Willkie NYC Forum

[Anonymous User]

Got an offer at Willkie and seriously considering it. Don't want to make this a comparison thread, but wanted to hear people's thoughts on Willkie NYC. Mainly about the hours, partnership prospects, culture, exit ops, etc. TIA

[Anonymous User]

Why wouldn't you consider it? It's a great firm with a really awesome culture, and a management committee that seems like they actually care. As for hours, it really depends on the practice group. Everyone works for sure, but it varies. There's no billable requirement for bonuses so it takes that pressure off. Partnership prospects are probably equal to other firms... so bad, but possible if you're a super star. As far as exit ops, I actually do read some of the farewell memos and I found that a lot of people leave because they want to be in a different market (Willkie unfortunately only has offices in NY and TX in the US). Regardless, they're usually going to great firms or other places. And no, I'm not a recruiting person, just an associate that's really happy here.

[Anonymous User]

WFG associate here.

Hours are pretty par for the course for Willkie’s “tier” in NYC (Milbank, Shearman, FF, Cahill, Proskauer) and the big NY offices of national firms. I’ve never had a year where I haven’t hit 2000 billable and have had years when I was crushed. That being said, there are people who usually get by with 1800 or so hours and get bonuses and can last well into the senior ranks as long as they do good work.

Culture is hard to give you a decent read on because so few people have split time between different firms. The firm pitches itself as a collaborative, team-oriented, social culture and they really do try to live up to that reputation from what I have seen, although like any big firm there are partners who leave the firm at 5:30 and don’t really participate in any of the official mentoring or social events. The firm holiday party is awesome, they rent out the ballroom of a fancy hotel and invite everyone, including staff. Work-wise, I’d say the culture is driven from the firm’s reputation as a more conservative NY firm when it comes to expansion, laterals, partner comp, etc. It’s a very close-knit firm in the sense that there a fair number of institutional clients and cross-departmental work. This is a limited subset but most people I know who went from WFG to another firm left that other firm pretty quickly because they quickly realized biglaw was not for them.

Partnership prospects vary by dept. Since I’ve been here the firm has made more than 5 partners from the ranks each year. It tends to make more corporate partners than litigation partners. There are also a couple partners made from groups like asset management, restructuring, etc. The “track” ranges anywhere from 8-13 years now and is more like 10 years on average. They do hire more senior lateral partners, usually one a quarter. These hires seem to be targeted.

Exit ops. Pretty varied and typical NYC biglaw types of options. Corporate/asset mangement associates tend to exit to banks, in-house, or funds. You have pretty excellent options to exit into a fund or an insurance company. Litigators tend to exit in house or government or midlaw in a different city. A lot more litigators exit to pro bono or clerkships, for obvious reasons. If you want to change cities you can usually get a job at biglaw in that city - I see a lot of people heading to the West Coast or Florida.

[Anonymous User]

So are most people around the 2000 mark? I’m interested in litigation if that makes a difference

[Anonymous User]

Can’t speak for what hours people bill on average in any given department, but I do know that the firm has been pretty busy over the last few years so I would not be surprised. The good news is that with no billable hours targets you don’t worry as much about being below 2000 even when other associates in your department might be averaging more, so long as you are not screwing up work. There is an expectation that it will all balance out in the end. Also the firm tends to be very supportive of doing pro bono and I know there are associates who bill significant amounts to pro bono each year. Because of the nature of pro bono these tend to be litigators.

I am sure you can find numbers on partner/associate leverage at the major NY firms somewhere but I recall that Willkie is comparatively low leverage compared to other NY firms.

[Anonymous User]

Can someone tell me the following:

1. Does the firm provide a cell phone or reimbursement?
2. Healthcare costs? Before I became a lawyer, I used to work at a place where my co-pay was $35 for a specialist and 20 for a GP.
3. Work from home options for corp associates? I know junior and senior associates at a v5 who work from home very regularly. There is no expectation for them to come to office really unless necessary.
4. Do you have to inform anyone if you work from home?
5. Can you get a 2nd laptop for home?

Any other information would be very helpful.

[Anonymous User]

Can someone tell me the following:

1. Does the firm provide a cell phone or reimbursement?
2. Healthcare costs? Before I became a lawyer, I used to work at a place where my co-pay was $35 for a specialist and 20 for a GP.
3. Work from home options for corp associates? I know junior and senior associates at a v5 who work from home very regularly. There is no expectation for them to come to office really unless necessary.
4. Do you have to inform anyone if you work from home?
5. Can you get a 2nd laptop for home?

Any other information would be very helpful.

First year associate here.

1. They do not provide a cell phone, but you get a technology stipend (and, I think, a separate phone stipend) that will cover it.

2. The health insurance options aren't great, but they're in line with what almost every other firm offers. An additional perk is that you get a $500 fitness stipend that most people use to subsidize their gym memberships.

3. I'm not in corporate, but my impression is that people are generally in the office during business hours. It's not a good look if someone wants you to stop by to talk, pick something up, sit in on a call, etc. and you have to decline because you're not around, especially as a junior associate.

4. There's no official policy, but see above. Partners often drop off hand-written markups, and it would not go over well if you missed one because they assumed you would be at your desk.

5. The firm will give you a laptop (there are a bunch of options) that you get to keep, but everyone uses desktops in the office.

[Anonymous User]

Can someone tell me the following:

1. Does the firm provide a cell phone or reimbursement?
2. Healthcare costs? Before I became a lawyer, I used to work at a place where my co-pay was $35 for a specialist and 20 for a GP.
3. Work from home options for corp associates? I know junior and senior associates at a v5 who work from home very regularly. There is no expectation for them to come to office really unless necessary.
4. Do you have to inform anyone if you work from home?
5. Can you get a 2nd laptop for home?

Any other information would be very helpful.

First year associate here.

1. They do not provide a cell phone, but you get a technology stipend (and, I think, a separate phone stipend) that will cover it.

2. The health insurance options aren't great, but they're in line with what almost every other firm offers. An additional perk is that you get a $500 fitness stipend that most people use to subsidize their gym memberships.

3. I'm not in corporate, but my impression is that people are generally in the office during business hours. It's not a good look if someone wants you to stop by to talk, pick something up, sit in on a call, etc. and you have to decline because you're not around, especially as a junior associate.

4. There's no official policy, but see above. Partners often drop off hand-written markups, and it would not go over well if you missed one because they assumed you would be at your desk.

5. The firm will give you a laptop (there are a bunch of options) that you get to keep, but everyone uses desktops in the office.

Thanks for sharing this

[Anonymous User]

I've had some exposure to Willkie from across the table and generally have found their attorneys to be friendlier than most. I couldn't possibly know whether that's illustrative of firm culture or I merely encountered a handful of abnormally nice people. YMMV.