Milbank v. A&O v. Paul, Weiss (All NY) Forum

[Anonymous User]

Looking for a good culture, transactional work, and international opportunities. Having a hard time distinguishing between these as my interviews/experiences were relatively similar at each. Thanks for the input!

[Old Gregg]

Looking for a good culture, transactional work, and international opportunities. Having a hard time distinguishing between these as my interviews/experiences were relatively similar at each. Thanks for the input!

If you want corporate, you want a firm that has a strong corporate practice in the office you're working in. A&O's firmwide practice is obviously strong, but locally it's not even close to Paul Weiss or Milbank's. I would cross out A&O on that ground alone. All of these firms do pretty international deals (and while they seem sexy right now, believe me they are a nightmare to do).

As between Paul Weiss and Milbank, I'd say it's more of a toss-up. Milbank does a lot more public M&A, acquisition financing (representing lenders), etc. Paul Weiss's corporate group is the group that came over from OMM NY--it's a predominantly private equity practice. It really comes down to which kind of work you do, though I'd think Milbank associates would have an easier time transitioning to banks than Paul Weiss because of the different deals both firms handle (and despite the fact that Paul Weiss represents a lot of financial institutions on the litigation side).

[Anonymous User]

When did you hear back from Milbank and when was your CB??

[Anonymous User]

Just my personal opinion. I had callback with PW and folks I met there were highly unprofessional and even borderline rude. One interviewer totally forgot about the appointment and was late for 15 mins. Another interviewer talked about totally unrelated touchy political issues and all the time wore a smirk. I may have had a bad draw but the firm in general struck me as impersonal and weird. Also, according to one interviewer of mine (a partner), PW is truly a New York firm and the decorative international offices are sort of "historical figures."

[Anonymous User]

When did you hear back from Milbank and when was your CB??

CB mid-August heard back about a week later.

Thanks for the feedback, keep it coming!

[Anonymous User]

Did you do one of milbank callbacks that had a post-cb reception instead of dinner/lunch?

[Anonymous User]

When did you hear back from A&O and when was your CB?

[Anonymous User]

Did you do one of milbank callbacks that had a post-cb reception instead of dinner/lunch?

Afternoon CB, no dinner/lunch or reception.

When did you hear back from A&O and when was your CB?

Relatively early CB with about a week turnaround, sorry don't want to be more specific as I feel it may out me since it seems there hasn't been much A&O movement.

Edit: clarity.

[Anonymous User]

I have gone to various PW events and I've loved everyone I met. There are very few people who would act like the previous poster mentioned, but even then I wouldn't find it crazy offensive.

That being said, the firm attracts very strong personalities. While I think that's great and haven't met someone I don't like, it could be offputting for some. If you didn't have any issues during the CB, I wouldn't let the previous poster sway you.

[Anonymous User]

Did you do one of milbank callbacks that had a post-cb reception instead of dinner/lunch?

I'm a new anon who also has offers from Milbank and PW (plus an A&O CB next week).

I was at one of the Milbank post-CB receptions, and I got an offer the following day. Offer timing does seem to vary a lot, though, so I wouldn't freak out if you haven't heard back yet.

Curiously, I had the opposite experience to that of the other poster here. People at PW were all very nice. People at Milbank were less impressive. One partner (an alum of my school) seemed almost rude, and another partner (in my practice area) created the impression he would be difficult to work for. That said, the associates were generally very nice, and I enjoyed the reception as much as one can.

I've been leaning towards PW, even though I'm interested in transactional work.

[Anonymous User]

Just my personal opinion. I had callback with PW and folks I met there were highly unprofessional and even borderline rude. One interviewer totally forgot about the appointment and was late for 15 mins. Another interviewer talked about totally unrelated touchy political issues and all the time wore a smirk. I may have had a bad draw but the firm in general struck me as impersonal and weird. Also, according to one interviewer of mine (a partner), PW is truly a New York firm and the decorative international offices are sort of "historical figures."

Had a similar experience with PW

[Anonymous User]

Did you do one of milbank callbacks that had a post-cb reception instead of dinner/lunch?

I'm a new anon who also has offers from Milbank and PW (plus an A&O CB next week).

I was at one of the Milbank post-CB receptions, and I got an offer the following day. Offer timing does seem to vary a lot, though, so I wouldn't freak out if you haven't heard back yet.

Curiously, I had the opposite experience to that of the other poster here. People at PW were all very nice. People at Milbank were less impressive. One partner (an alum of my school) seemed almost rude, and another partner (in my practice area) created the impression he would be difficult to work for. That said, the associates were generally very nice, and I enjoyed the reception as much as one can.

I've been leaning towards PW, even though I'm interested in transactional work.

Interesting, thanks. I have one of the reception CBs later this week, so I was just curious about what it was like.

[NapoleonXV]

I had a vacation scheme in A&O London and I love the culture there. If you want international opportunities, I think A&O is definitely the choice.

On the corporate/banking division, A&O is not the strongest corporate firm you can think of, though if you want to do banking, I am pretty sure A&O has one of the biggest banking practices worldwide.

[Anonymous User]

Just my personal opinion. I had callback with PW and folks I met there were highly unprofessional and even borderline rude. One interviewer totally forgot about the appointment and was late for 15 mins. Another interviewer talked about totally unrelated touchy political issues and all the time wore a smirk. I may have had a bad draw but the firm in general struck me as impersonal and weird. Also, according to one interviewer of mine (a partner), PW is truly a New York firm and the decorative international offices are sort of "historical figures."

Not sure how true the bit about PW's international offices being decorative is -- I was at a Magic Circle firm's London-based US group and I noticed that clients in London/Europe frequently use PW as US counsel when they are using Slaughter & May (the UK equivalent of Cravath/WLRK in terms of prestige) as UK counsel

[Anonymous User]

Was A&O offer via a phone call?

[Old Gregg]

Just my personal opinion. I had callback with PW and folks I met there were highly unprofessional and even borderline rude. One interviewer totally forgot about the appointment and was late for 15 mins. Another interviewer talked about totally unrelated touchy political issues and all the time wore a smirk. I may have had a bad draw but the firm in general struck me as impersonal and weird. Also, according to one interviewer of mine (a partner), PW is truly a New York firm and the decorative international offices are sort of "historical figures."

Not sure how true the bit about PW's international offices being decorative is -- I was at a Magic Circle firm's London-based US group and I noticed that clients in London/Europe frequently use PW as US counsel when they are using Slaughter & May (the UK equivalent of Cravath/WLRK in terms of prestige) as UK counsel

Doesn't that kind of prove that the international offices are decorative? The companies were using S&M as local UK counsel (not Paul Weiss London), and used Paul Weiss NY for the rest...

[Anonymous User]

Was A&O offer via a phone call?

Not OP but mine was, a couple days after CB.