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Irell Exodus

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2015 10:35 pm
by Anonymous User
http://abovethelaw.com/2015/01/an-exodu ... l-manella/

How worried should incoming summers and 3Ls who thought they would start in September be after this news? Should we be proactive about trying to find new opportunities? Or wait until we get more news in a month after all the fallout has cleared?

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2015 10:55 pm
by Anonymous User
I hope all the incoming summers and first years are trying to do IP Lit. Irell just became very one dimensional.

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2015 11:08 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:http://abovethelaw.com/2015/01/an-exodu ... l-manella/

How worried should incoming summers and 3Ls who thought they would start in September be after this news? Should we be proactive about trying to find new opportunities? Or wait until we get more news in a month after all the fallout has cleared?
I doubt they'll revoke offers or summers, that would be suicide. But if you're not doing IP yea I'd be worried.

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2015 11:37 pm
by 84651846190
Anonymous User wrote:I hope all the incoming summers and first years are trying to do IP Lit. Irell just became very one dimensional.
Uh... IP lit is definitely not where you want to be right now.

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2015 11:45 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:http://abovethelaw.com/2015/01/an-exodu ... l-manella/

How worried should incoming summers and 3Ls who thought they would start in September be after this news? Should we be proactive about trying to find new opportunities? Or wait until we get more news in a month after all the fallout has cleared?
I doubt they'll revoke offers or summers, that would be suicide. But if you're not doing IP yea I'd be worried.
So start looking for other opportunities (if there are any out there)?

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 12:28 am
by Anonymous User
I dunno man. ATL is making it sound like Dewey 2.0. But who really knows.

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 12:50 am
by Anonymous User
I imagine that incoming Irell summers (and even incoming associates to a lesser extent) have other options. Irell is very competitive w/ re: hiring.

If you don't want to do IP lit (and you shouldn't), I would recommend shopping your (SA or associate) offer. I'd be surprised if you couldn't find another gig in LA or CA generally. Even if you do want to do IP lit, I would probably shop around. This doesn't bode well for the firm generally.

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 12:54 am
by Anonymous User
And given the news, other firms would totally understand why you are shopping around. Nothing to lose if you are feeling a bit skeptical.

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 12:56 am
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:And given the news, other firms would totally understand why you are shopping around. Nothing to lose if you are feeling a bit skeptical.
Call the new firm if you interviewed/worked with any of them over you 2L summer. Worst they will do is say we aren't ready for you yet.

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 1:47 am
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:If you don't want to do IP lit (and you shouldn't)
Why is that?

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 1:58 am
by 84651846190
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:If you don't want to do IP lit (and you shouldn't)
Why is that?
A large portion of patent lit is moving to the patent office (IPRs, CBMs and PGRs). Bullshit software patents will no longer be litigated by humanities majors, since Section 101 has grown teeth. That means people with tech backgrounds may still do okay in patent lit, but people who want to do patent lit who can't get reg. numbers or understand complex technology are going to be hosed.

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 12:28 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:http://abovethelaw.com/2015/01/an-exodu ... l-manella/

How worried should incoming summers and 3Ls who thought they would start in September be after this news? Should we be proactive about trying to find new opportunities? Or wait until we get more news in a month after all the fallout has cleared?
Given the scale of the break-up, it's possible that Hueston Hennigan will give offers to some of the 3Ls who summered at Irell and worked in their practice areas. They need the incoming bodies, after all. Less clear what would happen with incoming SAs, but Hueston Hennigan probably wants a few SAs as well.

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 12:42 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:I imagine that incoming Irell summers (and even incoming associates to a lesser extent) have other options. Irell is very competitive w/ re: hiring.

If you don't want to do IP lit (and you shouldn't), I would recommend shopping your (SA or associate) offer. I'd be surprised if you couldn't find another gig in LA or CA generally. Even if you do want to do IP lit, I would probably shop around. This doesn't bode well for the firm generally.
You're underestimating the difficulty in finding work outside of the OCI process. Even for law students as talented and in-demand as those at Irell, it's no easy task, at least for the incoming associates. The summers will be fine though.

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 12:53 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:I imagine that incoming Irell summers (and even incoming associates to a lesser extent) have other options. Irell is very competitive w/ re: hiring.

If you don't want to do IP lit (and you shouldn't), I would recommend shopping your (SA or associate) offer. I'd be surprised if you couldn't find another gig in LA or CA generally. Even if you do want to do IP lit, I would probably shop around. This doesn't bode well for the firm generally.
You're underestimating the difficulty in finding work outside of the OCI process. Even for law students as talented and in-demand as those at Irell, it's no easy task, at least for the incoming associates. The summers will be fine though.
Not really. I moved from a top firm to another top firm as a 3L without OCI. So did a few other people I know. I think anyone who is remotely resourceful can do this if they are Irell caliber.

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 1:04 pm
by bruinfan10
This is such awesome news. There's a decent chance we'll finally have another trial boutique in CA that's on KVN's level, without the downside of KVN's ~50% patent caseload. Really excited about this firm.

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 2:16 pm
by cookiejar1
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:I imagine that incoming Irell summers (and even incoming associates to a lesser extent) have other options. Irell is very competitive w/ re: hiring.

If you don't want to do IP lit (and you shouldn't), I would recommend shopping your (SA or associate) offer. I'd be surprised if you couldn't find another gig in LA or CA generally. Even if you do want to do IP lit, I would probably shop around. This doesn't bode well for the firm generally.
You're underestimating the difficulty in finding work outside of the OCI process. Even for law students as talented and in-demand as those at Irell, it's no easy task, at least for the incoming associates. The summers will be fine though.
Not really. I moved from a top firm to another top firm as a 3L without OCI. So did a few other people I know. I think anyone who is remotely resourceful can do this if they are Irell caliber.
That and most should already have / are lining up clerkships for after graduation anyways.

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 4:26 pm
by Tiago Splitter
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:I imagine that incoming Irell summers (and even incoming associates to a lesser extent) have other options. Irell is very competitive w/ re: hiring.

If you don't want to do IP lit (and you shouldn't), I would recommend shopping your (SA or associate) offer. I'd be surprised if you couldn't find another gig in LA or CA generally. Even if you do want to do IP lit, I would probably shop around. This doesn't bode well for the firm generally.
You're underestimating the difficulty in finding work outside of the OCI process. Even for law students as talented and in-demand as those at Irell, it's no easy task, at least for the incoming associates. The summers will be fine though.
Not really. I moved from a top firm to another top firm as a 3L without OCI. So did a few other people I know. I think anyone who is remotely resourceful can do this if they are Irell caliber.
As a second semester 3L?

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 4:42 pm
by Anonymous User
Yeah, spring last year.

The hiring market right now is kind of crazy. A lot of firms are really busy and understaffed. I think non-traditional hiring is becoming more and more prevalent as the market is proving increasingly erratic. On upswings, the opportunities are plentiful.

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 7:21 pm
by Anonymous User
Is lit on the upswing too or just corporate? I summered last year and I know the corporate folks were rescheduling lunches a lot, and bringing toothbrushes into the office. I assumed corporate was just having a good quarter.

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 11:05 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:Is lit on the upswing too or just corporate? I summered last year and I know the corporate folks were rescheduling lunches a lot, and bringing toothbrushes into the office. I assumed corporate was just having a good quarter.
The corporate people are still extremely busy.

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 11:35 pm
by Anonymous User
I'm the poster who switched firms.

I'm corporate, but our litigators are also swamped right now. In general, I get the vibe all groups are pretty damn busy.

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 2:49 am
by Anonymous User
wow. one of the partners leaving was my OCI interviewer just a few months ago, another was a CB interviewer. pretty surprised by this and honestly disturbed given how close I came to choosing them

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 3:02 am
by KM2016
Anonymous User wrote:wow. one of the partners leaving was my OCI interviewer just a few months ago, another was a CB interviewer. pretty surprised by this and honestly disturbed given how close I came to choosing them
Just be glad you didn't choose them. Who knows what's going to happen over there...

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 4:20 am
by Anonymous User
KM2016 wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:wow. one of the partners leaving was my OCI interviewer just a few months ago, another was a CB interviewer. pretty surprised by this and honestly disturbed given how close I came to choosing them
Just be glad you didn't choose them. Who knows what's going to happen over there...
No joke. I was pretty strongly considering them along with another LA firm and ended up accepting at the other place. Feel like I dodged a huge bullet.

Wonder how much writing on the wall there was during OCI/CB season. Everyone I talked to seemed exceptionally rosy about the firm compared to my other CBs.

Re: Irell Exodus

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 10:01 am
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:
KM2016 wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:wow. one of the partners leaving was my OCI interviewer just a few months ago, another was a CB interviewer. pretty surprised by this and honestly disturbed given how close I came to choosing them
Just be glad you didn't choose them. Who knows what's going to happen over there...
No joke. I was pretty strongly considering them along with another LA firm and ended up accepting at the other place. Feel like I dodged a huge bullet.

Wonder how much writing on the wall there was during OCI/CB season. Everyone I talked to seemed exceptionally rosy about the firm compared to my other CBs.
I had a partner at another firm warn me about considering Irell b/c of the uncertainties regarding Chu but I dismissed that as an aggressive Quinn hard sell. I talked to an Irell partner during a CB who stressed that Irell was full service before Chu and was moving towards to being full service again - didn't they just pick up a bunch of corporate entertainment lawyers and etc to round out their practice groups? This is a huge surprise for me.