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I want to do litigation and place a premium on a very friendly work environment. Below are the pros/cons as I see them. :

MoFo
Pros- 1) Better than MB nationally 2) DC does a lot of patent litigation, which I find intriguing because of the relative attractiveness of the clientele 3) great reputation for being a good place to work 4) extremely high yield rate (summer associate/offer ratio) 5) the office, while not extremely social, seems to value having a life outside of work (several people mentioned leaving at reasonable hours to spent time with family) 6) strong business outlook, particularly on the back of its huge win in Apple-Samsung 7) may look slightly better on a resume?
Cons- 1) Mediocre office visit. More neurotic people than normal, perhaps because of the IP strength 2) No hard science background, so it might be harder to lateral to an in-house (a possible goal) if I end up doing IP litigation.

Mayer Brown
Pros 1) Superb and relatively large (60+) Supreme Court and appellate practice (of course, I might not be able to get into it); 2) Better than MoFo in DC and about 2x its size 3) the most positive office visit I had 4) very strong in many fields of litigation, whereas MoFo's DC strength is more specialized to patent
Cons 1) Mediocre to poor showings on satisfaction surveys 2) Lower associate-permanent offer ratio, especially during the recession 3) seems to have a weaker business outlook than MoFo

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Fairly even choice, but I go with MoFo because it's a better brand.

Mayer Brown because of the SCOTUS practice. If you're interested in litigation, that's as good as it gets.

bump

Anonymous User wrote:Fairly even choice, but I go with MoFo because it's a better brand.

Anonymous User wrote:Mayer Brown because of the SCOTUS practice. If you're interested in litigation, that's as good as it gets.

@OP: Don't pretend to be different users in your own thread.

I had dinner with one of Mayer Brown's appellate partners over the summer; absolutely loved the experience. If MB DC were hiring for non-tax from my school, I'd have been begging for a spot.

bk187 wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Fairly even choice, but I go with MoFo because it's a better brand.

Anonymous User wrote:Mayer Brown because of the SCOTUS practice. If you're interested in litigation, that's as good as it gets.

@OP: Don't pretend to be different users in your own thread.

LOL

i'll say this: as i understand it, the IP at MoFo DC is very ITC-heavy. consider that.

What are the downsides to an ITC heavy IP practice?

Anonymous User wrote:What are the downsides to an ITC heavy IP practice?

absurd pace, lots of trials which probably translates into a ton of hours. arguably an opportunity for a lot of experience, but other, more experienced people on this board have suggested that ITC cases are not a good way to learn.