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Open offers at WSGR, Fenwick, and Goodwin. The people I met at WSGR were nice and outgoing, but my friends keep telling me it's a sweatshop. Goodwin struck me as a nice place to work with interesting clients but not the same cachet as WSGR. Similar reaction to Fenwick. Help please.

I think your general sense of the firms are pretty accurate. What work will you be doing? What lifestyle do you want? I think it's going to come down to which one is more important to you--I don't think Goodwin's CA offices are as prestigious as WSGR's, but lifestyle is probably more easygoing. Depending on what work you do/want and what kind of worker you are, either could be good. Literally no idea about Fenwick.

Anonymous User wrote:Open offers at WSGR, Fenwick, and Goodwin. The people I met at WSGR were nice and outgoing, but my friends keep telling me it's a sweatshop. Goodwin struck me as a nice place to work with interesting clients but not the same cachet as WSGR. Similar reaction to Fenwick. Help please.

Have you looked into Cooley & Gunderson? Of the ones you name, I don’t think you can go wrong with any of those. I think WSGR (and to a *slightly* lesser extent, Fenwick) carries the most weight of the 3 you’ve named in the Bay Area. Goodwin is quickly growing, and is definitely already a known quantity to people in the industry.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Open offers at WSGR, Fenwick, and Goodwin. The people I met at WSGR were nice and outgoing, but my friends keep telling me it's a sweatshop. Goodwin struck me as a nice place to work with interesting clients but not the same cachet as WSGR. Similar reaction to Fenwick. Help please.

Have you looked into Cooley & Gunderson? Of the ones you name, I don’t think you can go wrong with any of those. I think WSGR (and to a *slightly* lesser extent, Fenwick) carries the most weight of the 3 you’ve named in the Bay Area. Goodwin is quickly growing, and is definitely already a known quantity to people in the industry.

OP here. Already ruled out Gunderson. Interested in EC/VC but also want exposure to mature company work. Cooley was a no-go.

I'm leaning Goodwin, but want to confirm that going to a non-native firm over native firms won't negatively affect my long term exit options. Thoughts?

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Open offers at WSGR, Fenwick, and Goodwin. The people I met at WSGR were nice and outgoing, but my friends keep telling me it's a sweatshop. Goodwin struck me as a nice place to work with interesting clients but not the same cachet as WSGR. Similar reaction to Fenwick. Help please.

Have you looked into Cooley & Gunderson? Of the ones you name, I don’t think you can go wrong with any of those. I think WSGR (and to a *slightly* lesser extent, Fenwick) carries the most weight of the 3 you’ve named in the Bay Area. Goodwin is quickly growing, and is definitely already a known quantity to people in the industry.

OP here. Already ruled out Gunderson. Interested in EC/VC but also want exposure to mature company work. Cooley was a no-go.

I'm leaning Goodwin, but want to confirm that going to a non-native firm over native firms won't negatively affect my long term exit options. Thoughts?

I'd say go for it. I'm a corporate midlevel at one of Cooley/WSGR/FW and very much respect Goodwin. It seems like a great place overall. I think Fenwick has a tad more cachet than Goodwin as a tech firm but if you really like Goodwin, I would go with it.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Open offers at WSGR, Fenwick, and Goodwin. The people I met at WSGR were nice and outgoing, but my friends keep telling me it's a sweatshop. Goodwin struck me as a nice place to work with interesting clients but not the same cachet as WSGR. Similar reaction to Fenwick. Help please.

Have you looked into Cooley & Gunderson? Of the ones you name, I don’t think you can go wrong with any of those. I think WSGR (and to a *slightly* lesser extent, Fenwick) carries the most weight of the 3 you’ve named in the Bay Area. Goodwin is quickly growing, and is definitely already a known quantity to people in the industry.

OP here. Already ruled out Gunderson. Interested in EC/VC but also want exposure to mature company work. Cooley was a no-go.

I'm leaning Goodwin, but want to confirm that going to a non-native firm over native firms won't negatively affect my long term exit options. Thoughts?

As someone currently weighing options between Cooley, Gunderson and WSGR, can I ask what turned you off from Cooley and Gunderson?