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Torn between this firm and another similarly-sized firm on the west coast. Very strongly leaning towards lit, can't really see myself doing corporate work, but what the hell do I know as a 2L. Just wondering what people's thoughts are about the firm. I've looked at Vault and Chambers, which provided some decent info, but I'm looking to hear from people who might have some additional insight on the firm. Did a lot of digging on TLS and can't find many threads about the firm. Anyone know how it's doing financially? What about the culture? Exit options? Any info would be great. Thanks!

Steptoe had a 70% offer rate for their SAs last year.

so, I know 100% offer rate is always the way to go, but considering steptoe is comparatively smaller than most of the massive vault-whatever firms, is a 70% offer rate really that bad? not questioning the relevance or significance of this info at all, just wondering how typical/atypical a 70% offer rate is, and whether this is an indication of a broader problem at the firm. please excuse my stupidity, as i realize i probably sound like a moron asking this question. thanks so much again

Anonymous User wrote:so, I know 100% offer rate is always the way to go, but considering steptoe is comparatively smaller than most of the massive vault-whatever firms, is a 70% offer rate really that bad? not questioning the relevance or significance of this info at all, just wondering how typical/atypical a 70% offer rate is, and whether this is an indication of a broader problem at the firm. please excuse my stupidity, as i realize i probably sound like a moron asking this question. thanks so much again

No matter what the real reason is, yes. 70% is horrible when you compare it to 100% or 95% like most big firms. It wouldn't matter if this were banking where that's standard procedure, but the no-offer makes it exponentially harder to get something later, and 3L OCI would be a joke if it were even remotely funny. Don't worry about sounding like a moron, just go confirm that offer rate (as I honestly have no idea what their numbers are), and act accordingly.

thank you for putting that into perspective, that's really helpful to know. is it permissible for me to ask the firm about this info? if so, do i ask recruiting, or one of the partners who's told me to reach out with any questions? and is there a diplomatic way to ask this question? sorry again, normally i don't ask common sense-type questions, but this is just super unfamiliar terrain to me

Anonymous User wrote:thank you for putting that into perspective, that's really helpful to know. is it permissible for me to ask the firm about this info? if so, do i ask recruiting, or one of the partners who's told me to reach out with any questions? and is there a diplomatic way to ask this question? sorry again, normally i don't ask common sense-type questions, but this is just super unfamiliar terrain to me

They already report that information. Check NALP directory or the firm's Vault page for last year's SA offer numbers.

seems they don't have a NALP page. vault says 9 out of 13, so ill assume that's the case

sorry, I'm an idiot. thanks for that. 10/13 it is...

No problem---I'm actually in your position as well. Does anybody know what Steptoe's offer rate has been before last summer?

Wondering this as well. Would be helpful to know if last year was just an outlier, or if Steptoe regularly no-offers a few people from its summer class.

Update: I talked to a contact at the firm and got a response that, for me, completely clears things up---I now have zero concerns about Steptoe's offer rate. I'd rather not post the details here, but I would advise talking to recruiting about it.

Anonymous User wrote:Update: I talked to a contact at the firm and got a response that, for me, completely clears things up---I now have zero concerns about Steptoe's offer rate. I'd rather not post the details here, but I would advise talking to recruiting about it.

For the record - recruiting is in the business of recruiting. So take what they say with a grain of salt.

Yeah, I have a feeling K&L Gates tells summers the same thing every year. Follow your dreams, OP.

^accidental anon

I'm the OP and i wasn't the one who spoke with recruiting, that was a different poster, just an fyi. but aside from the # of no-offers issue, does anyone else have any intel on the firm? I've spoken to lots of people who work there but would love to hear from anyone who has friends there or whatnot, and can speak to the the culture or anything else that would be worth knowing. west coast offer is expiring soon so it would be really great to get some thoughts

Anonymous User wrote:I'm the OP and i wasn't the one who spoke with recruiting, that was a different poster, just an fyi. but aside from the # of no-offers issue, does anyone else have any intel on the firm? I've spoken to lots of people who work there but would love to hear from anyone who has friends there or whatnot, and can speak to the the culture or anything else that would be worth knowing. west coast offer is expiring soon so it would be really great to get some thoughts

I mean, all I can give you are the impressions I got from interviewing there myself and the articles in ATL about them feuding with a burger place next door. Generally they were likable, but I don't know enough about their practice areas or culture to give you anything to go on.

The interviewer they sent to our OCI smelled TERRIBLE and lost my transcript within an hour of the interview.