Gibson Dunn vs. Covington Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hi there,

This is my first post, so apologies if I'm not in the correct place.

I'm from London and I've been very fortunate to have been offered three vacation schemes (like a summer associate position but for undergraduate law students...and only a few weeks). I have offers from Skadden, Covington and Gibson Dunn. Unfortunately, the dates clash and I can only do two schemes and I'm now choosing between Covington and Gibson Dunn.

A vacation scheme is the only route to a training contract (2 years to become NQ1) at these firms, so this is quite a difficult decision to make.

Because I am young and hugely inexperienced, I don't know really know where my interests lie regarding transactional/litigation. I am fascinated by the data privacy work that Covington does, but it seems quite unlikely that, even if I were offered a contract, I'd be placed in the Tech seat.

I have a vague conception of where the firms' strengths lie, but I need some advice.

I do understand that their London offices will be vastly different to their US offices, but I was just wondering about their perceived reputation in the US. And how much weight do I give 'prestige'?

Should I be choosing the firm based on the 2 year training contract, or rather, my entire career? Additionally, how much weight do I give to statistics (regarding how likely I am to receive a contract) and the non-guaranteed Tech Seat?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Best,

ConfusedLime

[deepseapartners]

Your first priority should be choosing the vac scheme where you're most likely to get hired between these two firms. They both have a good reputation in America. Gibson Dunn's a little more prestigious over here, but it looks like Covington's a little better regarded in the UK.

At least where I did my SA, the UK trainee's rotated through four seats. Is this not an option with these two firms?

[Anonymous User]

Your first priority should be choosing the vac scheme where you're most likely to get hired between these two firms. They both have a good reputation in America. Gibson Dunn's a little more prestigious over here, but it looks like Covington's a little better regarded in the UK.

At least where I did my SA, the UK trainee's rotated through four seats. Is this not an option with these two firms?

I would rotate through 4 seats in both Training Contracts, yep. But, I was talking about the single seat you're assigned on qualification.

As it stands I love tech and data privacy Law and I could see myself really enjoying that sort of work. However, I don't know enough about other areas of law to say that this is absolutely the specialisation I'd enjoy most. Nor whether I really want to specialise at all.

In that regard, I think I'd get more exposure to lots of different types of deals at Gibson (less industry-specific) but I wouldn't have that same specialisation option.

Any other advice? I'm really confused. I've had associates from both firms call me to 'sell' their firm and it's only made things more difficult.

[deepseapartners]

Your first priority should be choosing the vac scheme where you're most likely to get hired between these two firms. They both have a good reputation in America. Gibson Dunn's a little more prestigious over here, but it looks like Covington's a little better regarded in the UK.

At least where I did my SA, the UK trainee's rotated through four seats. Is this not an option with these two firms?

I would rotate through 4 seats in both Training Contracts, yep. But, I was talking about the single seat you're assigned on qualification.

As it stands I love tech and data privacy Law and I could see myself really enjoying that sort of work. However, I don't know enough about other areas of law to say that this is absolutely the specialisation I'd enjoy most. Nor whether I really want to specialise at all.

In that regard, I think I'd get more exposure to lots of different types of deals at Gibson (less industry-specific) but I wouldn't have that same specialisation option.

Any other advice? I'm really confused. I've had associates from both firms call me to 'sell' their firm and it's only made things more difficult.

You're just as likely to find that the legal practice where you are most interested in the underlying subject matter is or is not for you. At this point, I would be more concerned about getting exposure to a lot of different practice groups, but only secondarily to getting a trainee contract. And, from what I understand, qualification after your trainee contract is up isn't as guaranteed as, say, passing the bar exam in America after getting an offer to go work for a Gibson/Covington-level firm.

I guess I just think you're probably thinking too seriously about things you can't really control right now. Focus on figuring out which firm you like during your vacation scheme, and then focus on doing well once you get that trainee contract. Maybe you could contact someone through your uni who went through this process?