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All nyc offices. Dead set on transactional but not sure if M&A or capital markets without trying out the areas.

Ultimate career goal would be V100 partner but I understand that equity partnership is unlikely at all three firms (given that CSM only made four partners last year...).

I know the rotational system is a gamble but I kind of like the idea of rolling the dice and hoping to develop a mentorship type relationship with a partner.

DPW, Cravath seem to have deeper ties with financial institutions; I know JP Morgan goes to both firms regularly. But Skadden has as good if not better brand reputation with F500 companies/GCs. See --LinkRemoved--

Culturally, I think I'd fit better with Skadden's fratty nature because I like going out after work and would love to party with coworkers after deal closing, etc. (as appropriate).

thoughts?

Anyone care to explain their vote?

Bumping this. Any advice, annecdotes, comments would be very helpful.

1L with no ability to advise, but I have to ask what school range/grades/WE gave you such awesome choices? Congrats!

You're most likely not getting any explanations because there is no right or wrong answer here, especially since you're undecided between cap markets and M&A. Just go with your gut. Do second looks if your gut isn't leaning in any particular direction.

I didn't have DP, but I choose Cravath based entirely off fit. I genuinely loved everyone that I met with there and it seemed like a really great place. Skadden was very cold in my opinion (and going in I thought that it would be the opposite and that I would fit more with the "fratty" culture at Skadden). It could have just been the people I met, but when 8 people are great people to be around I feel like it speaks for itself. Like others said, its all about fit at this point...you can't go wrong!

If you are not planning on staying around very long, why not get the Cravath name on your resume. It is clearly historically the most elite and carries the most weight.

Anonymous User wrote:If you are not planning on staying around very long, why not get the Cravath name on your resume. It is clearly historically the most elite and carries the most weight.

Even a couple of years is a long time. I don't think the Cravath exit options are better enough to warrant going there if OP is leaning otherwise, but if totally indifferent yeah, sure, why not, whatever floats your boat.

DPW is always my preference over Cravath. I like the culture better, more flexibility, and a solid brand name to boot. Looking at the League Tables this year, it seems that DPW has been on the rise and Cravath has been disappointing, so I doubt the prowess of Cravath is substantively more than Cravath.

Exit options: IMO there's absolutely no difference.

Skadden: whatever. Great firm, but IMO shouldn't be in the equation with these two firms in your hand.

Anonymous User wrote:It is clearly historically the most elite and carries the most weight.

Historically? Maybe. But I don't see any real difference in the strength of a "Cravath" resume line versus a "Davis Polk" resume line now.

Did OCI a couple of years ago and had similar choice along w/ S&C and chose DPW. Here was my reasoning for not choosing the other firms.

Cravath: great firm, but I felt out of place there. It seemed very old school and stiff, from the way the interior decoration of the offices were designed to the fact that I seemed to be the only non-white person walking around. I know they have decent diversity but I did not see it. More importantly, though I did not like being chained to a partner for 18 months. It's a huge crap shoot in terms of QOL and work experiences. If it's great - it's wonderful. If you get a huge ass who expects you to be on call every second of your life - from your desk at the office - then sorry buddy, start counting down that jail sentence.

Skadden: also great firm. Loved the office. Hated that it's in time square though. Took forever to walk to my interview and I was actually 10 minutes late because of all the damn tourists. My gripe w/ Skadden is that apparently they have an A team and a B team since the firm is so big. If you're on the A team you're doing the mega deals. If you're on the B team of lawyers you're doing the smaller stuff. As a super huge firm they have to take on all kinds of business in order to maintain profitability so you could end up doing tiny who-cares deals. Not to say those deals aren't going to give you great experience, but one of the reasons to pick a top tier firm is to do top tier work that you can talk about in your next job's interview.

I chose DPW because I loved the office, liked the location - you can get to it from practically anywhere in Manhattan and outside NY if I decide to move (say to westchester or CT). I liked the people and enjoyed that they seemed very nice and genuine. Not sure what else to say about it. I'm glad I chose DPW, but it's not for everyone and I'm sure there are a ton of negative things w/ it that I am choosing to ignore at the moment.

Fresh Prince wrote:Looking at the League Tables this year, it seems that DPW has been on the rise and Cravath has been disappointing.

Could you explain a little more about this?