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How sure are you that you want to do litigation? I know a lot of people who went into their 2L SA dead set on lit, but ended up in corp. The nice thing about DPW is that if you decide that you want to do corporate at some point, you're in one of the best places in the world to do it. Same can't be said for Paul Weiss. But on the flip side, they're both in Band 1 of Elite Litigation firms on Chambers, so even if you end up in lit at DPW, you'll still be at one of the best litigation firms in the country.

def paul weiss if you are set on litigation. DPW is very heavily geared towards their corporate department.

Interesting split. Even though Paul Weiss is heavy on litigation, whereas Davis Polk is 75% corporate/25% litigation, Davis Polk's reputation/ranking seems to trump.

Anonymous User wrote:def paul weiss if you are set on litigation. DPW is very heavily geared towards their corporate department.

Just because their corporate department is a heavy-hitter, does not in any way mean that their litigation department is lacking. Still Band 1 Elite Litigation on Chambers. (And the partner:associate leverage is actually better in the litigation department at DPW, compared to Paul Weiss.)

Paul Weiss clearly.

Anonymous User wrote:Interesting split. Even though Paul Weiss is heavy on litigation, whereas Davis Polk is 75% corporate/25% litigation, Davis Polk's reputation/ranking seems to trump.

DPW's NY office has 334 attorneys in corp, 207 in lit, 43 in tax, and 6 in T&E.

The overall firm's #'s are more skewed to corporate because all of the foreign offices are almost entirely corp.

Anonymous User wrote:def paul weiss if you are set on litigation. DPW is very heavily geared towards their corporate department.

TheFriendlyBarber wrote:Paul Weiss clearly.

Why? Who cares that PW does mainly lit? In fact, that's arguably a knock against them.

Nobody in the real world seriously claims that PW and DPW are on different levels in terms of lit - they are both top New York litigation firms. Objective rankings bear out as much.

OP, the two firms are fairly different in terms of culture - did you have any sort of preference? Beyond that, you may want to consider leverage (PW is higher), and practice area strength if you have a specific area in mind.

In my case, these were the only two firms that I received call-backs from. I subsequently turned both into offers...I think I'm going to go with Davis Polk.

While people were cordial, and polite in both places during visits, I sensed that Davis Polk was a little more reserved in style. It was a little better fit for me. A classmate told me that he turned down Davis Polk for that very reason.

Anonymous User wrote: While people were cordial, and polite in both places during visits, I sensed that Davis Polk was a little more reserved in style. It was a little better fit for me. A classmate told me that he turned down Davis Polk for that very reason.

This is also the sense I got, and this is a good reason to choose Davis Polk over PW (though my own attributes led me the other way).

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote: While people were cordial, and polite in both places during visits, I sensed that Davis Polk was a little more reserved in style. It was a little better fit for me. A classmate told me that he turned down Davis Polk for that very reason.

This is also the sense I got, and this is a good reason to choose Davis Polk over PW (though my own attributes led me the other way).

Contrast the following:

At Paul Weiss offer dinner, head partner in Corp department gets wasted, and delivers a slurred speech, employing no less than 2 expletives, also indicates that he hated law school.

At Davis Polk offer dinner, hiring partner W M, delivers a polished toast, over a glass of cabernet, and offers congratulations to the offerees for their many offers.

Sorry for partying.

Anonymous User wrote: Contrast the following:

At Paul Weiss offer dinner, head partner in Corp department gets wasted, and delivers a slurred speech, employing no less than 2 expletives, also indicates that he hated law school.

At Davis Polk offer dinner, hiring partner W M, delivers a polished toast, over a glass of cabernet, and offers congratulations to the offerees for their many offers.

Paul Weiss it is!

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote: Contrast the following:

At Paul Weiss offer dinner, head partner in Corp department gets wasted, and delivers a slurred speech, employing no less than 2 expletives, also indicates that he hated law school.

At Davis Polk offer dinner, hiring partner W M, delivers a polished toast, over a glass of cabernet, and offers congratulations to the offerees for their many offers.

Paul Weiss it is!

Anon quoted by the offer dinner anecdotalist, and I'm (obviously) with you aswell.