Top Law Schools

Anyone have any intel on this firm? Really enjoyed my callback with them. The fact that they made 2/4 offers to their Houston SAs last year sort of raised my eyebrows. I'm from Texas, but I go to school out of state, which (perhaps) makes it a little harder to read this pulse.

Great firm, very well regarded across the board. Smaller firms in TX are almost always going to have lower offer rates- partly due to splits and partly as an exercise in protecting their culture. They are also less able to absorb the costs of overestimating their hiring needs, although JW is big enough that this is likely a less prominent issue for them.

I'm at HYS. JW didn't come here, but lots of people reached out to the firm individually. One or two got CB/Offer. In my opinion JW is a highly desirable place to be (pays market, but smaller firm, better culture, better work for associates), the perfect middle between V&E/BB/NRF and somewhere like coats rose or Kelly Hart.

If I were in your shoes (assuming you have another offer at a 100% firm?), and like the people at JW as much as you seem too, I'd take the gamble.

For sure get other opinions though.

You can probably split if you're concerned about offer rates.

OP here. Really appreciate the input, Pneumonia. I'd love to hear from other folks, too.

Bump. Would love to hear more

Anonymous User wrote:Anyone have any intel on this firm? Really enjoyed my callback with them. The fact that they made 2/4 offers to their Houston SAs last year sort of raised my eyebrows. I'm from Texas, but I go to school out of state, which (perhaps) makes it a little harder to read this pulse.

Did the people who didn't get offers split their summers? Or what was the reason, do you have an idea?

It's very unusual for a someone in Texas not to split - I would say the most common reason is that they didn't have another option. So I would definitely recommend splitting if you can.

JW is more regional than the other Texas firms (I don't think they have offices outside of Texas). You will bill fewer hours than at BB/V&E/the NY firms. I know mid-level pay tapers off from those firms, but if you're billing 300 fewer hours per year, I think more people are into that. One thing to ask yourself is if you can see yourself becoming a partner at a firm. If that's something that interests you, I think JW is a great choice - if you're looking to just get started then go in-house or something, it might be better to look elsewhere.

nothingtosee wrote:It's very unusual for a someone in Texas not to split - I would say the most common reason is that they didn't have another option. So I would definitely recommend splitting if you can.

JW is more regional than the other Texas firms (I don't think they have offices outside of Texas). You will bill fewer hours than at BB/V&E/the NY firms. I know mid-level pay tapers off from those firms, but if you're billing 300 fewer hours per year, I think more people are into that. One thing to ask yourself is if you can see yourself becoming a partner at a firm. If that's something that interests you, I think JW is a great choice - if you're looking to just get started then go in-house or something, it might be better to look elsewhere.

So splitting is done almost always - that I now get. Still, does JW traditionally no offer some of its class? I was told during the callback that they lIke to hire few SA's to be able to bring them along after.

According to the NALP directory, they offered 17 of 17 2l's for the summer of 2015, so that's as much as I know.

https://www.nalpdirectory.com/employer_ ... lker%22%7D

nothingtosee wrote:According to the NALP directory, they offered 17 of 17 2l's for the summer of 2015, so that's as much as I know.

https://www.nalpdirectory.com/employer_ ... lker%22%7D

Yea, that was why I asked - it seemed to clash with the NALP report for last year. I suppose 2014's class may have had extenuating circumstances. I would hate to be no-offered...

nothingtosee wrote:It's very unusual for a someone in Texas not to split - I would say the most common reason is that they didn't have another option. So I would definitely recommend splitting if you can.

This is becoming less and less true as the years go by. I know several firms who still do splitting programs, but I know even more firms who are switching to not allowing splitting and requiring a full 10-12 week program. I've talked with at least 3 different hiring partners about this and it is being influenced by the large influx of out of state firms coming in and the rest following their trends.

Also re: JW, it has a great regional reputation in Texas. Previous dean of UT Law and president of the UT system Bill Powers joined JW after leaving (forced out of?) office.

However, people should not be mistaking JW for some lifestyle firm here. Yes you will be working fewer hours and will not get market pay raises vs. a VE/BB, but you still work a lot. I know of one associate who left after a partner de facto required the associate to come into the office on Christmas Eve, and if the work was not finished, it was implied the associate was to come back on Christmas Day.

With that said, you can find bad apple partners like that everywhere. JW does have a solid reputation in TX as a regional firm.