Sullcrom vs Covington DC vs Cravath vs Irell Forum

[Anonymous User]

Litigation. Totally open to doing white collar, regulatory, patent, or securities. Practice area matters much less than the intellectualism and sophistication of work. Indifferent to location. Looking for opinions about where I'll be able to do the best, most interesting work with the best, most interesting, and intelligent people. Which is best for top CoA clerkships? General opinions welcome.

[lawyerwannabe]

Litigation. Totally open to doing white collar, regulatory, patent, or securities. Practice area matters much less than the intellectualism and sophistication of work. Indifferent to location. Looking for opinions about where I'll be able to do the best, most interesting work with the best, most interesting, and intelligent people. Which is best for top CoA clerkships? General opinions welcome.

Throw out SullCrom if you want litigation. That leaves Cravath NY v. C & B DC v. Irell CA.

To be honest, all three are pretty much equally prestigious and good at litigation (but specialize in difference areas). All are equally impressive for CoA clerkships. It really does come down to exactly what you want to do and where you want to be.

[Anonymous User]

I doubt any are going to change your CoA chances (especially CoA since CoA tends to be offplan and early in the year whereas you might be able to leverage connections at a firm to help you out with onplan Dist Ct stuff that hits after the summer).

Things to consider:

-Cravath/S&C/Irell will be loooong hours, not sure about Covington.
-Cravath/S&C are structured more like traditional highly leveraged biglaw firms. Covington/Irell are less leveraged and Irell is the smallest of the 4.
-Irell pays above market bonuses, but you wouldn't possibly start as an associate for several years and that may no longer hold true when you do start.
-DC/LA/NYC are very different places.
-The types of lit they do are very different. You are open to doing any, but if you're making a choice at the margins, which is most interesting to you?
-Where did you fit best/which culture did you prefer?

[Anonymous User]

Litigation. Totally open to doing white collar, regulatory, patent, or securities. Practice area matters much less than the intellectualism and sophistication of work. Indifferent to location. Looking for opinions about where I'll be able to do the best, most interesting work with the best, most interesting, and intelligent people. Which is best for top CoA clerkships? General opinions welcome.

Throw out SullCrom if you want litigation. That leaves Cravath NY v. C & B DC v. Irell CA.

To be honest, all three are pretty much equally prestigious and good at litigation (but specialize in difference areas). All are equally impressive for CoA clerkships. It really does come down to exactly what you want to do and where you want to be.

I though SullCrom is the best securities lit and white collar shop in nyc?

[Anonymous User]

Similar situation. Deciding between SC and CB (DC). Which is more prestigious, better exit options, best for clerking? At my HYS school it seems like a bunch of LR people go to SC every year but overall CB people seem to have best resumes and clerkships on website.

[bk1]

Similar situation. Deciding between SC and CB (DC). Which is more prestigious, better exit options, best for clerking? At my HYS school it seems like a bunch of LR people go to SC every year but overall CB people seem to have best resumes and clerkships on website.

One and only warning: don't try and pretend to be more people to drum up interest in your thread.

[Anonymous User]

Litigation. Totally open to doing white collar, regulatory, patent, or securities. Practice area matters much less than the intellectualism and sophistication of work. Indifferent to location. Looking for opinions about where I'll be able to do the best, most interesting work with the best, most interesting, and intelligent people. Which is best for top CoA clerkships? General opinions welcome.

Throw out SullCrom if you want litigation. That leaves Cravath NY v. C & B DC v. Irell CA.

To be honest, all three are pretty much equally prestigious and good at litigation (but specialize in difference areas). All are equally impressive for CoA clerkships. It really does come down to exactly what you want to do and where you want to be.

I though SullCrom is the best securities lit and white collar shop in nyc?

That's fair to say. The other firms are obviously very strong as well, but it'd be pretty odd to drop S&C from consideration if you're after sophisticated, high-stakes litigation experience. They're the choice firm as far as the financial industry is concerned, and much of the high-stakes litigation nowadays revolves around that industry.

[Anonymous User]

Litigation. Totally open to doing white collar, regulatory, patent, or securities. Practice area matters much less than the intellectualism and sophistication of work. Indifferent to location. Looking for opinions about where I'll be able to do the best, most interesting work with the best, most interesting, and intelligent people. Which is best for top CoA clerkships? General opinions welcome.

I summered at one of those firms a couple years ago. I'm now doing the first of two clerkships. So, here's my two cents:

-WIth regards to clerking, I don't think it makes any difference. Judges will want to see that you worked at a good firm and got an offer to return (if they aren't hiring you before the end of your summer). All these firms are very, very good at what they do. Some judges may have slight preferences for one firm over the other (e.g., 2d Cir NYC judges will like to see NYC firms) and some judges may just have pet preferences for certain firms (e.g., perhaps they used to work with attorneys from one of the firms when they were in practice and had a lot of respect for them). Anyways, all of these firms signal that you're a smart, hardworking law student.

-As far as the intellectualism/sophistication of the work, no one hires a V10 to do simple work. Yes, SullCrom probably does more securities litigation work than, say, Covington DC. But, the securities litigation work that SullCrom is doing isn't simple strike suit work. Clients can hire far, far cheaper firms than SullCrom to do simple work. Rather, SullCrom will be doing cutting edge work. Thus, between SullCrom, Cravath, and Covington, their litigation will have different strengths, but it will all be very complex, big cases. Clients don't spend that sort of money on piddly cases. Further, they all hire very smart people -- none of those firms are known for having less than academically stellar associates.

-You have to have some sense of the type of work that might interest you. For example, if you are interested in litigation or financial services regulatory work, then SullCrom would probably work well for you. But, if you are interested in patent litigation or food & drug work, then Covington would be a no-brainer here. There has to be some areas that interest you more than others, and that should inform you decision.

-You need to decide on the city you want to live in. DC is very different from NYC and both are very, very different from the West Coast. This should greatly inform your decision. Now, if you prefer NYC then you should go to SullCrom or Cravath, and you should pick based on which place you liked more. Both do very complex, very high-end litigation. And you will work very, very hard at both.

[vanwinkle]

Similar situation. Deciding between SC and CB (DC). Which is more prestigious, better exit options, best for clerking? At my HYS school it seems like a bunch of LR people go to SC every year but overall CB people seem to have best resumes and clerkships on website.

One and only warning: don't try and pretend to be more people to drum up interest in your thread.

I lol'd.

[rayiner]

Similar situation. Deciding between SC and CB (DC). Which is more prestigious, better exit options, best for clerking? At my HYS school it seems like a bunch of LR people go to SC every year but overall CB people seem to have best resumes and clerkships on website.

One and only warning: don't try and pretend to be more people to drum up interest in your thread.

Wow, I never would've even thought to do that.

[Anonymous User]

Those w/ Covington offers- how long did it take to hear back? Thanks!!

[Anonymous User]

Those w/ Covington offers- how long did it take to hear back? Thanks!!

Oh (I'm the poster I'm quoting) I'd pick Covington, but solely because I think DC is way more livable than NYC. Both firms are excellent, IMO.

[Anonymous User]

Those w/ Covington offers- how long did it take to hear back? Thanks!!

Oh (I'm the poster I'm quoting) I'd pick Covington, but solely because I think DC is way more livable than NYC. Both firms are excellent, IMO.

Summered at S&C. Can say with confidence that the white collar practice is stellar and the work is high-stakes and interesting. It's also a terrific revolving door if you're interested in working for the DOJ.

You will work hard, but it's a top notch practice.