I got offers at:
Jones Day (SV)
Paul Hastings (SV)
Fenwick (SV)
WSGR (SV)
Kirkland (SF)
Baker Botts (SV)'
I applied to do IP Lit, but maybe also want to try Tech Trans or VC work.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Don't really care about location and want to work with tech companies; Long term If I am not partner track, I want to lateral to do VC work in the valley, and worst-case scenario go in house.
Need help picking a firm Forum
Forum rules
Anonymous Posting
Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are revealing sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.
Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned.
Anonymous Posting
Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are revealing sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.
Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned.
-
Anonymous User
- Posts: 432616
- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am
Re: Need help picking a firm
Those are all good firms, although I would be a little wary with Jones Day (you can search around for people griping about various things, usually compensation related). Among those firms, my opinion is that Kirkland is probably the strongest in overall IP Lit (and also just overall prestige).
I'm not sure about VC work in particular, but I know that Fenwick is big on startups, does a lot of tech transaction work, and is huge in silicon valley. WSGR is similar, but it's more focused on life sciences (i.e., they work with big pharma and medical device makers) while Fenwick has more work from a mix of life science and engineering firms (i.e., the aspiring Facebooks and Googles of the world). They are, in my opinion, a class above BB. All three of these are much more IP focused (as opposed to Paul Hastings, which I think of as more of a generalist firm and doesn't normally hit my radar for IP stuff).
The only issue is how many opportunities you have coming from the IP Lit side. Fenwick/WSGR/BB have strong IP prosecution groups in addition to their tech transaction people. You sometimes see associates from the prosecution side creeping into tech transaction. I'm assuming you are interested in hard IP (patents) rather than soft IP, but might be more competition among associates from "other" groups trying to poach IP transaction work.
In your shoes, I would probably take Kirkland for just pure lit work. If you were serious about "exploring" or grabbing in-house work in the valley, I think that Fenwick probably has a better culture/work-life balance and strong exit options to tech firms.
I'm not sure about VC work in particular, but I know that Fenwick is big on startups, does a lot of tech transaction work, and is huge in silicon valley. WSGR is similar, but it's more focused on life sciences (i.e., they work with big pharma and medical device makers) while Fenwick has more work from a mix of life science and engineering firms (i.e., the aspiring Facebooks and Googles of the world). They are, in my opinion, a class above BB. All three of these are much more IP focused (as opposed to Paul Hastings, which I think of as more of a generalist firm and doesn't normally hit my radar for IP stuff).
The only issue is how many opportunities you have coming from the IP Lit side. Fenwick/WSGR/BB have strong IP prosecution groups in addition to their tech transaction people. You sometimes see associates from the prosecution side creeping into tech transaction. I'm assuming you are interested in hard IP (patents) rather than soft IP, but might be more competition among associates from "other" groups trying to poach IP transaction work.
In your shoes, I would probably take Kirkland for just pure lit work. If you were serious about "exploring" or grabbing in-house work in the valley, I think that Fenwick probably has a better culture/work-life balance and strong exit options to tech firms.
-
Anonymous User
- Posts: 432616
- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am
Re: Need help picking a firm
If I remember correctly, Kirkland has a pretty non-existent TTG practice in SF (I think most of the folks are in Chicago). You should talk to IP associates there to get a better feel, but I think you need to be in the corporate group to get VC work (if they even have it at all). Again, talk to an IP associate or two in SF to see what the opportunities really are.Anonymous User wrote:In your shoes, I would probably take Kirkland for just pure lit work. If you were serious about "exploring" or grabbing in-house work in the valley, I think that Fenwick probably has a better culture/work-life balance and strong exit options to tech firms.
