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I was wondering if people could speak to Cravath in general...I've seen them on other threads as places to avoid (because of culture), while other people say it's not that bad and is exaggerated. Can anyone actually hash this out? I am going there next summer, which is why this is anonymous, and would love to hear a little bit more about it...more then just hearsay, which seems to be the bulk of the information about them on here.

I am not just talking about hours, but obviously that is a factor of "culture."

Anonymous User wrote:I was wondering if people could speak to Cravath in general...I've seen them on other threads as places to avoid (because of culture), while other people say it's not that bad and is exaggerated. Can anyone actually hash this out? I am going there next summer, which is why this is anonymous, and would love to hear a little bit more about it...more then just hearsay, which seems to be the bulk of the information about them on here.

I am not just talking about hours, but obviously that is a factor of "culture."

The guy who took me out to lunch during CB wore a bow tie and a 3-piece suit and spent ~75% of the "lunch" away on his phone. Take that for what you will.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I was wondering if people could speak to Cravath in general...I've seen them on other threads as places to avoid (because of culture), while other people say it's not that bad and is exaggerated. Can anyone actually hash this out? I am going there next summer, which is why this is anonymous, and would love to hear a little bit more about it...more then just hearsay, which seems to be the bulk of the information about them on here.

I am not just talking about hours, but obviously that is a factor of "culture."

The guy who took me out to lunch during CB wore a bow tie and a 3-piece suit and spent ~75% of the "lunch" away on his phone. Take that for what you will.

JSZ?

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I was wondering if people could speak to Cravath in general...I've seen them on other threads as places to avoid (because of culture), while other people say it's not that bad and is exaggerated. Can anyone actually hash this out? I am going there next summer, which is why this is anonymous, and would love to hear a little bit more about it...more then just hearsay, which seems to be the bulk of the information about them on here.

I am not just talking about hours, but obviously that is a factor of "culture."

The guy who took me out to lunch during CB wore a bow tie and a 3-piece suit and spent ~75% of the "lunch" away on his phone. Take that for what you will.

JSZ?

lolno. I guess there's more than one of those dudes.

Anonymous User wrote:I was wondering if people could speak to Cravath in general...I've seen them on other threads as places to avoid (because of culture), while other people say it's not that bad and is exaggerated. Can anyone actually hash this out? I am going there next summer, which is why this is anonymous, and would love to hear a little bit more about it...more then just hearsay, which seems to be the bulk of the information about them on here.

I am not just talking about hours, but obviously that is a factor of "culture."

My sense is that it's hit or miss. There are definitely some good people there, and people coming out of their summers seemed to like it, but I've heard some rough stories. Personally, I liked most of the people I met during my CB and second look (went with S&C though). One interviewer seemed especially frazzled, though that's not terribly unusual.

bump

Does anyone know if they hold any candidates post-CB, maybe in case their yield is low? I'm still in limbo which I had assumed means a ding, but my friends got rejections faster...

A partner at my firm came over from Cravath (where he had made partner). He said he didn't like it much at all there, and that the environment is not something he would recommend to law students, though he of course admits that the prestige is essentially unmatched, but he wasn't sure whether the costs of that justify the choice.

Anonymous User wrote:A partner at my firm came over from Cravath (where he had made partner). He said he didn't like it much at all there, and that the environment is not something he would recommend to law students, though he of course admits that the prestige is essentially unmatched, but he wasn't sure whether the costs of that justify the choice.

What did he say was wrong with the environment for him to have those feelings?

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:A partner at my firm came over from Cravath (where he had made partner). He said he didn't like it much at all there, and that the environment is not something he would recommend to law students, though he of course admits that the prestige is essentially unmatched, but he wasn't sure whether the costs of that justify the choice.

What did he say was wrong with the environment for him to have those feelings?

I didn't really go into specifics, since I was just curious about what led him to lateral from Cravath to our firm. He said he was fed up with the individualistic attitudes and egos, and he said that the sheer stress of that firm environment just didn't justify his lack of personal well-being. In other words, I think he was just burnt out from it for a long time and wanted a change.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I was wondering if people could speak to Cravath in general...I've seen them on other threads as places to avoid (because of culture), while other people say it's not that bad and is exaggerated. Can anyone actually hash this out? I am going there next summer, which is why this is anonymous, and would love to hear a little bit more about it...more then just hearsay, which seems to be the bulk of the information about them on here.

I am not just talking about hours, but obviously that is a factor of "culture."

The guy who took me out to lunch during CB wore a bow tie and a 3-piece suit and spent ~75% of the "lunch" away on his phone. Take that for what you will.

Having to spend lunch on the phone is not out of the ordinary for a big law associate. Sometimes you gotta take care of something.

OP, could you PM me?

Heh, if you want the sunshine and daisies look at Cravath, check out some of the links in this Dealbook posting.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/ ... f-big-law/

Specifically- http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/09/24/ ... ing-times/

and- http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/09/24/ ... secondary/

The second one is written by some guy who worked there in the 70's. I laughed at it.

NinerFan wrote:Heh, if you want the sunshine and daisies look at Cravath, check out some of the links in this Dealbook posting.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/ ... f-big-law/

Specifically- http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/09/24/ ... ing-times/

and- http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/09/24/ ... secondary/

The second one is written by some guy who worked there in the 70's. I laughed at it.

I saw that this morning. I was very surprised to see someone compare Cravath's culture to Debevoise and Cleary. I've only heard that they are nothing alike.

Former associate I interviewed with after they transferred to another (non-NYC) firm:

"During the heavy months, there would be times when I genuinely had no idea what my spouse was up to that month, so we'd have to catch up when I finally had time."

To the person speaking about "stress" what makes them any more stressful than another big firm?