Top Law Schools

If you were looking for a summer associate position in California, what firms would be at the top of your list? What if you're mostly interested in the Bay Area?

If you had the choice of -

Quinn Emanuel
Irell & Manella
Gibson Dunn
O'Melveny
MoFo
Kirkland
Latham

(assume all offices are in SF except, of course, Irell)

what would you choose, and why? Any firms that don't belong on the list that are there? MTO and Keker might have a place on the list, but don't do OCI at my school. Again, interested primarily in litigation.

OCEANS RISE

CITIES FALL

QUINN REMAINS

Grizz wrote:OCEANS RISE

CITIES FALL

QUINN REMAINS

lol awesome

Quinn IMO, but GDC LA (not huge on SF) and Irell LA are very, very solid.

Munger

In SF, I'd say QE, MoFo, and K&E. Howard Rice and Farella Braun are also cool high-end lit shops in SF.

at least for patents, some silicon valley stuff is missing from this list. ie at least Weil.

LA has a Susman office. Bay area be damned!

Therefore, Susman.

englawyer wrote:at least for patents, some silicon valley stuff is missing from this list. ie at least Weil.

Wilson Sonsini and Cooley are both worth keeping in mind for Silicon Valley / IP type stuff. May not compare for general litigation with the firms mentioned by OP though.

Anonymous User wrote:LA has a Susman office. Bay area be damned!

Therefore, Susman.

Check out John Quinn owning the shit out of Susman:

--LinkRemoved--

Grizz wrote:OCEANS RISE

CITIES FALL

QUINN REMAINS

easily the best post i've read in a while.

though quinn treated me like shit in my screener i will gladly accept any and all of their employment offers.

Quinn, Howard Rice, or MoFo for NorCal. GDC, Irell, or MTO for LA.

TheFriendlyBarber wrote:Munger

Titocr

I'm doing CBs at munger, irell, GDC, and Quinn (all LA, didn't like Susman's mandatory clerking policy.) I've done a lot of reading on the types of environment at each one and will be able to see this a little at the CB, but does anyone have firsthand experience or hear of the cultures at each one? Liking the work and people I'm around is important to me. Not sure what type of litigation I want to do yet.

Anonymous User wrote:Quinn, Howard Rice, or MoFo for NorCal. GDC, Irell, or MTO for LA.

Out of curiousity, what makes you say Quinn is top in NorCal on this list? Recall their LA office is significantly larger, just like Gibson Dunn. Why, in your opinion, is QE better in NorCal than GDC? Both are based in LA.

Anonymous User wrote:I'm doing CBs at munger, irell, GDC, and Quinn (all LA, didn't like Susman's mandatory clerking policy.) I've done a lot of reading on the types of environment at each one and will be able to see this a little at the CB, but does anyone have firsthand experience or hear of the cultures at each one? Liking the work and people I'm around is important to me. Not sure what type of litigation I want to do yet

My experience with QE is that they are the most laid back law firm I've ever visited. It's almost like interacting with normal people, not lawyers - maybe it's the clothes. They seem young, too. As to Gibson Dunn, everyone I've met seems very nice - like genuinely good people, but still lawyers.

MoFo and Irell screeners were both cool guys. As to MTO, only interaction was watching one of them argue a motion. He severely out-classed the other guy.