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Anyone have any experience with Lowenstein Sandler?

I'm in the middle of interviewing and I think it's place I'd like to lateral to as a junior associate. I'm coming from a V10 NYC so I understand that it's a big drop off in quality of clients/deals/prestige but I really could care less about that. I don't know if that is short-sighted of me but when it comes to my family (just had a kid) I think it's thinking long-term.

I heard both good and bad things about the place but it'd be great to gather more info from those who have both first hand and anecdotal info about the place.

One thing I heard in particular was that NYC office gets paid more than the NJ office so I'd lean towards wanting to work in the NYC office for that reason alone although I live in NJ.

I spoke with a 5th/6th year associate from a V25 NYC who moved to LS, got promoted to counsel and is now discussing potential partnership at the firm said that the way law is practiced at LS is totally opposite than how it was at his old firm. I got the sense that it was a very collegial and a supportive place to work. However, his main gripe was not getting his bonus b/c he didn't make his hours although he did say he got over that fairly quickly b/c of just how much nicer it is to work there.

Anyway, any input is helpful. Hopefully this discussion is helpful to others as well.

I practice corporate law w/ a Silicon Valley firm and have been across from LS. I liked them a lot, FWIW, and the associate opposite me on the deal seemed pretty happy (talked to him once for 15 minutes or so about LS). If I recall correctly, he had also lateraled there from a bigger shop in NYC and was happier there. Not sure what group you are interviewing with, but I know they do a decent number of venture capital deals, which in general are pretty laid back. Only downside is that a lot of these deals will be w/ west coast firms (which can mean late nights b/c of the time change...)

Thanks, anon. I'm not interviewing for the tech group but I would love to get in. I heard it's hard and they're very selective. I'm okay with just being in their general transactions group which is what I'm interviewing for anyway. I'll prob have my recruiter ask if I can at least interview for the tech group after/if they offer me though. Thanks for the 2 cents!

Had family friends that worked there. Said it was a NJ sweatshop. Maybe in comparison to the NYC sweatshops it is a better deal.

treeey86 wrote:Had family friends that worked there. Said it was a NJ sweatshop. Maybe in comparison to the NYC sweatshops it is a better deal.

Thanks for the input. Do you know what the hours were like?

Bump.

Met with LS a second time. Loved it. Seemed like the hours are going to be a lot (min. 1950 I believe) but it looks like if I hit 2200 or so I'd be in the upper echelon of billing associates but then my bonus would reflect that. Pay overall would be less than big law NYC but apparently they just had a big increase to get closer to market. Additionally, it seemed like while there will be some late nights/weekends, it also seemed that most of my billables would come during actual weekday daylight hours instead of sitting in my office all day from 10am to 4pm and then getting last minute work at 4pm to God knows when.

Anyway, if there's anymore input, would love to hear.

Also, the people seemed really good. I know, I know, they probably just put the good ones in front of me but I'll take a smaller, lower key NJ office vs crappy ass douchebags in a V10 any day.

Their Palo Alto office seemed miserable and was the most run down office I've ever seen. Claimed to have lifestyle hours, and pay to match. Said LS pay was very low compared to other firms in the bay area, but they were ok with it bc of the hours. Probs not particularly relevant to you since PA is patent only I think, but just thought I'd share my impression

I've used them as a client and was frequently appalled at the shoddy work they did. We eventually fired them and switched to another firm when a partner straight-up lied to us about getting through an agreement for us. My boss was absolutely furious--I have still never seen another grown man erupt like that. I don't know anything about them from an employee's perspective, but they certainly didn't take much pride in their work product.

On the flip side, if you're just looking to ease up on your work schedule and focus on other aspects of your life, that may not be as important if you think they have people you'd like to work with and hours in which you'd like to work.

Good luck!

I interviewed with their NJ office for a summer position last year and talked to some people about the firm. They said the NJ office wanted NY hours for NJ money. Could have been an exaggeration -- don't know exactly. The people who interviewed me seemed distracted and self-absorbed. I know this is very limited experience and not for the NY office, but just sharing.

Anonymous User wrote:Their Palo Alto office seemed miserable and was the most run down office I've ever seen. Claimed to have lifestyle hours, and pay to match. Said LS pay was very low compared to other firms in the bay area, but they were ok with it bc of the hours. Probs not particularly relevant to you since PA is patent only I think, but just thought I'd share my impression

PA is not patent only. There is corporate work there. There is some discontent in the office because hours threshholds were just raised and so their lifestyle claim (for slightly lower pay) now means that there is not more lifestyle if you want a bonus. Just beware that their outward-facing claims of lifestyle are no longer so due to these higher hours requirements.

Have a callback with them scheduled for a 1L SA NJ office. Anyone know what I should expect?

Anonymous User wrote:Have a callback with them scheduled for a 1L SA NJ office. Anyone know what I should expect?

Depends on school and grades