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I am fortunate enough to have offers from the three listed firms. I am interested in corporate work in NYC and beyond that I am most interested in M&A. I liked the people at all three. I understand that there are differences between the firms (ex. Debevoise and Weil work with more PE clients, etc.) but I am still having a really tough time deciding between them.

Any added insight on comparison of corporate practice, industry reputation, people, etc. among the three firms would be very helpful and much appreciated. Thanks

This should be an easy choice.

Debevoise and Weil are better than Latham for NY corporate work, although not by a lot.

Weil laid off associates en masse just over a year ago. Latham is a verb for a reason.

Debevoise also has the best reputation from a quality of life perspective. I know a couple of people who summered there this summer and loved it.

I feel like the Weil vs. Debevoise decision isn't as easy as you make it sound, but I don't know much about corp. so I should probably defer to others.

AntipodeanPhil wrote:This should be an easy choice.

Debevoise and Weil are better than Latham for NY corporate work, although not by a lot.

Weil laid off associates en masse just over a year ago. Latham is a verb for a reason.

Debevoise also has the best reputation from a quality of life perspective. I know a couple of people who summered there this summer and loved it.

The associate layoff at Weil focused on non-NY locations, and definitely didn't apply to the corporate groups. From what I hear (and I have good sources), corporate is real busy/has been real busy. Especially their private equity / M&A group.

Weil's top notch for M&A, and I wouldn't second guess its strength. Also, I'm not entirely sure how deb's group works, but Weil associates are first placed into a private equity And M&A group before associates choose one over another. Might be helpful to have the opportunity to experience both.

Oops

Anonymous User wrote:From what I hear (and I have good sources), corporate is real busy/has been real busy. Especially their private equity / M&A group.

I'm going to guess that source is you.

AntipodeanPhil wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:From what I hear (and I have good sources), corporate is real busy/has been real busy. Especially their private equity / M&A group.

I'm going to guess that source is you.

I am not a Weil person at all and I've heard the same regarding their corporate group.

They were also seeking to hire 3Ls.

AntipodeanPhil wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:From what I hear (and I have good sources), corporate is real busy/has been real busy. Especially their private equity / M&A group.

I'm going to guess that source is you.

Cuz it's hard to believe that I have friends at a law firm with a decent class size.

AntipodeanPhil wrote:This should be an easy choice.

Debevoise and Weil are better than Latham for NY corporate work, although not by a lot.

Weil laid off associates en masse just over a year ago. Latham is a verb for a reason.

Debevoise also has the best reputation from a quality of life perspective. I know a couple of people who summered there this summer and loved it.

Can you speak a little more about the quality of life, both for summers and junior associates? I've heard the Debevoise summers stay fairly late.

Anonymous User wrote:

AntipodeanPhil wrote:This should be an easy choice.

Debevoise and Weil are better than Latham for NY corporate work, although not by a lot.

Weil laid off associates en masse just over a year ago. Latham is a verb for a reason.

Debevoise also has the best reputation from a quality of life perspective. I know a couple of people who summered there this summer and loved it.

Can you speak a little more about the quality of life, both for summers and junior associates? I've heard the Debevoise summers stay fairly late.

Weil's layoffs were an isolated instance and hit one practice group (complex civil litigation) in two offices (Boston and Houston). The firm was open and transparent about these layoffs and is in a strong position moving forward. Weil is nothing like Latham and comparing them reflects a total lack of knowledge about the situation.

OP here - can anyone provide insight, beyond the chambers rankings, on the quality of the M&A groups at Latham and Debevoise?

In the industry, is one of these firms viewed as having a better reputation for quality work and training for associates than the other? If not, then can someone take a try at explaining the large discrepancy between Weil and Latham and Debevoise vault rankings?

Anonymous User wrote:In the industry, is one of these firms viewed as having a better reputation for quality work and training for associates than the other? If not, then can someone take a try at explaining the large discrepancy between Weil and Latham and Debevoise vault rankings?

Weil and Latham are both larger firms that have offices across the US. Deb only has 2 offices in the US, making associates in the South and on the West Coast who fill out these surveys less familiar with it. Look at the rankings for NY, there's no large discrepancy between these three firms, although Deb and Weil are both ahead of Latham.

Anyway, stop worrying about Vault rankings.