Top Law Schools

Anyone have thoughts on Latham SF? Good place to work?

Only interviewed there, so no in depth experience, but I liked it a lot from what I saw during OCI and callbacks. Very outgoing people so maybe not the best place to be if you're on the shyer side or don't want to be going out with your coworkers all the time. Lots of strong lit practices in the SF office - don't know about corporate work since I wasn't really focused on that but my guess is that they hold their own there as well. I did meet some former Latham associates that had left the SV office and had found it to be quite the grind which may apply to SF as well - no idea. But overall, I liked it. They also have a bright sunny office which is nice.

Bump

Anyone out there that can update this seven-year-old thread? Interesting in work/life balolance, whether there are any screamers, etc etc . . .

tyia

is it 2021 already? jfc time flies in biglaw...

Abbie Doobie wrote:is it 2021 already? jfc time flies in biglaw...

Anonymous User wrote:

Abbie Doobie wrote:is it 2021 already? jfc time flies in biglaw...

whoops, I was looking at the date that OP joined TLS, not the thread date. My bad.

Still looking for that sweet inside info on Latham SF tho . . .

Know a couple associates out that way - they are very happy, very nice people, and seem way chiller than the DC and NY crowd. Very lit focused, especially antitrust, and seem to enjoy their life.

No idea about specific partners etc. though

Do they do any corporate work out of SF or is that solely in SV

Anonymous User wrote:Do they do any corporate work out of SF or is that solely in SV

From Chambers Associate [http://www.chambers-associate.com/true- ... 9/1##bonus]:

Chambers Associate wrote:San Francisco is almost 90% litigation-focused. "You're basically not going to get hired in this office unless you're interested in litigation work," associates confirmed.

Anonymous User wrote:Do they do any corporate work out of SF or is that solely in SV

Former Latham SV paralegal. The SF office is indeed nearly fully lit. If you are corporate, you will need to commute to SV most of the time. Can get access to SF for occasional stuff. But corporate is in the Valley. This is true for many SF/SV firms although there are exceptions (WSGR, MoFo, Orrick all have some corporate in SF).

Also wanted to bump this thread... I think Latham's SF office is like 100 people. How many SA positions do they usually seek to fill each year (I realize the needs will vary depending on how big turnover was, and how well busy is doing, etc, but generally does anyone other than HYSB have a fighting chance?)

Anonymous User wrote:Also wanted to bump this thread... I think Latham's SF office is like 100 people. How many SA positions do they usually seek to fill each year (I realize the needs will vary depending on how big turnover was, and how well busy is doing, etc, but generally does anyone other than HYSB have a fighting chance?)

You are correct that there are approximately 100 fee earners (partners, counsel, associates) at Latham SF. Despite significant growth, it is understood that the office is running well above pace and is one of, if not the busiest, office in the Latham network. This explains the larger summer class in recent years. Like the San Francisco offices of other V10 firms, the office is also one of the most selective at the firm.

This year, there are twelve summer associates, broken down as follows: 1 Yale, 2 Stanford, 2 Harvard, 5 Berkeley, 1 UCLA, 1 Hastings. YSHB are extremely overrepresented. The numbers seem to bear out that non-T14 candidates have to be exceptionally strong to receive anything more than marginal consideration. However, some recent laterals to the office have also been successful with CCN degrees.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Also wanted to bump this thread... I think Latham's SF office is like 100 people. How many SA positions do they usually seek to fill each year (I realize the needs will vary depending on how big turnover was, and how well busy is doing, etc, but generally does anyone other than HYSB have a fighting chance?)

You are correct that there are approximately 100 fee earners (partners, counsel, associates) at Latham SF. Despite significant growth, it is understood that the office is running well above pace and is one of, if not the busiest, office in the Latham network. This explains the larger summer class in recent years. Like the San Francisco offices of other V10 firms, the office is also one of the most selective at the firm.

This year, there are twelve summer associates, broken down as follows: 1 Yale, 2 Stanford, 2 Harvard, 5 Berkeley, 1 UCLA, 1 Hastings. YSHB are extremely overrepresented. The numbers seem to bear out that non-T14 candidates have to be exceptionally strong to receive anything more than marginal consideration. However, some recent laterals to the office have also been successful with CCN degrees.

Wow great info. Would you have any idea of what extremely strong might mean at a school like MVP (and strong ties to the Bay Area)?

Why not just look through the SF office's attorney list and see what credentials MVP candidates have?

As one data point, I received a Latham SF SA offer with top 10% MVP and LR. Had strong ties to SF. This was a couple of years ago. But unless selectivity has ramped up recently, I doubt that stats quite that high are necessary for an offer; I know of other MVP candidates in recent years at the office who had lower numbers from MVP and received offers.

Anonymous User wrote:Why not just look through the SF office's attorney list and see what credentials MVP candidates have?

As one data point, I received a Latham SF SA offer with top 10% MVP and LR. Had strong ties to SF. This was a couple of years ago. But unless selectivity has ramped up recently, I doubt that stats quite that high are necessary for an offer; I know of other MVP candidates in recent years at the office who had lower numbers from MVP and received offers.

Appreciate the data point!