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I've done my research on vault, american lawyer, etc. but interested in people's views on which firms in NYC get the best antitrust work. Thinking of DPW, Skadden, STB, S&C but might be missing a few.

From a rising 3L who did his 1L summer in antitrust, and thought about it for a long time for 2L summer employment:

• Simpson does some antitrust, but it's built into their litigation department, and their litigation department is generalist only. You won't specialize.
• Skadden will do some but if it's merger clearance work you're after (rather than litigation), look to DC instead. Skadden's antitrust practice may be tough to get into because they group it with their sports work, and you're slotted into a group at the end of your summer (so you may not have much choice if you end up with something else).
• S&C does a lot of criminal antitrust work as well as the civil stuff. Think mega investigations like LABOR and the FX stuff. I didn't like the couple partners I met here, but your mileage may vary.
• II don't know much about DPW but they have some good people.

There are some small boutique shops like Axinn, and plaintiff-side work at Labaton and so on. Other firms will have unique little practices, like Willkie. If you know it's exactly what you want, that's great, but don't pigeonhole yourself.

Thanks so much! Incredibly helpful post. As for Skadden, any more information on the competitiveness of group placement?

Same poster as above. I don't know how competitive it is, sorry, I just know you get hired into groups and antitrust is desirable (I actually don't know if the people from this last summer have found out yet, or when they will). If you know anybody at Skadden at your school, it's worth asking.

Hopefully someone else here can speak to that.

Edit: I don't know if Cravath is on the table, but they do do some great antitrust work. That said, you can't pick it, because you're rotating, which isn't everybody's cup of tea. But you'd have spurts of it.

gotCentred wrote:What kind of antitrust work is available for 1L summer? I've also been thinking about a career in antitrust but I thought the work was mostly restricted to FTC/DOJ/Biglaw

Don't want to derail this thread, but briefly, it's DOJ, FTC, and the state AG's office, at least in government. I did DOJ. It's not a huge field. The state AG's office will have the most interns (I know they had 15+ in NY), though that's admittedly state by state.

What kind of antitrust work is available for 1L summer? I've also been thinking about a career in antitrust but I thought the work was mostly restricted to FTC/DOJ/Biglaw