Bid List Top 5% T14 Forum

[Anonymous User]

Are you sure you want to do white collar? It's very, very fact / document / investigation intensive.

I am not absolutely sure I want to do it, but I am definitely very interested in the practice area. I am doing work currently that is similarly very fact, document intensive, and I do like it. But could you talk more about white collar work, as it seems you know what you are talking about. What's the day-to-day of a white collar associate?

[Anonymous User]

2) If you're interested in white collar litigation, a lot of the firms on your list just don't make sense. Remove . . . OMM . . .

OMM may have lost several partners as of late, but they're still one of the best white collar shops in California. Even though they're LA based, the only two named partners in their Chambers (Band 1, might I add) bio are both SF based. I would say they deserve to stay on this list.

This is where I become concerned about choosing a firm that's great at an area but whose overall financial stability is questionable. With top 5% grades, I'd rather bite the bullet and stick it out at a firm that offers prestige and job security, but to each their own. Now don't link me to that ATL article talking about how everyone at OMM is super busy and they're starting associates earlier. Losing 60 partners and a top-notch group of private equity partners is bad news no matter how you look at it. And the way Culvahouse pampered them created a lot of discordance in the firm. Moreover, because of the firm's distinctly second-tier PPP, they will continue to shed star partners to firms with higher PPP. That's just the way musical chairs work.

The ideal firm would be one with prestige, financial stability, strength in desires practice area, and location in desired market. I think Keker fits the bill. Munger does too. Gibson, Latham, and Quinn are also good picks, but I don't know if their white collar practice strength is in SF in particular.

I get that. I really do. Significant partner losses can be worrisome (especially after watching Howrey crumble), and OMM has been smacked around as of late. Of course, the very firm that snagged OMM's PE group was similarly mentioned as losing a lot of partners just a few years ago, but has now been making headlines almost monthly for pulling in firm-wide practice group chairs from other firms. Cyclical changes like that are partly why I recognize that OMM's headlines may be worrisome, and yet hesitate to think they're not worth a bid if you want SF white collar work. Besides, it's just a bid. OP can always reject an offer for somewhere else if a better/safer SF/NY white collar option ends up on the table.

Thanks for the information. Yeah, that's my feeling. I might as well bid them, and if I get a better offer, I will stop pursuing it.

[Anonymous User]

What's the day-to-day of a white collar associate?

I just want to bump this to see if people can respond to the above, and if any one has any more information about white-collar practice. Is it similar to antitrust? Litigation in general?

[Anonymous User]

If you want white collar lit and you like NYC but not DC, you should be bidding on Covington NY. Their NY office does a lot of white collar work and they're still growing their NY office, which means more opportunities in the near future. Maybe they're not "the best" in terms of being known already for it, but they're a place to do a lot of high-end work, and that's what matters.

Thanks for this information. Does Covington have a centralized hiring process (so should I not bid both NY and DC)? In general, I am very reluctant to bid two offices of the same firm, but from what you are saying, it seems that both offices could be worth a bid.

Same poster. You can bid on both offices but I wouldn't recommend it, for the same reason you mentioned. If you really want to live in NY that much, just bid NY.