, nearly consistent (large) summer class sizes 08, 09, and '10. I challenge you to show me ANY other firm that can say that. Wachtell may be the only one. Even W&C reduced class size by a large amount for summer 2010. A few dollars and cents on the margin mean much less than getting a job to those of us entering the work force.


Edit: I just checked, W&C and Wachtell both reduced their (already small) summer class sizes by a greater percentage than Covington.

You used the term "bulletproof." Salary freeze does not imply bulletproof. And while that might not mean much to you, it sure as hell means a lot to associates working there. Did you even see their 2009 financials?

Just be quiet.

Every other law firm that I have heard of deferred associates and/or slashed summer class sizes ITE. Every single one. 100%. Can you really refute that Covington stands out in that context? If not be bulletproof, how about least-bullet-vulnerable-as-compared-to-every-other-law-firm-in-the-nation?

how about the-firm-that-we'd-take-over-the-other-firms-in-a-heartbeat? Or pretty close to that.