Top Law Schools

I don't think that we have a thread that's available as a single stopping point for posting+critiquing bidlists, and it doesn't really make sense to have dozens of TXX, Top XX%, Look at My Bidlist threads, so here you go. Anonymous posting encouraged, anonymous insults and off-hand comments, not so much. Not sure the level of interest in this sort of thing now, but I'm assuming it will pick up speed was we approach OCI bidding time.

School: MVP
Rank: ~top 20%
URM: Yes

Akin Gump (NY)
Cadwalader (NY)
Cahill, Gordon, Reindell (NY)
Chadbourne & Park (NY)
Cleary (NY)
Cleary (DC)
clifford chance (NY)
Covington (DC)
Cravath (NY)
Davis Polk (NY)
Debevoise (NY)
Dewey & Labouef (NY)
Fried Frank (NY)
Gibson Dunn (NY)
Gibson Dunn (DC)
hogan lovells(DC)
hogan lovells (NY)
Jones Day (NY)
Jones Day (DC)
Kirkland Ellis (DC)
Kirkland Ellis (NY)
Latham (NY)
Linklaters (NY)
Milibank Tweed (NY)
Morgan Lewis (DC)
Morgan Lewis (NY)
OMM (DC)
Orrick (NY)
Paul Hastings (NY)
Paul Weiss (NY)
Proskauer Rose (NY)
Quinn Emmanuel (NY)
Ropes Gray (DC)
Ropes Gray (NY)
Sidley(CHI)
Sidley Austin (NY)
Seward Kissel (NY)
Shearman Sterling (NY)
Simpson Thatcher (NY)
Skadden (DC)
Skadden (NYC)
Sullivan & Cromwell (NY)
Steptoe (DC)
Weil Gotshals (NY)
White Case (NY)
Williams Connley (DC)
Wilmerhale (DC)
Wilmerhale (NY)
Wilkie Farr Gallagher (NY)
Winston Strawn (NY)

Thoughts on my list so far?

I've heard REALLY bad things about Cadwalader's work environment (described as "where satan's minions go to roost"). OMM, Proskauer, and White and Case are not looking good, economically speaking.

Otherwise, list looks good! Definitely apply for some of the firms' diversity initiatives that involve paying portions of your tuition if you get the summer associate position.

.

School: Midwestern T30
Rank: Top 5%
Goals: Want corporate. Prefer LA, hoping my grades can get me there but would be fine with Chicago. All other firms are Chicago

1. Jones Day LA
2. Latham LA
3. Proskauer Rose LA
4. Foley & Lardner LA
5. Bryan Cave LA
6. Sidley Austin
7. Kirkland & Ellis
8. Paul Hastings
9. Winston & Strawn
10. Jenner & Block
11. K&L Gates
12. Katten
13. dla piper
14. Greenberg Traurig
15. Locke Lord
16. Mayer Brown
17. Drinker Biddle
18. Perkins Coie
19. Reed Smith
20. Morgan Lewis & Bockius

.

School: HYS
Rank: Top 30-35% (supposedly)
URM: No

All LA unless noted:

1. Gibson Dunn
2. MoFo
3. Irell
4. Sidley
5. Latham
6. Skadden
7. Quinn
8. OMM
9. Jones Day
10. Bingham
11. Kirkland
12. Paul Hastings
13. MoFo SD
14. Latham SD
15. Sheppard Mullin
16. Akin Gump
17. Jenner
18. Winston & Strawn
19. McDermott Will
20. Orrick
21. Proskauer Rose
22. Foley & Lardner
23. Bryan Cave

Targeted Mailings: Manatt Phelps; Reed Smith; Morgan Lewis; some boutique-type places. Did I miss anything (besides MTO, which I think is a waste of a bid)?

Anonymous User wrote:School: Midwestern T30
Rank: Top 5%
Goals: Want corporate. Prefer LA, hoping my grades can get me there but would be fine with Chicago. All other firms are Chicago

1. Jones Day LA
2. Latham LA
3. Proskauer Rose LA
4. Foley & Lardner LA
5. Bryan Cave LA
6. Sidley Austin
7. Kirkland & Ellis
8. Paul Hastings
9. Winston & Strawn
10. Jenner & Block
11. K&L Gates
12. Katten
13. DLA Piper
14. Greenberg Traurig
15. Locke Lord
16. Mayer Brown
17. Drinker Biddle
18. Perkins Coie
19. Reed Smith
20. Morgan Lewis & Bockius

Assuming this is UIUC? I thought Mayer was still only interviewing at Harvard, Chicago, Michigan and NU?

ndirish2010 wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:School: Midwestern T30
Rank: Top 5%
Goals: Want corporate. Prefer LA, hoping my grades can get me there but would be fine with Chicago. All other firms are Chicago

1. Jones Day LA
2. Latham LA
3. Proskauer Rose LA
4. Foley & Lardner LA
5. Bryan Cave LA
6. Sidley Austin
7. Kirkland & Ellis
8. Paul Hastings
9. Winston & Strawn
10. Jenner & Block
11. K&L Gates
12. Katten
13. DLA Piper
14. Greenberg Traurig
15. Locke Lord
16. Mayer Brown
17. Drinker Biddle
18. Perkins Coie
19. Reed Smith
20. Morgan Lewis & Bockius

Assuming this is UIUC? I thought Mayer was still only interviewing at Harvard, Chicago, Michigan and NU?

I met a guy on Saturday who had just started at Mayer. He did law school at Maryland. He would have gotten his SA just as the market was tanking though, so it may not be relevant anymore.

Anonymous User wrote:Assuming this is UIUC? I thought Mayer was still only interviewing at Harvard, Chicago, Michigan and NU?

I know they also come to GULC. But they roll bidding for a bunch of cities together so they are one of the toughest interviews to get in the lottery.

Anonymous User wrote:

ndirish2010 wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:School: Midwestern T30
Rank: Top 5%
Goals: Want corporate. Prefer LA, hoping my grades can get me there but would be fine with Chicago. All other firms are Chicago

1. Jones Day LA
2. Latham LA
3. Proskauer Rose LA
4. Foley & Lardner LA
5. Bryan Cave LA
6. Sidley Austin
7. Kirkland & Ellis
8. Paul Hastings
9. Winston & Strawn
10. Jenner & Block
11. K&L Gates
12. Katten
13. DLA Piper
14. Greenberg Traurig
15. Locke Lord
16. Mayer Brown
17. Drinker Biddle
18. Perkins Coie
19. Reed Smith
20. Morgan Lewis & Bockius

Assuming this is UIUC? I thought Mayer was still only interviewing at Harvard, Chicago, Michigan and NU?

I met a guy on Saturday who had just started at Mayer. He did law school at Maryland. He would have gotten his SA just as the market was tanking though, so it may not be relevant anymore.

I am assuming you mean the DC office? I meant for Chicago, though I can see why that would be confusing. The quoted bidlist was all Chicago except for the LA firms on top.

ndirish2010 wrote:
I am assuming you mean the DC office? I meant for Chicago, though I can see why that would be confusing. The quoted bidlist was all Chicago except for the LA firms on top.

D.C. yea. Sorry for the confusion.

PeanutHead wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Assuming this is UIUC? I thought Mayer was still only interviewing at Harvard, Chicago, Michigan and NU?

I know they also come to GULC. But they roll bidding for a bunch of cities together so they are one of the toughest interviews to get in the lottery.

Here is NALP list of where Mayer is set to interview this yr.

Columbia University Law School
Fordham University School of Law
Georgetown University Law Center
Harvard Law School
New York University School of Law
Northwestern University School of Law
Stanford Law School
University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law
University of Chicago Law School
University of Illinois College of Law
University of Michigan Law School
university of pennsylvania law school
University of Virginia School of Law
Yale Law School

OnceUponAMemo wrote:

PeanutHead wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Assuming this is UIUC? I thought Mayer was still only interviewing at Harvard, Chicago, Michigan and NU?

I know they also come to GULC. But they roll bidding for a bunch of cities together so they are one of the toughest interviews to get in the lottery.

Here is NALP list of where Mayer is set to interview this yr.

Columbia University Law School
Fordham University School of Law
Georgetown University Law Center
Harvard Law School
New York University School of Law
Northwestern University School of Law
Stanford Law School
University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law
University of Chicago Law School
University of Illinois College of Law
University of Michigan Law School
University of Pennsylvania Law School
University of Virginia School of Law
Yale Law School

What is listed on NALP isn't where the firm is "set to interview"; it's where the firm interviewed last year.

Mayer Brown is at UIUC this year

I wish enough employers interviewed at my school so that I could make a bidlist. My bidlist is just accomplished by deciding "is this a law firm?"

Anonymous User wrote:Mayer Brown is at UIUC this year

Wish they were coming to NDLS.

Does anyone know how firms/recruiters judge grades on a transcript as compared with calculated gpa's? The problem in my case is that I have about a 3.8x cumulative with a good first sem (4.0+) but a noticeably worse second sem. I'm working on my bid list and I don't know whether to apply to firms just based on gpa or based on the fact that they probably won't take anyone who got below an A-. I'm at a T10 school and career services isn't really helpful on this because they just keep insisting how we don't have official gpa's. Any thoughts on this? I'm working at a firm this summer, and I want to be in NY or LA (waiting on SO choice) - litigation focus.

First, everyone ITT: Bid lists are nearly impossible to critique. Everyone gets so many bids, and firms hire so few people, that unless you're really screwing the pooch there isn't much comment most people can give you. It's frustrating, but everyone has to look and such a broad swath of firms that it's not going to be an exact science. I wouldn't expect much out of this thread.

Anonymous User wrote:Does anyone know how firms/recruiters judge grades on a transcript as compared with calculated gpa's? The problem in my case is that I have about a 3.8x cumulative with a good first sem (4.0+) but a noticeably worse second sem. I'm working on my bid list and I don't know whether to apply to firms just based on gpa or based on the fact that they probably won't take anyone who got below an A-. I'm at a T10 school and career services isn't really helpful on this because they just keep insisting how we don't have official gpa's. Any thoughts on this? I'm working at a firm this summer, and I want to be in NY or LA (waiting on SO choice) - litigation focus.

(1) GPA. The A stands for average, and they mean it. They'll take your average, and then they'll use it. That's where their attention will begin and end.

(2) A 3.8x at any T10 school puts you far, far above the level where your grades matter at all.[FN1] From here on out, how selective a firm is with respect to grades no longer has any bearing whatsoever on your job search. Figure out what you want to do, then make it happen. The sooner you stop thinking about grades the happier and more succesful you will be.

[FN1] Well, if you're at Northwestern nevermind, a 3.8 would be like bottom third and you would be screwed.

At my school (Western New England) we don't have anything like this! And if so, I have not heard ANYTHING about it!! WTF?

Anonymous User wrote:At my school (Western New England) we don't have anything like this! And if so, I have not heard ANYTHING about it!! WTF?

Does your school even have OCI?

School: GW/ND/BU
Percentile: 10-15

What should I be looking at? Here's my question: I do not have ties to DC/Midwest/Massachusetts, so do I bid DC/Chicago/Boston and massmail or do I just aim NY all the way?

thesealocust wrote:First, everyone ITT: Bid lists are nearly impossible to critique. Everyone gets so many bids, and firms hire so few people, that unless you're really screwing the pooch there isn't much comment most people can give you. It's frustrating, but everyone has to look and such a broad swath of firms that it's not going to be an exact science. I wouldn't expect much out of this thread.

Anonymous User wrote:Does anyone know how firms/recruiters judge grades on a transcript as compared with calculated gpa's? The problem in my case is that I have about a 3.8x cumulative with a good first sem (4.0+) but a noticeably worse second sem. I'm working on my bid list and I don't know whether to apply to firms just based on gpa or based on the fact that they probably won't take anyone who got below an A-. I'm at a T10 school and career services isn't really helpful on this because they just keep insisting how we don't have official gpa's. Any thoughts on this? I'm working at a firm this summer, and I want to be in NY or LA (waiting on SO choice) - litigation focus.

(1) GPA. The A stands for average, and they mean it. They'll take your average, and then they'll use it. That's where their attention will begin and end.

(2) A 3.8x at any T10 school puts you far, far above the level where your grades matter at all.[FN1] From here on out, how selective a firm is with respect to grades no longer has any bearing whatsoever on your job search. Figure out what you want to do, then make it happen. The sooner you stop thinking about grades the happier and more succesful you will be.

[FN1] Well, if you're at Northwestern nevermind, a 3.8 would be like bottom third and you would be screwed.

Not Northwestern. Even for Boies Schiller / Quinn Emanuel / Munger Tolles you think? The numbers our career services office gave us look tough, but I definitely want litigation.

Of course. There aren't many people with over a 3.8, and no firm draws meaningful distinctions at that level. The most selective firms in the country routinely hire people from T10 with well under 3.8x GPAs. Quinn and Boies aren't nearly selective enough to demand those kinds of credentials, much less those kinds of credentials or better.

Anonymous User wrote:School: Midwestern T30
Rank: Top 5%
Goals: Want corporate. Prefer LA, hoping my grades can get me there but would be fine with Chicago. All other firms are Chicago

1. Jones Day LA
2. Latham LA
3. Proskauer Rose LA
4. Foley & Lardner LA
5. Bryan Cave LA
6. Sidley Austin
7. Kirkland & Ellis
8. Paul Hastings
9. Winston & Strawn
10. Jenner & Block
11. K&L Gates
12. Katten
13. DLA Piper
14. Greenberg Traurig
15. Locke Lord
16. Mayer Brown
17. Drinker Biddle
18. Perkins Coie
19. Reed Smith
20. Morgan Lewis & Bockius

ugh, i wish OCI at my midwestern t30 looked like this.