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Choosing between Cleary, Weil and Latham (all New York offices). Also considering Debevoise, but have mostly ruled them out because of the people/culture. Liked the people at all 3, but probably the most at Weil. Looking purely at litigation. Undecided about what kind of litigation, but considering product liability/mass torts (but really just undecided). I know Cleary is probably a cut above in corporate, but does that hold for litigation? Any other perceived caliber differences between these firms? I know Vault and PPP are of limited utility, but is Weil's weaker performance in those metrics indicative of a more general slide? Also, where am I more likely to get better experience (take a deposition first)?

Thanks!

Weil is the one that has the strongest products liability group, but if you really aren't sold on anything in particular, I'd lean Latham because of the diversity of subgroups and the absence of pressure to "pick a thing." That does hold true for Cleary, too, so it might be a culture pick. In my experience, Cleary was super smart nerds who are a little more subdued or interactive, and Latham was the more friendly/social of the firms. Weil was somewhere in between culturally I thought but just was more limited in what it handled lit-wise.

Anonymous User wrote:Choosing between Cleary, Weil and Latham (all New York offices). Also considering Debevoise, but have mostly ruled them out because of the people/culture. Liked the people at all 3, but probably the most at Weil. Looking purely at litigation. Undecided about what kind of litigation, but considering product liability/mass torts (but really just undecided). I know Cleary is probably a cut above in corporate, but does that hold for litigation? Any other perceived caliber differences between these firms? I know Vault and PPP are of limited utility, but is Weil's weaker performance in those metrics indicative of a more general slide? Also, where am I more likely to get better experience (take a deposition first)?

Thanks!

Weil these are all Cleary good firms (couldn't resist). Just based on Chambers for general litigation (since you're still undecided), http://www.chambersandpartners.com/1280 ... torial/5/1, it'd come down to Latham or Weil, unless you have reasons that favor Cleary. Weil NY/Mothership is a different animal than its other offices, but most of what I hear about Weil is not positive. Latham still has its rap from 08/09, but since then has been doing very well financially/growing. Just depends on what flavor of kool-aid you like to drink.

Band 1
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP & Affiliates
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Band 2
Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Latham & Watkins LLP
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP
Simpson Thacher & bartlett llp
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

Band 3
Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP

I had offers from Cleary and Weil (both NY) for my summer. I liked both places but chose Cleary based on liking the people there more. The summer there was really great. I'm doing corporate.

One reason beyond just the people is the answers to questions I got about work/life balance. I asked about this everywhere, but Weil people were especially evasive about answering the questions. I got the impression that the people I asked there were getting absolutely worked and didn't want to completely admit it. The people at Cleary were really forthcoming - not that they work less, but they were very open about it.

You might also consider location. Cleary is all the way downtown and Weil is in mid town. Not a huge difference but might matter based on where you would prefer to live.

Anonymous User wrote:I had offers from Cleary and Weil (both NY) for my summer. I liked both places but chose Cleary based on liking the people there more. The summer there was really great. I'm doing corporate.

One reason beyond just the people is the answers to questions I got about work/life balance. I asked about this everywhere, but Weil people were especially evasive about answering the questions. I got the impression that the people I asked there were getting absolutely worked and didn't want to completely admit it. The people at Cleary were really forthcoming - not that they work less, but they were very open about it.

You might also consider location. Cleary is all the way downtown and Weil is in mid town. Not a huge difference but might matter based on where you would prefer to live.

Cleary is the obvious choice for corporate. It's trickier for lit.

jbagelboy wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I had offers from Cleary and Weil (both NY) for my summer. I liked both places but chose Cleary based on liking the people there more. The summer there was really great. I'm doing corporate.

One reason beyond just the people is the answers to questions I got about work/life balance. I asked about this everywhere, but Weil people were especially evasive about answering the questions. I got the impression that the people I asked there were getting absolutely worked and didn't want to completely admit it. The people at Cleary were really forthcoming - not that they work less, but they were very open about it.

You might also consider location. Cleary is all the way downtown and Weil is in mid town. Not a huge difference but might matter based on where you would prefer to live.

Cleary is the obvious choice for corporate. It's trickier for lit.

Right, how would you evaluate the firms for lit?

Anonymous User wrote:

jbagelboy wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I had offers from Cleary and Weil (both NY) for my summer. I liked both places but chose Cleary based on liking the people there more. The summer there was really great. I'm doing corporate.

One reason beyond just the people is the answers to questions I got about work/life balance. I asked about this everywhere, but Weil people were especially evasive about answering the questions. I got the impression that the people I asked there were getting absolutely worked and didn't want to completely admit it. The people at Cleary were really forthcoming - not that they work less, but they were very open about it.

You might also consider location. Cleary is all the way downtown and Weil is in mid town. Not a huge difference but might matter based on where you would prefer to live.

Cleary is the obvious choice for corporate. It's trickier for lit.

Right, how would you evaluate the firms for lit?

I would *probably* still go for Cleary, but Weil is an equally strong choice IMO.