DPW v. Cleary (All NYC) Forum

[Anonymous User]

Yes. Another topic like all of the rest.

Corporate, NYC, leaning M&A or Capital Markets.

Leaning Cleary, just want to see if there are any good justifications why forgoing DPW would be wrong.

[DoveBodyWash]

Ehhhh depends on how badly you wanna do capital markets.. Dpw is much better for that it seems. And I guess office location could also be a minor consideration

[Anonymous User]

Current 2L, I was between these 2, also interested in corporate, and picked Cleary because I liked the people/office/feel so much better that I was willing to take the ever-so-slightly less prestigious firm. Also, DPW rotation system (where I've heard stories of failing/struggling to get your top choice rotation) appealed to me less than Cleary's purported flexibility (though who knows how the Cleary system plays out in practice). Only you can decide for yourself if the (really, really small) prestige gap matters more to you than your gut instinct. Re exit options: I figured 95% of people in the world haven't heard of either firm, of the 5% that have, maybe 1% (probably less) cares where you went, and that 1% is probably pretty evenly split in terms of which firm they like better/respect more. Good luck

[Anonymous User]

To the above anon, OP here. That was more or less my exact same rationale. People say split hairs and I've run out of hair.

[Anonymous User]

If for some reason you want to do cross-border Latin America related work then Cleary.

[Anonymous User]

Davis has the slightly stronger overall transactional practice, but the difference is marginal enough that going with fit is totally justified here.

[Anonymous User]

Current 2L, I was between these 2, also interested in corporate, and picked Cleary because I liked the people/office/feel so much better that I was willing to take the ever-so-slightly less prestigious firm. Also, DPW rotation system (where I've heard stories of failing/struggling to get your top choice rotation) appealed to me less than Cleary's purported flexibility (though who knows how the Cleary system plays out in practice). Only you can decide for yourself if the (really, really small) prestige gap matters more to you than your gut instinct. Re exit options: I figured 95% of people in the world haven't heard of either firm, of the 5% that have, maybe 1% (probably less) cares where you went, and that 1% is probably pretty evenly split in terms of which firm they like better/respect more. Good luck

Also a current 2L who chose DPW over Cleary. Regarding the above: rotation system issues will be no problem at all if you want capital markets. You will have no trouble ending up in that group if you express even the slightest bit of interest.

The rest is really up to you. Cleary has slightly nicer facilities and you get your own office after your first year; DPW has a better location and is every so slightly more "prestigious" -- though that's not worth much when you're comparing two firms of this caliber.

Good luck.

[Anonymous User]

I voted DPW, but I hate free market assigning. That ruled Cleary out automatically when I was considering firms. (I also turned down DPW and am at a peer.) DPW definitely has a better capital markets practice, but for M&A they are about equal (and Cleary is stronger in some other areas), and unless you've worked at the SEC or something, knowing you want to do a particular corporate group at this stage is frankly dumb.

[Anonymous User]

I voted DPW, but I hate free market assigning. That ruled Cleary out automatically when I was considering firms. (I also turned down DPW and am at a peer.) DPW definitely has a better capital markets practice, but for M&A they are about equal (and Cleary is stronger in some other areas), and unless you've worked at the SEC or something, knowing you want to do a particular corporate group at this stage is frankly dumb.

Cleary's free market system is not as cutthroat as other free market firms though..