Keker & Van Nest Forum

[Anonymous User]

I understand that this is going to be a long-shot, given that their summer class is only 4-5 people, but does anyone have information on how grade selective they are?

I have great grades, but Keker does not OCI at my law school, so I am wondering what it means to be competitive. FWIW I am well into top 5% at MVPDCNG, but likely not in top 1%, but it is hard to tell given that we do not rank.

Besides grades what are they looking for? I understand that "fit" is very important in these small offices, but in what ways should I be selling myself? I am definitely litigation focused, and I love their white-collar emphasis.

Thanks.

[Anonymous User]

They aren't as grade conscious as W&C, MTO, or Irell, but more like Latham or Gibson Dunn. Depending on the school, top 5% is likely enough to get you past a grade cutoff.

In my opinion Keker seems interested in people with very unique and interesting work experience. I don't mean working for a Fortune 100 company or something similar. Instead, an experience that sets you apart from other candidates with good grades and can form the basis of an interesting story. Pretty much everyone I know who received an offer for their SA program fits this profile.

[Anonymous User]

OP: Thanks for the information. Unfortunately, I do not have any real work experience, as I came straight through, but did work throughout college fwiw. I guess there's nothing I can do about that, but do the best with what I have got. Any more information or any other posters with info would be appreciated.

[Anonymous User]

Let me add one more thing. Keker really likes clerks. In fact, until recently pretty much all their entry level hires were post-clerkship. If I recall correctly, their summer program is pretty new--I think this is the second or third year. The point is, if you are really interested in Keker, you don't necessarily need to summer there. You can always clerk first.

[Anonymous User]

They aren't as grade conscious as W&C, MTO, or Irell, but more like Latham or Gibson Dunn. Depending on the school, top 5% is likely enough to get you past a grade cutoff.

For whatever reason I thought they were *more* grade-conscious than a place like Irell.

Just curious, second poster: what school do you go to? I am also very interested in Keker (will be bidding it #1, Berkeley student) and I am trying to get as much anecdotal info as I can about their hiring practices.

[Anonymous User]

They aren't as grade conscious as W&C, MTO, or Irell, but more like Latham or Gibson Dunn. Depending on the school, top 5% is likely enough to get you past a grade cutoff.

For whatever reason I thought they were *more* grade-conscious than a place like Irell.

Just curious, second poster: what school do you go to? I am also very interested in Keker (will be bidding it #1, Berkeley student) and I am trying to get as much anecdotal info as I can about their hiring practices.

my friend got a cb at Keker, he or she's probably top third at MVPB. Friend did cool stuff post-undergrad though, maybe they care about that.

[TaipeiMort]

They are like the Stanford of California law firms. They do really unique types of litigation , have super interesting work, take people in black-box fashion (I think they will take basically anyone from Chicago if you bring something interesting to the table), but will also not take people who look good on paper-- but aren't.

[Anonymous User]

Someone contacted a friend of theirs at the firm to ask on my behalf recently. That associate, who I don't think is involved with hiring, said they usually take one person from Stanford, one from Berkeley, one from Harvard and one from Yale, period. Take that for what it's worth. I was top3% bottom t-14 with work experience I figured they would be interested in and given standard rejection letter in the mail.

[TaipeiMort]

Someone contacted a friend of theirs at the firm to ask on my behalf recently. That associate, who I don't think is involved with hiring, said they usually take one person from Stanford, one from Berkeley, one from Harvard and one from Yale, period. Take that for what it's worth. I was top3% bottom t-14 with work experience I figured they would be interested in and given standard rejection letter in the mail.

They interview at Chicago too, so I don't think they would come out and interview for no reason.

[Anonymous User]

They are like the Stanford of California law firms. They do really unique types of litigation , have super interesting work, take people in black-box fashion (I think they will take basically anyone from Chicago if you bring something interesting to the table), but will also not take people who look good on paper-- but aren't.

Are you sure you're thinking of Keker & Van Nest? Based on what I know about Keker's SA program, they rarely (if ever) take students from Chicago. As a previous poster indicated, their SA class is usually limited to 4 or 5 students from Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, and Yale. I'm sure it's possible that Keker would consider an applicant from the University of Chicago, but I seriously doubt that they would "basically take anyone from Chicago" who brought "something interesting to the table."

[Anonymous User]

They have interviewed at Chicago a few times -- they try different schools from time to time. Their standard picks are one each from Harvard, Yale, Berkeley, and Stanford, but they occasionally take one more from another top school.

The only person I know who got a Keker callback is literally in the top 1-2% of one of the aforementioned schools and has a very interesting resume. I also don't think anyone who works there as a full-time associate is under 30. They seem to focus on people with interesting previous work experience.

[TaipeiMort]

They are like the Stanford of California law firms. They do really unique types of litigation , have super interesting work, take people in black-box fashion (I think they will take basically anyone from Chicago if you bring something interesting to the table), but will also not take people who look good on paper-- but aren't.

Are you sure you're thinking of Keker & Van Nest? Based on what I know about Keker's SA program, they rarely (if ever) take students from Chicago. As a previous poster indicated, their SA class is usually limited to 4 or 5 students from Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, and Yale. I'm sure it's possible that Keker would consider an applicant from the University of Chicago, but I seriously doubt that they would "basically take anyone from Chicago" who brought "something interesting to the table."

Let me restate what I was saying. I have heard that they are very focused on criteria besides grades, and that pretty much anyone at Chicago with a background that they find interesting may have a shot. That being said, their interview slots didn't fill up at Chicago, just like Irell and Munger. I'm guessing that most people just don't feel that they have a shot and ties.

That being said, of the firm's 60 or so lawyers, there are 3 from Hastings and 4 from NYU, but only two from Chicago.