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Simpson, Davis, Weil - all V10 firms but not so good on the Vault regional.

If you join one, do you really get a prestigious white shoe experience?

Is there generally equality within the entire firm? e.g. could people transfer to NYC (not that I would want to, but I'd want to think I'm qualified to do so)

Or do associates joining these offices in SV get viewed as second-rate country bumpkins by their HQs?

OP here. Come on guys... give me some insight!!!

I mean, is, for example, Simpson Thacher Silicon Valley prestigious? Is Davis Polk in SV prestigious? Does it matter?

What is this obsession with preftige? Anyway, it's ridiculous to call anybody who lives in the Bay Area a "country bumpkin." You'll quickly realize that the Bay is the cultural mecca that NYC can only hope to be. As to these firms reputation in the LOCAL market, which is really all you need to care about, unless you plan on jumping ship, I don't know. I'm sure their large clients have work in SV that these firms handle, the same clients that give them work in NYC.

EDIT: If you are looking for a "white shoe" experience (sounds racist), you definitely will not find it in the Bay Area. What you will get in the Bay is some perspective.

Split my summer b/w NYC and SF/SV offices of an NYC V10. The SV office is absolutely not viewed as "country bumpkin." It's just seen as the "silicon valley thing."

The "prestige" thing is off. Lawyers in SV/SF know about DPW and STB. At the same time, they're not going to be automatically impressed by your V5 prestige. These firms versus, say, MoFo or WSGR just have a different sort of practice. They build on the NYC offices' experience in mega-deals and representation of financial clients. For example in capital markets transactions they tend to represent the underwriter more often than the issuer. They're trying to move into the latter work, but they definitely started from their strengths representing underwriters.