Satellite Offices and Grade Selectivity Forum

[Anonymous User]

I just finished 1L at a lower T14. I'm on the lower end of median and Im going to bid on NYC firms with large class sizes that are not very grades sensitive for OCI. I doubt I'll get a v10 or v20 firm at OCI. I hear that satellite offices are sometimes less grades selective than their flagship office. If that is true, are there any V20 satellite offices that are less grades selective and would be happy with a median t14 student? If so, which ones are they? I know that Skadden has a Delaware office but I'm not sure how selective they are.

[QContinuum]

You should focus first and foremost on large class-size NYC firms, and then on any secondary markets where you have ties. If you have limited space on your bidlist, focus your bidlist on the large class-size NYC firms, and "mass mail" the secondary markets where you have ties. Do NOT focus on secondary markets where you don't have any ties. That would be a recipe for striking out. Secondary markets care a lot about ties.

You should be fine so long as you bid smartly. Don't panic, make sure you're a decent interviewer, and all should be well. Best of luck!

[2013]

Vault doesn’t matter outside of NY M&A. So, don’t be so obsessed with vault rankings that you bid to places like Delaware just to work at Skadden if you have no desire to be there.

[Aeroplane]

I agree with the advice about ties. But separately, you can try to assess selectivity from the bios of recent hires in the satellite offices you're interested in. See which schools they attended and whether they have Latin honors (assuming that the firm lists Latin honors in its attorney bios as a general practice).

Also, this could be a good question for your school's career office, depending on how much information they're willing to share.

[icansortofmath]

Local offices, especially small ones, care a LOT about ties. They just don’t have the time or resources to interview, much less train, someone that rather be in NYC.

[rowingmyboat]

Vault doesn’t matter outside of NY M&A. So, don’t be so obsessed with vault rankings that you bid to places like Delaware just to work at Skadden if you have no desire to be there.

I second this. Vault rankings are really only important to other law students and maybe in broad, broad brushstrokes. A V50 can have certain practice areas that are much better than a V10. You should look at class sizes in major markets and satellite offices in a town you have very good ties with.

[Wild Card]

Vault doesn’t matter outside of NY M&A. So, don’t be so obsessed with vault rankings that you bid to places like Delaware just to work at Skadden if you have no desire to be there.

IDK, Willkie, Shearman, and Fried Frank are exceptional M&A firms but are slammed by Vault.

[shock259]

Agree with the above posters. The other thing working against you at satellite offices will be the small class size. It's way easier to get an offer at an NYC sweatshop where there are 100 spots (and the firm has to give out 300 offers to fill those 100 spots) than it is to get 1 of the 3 spots at a satellite office. Also, the satellite has to probably only offer 3 people to fill 3 spots, if it is in a desirable area.

Once you get a few years under your belt, it'll be much easier to move to a satellite office from a NYC office if you still want to do it, assuming the practice groups line up. But wouldn't recommend putting all of your eggs in that basket now.