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Does anyone here have personal experience with interviewing for big firms with a significant public interest background?

I was asked at a fair about why I want to work for a private firm. The reality is that I never set out to do public interest. I ended up at non-profits because they were looking for one of my skills. Then, it kind of just snowballed.

I have told interviewers prior that I'm interested in more complex litigation. It just didn't seem sufficient for them. Anyone make the switch and have advice?

I'm top 10% with law review at a regional school. I have a bunch of interviews at OCI, and I don't want to blow it.

Your first (honest) explanation might actually work better. Don't diss PI work, and make sure to say you enjoyed it/it was great experience/etc., but you can be honest and say that at that stage in your career, the PI jobs made the best use of the skills you had, but you've always had a goal of moving to the private sector in the future. Then mention complex litigation, and some more firm-specific stuff.