Top Law Schools

Hi All:

I'm preparing for OCI and looking at potential bids. I am flirting with the idea of participating and need to find a big law firm that is a good fit. I have narrowed my selection process to the following NYC firms:

Kirkland
Gibson
Sidley
Cleary
Covington
Jones Day

Now, of these six, I need the firm best suited for:

Someone who:

1. Wants the overwhelming majority of her or his private law practice to be antitrust and patent (80%)
2. Wants to come in, bill, and quietly leave (the less facetime the better)
3. Would prefer a firm with a good pro bono policy especially if the hours count towards the final billable amount (again, not necessary but preferred)
4. Wants a critical mass of liberal or moderate Republicans so partisanship is not a problem.

Assume grades/school are not an issue.

On a related note, is 190K nearly enough to live an upper middle-class lifestyle in NYC? Any anecdotal advice would be welcome.

NXRP wrote:Hi All:

I'm preparing for OCI and looking at potential bids. I am flirting with the idea of participating and need to find a big law firm that is a good fit. I have narrowed my selection process to the following NYC firms:

Kirkland
Gibson
Sidley
Cleary
Covington
Jones Day

Now, of these six, I need the firm best suited for:

Someone who:

1. Wants the overwhelming majority of her or his private law practice to be antitrust and patent (80%)
2. Wants to come in, bill, and quietly leave (the less facetime the better)
3. Would prefer a firm with a good pro bono policy especially if the hours count towards the final billable amount (again, not necessary but preferred)
4. Wants a critical mass of liberal or moderate Republicans so partisanship is not a problem.

Assume grades/school are not an issue.

On a related note, is 190K nearly enough to live an upper middle-class lifestyle in NYC? Any anecdotal advice would be welcome.

I would interview broadly and ask all of these questions at the interview/CBs rather than relying on TLS. Not sure how you arrived at this list, but the Band 1 antitrust NY practices are DPW, Skadden, and WLRK. Band 2 is Cravath, SullCrom, and Axinn. Of firms on your list, Gibson is Band 4, rest aren't included. For patent (in NY, importantly), the ones are your list that are actually ranked are Kirkland (Band 1), Gibson (Band 2), Jones Day (Band 3).

To address your comp question: Yes, of course. $190K is a ridiculous amount of money *anywhere* if you don't have children. You'll be fine.

NXRP wrote:On a related note, is 190K nearly enough to live an upper middle-class lifestyle in NYC? Any anecdotal advice would be welcome.

Is this a serious question??