Paul, Weiss - Corporate Forum

[Anonymous User]

3L with a Paul Weiss callback specifically for their corporate groups. Received 2L summer offer at a V100 that has a good corporate practice and I made some solid connections, etc. Only interested in corporate work. I've heard that PW's corporate is mediocre. However, the firm has a very prestigious name (mainly due to their litigation as i understand it though) and clearly they are looking to expand their corp practice. Assuming I get an offer, would it be worth it to "trade up" for PW in terms of quality of work and exit options? Thoughts?

[timbs4339]

3L with a Paul Weiss callback specifically for their corporate groups. Received 2L summer offer at a V100 that has a good corporate practice and I made some solid connections, etc. Only interested in corporate work. I've heard that PW's corporate is mediocre. However, the firm has a very prestigious name (mainly due to their litigation as i understand it though) and clearly they are looking to expand their corp practice. Assuming I get an offer, would it be worth it to "trade up" for PW in terms of quality of work and exit options? Thoughts?

If it impresses other law students- go for it!

[Blindmelon]

3L with a Paul Weiss callback specifically for their corporate groups. Received 2L summer offer at a V100 that has a good corporate practice and I made some solid connections, etc. Only interested in corporate work. I've heard that PW's corporate is mediocre. However, the firm has a very prestigious name (mainly due to their litigation as i understand it though) and clearly they are looking to expand their corp practice. Assuming I get an offer, would it be worth it to "trade up" for PW in terms of quality of work and exit options? Thoughts?

If it impresses other law students- go for it!

Haha. I like you.

[Anonymous User]

i dont get it. you want to switch to a worse corporate group because the firm itself is ranked higher? maybe im confused, but why would you even bother doing a call back somewhere when you can have a more successful career at your summer firm and you have already made good connections at your summer firm? not to mention, there are probably a lot of 3Ls at your school who did not get 2L SA positions or had terrible SA experiences and feel like they really need to make a change. if its not even that important to you, why take those spots from them?

im also a 3L looking to trade up. however, i am doing it because the firm i am at has only a handful of attorneys that work in my area of interest. i did a tiny amount of OCI interviews and limited them just to the two or three firms that had a stronger focus on my area of interest. maybe its just me, but i cant imagine interviewing unnecessarily as a 3L. (mods: this is anon because of all of the personal 3L OCI info)

[Anonymous User]

Hmm, I would be sure to take the Paul Weiss offer if you get one. This could be a great way to screw a 3L that didn’t have a summer associate spot after 2L year out of a job. Also, the added prestige will cause members of the opposite sex to find you irresistible (even though you would probably be paid the same amount at either firm).

-3L rejected from Paul Weiss callback that didn't have a 2L SA job

Edit: I think it would be different if you hated your 2L firm, if you wanted to relocate to a different part of the country, or if you were interested in a particular practice group that your 2L firm didn't have. There ARE valid reasons for doing 3L OCI after receiving an offer from a 2L firm. But if your only reason for wanting to switch firms is a slight increase in prestige, then I think that's pretty lame.

[terribleperson]

there are probably a lot of 3Ls at your school who did not get 2L SA positions or had terrible SA experiences and feel like they really need to make a change. if its not even that important to you, why take those spots from them?

That is a terrible argument.

[terribleperson]

3L with a Paul Weiss callback specifically for their corporate groups. Received 2L summer offer at a V100 that has a good corporate practice and I made some solid connections, etc. Only interested in corporate work. I've heard that PW's corporate is mediocre. However, the firm has a very prestigious name (mainly due to their litigation as i understand it though) and clearly they are looking to expand their corp practice. Assuming I get an offer, would it be worth it to "trade up" for PW in terms of quality of work and exit options? Thoughts?

You're asking us to compare PW's corporate practice with "a V100." What?

[alabamabound]

FWIW, if you've heard PW's corporate practice is "mediocre," you're talking to the wrong people.

[TheFriendlyBarber]

FWIW, if you've heard PW's corporate practice is "mediocre," you're talking to the wrong people.

This. PW's corporate practice isn't "mediocre," it's downright dreadful.

[Anonymous User]

FWIW, if you've heard PW's corporate practice is "mediocre," you're talking to the wrong people.

This. PW's corporate practice isn't "mediocre," it's downright dreadful.

incorrect. they actually have an excellent corporate dept. its just that they have a really really excellent litigation department so it gets dwarfed sometimes. but they work on huge deals. they just got apolllo as a client (from the partners who left omleveny). if you look at m&a league tables they are also in the top 10 or so (closer to the bottom). it has vastly increased in reputation for corporate in the past 20 years or so and they are pretty serious about building up their corporate practice.

depending on how low your v100 is, it might be worth taking pw over them

just looking at chambers m&a, it puts them in the same band as jones day, sidley, and fried frank

[TheFriendlyBarber]

FWIW, if you've heard PW's corporate practice is "mediocre," you're talking to the wrong people.

This. PW's corporate practice isn't "mediocre," it's downright dreadful.

incorrect. they actually have an excellent corporate dept. its just that they have a really really excellent litigation department so it gets dwarfed sometimes. but they work on huge deals. they just got apolllo as a client (from the partners who left omleveny). if you look at m&a league tables they are also in the top 10 or so (closer to the bottom). it has vastly increased in reputation for corporate in the past 20 years or so and they are pretty serious about building up their corporate practice.

depending on how low your v100 is, it might be worth taking pw over them

No. Cravath, S&C, DPW, STB, Skadden, etc wipe their asses with Paul Weiss's corporate practice. And when they're feeling extra dirty, the anally irrigate themselves with Boies Schiller's corporate group, a very worthy enema.

[quakeroats]

FWIW, if you've heard PW's corporate practice is "mediocre," you're talking to the wrong people.

This. PW's corporate practice isn't "mediocre," it's downright dreadful.

incorrect. they actually have an excellent corporate dept. its just that they have a really really excellent litigation department so it gets dwarfed sometimes. but they work on huge deals. they just got apolllo as a client (from the partners who left omleveny). if you look at m&a league tables they are also in the top 10 or so (closer to the bottom). it has vastly increased in reputation for corporate in the past 20 years or so and they are pretty serious about building up their corporate practice.

depending on how low your v100 is, it might be worth taking pw over them

No. Cravath, S&C, DPW, STB, Skadden, etc wipe their asses with Paul Weiss's corporate practice. And when they're feeling extra dirty, the anally irrigate themselves with Boies Schiller's corporate group, a very worthy enema.

So your response to data indicating Paul Weiss has a very good corporate practice is to cite practices that are world class?

[Anonymous User]

did PW do 3L OCI at a lot of schools? It seems like several 3Ls have received call backs.

[alabamabound]

FWIW, if you've heard PW's corporate practice is "mediocre," you're talking to the wrong people.

This. PW's corporate practice isn't "mediocre," it's downright dreadful.

incorrect. they actually have an excellent corporate dept. its just that they have a really really excellent litigation department so it gets dwarfed sometimes. but they work on huge deals. they just got apolllo as a client (from the partners who left omleveny). if you look at m&a league tables they are also in the top 10 or so (closer to the bottom). it has vastly increased in reputation for corporate in the past 20 years or so and they are pretty serious about building up their corporate practice.

depending on how low your v100 is, it might be worth taking pw over them

No. Cravath, S&C, DPW, STB, Skadden, etc wipe their asses with Paul Weiss's corporate practice. And when they're feeling extra dirty, the anally irrigate themselves with Boies Schiller's corporate group, a very worthy enema.

This is going to sound like PW-trolling, but the Barber is off-base. If you talk to NYC corporate partners, they will uniformly tell you, "PW corporate is kicking ass." At least, that's what they've told me. The OMM defections are Exhibit A. Exhibit B would be the Weil IP defections.

[Anonymous User]

word on the street is that their corporate dept is very busy. i also know from an inside source that they have recently hired several laterals as well for their corporate dept

[vamedic03]

Hmm, I would be sure to take the Paul Weiss offer if you get one. This could be a great way to screw a 3L that didn’t have a summer associate spot after 2L year out of a job. Also, the added prestige will cause members of the opposite sex to find you irresistible (even though you would probably be paid the same amount at either firm).

-3L rejected from Paul Weiss callback that didn't have a 2L SA job

Edit: I think it would be different if you hated your 2L firm, if you wanted to relocate to a different part of the country, or if you were interested in a particular practice group that your 2L firm didn't have. There ARE valid reasons for doing 3L OCI after receiving an offer from a 2L firm. But if your only reason for wanting to switch firms is a slight increase in prestige, then I think that's pretty lame.

Why is this anonymous?

The OP didn't ask whether this was "fair" to other 3Ls. They were asking about Paul Weiss' corporate practice. Plus, I've always heard (and this is purely anecdotal) that OP is the exact sort of candidate that V10's are looking for at 3L OCI.

Edited to add - I'm very sympathetic to your situation, but that doesn't give you license to anonymously attack OP for asking a legitimate question.