Irell callback thread Forum

[Anonymous User]

Doing a callback at Irell very soon. Any thoughts about the firm and what to expect at the CB are much appreciated.
Any sense of what exit opportunities are like from Irell? Outside of CA? What is the reputation of I&M outside of West Coast? On par with firms like Munger, W&C, Covington, Wilmer, Cravath, SullCrom, and WLRK? Good reasons to pick Irell over any or most of those firms?
Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

I think at least 7 HLS kids are doing flyouts. Last year I think all the HLSers that worked there were on Law Review.

[Anonymous User]

Doing a callback at Irell very soon. Any thoughts about the firm and what to expect at the CB are much appreciated.
Any sense of what exit opportunities are like from Irell? Outside of CA? What is the reputation of I&M outside of West Coast? On par with firms like Munger, W&C, Covington, Wilmer, Cravath, SullCrom, and WLRK? Good reasons to pick Irell over any or most of those firms?
Thanks!

Reputation-wise, and substance-wise, I think Irell is not on par with many/most of those firms as a "general" litigation firm. It is better than most of those firms, reputation and substance-wise for patent litigation (probably on par with Covington/Wilmer from your list). If you're introverted/quirky/weird, it is probably the best firm culture-wise.

Nationwide, Irell's brand name is lesser known than any of those firm's brand names. But I'm not sure that matters too much, frankly. People who you should care about will know about it. If Irell were a NY-boutique, it would have had a better nationwide recognition. LA is not a big legal market. Having said that about LA, Munger has accomplished something quite special with its nationwide recognition.

My SO worked at Irell some years ago and said that the callback-to-offer ratio is very high. So unless you screw it up, you should get an offer. The cb is super-long (6 hours). Are you a patent litigation person?

[Anonymous User]

Irell is not a patent boutique. It us very strong in all IP, most of its IP ppl have liberal arts backgrounds. Really its quite strong in general lit but esecially in general IP.

[anon168]

Doing a callback at Irell very soon. Any thoughts about the firm and what to expect at the CB are much appreciated.
Any sense of what exit opportunities are like from Irell? Outside of CA? What is the reputation of I&M outside of West Coast? On par with firms like Munger, W&C, Covington, Wilmer, Cravath, SullCrom, and WLRK? Good reasons to pick Irell over any or most of those firms?
Thanks!

Reputation-wise, and substance-wise, I think Irell is not on par with many/most of those firms as a "general" litigation firm. It is better than most of those firms, reputation and substance-wise for patent litigation (probably on par with Covington/Wilmer from your list). If you're introverted/quirky/weird, it is probably the best firm culture-wise.

Nationwide, Irell's brand name is lesser known than any of those firm's brand names. But I'm not sure that matters too much, frankly. People who you should care about will know about it. If Irell were a NY-boutique, it would have had a better nationwide recognition. LA is not a big legal market. Having said that about LA, Munger has accomplished something quite special with its nationwide recognition.

My SO worked at Irell some years ago and said that the callback-to-offer ratio is very high. So unless you screw it up, you should get an offer. The cb is super-long (6 hours). Are you a patent litigation person?

+1

[Anonymous User]

How well-known is Irell outside of CA? What kind of doors does a few years at Irell open?

[Anonymous User]

It gets a lot of ATL love and is always vault 5-10 selctivity so thats big.

[Anonymous User]

I'd imagine theres some heavy self selection that goes on with Irell. The culture from what I could tell and from what I've heard from others was unlike any other law firm that I interviewed with. I know this is a poor sample size, but the people I interviewed with were painfully awkward although nice, just absolutely beta to the max. It made me wonder if these were the people they put me in front of, what was everyone else like. I'm sure the firm fits for some people, but its certainly not for everyone.

[Anonymous User]

I'd imagine theres some heavy self selection that goes on with Irell. The culture from what I could tell and from what I've heard from others was unlike any other law firm that I interviewed with. I know this is a poor sample size, but the people I interviewed with were painfully awkward although nice, just absolutely beta to the max. It made me wonder if these were the people they put me in front of, what was everyone else like. I'm sure the firm fits for some people, but its certainly not for everyone.

Weird. The ppl I met were not like tgat at all.

[Anonymous User]

I'd imagine theres some heavy self selection that goes on with Irell. The culture from what I could tell and from what I've heard from others was unlike any other law firm that I interviewed with. I know this is a poor sample size, but the people I interviewed with were painfully awkward although nice, just absolutely beta to the max. It made me wonder if these were the people they put me in front of, what was everyone else like. I'm sure the firm fits for some people, but its certainly not for everyone.

wrong.

[gyarados]

I'd imagine theres some heavy self selection that goes on with Irell. The culture from what I could tell and from what I've heard from others was unlike any other law firm that I interviewed with. I know this is a poor sample size, but the people I interviewed with were painfully awkward although nice, just absolutely beta to the max. It made me wonder if these were the people they put me in front of, what was everyone else like. I'm sure the firm fits for some people, but its certainly not for everyone.

wrong.

I think you're proving his point.

[Anonymous User]

I'd imagine theres some heavy self selection that goes on with Irell. The culture from what I could tell and from what I've heard from others was unlike any other law firm that I interviewed with. I know this is a poor sample size, but the people I interviewed with were painfully awkward although nice, just absolutely beta to the max. It made me wonder if these were the people they put me in front of, what was everyone else like. I'm sure the firm fits for some people, but its certainly not for everyone.

wrong.

I think you're proving his point.

I also don't think OP is very on target. The people I met during my CB were all fairly normal (as normal as one can be working at a selective law firm), and of the people I know from my school who have received offers, they are all at least moderately social if not some of the more social people in my class. It's not a Broish culture by any stretch, but it isn't full of Aspies, either.

[Anonymous User]

Doing a callback at Irell very soon. Any thoughts about the firm and what to expect at the CB are much appreciated.
Any sense of what exit opportunities are like from Irell? Outside of CA? What is the reputation of I&M outside of West Coast? On par with firms like Munger, W&C, Covington, Wilmer, Cravath, SullCrom, and WLRK? Good reasons to pick Irell over any or most of those firms?
Thanks!

Reputation-wise, and substance-wise, I think Irell is not on par with many/most of those firms as a "general" litigation firm. It is better than most of those firms, reputation and substance-wise for patent litigation (probably on par with Covington/Wilmer from your list). If you're introverted/quirky/weird, it is probably the best firm culture-wise.

Nationwide, Irell's brand name is lesser known than any of those firm's brand names. But I'm not sure that matters too much, frankly. People who you should care about will know about it. If Irell were a NY-boutique, it would have had a better nationwide recognition. LA is not a big legal market. Having said that about LA, Munger has accomplished something quite special with its nationwide recognition.

My SO worked at Irell some years ago and said that the callback-to-offer ratio is very high. So unless you screw it up, you should get an offer. The cb is super-long (6 hours). Are you a patent litigation person?

1. I agree that IM's reputation is certainly stronger for IP lit, but disagree that this is limited to patent lit, and would say that it's reputation as a selective firm results in it having a bit more prominence than you are giving it credit for.

2. I disagree that MTO is much better known.... especially in Cali, where they are roughly on the same level.

3. My CB was a morning of interviews and lunch, which ends up being about 4-5 hours. This is pretty typical for firms..

[Anonymous User]

Does Irell allow summer splits? If so is it possible to do the second half there?

[anon168]

Does Irell allow summer splits? If so is it possible to do the second half there?

Yes and yes.

[Anonymous User]

I hated my callback at Irell. There were a couple genuinely nice people, but my lunch was AWFUL beyond words and one partner was the biggest jerk to me, I wished it wasn't unprofessional to get up and walk out of the room. The general attitude of pretension combined with the sweatshop hours (the associates you connect with as a summer will no longer be there by the time you start as a first year because of burnout) is not worth the high bonuses to me.

[sundance95]

I hated my callback at Irell. There were a couple genuinely nice people, but my lunch was AWFUL beyond words and one partner was the biggest jerk to me, I wished it wasn't unprofessional to get up and walk out of the room. The general attitude of pretension combined with the sweatshop hours (the associates you connect with as a summer will no longer be there by the time you start as a first year because of burnout) is not worth the high bonuses to me.

Since you obviously aren't going to go there, why not share how this partner was a jerk, or why you think associates don't last two years at Irell?

[Anonymous User]

Ok, I will bite.

The partner opened our discussion with the smug statement: "We don't typically see resumes like yours around here." aka my GPA wasn't good enough and my work experience wasn't good enough. Not going into any more detail at the risk of being outed. Didn't help that he was awkward, which is a theme at Irell as well.

The bit about associates leaving is from the mouth of friends who summered there and then went back after graduation. They work you hard at Irell. They're notorious for it. People burnout and leave because partner prospects are dismal and once you have Irell on your resume, your exit options are great. It is true that they treat you like an adult and give you tons of responsibility for the beginning. They also expect perfect work (as all firms should) in a way that puts on a lot of pressure.

I don't know, a lot of this is vibe. I could never in a million years see myself enjoying working with the people at that firm. I happily accepted an offer at another highly respected LA firm that is basically the polar opposite of Irell.

[Anonymous User]

Does Irell allow summer splits? If so is it possible to do the second half there?

Yes and yes.

Really? I read only first half? No?

[Anonymous User]

Ok, I will bite.

The partner opened our discussion with the smug statement: "We don't typically see resumes like yours around here." aka my GPA wasn't good enough and my work experience wasn't good enough. Not going into any more detail at the risk of being outed. Didn't help that he was awkward, which is a theme at Irell as well.

The bit about associates leaving is from the mouth of friends who summered there and then went back after graduation. They work you hard at Irell. They're notorious for it. People burnout and leave because partner prospects are dismal and once you have Irell on your resume, your exit options are great. It is true that they treat you like an adult and give you tons of responsibility for the beginning. They also expect perfect work (as all firms should) in a way that puts on a lot of pressure.

I don't know, a lot of this is vibe. I could never in a million years see myself enjoying working with the people at that firm. I happily accepted an offer at another highly respected LA firm that is basically the polar opposite of Irell.

Latham?