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I want to stress this point. I got an offer from Cadwalader and another V50, and I turned down Cadwalader about 5 minutes after I got that second offer. All the associates I interviewed with seemed miserable and like they were just counting the days, and all of the partners I talked to were abrasive, rude, and judgmental. While you got some good interviewers, I just want to let you know that there are seemingly a lot of people that imo would be awful to work with/under. It is absolutely no surprise to me that Cadwalader is filled with screamers and a terrible culture.Anonymous User wrote:No one in their right mind would go to Cad with another offer in hand.
I haven't worked with a single screamer in 2 years at Cadwalader. This is just false.Anonymous User wrote:It is absolutely no surprise to me that Cadwalader is filled with screamers and a terrible culture.Anonymous User wrote:No one in their right mind would go to Cad with another offer in hand.
Anonymous User wrote:Goodwin easily.
At the end of the day, Goodwin’s stealth layoffs appear to have been overblown. I’d still choose Goodwin.Anonymous User wrote: ↑Tue Aug 17, 2021 3:57 pmIt would appear I'm about to be facing this same choice coming out of OCI season. Anyone think things have changed over the last few years with Goodwin's stealth layoffs and relative calm at CWT?
It's unfortunate that the reputation of CWT of years prior has continued on for so long. I don't know what the firm is actually like, but damn, anyone that has an offer from CWT is automatically told to never take it and I wonder if the hivemind is preventing genuine information from reaching potential associatesAnonymous User wrote: ↑Sat Aug 25, 2018 3:00 pmI haven't worked with a single screamer in 2 years at Cadwalader. This is just false.Anonymous User wrote:It is absolutely no surprise to me that Cadwalader is filled with screamers and a terrible culture.Anonymous User wrote:No one in their right mind would go to Cad with another offer in hand.
I have no idea about CWT culture so I won’t weigh in on that.Anonymous User wrote: ↑Tue Aug 17, 2021 4:54 pmAnonymous because my spouse used to work at Goodwin. Aside from its proclivity toward stealth layoffs (which is a serious issue), Goodwin is a relatively humane and decent place to work as biglaw firms go. Cadwalader, in contrast, has a toxic culture, specializes in some narrow transactional practices with correspondingly narrow exit options, and is not somewhere you should go with another offer in hand. I don't think it's close.
Anon from above. Can confirm it looks like their cap markets group, or at least a large portion of it, exclusively works on CMBS and CLO deals from my experience. Luckily I only do that as a small portion of my practice, because the associates on those deals seem like they're going through hell.existentialcrisis wrote: ↑Tue Aug 17, 2021 8:48 pmI have no idea about CWT culture so I won’t weigh in on that.Anonymous User wrote: ↑Tue Aug 17, 2021 4:54 pmAnonymous because my spouse used to work at Goodwin. Aside from its proclivity toward stealth layoffs (which is a serious issue), Goodwin is a relatively humane and decent place to work as biglaw firms go. Cadwalader, in contrast, has a toxic culture, specializes in some narrow transactional practices with correspondingly narrow exit options, and is not somewhere you should go with another offer in hand. I don't think it's close.
What I will say is that I think the above anon hits the main issue, being that the areas Cad is particularly good at aren’t groups that I’d recommend joining in general.
While they call the group “Capital Markets” I’m pretty sure it’s just a securitization group, that won’t offer any of the public company exits you’d find in other firms’ Cap Markets/Securities group.
I also believe I’ve read on here that the same goes for their “Corporate” group which is mainly shareholder activism as opposed to M&A.
Lol "my husband works at Goodwin, so that gives me insight into Cadwalader." I admire the degree of confidence you have in your insights about the culture of a firm you seemingly have not worked at. If you're just regurgitating what you read on message boards, then say that while acknowledging you don't know first-hand. People get enough bad advice and distorted information on here as it is.Anonymous User wrote: ↑Tue Aug 17, 2021 4:54 pmAnonymous because my spouse used to work at Goodwin. Aside from its proclivity toward stealth layoffs (which is a serious issue), Goodwin is a relatively humane and decent place to work as biglaw firms go. Cadwalader, in contrast, has a toxic culture, specializes in some narrow transactional practices with correspondingly narrow exit options, and is not somewhere you should go with another offer in hand. I don't think it's close.
Does anybody know when CWT hiring committee meets during the week?Anonymous User wrote: ↑Wed Aug 18, 2021 11:21 amOP, how important is litigation to you? I can't really comment on lit at Goodwin, but I know that CWT has been building its lit group pretty heavily, including some pretty senior former Boies people, has a friendly, boutique-y feel, has had some really interesting white collar and antitrust matters recently, and is one of the firm's busiest groups. A lot about the CWT reputation, which is of dubious current accuracy anyways, concerns the transactional groups, not lit.
Also, the firm is financially healthy. The current offices have been steadily growing in size, though the firm as a whole took a headcount dip a few years ago when some smaller offices closed. Leverage is getting better since the firm increased its equity class size 20% this past year. And revenue is way up for 2021 so far, from what I've heard. If you are set on transactional, you definitely need to research the specific group carefully, since the group names are misleading and each group has very different cultures, and I would personally stay away from capital markets, although I would do so no matter where I was. If you are interested in litigation, I think Cadwalader is a really good choice to have.