Page 1 of 2

Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 12:08 pm
by Anonymous User
I know they tend to skimp on litigation support, but what else do people mean when they say Quinn is ridiculously cheap?

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 12:18 pm
by Anonymous User
Very little if any free food. The office I visited was cheaply furnished. It's nice to know that everyone makes these (albeit small) sacrifices and yet that money gets funneled into partnership profits.

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 12:23 pm
by Anonymous User
$18 seamless dinner budget cheap.

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 2:16 pm
by Anonymous User
Wonder why the office furniture doesn't match? It's because Quinn buys its furniture at bankruptcy sales.

Also knew an associate there who told me that they didn't get him a smartphone, and was expected to respond to emails as if they had.

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 2:30 pm
by somewhatwayward
Anonymous User wrote:$18 seamless dinner budget cheap.
Does this include delivery charge, tip, etc? Or just food? $18 for food is plenty IMO but then again I am a female vegetarian

Also, if you are staying late for client and need dinner, I thought the client usually paid?

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 2:31 pm
by IAFG
Anonymous User wrote:Very little if any free food. The office I visited was cheaply furnished. It's nice to know that everyone makes these (albeit small) sacrifices and yet that money gets funneled into partnership profits.
Eh and above-market bonuses. I realize they're not huge but at least they're topping Cravath.

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 2:32 pm
by anon168
QE is not cheap. They're just not stupid with their money like many biglaw firms.

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 2:33 pm
by thesealocust
Their NYC office is amusingly located near exactly 0 other major NYC law firms. It's a decent/historic building and a decent location, but they clearly decided to save some cash on real estate.

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 2:34 pm
by anon168
Anonymous User wrote:
Also knew an associate there who told me that they didn't get him a smartphone, and was expected to respond to emails as if they had.
QE gives you a stipend for portable electronics (e.g. laptop, smartphone, etc.). How you spend it is up to you. Blow the entire thing on a fancy laptop? Then you pay out-of-pocket for an iPhone or BB or whatever.

The "Quinn is cheap" is one of the more inaccurate TLS memes out there.

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 3:04 pm
by Anonymous User
somewhatwayward wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:$18 seamless dinner budget cheap.
Does this include delivery charge, tip, etc? Or just food? $18 for food is plenty IMO but then again I am a female vegetarian

Also, if you are staying late for client and need dinner, I thought the client usually paid?
I'm talking overtime meal budget. This includes tax and tip.

I dont understand how the Quinn is cheap meme is false. All the information I've heard is directly from Quinn associates.

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 3:05 pm
by Anonymous User
anon168 wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Also knew an associate there who told me that they didn't get him a smartphone, and was expected to respond to emails as if they had.
QE gives you a stipend for portable electronics (e.g. laptop, smartphone, etc.). How you spend it is up to you. Blow the entire thing on a fancy laptop? Then you pay out-of-pocket for an iPhone or BB or whatever.

The "Quinn is cheap" is one of the more inaccurate TLS memes out there.
So the seamless budget is greater than $18???

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 4:26 pm
by Anonymous User
IAFG wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Very little if any free food. The office I visited was cheaply furnished. It's nice to know that everyone makes these (albeit small) sacrifices and yet that money gets funneled into partnership profits.
Eh and above-market bonuses. I realize they're not huge but at least they're topping Cravath.
Fair enough. The stingy feeling did bother me (among a whole host of other things).

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 5:08 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:
anon168 wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Also knew an associate there who told me that they didn't get him a smartphone, and was expected to respond to emails as if they had.
QE gives you a stipend for portable electronics (e.g. laptop, smartphone, etc.). How you spend it is up to you. Blow the entire thing on a fancy laptop? Then you pay out-of-pocket for an iPhone or BB or whatever.

The "Quinn is cheap" is one of the more inaccurate TLS memes out there.
So the seamless budget is greater than $18???
it is $18 and you get it if you bill at least 10 hours for the day. the furniture etc doesn't matter in the end and the NY location is actually way better than midtown. but the cheap seamless budget is rather annoying/overkill.

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 5:24 pm
by Anonymous User
I had associates complain to me during my callback about how cheap the place was. Their biggest complaints were with the support staff. One was coming from another prominent DC firm and said Quinn both had fewer support staff (secretaries and paralegals), and the ones they had were were less qualified/helpful than the old firm. He mentioned that earlier that week he'd been at the office until 11 because he had to make photocopies and assemble a binder.

Also, the space was just absolutely bear bones. I get the idea that Quinn wants to put their money where it's most useful, when you're billing 3000 a year, it'd be nice to have a decent workspace.

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 5:46 pm
by rad lulz
IAFG wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Very little if any free food. The office I visited was cheaply furnished. It's nice to know that everyone makes these (albeit small) sacrifices and yet that money gets funneled into partnership profits.
Eh and above-market bonuses. I realize they're not huge but at least they're topping Cravath.
I would argue that saving money greatly adds to Quinn's ability to remain.

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 5:55 pm
by Anonymous User
Quinn being cheap is not a meme. On my callback, several people with whom I interviewed brought up how cheap the firm is without any prompting from me. Some points they raised: the office furnishings, the low support staff, the dinner budget, stinginess with office supplies.

Now, whether all that should matter to you is an individual concern, but this is one of the few times a TLS conventional wisdom about a firm isn't a total pile of horse shit.

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 5:59 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:Quinn being cheap is not a meme. On my callback, several people with whom I interviewed brought up how cheap the firm is without any prompting from me. Some points they raised: the office furnishings, the low support staff, the dinner budget, stinginess with office supplies.

Now, whether all that should matter to you is an individual concern, but this is one of the few times a TLS conventional wisdom about a firm isn't a total pile of horse shit.
Office supplies? As in...they're concerned with how many pens and notepads you use?

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 11:32 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:The stingy feeling did bother me (among a whole host of other things).
What things?

Also how does Quinn compared to Boies on this? Any material difference in support staff/amenities/quality of the 12 hours you'll spend at the office every day?

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 11:36 pm
by Richie Tenenbaum
rad lulz wrote:
IAFG wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Very little if any free food. The office I visited was cheaply furnished. It's nice to know that everyone makes these (albeit small) sacrifices and yet that money gets funneled into partnership profits.
Eh and above-market bonuses. I realize they're not huge but at least they're topping Cravath.
I would argue that saving money greatly adds to Quinn's ability to remain.
:lol: :lol:

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 11:36 pm
by 09042014
Anonymous User wrote:$18 seamless dinner budget cheap.
Doesn't that shit just get billed to a client anyway?

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 11:38 pm
by 09042014
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Quinn being cheap is not a meme. On my callback, several people with whom I interviewed brought up how cheap the firm is without any prompting from me. Some points they raised: the office furnishings, the low support staff, the dinner budget, stinginess with office supplies.

Now, whether all that should matter to you is an individual concern, but this is one of the few times a TLS conventional wisdom about a firm isn't a total pile of horse shit.
Office supplies? As in...they're concerned with how many pens and notepads you use?
I fucking hate companies that are stingy with office supplies. My old job wouldn't notice I played on reddit for 6 hours a day, but lord help me if I wanted to get a mechanical pencil.

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 11:39 pm
by Anonymous User
People need to sort of differentiate between being "cheap", and cutting away unnecessary fat to allow the firm as a whole to run more smoothly, with conservative financial management. Often, those cuts are the ones made to avoid having to cut actual employees when times get rough, so in the end, its probably worth it when a firm cuts down on trivialities.

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 11:41 pm
by anon168
Desert Fox wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:$18 seamless dinner budget cheap.
Doesn't that shit just get billed to a client anyway?
Some clients won't pay for dinner expenses. And don't forget, QE does alot of cases on contingency, and those clients don't pay for nothin'.

And, truth be told, in this day and age of mobile computing, blackberries, citrix, etc., who really needs to stay at the office to work? Even if you are doing doc review, it's on a computer, which means you can do it remotely.

And QE has probably the most lax "work from home" policy of any biglaw firm out there. Most associates aren't there for lunch, much less dinner.

I see a herring, and it is red.

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 11:44 pm
by 09042014
anon168 wrote:
Desert Fox wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:$18 seamless dinner budget cheap.
Doesn't that shit just get billed to a client anyway?
Some clients won't pay for dinner expenses.

And, truth be told, in this day and age of mobile computing, blackberries, citrix, etc., who really needs to stay at the office to work? Even if you are doing doc review, it's on a computer, which means you can do it remotely.

And QE has probably the most lax "work from home" policy of any biglaw firm out there. Most associates aren't there for lunch, much less dinner.

I see a herring, and it is red.
Counterpoint, if people don't have to make dinner then they can bill more. Even if they bill .25 hours more, that'll over double whatever dinner would cost.

But I think IAFG is on point, they aren't cheap when it comes to bonuses.

And their LA office looked nice enough to me.

Re: Just how cheap is Quinn?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 11:45 pm
by Anonymous User
rad lulz wrote:
IAFG wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Very little if any free food. The office I visited was cheaply furnished. It's nice to know that everyone makes these (albeit small) sacrifices and yet that money gets funneled into partnership profits.
Eh and above-market bonuses. I realize they're not huge but at least they're topping Cravath.
I would argue that saving money greatly adds to Quinn's ability to remain.
in a similar vein: low costs -> more profits -> higher PPP -> better partners -> high profile cases/exit options/plenty of work to go around. quinn cherrypicks partners from other firms, luring them with $$$ and leaving the mediocre/unprofitable partners behind. basically, it's a race to the bottom and quinn is the bottom.