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Akerman LLP?

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 9:54 pm
by Anonymous User
Anyone know anything about the firm? I saw on vault that it pays significantly below market, but other than that, don’t know much.

Is it a decent firm? Is it midlaw/regional?

I’ve had recruiters reaching out about opportunities here and I don’t know much about it.

Seems like it is growing rapidly, which seems problematic if the economy ranks again.

Any info appreciated.

Re: Akerman LLP?

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2018 9:23 am
by redsox550
It is a top Florida firm well known throughout south Florida. Not sure how their other offices are regarded. Even in FL the reputation I've heard is that they work with mostly local clients (south Florida companies) compared to GT or others in FL that probably have a good mix of FL and national/international clients.

Re: Akerman LLP?

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2018 3:03 pm
by Anonymous User
redsox550 wrote:It is a top Florida firm well known throughout south Florida. Not sure how their other offices are regarded. Even in FL the reputation I've heard is that they work with mostly local clients (south Florida companies) compared to GT or others in FL that probably have a good mix of FL and national/international clients.
This is pretty accurate from what I know. Known as a South Florida firm known for real estate. Probably about half of its offices are in FL.

The satellite offices are not very big players in their respective markets.

I have a friend at a satellite office and from what I can tell, she got to take a significant amount of vacation out of the office, so for the much lesser market pay, maybe the billable requirements are a lot lower as a trade-off but I can't confirm that.

Re: Akerman LLP?

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2018 3:41 am
by Anonymous User
How much below market it is? Not sure if your friend has told you.

What are some comparable firms in and out of Florida? I see that Gunster is another Florida firm. Is it on par with that?

I know that Holland & Knight and GT dominate Florida, so is the firm considered second tier in FL as well?

Would this be considered midlaw/regional biglaw?

Re: Akerman LLP?

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2018 10:31 am
by redsox550
Anonymous User wrote:How much below market it is? Not sure if your friend has told you.

What are some comparable firms in and out of Florida? I see that Gunster is another Florida firm. Is it on par with that?

I know that Holland & Knight and GT dominate Florida, so is the firm considered second tier in FL as well?

Would this be considered midlaw/regional biglaw?
In terms of firms in FLORIDA it’s right up there at the top and can arguably claim the #1 spot in Florida (though most in the real know give that to GT). No idea about your other questions.

Re: Akerman LLP?

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2018 8:23 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:How much below market it is? Not sure if your friend has told you.

What are some comparable firms in and out of Florida? I see that Gunster is another Florida firm. Is it on par with that?

I know that Holland & Knight and GT dominate Florida, so is the firm considered second tier in FL as well?

Would this be considered midlaw/regional biglaw?
I have no idea on pay. In Florida, particularly South Florida, it is a top firm. It is not "big law" by a lot of standards here at TLS in that it is not a top NYC transactional firm, but big law in other respects, minus pay.

For what it's worth, friend lateraled to a more traditional V100 firm, so there are exit options, but I guess that is also dependent on the market.

They have several offices that do a lot of debt collection defense ("financial services" is what they advertise it as). That is more mid-law/regional, but I wouldn't characterize the entire firm that way.

Re: Akerman LLP?

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2018 9:20 pm
by Anonymous User
OP here.

I’m currently at a v100 (black box firm). I wouldn’t be doing debt collection work. From my understanding, they are hiring in their corporate dept.

Is the pay over, say, 175k for a mid level or does the $160k-$170k starting salary stay pretty flat year after year?

Re: Akerman LLP?

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2018 1:31 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:OP here.

I’m currently at a v100 (black box firm). I wouldn’t be doing debt collection work. From my understanding, they are hiring in their corporate dept.

Is the pay over, say, 175k for a mid level or does the $160k-$170k starting salary stay pretty flat year after year?
The firm's M&A group is bringing in a ton of solid PE work from FLA/DC/NYC and is growing a lot. The midlevels are well over $175k.

Re: Akerman LLP?

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2018 7:38 pm
by Anonymous User
So I talked with a classmate who works there now I guess. They said that partners in the transactional areas (tax and corporate) seem to be doing very well. They said the bonuses and raises are practice group dependent so I guess that means those practice groups have the highest salaries? Not sure. Anyone have any info on this?

If I were to go there and m&a goes through a dry spell, will I be paid less because it’s practice group specific?

I’ve never heard of pay being divided up by practice group but maybe that’s a thing for some of these firms that have weird “midlaw”/less profitable practice groups?

Anyone work there? Any help is appreciated