Top Law Schools

Even though I'm waiting on a couple of other places, these will probably be the two firms it comes down to. Interested in litigation. I absolutely loooooved Latham when I visited but I'm really nervous about what they did with their associates during the recession. And I really liked Akin too but I didn't really have an instinctive feeling of "this is the right place for me" but it seems like a more stable place.

Unless you for some reason really like bankruptcy litigation, I do not see any reason to choose Akin here. Latham did a very bad thing during the recession (and they should pay for it), but when the next downturn comes every firm will likely reduce associate headcount, and litigation will be more insulated from that as a more countercyclical practice area.

The Lathamings were awful and a whole order of magnitude worse than what its peers did. I wouldn't recommend that anyone pick Latham over a peer firm. Here, however, I think the gap between Latham and Akin is large enough that Latham is probably worth the risk, esp. given that OP "clicked" with Latham so well.

Also, Akin isn't especially known for being kind to associates. Last year it deprived its entire class of stub-years of a bonus. So, my reluctant vote here would be for Latham.