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Advice for choosing a summer associate position? Generally interested in doing litigation

They both have kind of a fratty reputation, but I've met more people from clifford chance who seem to be real party animals in their non-working hours.

I've heard of more laterals from clifford chance than from Latham, but no idea if that speaks to a larger trend or if that's just my little anecdotal slice of experience.

Definitely Latham if you're interested in lit. Cliff Chance does little to none--they do mostly transactional.

CC associate here. I can't speak to Latham, but CC may not be the place if you want to choose lit. The lit group is actually a nicer and funner (they do party hard) group than other parts of the firm and there are some really impressive partners there, but the group is small and was decimated a few years back by a number of partners and associate defections and it is still rebuilding. Lit is also a hard thing to get and far from a sure deal simply because you accept a summer position - they always have fewer spaces than there are summers trying to get in and that makes for some competition and unease among the summers that want lit spots.

More globally, I would look into the culture of CC vs. Latham and think about where you really want to be. Also, think about the power of the brand name here in the US - CC is a great name, but is really tied to our London office and rides their name recognition a lot.

bump for more viewpoints. thanks.

Considering that CC isn't even ranked in litigation in NY and Latham is Elite Band 3 general commercial lit, Band 3 securities lit, and Band 3 white collar, it seems like a no brainer if you're interested in litigation.