Top Law Schools

Thoughts on how the following firms compare in terms of litigation?: V&E, Fullbright, Baker Botts, Jones Day, Thompson Knight, Akin Gump, Jackson Walker, Bracewell & Giuliani, Locke Lord, and Haynes Boone.

Interested in working in Austin, Dallas, or Houston. Still pretty clueless in terms of what I'm looking for in terms of specific career interests. Litigation sticks out to me as something I would enjoy doing. Appellate work does as well, but is that even a possibility to consider coming straight out of law school? Main priority for me is quality of life, not prestige or money.

Any other firms I should be considering?

Also curious on any input on whether I have any sort of shot at Susman Godfrey. Will be slightly better than top 10% at UT and hopefully will make LR (not a given though). I'll be applying to federal clerkships when the time comes--that is the one career goal I am certain about. Anyone know how many people they usually take from UT every year? Is it pretty much just the top 1% + ridiculous resume people or do other people have a shot?

One last question--thoughts on how many firms I should bid on? We have 60 bids to use. Should I be using all 60? Is it better to narrow that down a little?

Susman, Gibbs & Bruns, and mckool smith all have good litigation practices. All recruit at UT, too.

Yes, use all 60 bids. You've got a good GPA, so you'll likely get many of your top choices (and will easily fill 25 interview slots), so make sure to put your top choices really high up.

BB, Fulbright, and V&E are top in litigation. Of course, all the firms you listed are great, but the "Big 3" are usually considered to be the upper echelon of Big Tex litigation.

Susman is extremely selective even at the top of the class, given that they're so small and they only look to pick up a handful of students each year (who still have to obtain a federal clerkship, though others on this board have suggested the firm helps in this process). Gibbs & Bruns, Bickel Brewer, Beck Redden, Scott Douglass McConnico, and Baron Budd are all great Texas litigation boutiques. Good luck - I'm around where you're at at UT, too, and I'll probably toss some Hail Maries at those firms.

Anonymous User wrote:BB, Fulbright, and V&E are top in litigation. Of course, all the firms you listed are great, but the "Big 3" are usually considered to be the upper echelon of Big Tex litigation.

Susman is extremely selective even at the top of the class, given that they're so small and they only look to pick up a handful of students each year (who still have to obtain a federal clerkship, though others on this board have suggested the firm helps in this process). Gibbs & Bruns, Bickel Brewer, Beck Redden, Scott Douglass McConnico, and Baron Budd are all great Texas litigation boutiques. Good luck - I'm around where you're at at UT, too, and I'll probably toss some Hail Maries at those firms.

OP here. Thanks for the reply.

Thoughts on how a lit boutique (like Gibbs & Bruns) compares to the Big 3?

I've heard that of the big 3, Fulbright comes out on top in terms of litigation (though they can't compare when it comes to transactional stuff). Does that sound right?

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:BB, Fulbright, and V&E are top in litigation. Of course, all the firms you listed are great, but the "Big 3" are usually considered to be the upper echelon of Big Tex litigation.

Susman is extremely selective even at the top of the class, given that they're so small and they only look to pick up a handful of students each year (who still have to obtain a federal clerkship, though others on this board have suggested the firm helps in this process). Gibbs & Bruns, Bickel Brewer, Beck Redden, Scott Douglass McConnico, and Baron Budd are all great Texas litigation boutiques. Good luck - I'm around where you're at at UT, too, and I'll probably toss some Hail Maries at those firms.

OP here. Thanks for the reply.

Thoughts on how a lit boutique (like Gibbs & Bruns) compares to the Big 3?

I've heard that of the big 3, Fulbright comes out on top in terms of litigation (though they can't compare when it comes to transactional stuff). Does that sound right?

Re: boutiques vs. Big 3: I know at least a few of the boutiques that have been mentioned here tend to do more plaintiff's and contingency work. I've done both a boutique and one of the Big 3 and I preferred the boutique (had offers at both and went with boutique). I like doing plaintiff's work as it means working on smaller teams, doing more substantive work early on (most people doing depos within 6 months of starting and other things like that), and it just feels more rewarding. Contingency cases can be exciting. The firm might end up making tens of millions or it might end up with nothing.

As for which of the Big 3 is best for litigation...I think it depends on the type of litigation. For lit generally, Fulbright might be best (though probably marginally so). For specialized lit, like patent lit, you might be better off at Baker Botts or V&E.

For Dallas, you might see about mckool smith and Figari & Davenport.