Opinions Sought: Lowenstein NJ vs. Proskauer Newark Forum

[Anonymous User]

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[Anonymous User]

I think Lowenstein is great if you want to live and practice in NJ. The name goes really far instate. I think over all Proskauer has better brand recognition. When you are ready to leave, and say you want to do employment lit at a firm in NY, the Proskauer name on your resume would help you more than Lowenstein. Commute wise you can catch the train to Newark. Not so much for Roseland. I would say only pick Lowenstien if you really could see yourself practicing and living in NJ at some point. P.S. I don't by the facetime comments. I think as a junior you would probably need to be around as much as possible. The associates I know there seem to be in the office pretty consistently, including weekends.

[Anonymous User]

If you can commit to labor and employment go with Proskauer. If you can't do that yet then go Lowenstein.

[Anonymous User]

When did you receive your Proskauer offer?

[Anonymous User]

Ye wasn't super saturday yesterday?

[Anonymous User]

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[Anonymous User]

Stats? School?

[Anonymous User]

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[Anonymous User]

I had offers from both last year, among other firms. Only pick Proskauer if you are absolutely 100% sure you want to do L&E, and solely L&E. Lowenstein is obviously a regional NJ firm so the work will be more localized, but the same can be said for many of the matters Proskauer Newark handles (i.e. relatively localized L&E matters, albeit with some pretty cool clients, like all the local sports teams). The more national Proskauer clients likely aren't having their cases handled by the NJ office.

I ended up choosing a large national firm that does everything, since I was just short of being certain that L&E is for me. And in the end, L&E ended up still being my #1 area of interest, and what I will end up sticking with. So in retrospect, I could have picked Proskauer Newark and it would have been a great choice. But I think there is something to be said for being absolutely certain before you pick an area.

[HeavenWood]

If you can commit to labor and employment go with Proskauer. If you can't do that yet then go Lowenstein.

This.

[Anonymous User]

If you can commit to labor and employment go with Proskauer. If you can't do that yet then go Lowenstein.

And keep in mind that Lowenstein has a pretty strong L&E group itself

[keg411]

If you decide on Lowenstein, it's probably best that you move to NJ and leave Brooklyn. I can't even begin to imagine how awful that would be as a commute and it's completely impossible without a car. That said, you probably shouldn't pick Proskauer if you are 100% L&E. Do you have any other full-service firm offers besides Lowenstein?

[Anonymous User]

Friend of mine didn't want to move to jersey. He started working in the lowenstein sandler new york office.

[Anonymous User]

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[Anonymous User]

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[Anonymous User]

Thanks again for all your insight.

Keg: For personal reasons, moving from Brooklyn isn't going to happen, not for at least 5 years. Living here is fundamental to my happiness and moving to NJ for a firm wouldn't be worth it. I agree that the commute could be awful. I've talked to some of there associates that live in Manhattan and claim it isn't that bad, but I'm thinking for me it would likely be at least 1.5 hours each day. Probably a combination of public and car (train to NJ and pick up a car parked near a PATH station or Secaucus). If there was really no face time requirement, and I could work from home or the city 1-2 days every week, this wouldn't be so bad, but it sounds like that's not really the case.

4:19 Anon: Do you know if your friend's office was for the NJ office? If it was, did they offer to transfer him to New York as soon as he asked?

Commuting daily from Brooklyn to Lowenstein's NJ office is an absolutely awful idea, and you will regret it 100% within a few short period of time after starting there. Not sure what "living here is fundamental to my happiness" means.

[Anonymous User]

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[r6_philly]

Roseland is only short drive from Newark right off the highway, you can always keep a car in NJ just to commute from the station to the office if you don't want to choose L&E. I guess you should hope that other options come through.

[dixiecupdrinking]

I'd seriously consider moving to Jersey City or Hoboken either way (not too hard to get to Brooklyn for social occasions but way more reasonable commute), but definitely if you went with Lowenstein. If you're truly dead-set on staying in Brooklyn, I think Proskauer is the better choice. But Brooklyn to Newark really isn't a picnic of a commute either.

[Anonymous User]

I think I am dead-set on staying, but I'll think on it. I actually do Brooklyn to Newark for school. It's no picnic, but it's pretty tolerable. 55 minute door to door on average.

[keg411]

I'd seriously consider moving to Jersey City or Hoboken either way (not too hard to get to Brooklyn for social occasions but way more reasonable commute), but definitely if you went with Lowenstein. If you're truly dead-set on staying in Brooklyn, I think Proskauer is the better choice. But Brooklyn to Newark really isn't a picnic of a commute either.

Oh, I agree that Brooklyn to Newark isn't good, but it's impossible to do Brooklyn to Roseland without a car. You really may have to consider balancing your "personal happiness" with having a job that pays well. Not to mention that most of the exit options from Lowenstein are going to be in NJ. I suppose you could work in the NYC office, but it's tiny and your not going to make the same connections/get the same type of work as you are out of the NJ office. The NJ office is the firm's bread-and-butter.

And when young associates talk about "working from home", they mean "nights and weekends". They don't mean, "don't go into the office a few days a week."