2016 Texas OCI (UT/University of Texas + All Others) Forum

[Anonymous User]

Anyone get calls today?

[Anonymous User]

Confirmed CBs:
Porter Hedges
Pillsbury Winthrop

[Anonymous User]

Which interviewers for the Latham Houston CBs?

Initials are JM and was by far the most down to earth/friendly interviewer I've ever had.

Practicing attorney here -- I can attest this person is probably one of the most interesting/friendly people there is that I met/know at the firm. Best of luck to all of you during the CB process. If any of you have questions about LW, I'll try to check on here periodically and answer best I can.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone hear from Kelly Hart (Fort Worth)?

[Anonymous User]

Cravath CB

[Anonymous User]

Thoughts on GDC, Sidley and Weil in Dallas? How do they compare to V&E / BB?

Each of those offices have smart, talented lawyers. My impressions below:

GDC: Most prestigious of the 5, but very slim partnership chances and not a ton of corporate work despite the very impressive corporate partners they have. I have multiple friends there who are/were very slow and are looking to leave or who have already left. They also have some great litigators (including former SG Jim Ho), but this is still very much a satellite with few long-term prospects.

Sidley: Was a nothing office until they brought over all of the Weil people. They have good work, but I hear the litigation partners are very difficult people to work for/with (there were many lit associates at Weil who chose to stay at Weil bc of this - despite the fact that only 1 Weil lit partner stayed behind). They have some talented corporate lawyers (including two recent hires from BB). Overall, a bit less prestigious than GDC but prob a bit better long-term prospects. Lit section is very busy, but not sure about Corporate - you don't hear their name very much, but perhaps that will change?

Weil: I would avoid. As a firm, it still gets good work, but this office is definitely dying. They have 4 corporate partners left - only one of which was actually home grown - the other three are all laterals (2 of whom got passed over and forced to leave when they were up only to make it elsewhere and then get the call to come back when they had the mass exodus two years ago). I believe there's only one lit partner left.

VE: I would avoid this as well. You'll work as hard or harder than at GDC, Sidley and Weil, with maybe sliiiightly better partnership chances and lower pay. VE generally only matches Cravath bonus at 2300 hours. The office is very dysfunctional and political - all of the decisions are made in Houston and if you've ever spent time in the VE Houston office, you would never want to work in the Dallas office. That said, they have great work by virtue of the strength of the VE name.

BB: I would go here if I wanted to do IP work. Or maybe litigation. Their corp group is pretty small and you almost never see them on deals - plus they just lost two big players to Sidley. Better office culture than VE by far and similar pay.

In Dallas, here would be my target firms:

Litigation:
mckool smith - if I was willing to work my ass off (2600 hours a year minimum) for top of the market pay, top quality work and reasonable partnership chances (assuming I had no interest in work/life balance - that's why most people leave).
Weil or GDC if I only wanted to do BigLaw for a few years (you won't work crazy high hours most likely and will get top of the market pay, even if you don't hit 2k hours). If you only want to work a few years and can't get offers from those two, also consider Akin Gump (top of the market pay but you have to hit 2k hours).
TK and HB if you want to work in a generally friendly environment and be somewhere where partnership is a meritocracy rather than sheer luck. TK has more work now but HB may pick up. These are far and away the best Dallas-based firms (which is huge when/if you want to make partner). These firms also don't hire that many laterals, so its not like you can plan to go to GDC or Weil and then just move over to TK/HB if/when you decide you want to make partner - people who want to leave GDC or Weil as mid or senior level associates are much more likely to end up at Gardere or Winstead or even more regional firms like wick phillips.
I would also consider Fulbright - you'll prob make less money than any other BigLaw firm in Dallas besides Jones Day, but it has a lot of litigation work.
Next, I would probably consider Locke Lord and Baker Botts. Followed by VE. And then Jones Day.
I'm completely ignoring lit boutiques because in Dallas I believe they generally hire lateral associates - and they would consider any candidate from the above-mentioned firms.

Transactional:
Same as above, I would focus on Weil and GDC if I had no plans to work longer than 3-4 years. And then AG if I couldn't get those.
However, if want to have a shot at partner, I would focus on TK and HB - TK has the most sophisticated energy practice in Dallas (sort of like a smaller VE Houston), and HB has a better finance practice. Both are strong in general corporate.
After that, I would consider Sidley (less pay than the Weil/GDC types with similar partnership prospects).
And then Baker Botts (same pay as HB/TK but smaller group, satellite office issues). But generally friendly group.
And then JD and VE (very tough personalities, high attrition, low partnership chances) - JD has prob the lowest pay of any BigLaw firm in Texas.
Finally, Fulbright and LL - very little Corp work in Dallas but better office cultures than VE/JD.

[El_Bee_Oh]

Interesting - Why would you recommend Weil over Sidley for short term at a firm? Just general prestige?

How do GDC/Sidley/Weil do in terms of exit opps compared to V&E/BB and HayBoo/TK etc?

[Anonymous User]

Interesting - Why would you recommend Weil over Sidley for short term at a firm? Just general prestige?

How do GDC/Sidley/Weil do in terms of exit opps compared to V&E/BB and HayBoo/TK etc?

Weil over Sidley because I think you'll work less on average (I hear Weil associates are generally around 2k hours/year and I've heard horror stories about billables at Sidley - though those horror stories were only for Lit) and because Weil pays Cravath lockstep bonuses regardless of hours. Sidley is pretty tight lipped on bonuses in Texas, but I doubt someone billing 1850 at Sidley is getting a Cravath bonus.

Honestly, exit ops at all of those firms are almost exactly the same. And the pool of firms in a similar position includes LL, Fulbright, JD, etc. In house, you see alums from all of those firms, and all are well-regarded. However, once you start getting to the more purely regional firms like JW, Gardere, Winstead, etc. or the firms widely seen as sort of imploding messes (e.g., KL Gates, old Patton Boggs), I think the opportunities are noticeably worse. Getting the right in house gig is a total crap shoot and a lot of it is timing, but as long as you have a big firm name on your resume, you're likely to eventually find the right one. I would also add that sometimes the satellite offices for national firms have a slightly harder time because so few of their clients are local, so they more often find their in house gigs through headhunters instead of organically.

[TXgal]

Thoughts on GDC, Sidley and Weil in Dallas? How do they compare to V&E / BB?

Each of those offices have smart, talented lawyers. My impressions below...

Could this anon please post more info about the VE Dallas office culture or PM me (if you're okay with that, of course)? It would be a huge help!

[Anonymous User]

Scott Douglass CB

[Anonymous User]

for smu students, anyone heard anything today

[A@M_or_bust]

Anyone hear from Kelly Hart (Fort Worth)?

I would like to know this as well.

[Anonymous User]

for smu students, anyone heard anything today

Yeah, no responses today.

Any other SMU folks have a bad yield on call-backs? (I am at less than 10%)

[Anonymous User]

Willkie CB

[Anonymous User]

Willkie CB

Interviewer?

[Anonymous User]

Anything from Fulbright, HayBoo, or Locke Lord yet?

[Anonymous User]

Anything from Fulbright, HayBoo, or Locke Lord yet?

Not for me. Was hoping to hear back soon but I'm not sure when it's too late to expect anything.

[Anonymous User]

More Bracewell (Houston) callbacks went out yesterday

[Anonymous User]

Anything from Fulbright, HayBoo, or Locke Lord yet?

I know of both NRF and Locke Lord call backs in Houston.

[Anonymous User]

aaaannnnddd......

Jackson Walker ding.

It only hurts me when I cry.

[Anonymous User]

Anything from Fulbright, HayBoo, or Locke Lord yet?

I know of both NRF and Locke Lord call backs in Houston.

Damn.

[Anonymous User]

Paul Hastings ding.

[Anonymous User]

TK callback (Dallas)
K&L callback (Dallas)

Any word on Kelly Hart Ft. Worth?

[Anonymous User]

aaaannnnddd......

Jackson Walker ding.

It only hurts me when I cry.

Callback or screener?

[Anonymous User]

aaaannnnddd......

Jackson Walker ding.

It only hurts me when I cry.

Callback or screener?

screener