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The concept seems good, but it seems like everyone ends up saying the same thing. What are tell tale things to look for(if any)

jd20132013 wrote:The concept seems good, but it seems like everyone ends up saying the same thing. What are tell tale things to look for(if any)

I was told that those rankings on the right hand side of the page are kind of useful for gauging how well-respected a firm is in certain categories. Likewise, I feel like chambers does a decent job of telling you what kind of culture the firm runs.

Someone also mentioned that going on NALP and looking at the number of partners/associates in a particular practice group is a good way to understand what a firm cares about.

Anonymous User wrote:

jd20132013 wrote:The concept seems good, but it seems like everyone ends up saying the same thing. What are tell tale things to look for(if any)

I was told that those rankings on the right hand side of the page are kind of useful for gauging how well-respected a firm is in certain categories. Likewise, I feel like chambers does a decent job of telling you what kind of culture the firm runs.

Someone also mentioned that going on NALP and looking at the number of partners/associates in a particular practice group is a good way to understand what a firm cares about.

are you talking about chambers and partners or chambers and associates? I haven't seen anything about culture on chambers and partners, but I haven't seen anything about rankings on chambers and associates.

There are different Chambers guides, for different things. The Chambers Associates guide is supposed to give you some view of how the firm is seen by its employees and other lawyers as a place to work. Sometime this can give you a little useful information, but you are right that they often start to sound the same.

The Chambers Partners guide is intended to be a guide for corporate general counsel who are shopping for legal services. This can be very useful for identifying firms that are strong in particular practice areas, and for identifying the most important practice groups within a firm. It's the best way to find out what a firm is good at, or what firms you should be considering if you know what type of law you want to practice.

My apologies, I'm talking about Chambers Associate. I'll edit.

Band 1 for a given practice pretty much guarantees that the firm has a solid practice and is one of the go-to shops for that type of work in that market. There is not much worse than walking into an interview and saying you want to do X, only to find out that the firm or office you're interviewing with doesn't even do X.

The write ups on the firms will tell you why the firm was ranked the way it was generally some of the major clients. It will also help you to familiarize yourself with the practice group leaders so that you will recognize them in the interview and research their backgrounds.

Renzo wrote:There are different Chambers guides, for different things. The Chambers Associates guide is supposed to give you some view of how the firm is seen by its employees and other lawyers as a place to work. Sometime this can give you a little useful information, but you are right that they often start to sound the same.

The Chambers Partners guide is intended to be a guide for corporate general counsel who are shopping for legal services. This can be very useful for identifying firms that are strong in particular practice areas, and for identifying the most important practice groups within a firm. It's the best way to find out what a firm is good at, or what firms you should be considering if you know what type of law you want to practice.

Chambers Partners looks a lot more useful. Thanks.

I've always been a bit confused about the nationwide vs state bands. How do they mesh? For instance, how do you compare nationwide band 3 with a Texas band 1? If a firm is in one of the top 3 bands under nationwide, do we assume it's band 1 for its state?

nonprofit-prophet wrote:I've always been a bit confused about the nationwide vs state bands. How do they mesh? For instance, how do you compare nationwide band 3 with a Texas band 1? If a firm is in one of the top 3 bands under nationwide, do we assume it's band 1 for its state?

There doesn't seem to be much relationship between state and nationwide ranks. This makes some sense because highly ranked firms in one state might not even have offices in another state. Lots of the New York firms have a very limited presence outside of the city, but are clearly leaders on a national as well as local level. Don't assume that because a firm has a top practice on a national level that its local offices will necessarily have strong practices in those areas either.

bdubs wrote:

nonprofit-prophet wrote:I've always been a bit confused about the nationwide vs state bands. How do they mesh? For instance, how do you compare nationwide band 3 with a Texas band 1? If a firm is in one of the top 3 bands under nationwide, do we assume it's band 1 for its state?

There doesn't seem to be much relationship between state and nationwide ranks. This makes some sense because highly ranked firms in one state might not even have offices in another state. Lots of the New York firms have a very limited presence outside of the city, but are clearly leaders on a national as well as local level. Don't assume that because a firm has a top practice on a national level that its local offices will necessarily have strong practices in those areas either.

I guess I should clarify that I'm looking at Big Tex firms. So if they are doing national level work, it's likely out of their houston/dallas main offices rather than their small NY office. It seems odd to me that Chambers would list something as national and not list it in the Texas bands, when a firm like VE handles almost everything out of houston.

nonprofit-prophet wrote:

bdubs wrote:

nonprofit-prophet wrote:I've always been a bit confused about the nationwide vs state bands. How do they mesh? For instance, how do you compare nationwide band 3 with a Texas band 1? If a firm is in one of the top 3 bands under nationwide, do we assume it's band 1 for its state?

There doesn't seem to be much relationship between state and nationwide ranks. This makes some sense because highly ranked firms in one state might not even have offices in another state. Lots of the New York firms have a very limited presence outside of the city, but are clearly leaders on a national as well as local level. Don't assume that because a firm has a top practice on a national level that its local offices will necessarily have strong practices in those areas either.

I guess I should clarify that I'm looking at Big Tex firms. So if they are doing national level work, it's likely out of their houston/dallas main offices rather than their small NY office. It seems odd to me that Chambers would list something as national and not list it in the Texas bands, when a firm like VE handles almost everything out of houston.

some practices (such as capital markets) are only reviewed at a national level. check where the ranked individuals practice...