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Really torn here....GDC seems to be the better firm overall in terms of associate satisfaction (free market system), job security (no layoffs), culture, prestige, etc, but Palo Alto seems kind of like a backwater...not that large of an office, and a plain vanilla corporate workflow. Plus its in a suburb.

Mofo has a great pan-asian practice, and a strong cleantech practice (both of which interest me) and is pretty dominant as the largest law firm in the SF/bay area. I know they get great work and are really well respected in SF. Plus its in the big city. But they also are suffering more ITE, laid off 50 lawyers, and did a ton of long deferrals. I liked the people on my callback more when I visited GDC.

Any input, advice, thoughts, or anecdotes would be appreciated.

Edit:Would like to do corporate work,

Anonymous User wrote:Really torn here....GDC seems to be the better firm overall in terms of associate satisfaction (free market system), job security (no layoffs), culture prestige, etc, but Palo Alto seems kind of like a backwater...not that large of an office, and a plain vanilla corporate (which is what I want to do) workflow. Plus its in a suburb.

Mofo has a great pan-asian practice, and a strong cleantech practice (both of which interest me) and is pretty dominant as the largest law firm in the SF/bay area. I know they get great work and are really well respected in SF. Plus its in the big city. But they also are suffering more ITE, laid off 50 lawyers, and did a ton of long deferrals. I liked the people on my callback more in GDC.

Any input, advice, thoughts, or anecdotes would be appreciated.

I think it's a close call -- certainly in the Bay Area I don't think Gibson PA does a lot for you in terms of prestige, if that matters, and you pointed out the issue re: difference in the quality of the work. But if you really preferred the people on your Gibson CB (especially if that's because you actually didn't like some of the people at Mofo), then I think that tips the scale in their favor.

If you want corporate and especially asia (japan ultimately; they aren't players in greater china), then take MOFO.

bump for more input

I would consider the free market system a huge downside, because it's like a race to the death.

Honestly? I'd probably go with Mofo just for that reason.

Anonymous User wrote:I would consider the free market system a huge downside, because it's like a race to the death.

Honestly? I'd probably go with Mofo just for that reason.

Everyone seems to love the system...and GDC wins the midlevel associate satisfaction survey as a result. Gives you a ton of flexibility.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I would consider the free market system a huge downside, because it's like a race to the death.

Honestly? I'd probably go with Mofo just for that reason.

Everyone seems to love the system...and GDC wins the midlevel associate satisfaction survey as a result. Gives you a ton of flexibility.

"Everyone"? It's just my opinion. If you like the system, then go with GDC. I wouldn't like it because it forces people to gun just to get work - I think there would be a lot more pressure to get high billables.

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NYAssociate wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I would consider the free market system a huge downside, because it's like a race to the death.

Honestly? I'd probably go with Mofo just for that reason.

Everyone seems to love the system...and GDC wins the midlevel associate satisfaction survey as a result. Gives you a ton of flexibility.

I never realized people actually took those things seriously...

...why wouldn't you?

I love Palo Alto, but it definitely sounds like you're more enthusiastic about MoFo. To the extent that's going to affect your happiness and the energy you put in, I'd say the choice is clear.

Curious - what do you like about palo alto?

Anonymous User wrote:Curious - what do you like about palo alto?

Oh, I'm from there. I happen to think the area's lovely--everybody talks about how nice the Bay Area is, then goes down to San Francisco to get chased down and devoured by ambling packs of fog clouds. But Paly is the real deal.

You've also got Google, Apple, etc. right there, so it's not a complete Anytown USA.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Curious - what do you like about palo alto?

Oh, I'm from there. I happen to think the area's lovely--everybody talks about how nice the Bay Area is, then goes down to San Francisco to get chased down and devoured by ambling packs of fog clouds. But Paly is the real deal.

You've also got Google, Apple, etc. right there, so it's not a complete Anytown USA.

aside from weather, what else do you like? Is it walkable? Whats the culture like? Restaurants, bars, things to do?

Anonymous User wrote:aside from weather, what else do you like? Is it walkable? Whats the culture like? Restaurants, bars, things to do?

Obviously you're not going to be able to walk/transit around everywhere like NY or even SF, but you can definitely bike around. I'm also fond of the general atmosphere, very green, cute architecture. Culture-wise, you're close to Stanford and San Jose, and you can still go to SF to hang out (though you'll have to drive, because BART doesn't reach down to PA.)

All that said, of course it's a suburban area and won't beat out SF for restaurants and bars, but it's not completely dead either.