Ropes Boston or White & Case NYC Forum

[Anonymous User]

So I'm probably the last person in the world deciding and this will totally out me, but I don't really care because the information I'm about to post is more or less known to the firms in question and I'm trying to get every reasoned perspective I can before the clock runs out later today.

I am deciding between Ropes Boston and White & Case NYC. I had always imagined that I would work in NYC after graduation, and Ropes NYC would probably be ideal, but I cannot split between firms or between cities within Ropes. I've enjoyed the people I've met at White & Case NYC, and, because of the way this offer came down, I haven't had a chance to get to know many people at the Ropes Boston office. But rankings and conventional wisdom suggest that that would be a very nice place to launch a career, too.

I want to litigate, I'm K-JD, and I haven't spent much time in Boston before, but it seems cute. What would TLS do with these options?

[seizmaar]

this about sums it up

[Anonymous User]

this about sums it up

I couldn't help but notice that, despite this, you still didn't vote for White & Case. :p

[Anonymous User]

Choosing White & Case over Ropes in this situation would be foolish.

Ropes is the top of the heap in Boston, with an enormous and highly regarded client based and top talent in their field. Anyone who wants to do corporate in Boston wants to work at Ropes. Ropes is taken seriously by top-tier NYC firms as a result, even though their NYC office is nothing special.

White & Case is not at the top of the heap anywhere, NYC or otherwise. No one goes to White & Case to work for the best clients or with the best attorneys. They go to White & Case because they didn't have better options.

Also, Ropes has a strong reputation as a good, collaborative place to work. White & Case is the exact opposite, with a reputation of being a firm where every partner is out for themselves and that cares little about the well-being of its associates.

Moving back to NYC from Ropes Boston if you decide Boston is too small would not be a challenge in the years ahead, possibly within Ropes itself (not sure of their policies) and definitely by lateraling.

You would have to have an extraordinarily compelling personal reason to stay in NYC for White & Case to really be in the running.

[911 crisis actor]

No one goes to White & Case to work for the best clients or with the best attorneys.

Is there another way you could have put this

[Anonymous User]

White & Case is not at the top of the heap anywhere, NYC or otherwise. No one goes to White & Case to work for the best clients or with the best attorneys. They go to White & Case because they didn't have better options.

If you want to eventually work abroad at an office that isn't just a small satellite office, White & Case can be very appealing. Some people actually turn down "better options" like V5 firms to go there, believe it or not.

[Pokemon]

Ropes... I am actually really surprised you did not get a better NYC firm if you got Ropes Boston.

[Anonymous User]

Ropes... I am actually really surprised you did not get a better NYC firm if you got Ropes Boston.

Agreed. I picked Ropes Boston over a V10. I think Ropes is the easy pick here.

[JusticeHarlan]

I had always imagined that I would work in NYC after graduation
I want to litigate

Anyone who wants to do corporate in Boston wants to work at Ropes.

Lol, way to read the OP.

Ropes Boston is great, but I have a hard time imagining that your doc review experience there is going to be so much better, or open so many more doors, than your doc review experience at White & Case. If you want to wind up in NYC take the offer in NYC.