Top Law Schools

Figured it was about time to start one of these.

OCI's-
Philly:
Blank Rome
Ballard Spahr
Dechert
Cozen
Stradley
Saul
Fox
Drinker
Marshall Dennehey
Reed Smith
Morgan Lewis
DLA Piper
Pepper
Duane Morris

For people mass mailing, Pepper and Ballard Spahr have started callbacks already (without previous screener).

Anonymous User wrote:For people mass mailing, Pepper and Ballard Spahr have started callbacks already (without previous screener).

And I got a rejection from Cozen.

Top 10% with LR and strong Philly ties at Temple/Nova/Rutgers

Philly firms:
Dechert
Blank Rome
Pepper Hamilton
Drinker Biddle
Duane Morris
Morgan Lewis
Fox Rothschild
Reed Smith
Cozen
Saul Ewing
Stradley
Conrad O'Brien
Mango Gold

DE Firms:
Skadden
DLA Piper
Potter Anderson
Morris Nichols
Young Conaway

Anonymous User wrote:Top 10% with LR and strong Philly ties at Temple/Nova/Rutgers

Philly firms:
Dechert
Blank Rome
Pepper Hamilton
Drinker Biddle
Duane Morris
Morgan Lewis
Fox Rothschild
Reed Smith
Cozen
Saul Ewing
Stradley
Conrad O'Brien
Mango Gold

DE Firms:
Skadden
DLA Piper
Potter Anderson
Morris Nichols
Young Conaway

OP here. Relatively similar stats at Temple/Nova/Rutgers with ties. Also have the DE interviews (but replace DLA with Richards Layton)

Top 5% at Temple/Nova/Rutgers. Already had my Dechert CB because I mailed and was able to bypass the screener.

Any idea how long Dechert takes to get back to you? Do they conduct all the CB's before the make decisions or is it rolling

Around median at Penn, really strong Philly ties. Have OCI screeners with Morgan Lewis, and Pepper Hamilton, and already had screeners with Dechert and Ballard Spahr. Mass mailed all the other major firms and some midlaw. Already have rejections from Cozen and McCarter & English. Some Philly people already got CB's from Dechert, so I think I missed them. Have strong ties with a few people at Morgan Lewis, so I'm hoping that goes well for me.

Also doing some screeners with Wilmington firms. Is it bad during my interviews to say that I want to work in Wilmington because I wanna be closer to Philly, or does that just make me seem like a complete flight risk? My understanding is a lot of Wilmington associates live in the Philly suburbs anyway.

Anonymous User wrote:Around median at Penn, really strong Philly ties. Have OCI screeners with Morgan Lewis, and Pepper Hamilton, and already had screeners with Dechert and Ballard Spahr. Mass mailed all the other major firms and some midlaw. Already have rejections from Cozen and McCarter & English. Some Philly people already got CB's from Dechert, so I think I missed them. Have strong ties with a few people at Morgan Lewis, so I'm hoping that goes well for me.

Also doing some screeners with Wilmington firms. Is it bad during my interviews to say that I want to work in Wilmington because I wanna be closer to Philly, or does that just make me seem like a complete flight risk? My understanding is a lot of Wilmington associates live in the Philly suburbs anyway.

Don't say that. Delaware firms are very paranoid of people ditching them for other markets.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Around median at Penn, really strong Philly ties. Have OCI screeners with Morgan Lewis, and Pepper Hamilton, and already had screeners with Dechert and Ballard Spahr. Mass mailed all the other major firms and some midlaw. Already have rejections from Cozen and McCarter & English. Some Philly people already got CB's from Dechert, so I think I missed them. Have strong ties with a few people at Morgan Lewis, so I'm hoping that goes well for me.

Also doing some screeners with Wilmington firms. Is it bad during my interviews to say that I want to work in Wilmington because I wanna be closer to Philly, or does that just make me seem like a complete flight risk? My understanding is a lot of Wilmington associates live in the Philly suburbs anyway.

Don't say that. Delaware firms are very paranoid of people ditching them for other markets.

Agreed. The hardest part of getting hired by DE firms (with the exception of Skadden) is convincing them that you really want to be in DE and stay in DE. When you're asked why you want to work in DE, I would recommend focusing on things particular to the DE legal market (bankruptcy, corporate, small bar, etc.). If anything, I would focus on why you'd rather be in DE than Philly or NY or anywhere else.

Anonymous User wrote:Agreed. The hardest part of getting hired by DE firms (with the exception of Skadden) is convincing them that you really want to be in DE and stay in DE. When you're asked why you want to work in DE, I would recommend focusing on things particular to the DE legal market (bankruptcy, corporate, small bar, etc.). If anything, I would focus on why you'd rather be in DE than Philly or NY or anywhere else.

Agreed; focus on why DE is better than Philly.

Working in DE. Trying to convince DE firms you're excited to live here is a non-starter if you're a carpet-bagger. They know Wilmington sucks. I recommend speaking a bit to livable neighborhoods but focusing on the work. E.g. I love it out in Greenville/Trolly Sq/the riverfront, looked at some rentals, and I am really interested in Chancery lit.

Where have people gotten CB's from?

Any CBs today?

Thus far I've gotten 5 callbacks from 17 screeners (4 Philly firms, 1 DE). I've already done one of them and I've heard nothing for a week and a half.

I have had 12 screeners so far, and have 2 CB's (1 Philly, 1 DE).

Anons: mind posting which firms you have CBs at? You are anonymous, and it would help the rest of us who have done screeners.

Dechert CB. Law school in Philly. No ties otherwise.

Anonymous User wrote:Anons: mind posting which firms you have CBs at? You are anonymous, and it would help the rest of us who have done screeners.

Anon w/ 2 CB's here. Callback at Cozen and Richards in DE.

Median Penn. Think I've pretty much struck out with Philly firms despite having really good ties. Oh well.

For those wondering, Pepper does weekly hiring meetings, so they theoretically get back to you within a week or two. Blank rome has not even scheduled their first hiring meeting, so they will be a while.

I've heard through the grapevine that Ballard has already given out some offers. Can anyone substantiate this?

On that note, any thoughts on Ballard vs. Dechert vs. Morgan? Not being from here, it's hard to figure out what the local reputation of each of these firms really is (Vault doesn't seem like it would be particularly helpful/applicable re Philly).

Anonymous User wrote:Median Penn. Think I've pretty much struck out with Philly firms despite having really good ties. Oh well.

Thanks for this!

Top dogs are Dechert/MLB/Pepper in Philly for lit. Haven't researched corporate but I assume the same three are up there.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Median Penn. Think I've pretty much struck out with Philly firms despite having really good ties. Oh well.

Thanks for this!

Er, you're welcome? Lol

Anonymous User wrote:I've heard through the grapevine that Ballard has already given out some offers. Can anyone substantiate this?

On that note, any thoughts on Ballard vs. Dechert vs. Morgan? Not being from here, it's hard to figure out what the local reputation of each of these firms really is (Vault doesn't seem like it would be particularly helpful/applicable re Philly).

Heard rumors Dechert is trying to move most of their operations to NYC (I think Vault lists them as being headquartered in NYC now), and Ballard is downsizing their office space. In terms of prestige or whatever, I think they're pretty much equal though.