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Interested in hearing opinions on these firms' corporate practices and cultures. Leaning toward Latham or Milbank because I liked the people at those, but any thoughts or personal experiences on any of these firms are welcome.

Latham. Proskauer lost almost its entire corporate group to Kirkland and Milbank is either casino deals or restructuring support.

Frankly, none of these firms have amazing corporate groups in LA. The previous poster is correct, that Proskauer is a definite No.The head of Milbank's corporate group recently left for Sidley LA.

If these are your only three options then I would lean towards Latham. But if you have other options, definitely look into Sidley, Kirkland, and Sullivan in LA.

Anonymous User wrote:Frankly, none of these firms have amazing corporate groups in LA. The previous poster is correct, that Proskauer is a definite No.The head of Milbank's corporate group recently left for Sidley LA.

If these are your only three options then I would lean towards Latham. But if you have other options, definitely look into Sidley, Kirkland, and Sullivan in LA.

Interested to hear why Latham's group is not good, given that they and Gibson have they biggest groups in LA.

That being said, Latham's culture, especially in the LA office is fairly harsh. Not in Latham's LA office, but have worked closely with people in the LA office. I get the impression is a bit of a sweatshop, even by normal biglaw standards.

Latham if you want real corporate work but hate your life.


Milbank if you want “corporate” work but you’re a glorified support team.

Proskauer if you don’t want corporate work.

Anonymous User wrote: Interested to hear why Latham's group is not good, given that they and Gibson have they biggest groups in LA. That being said, Latham's culture, especially in the LA office is fairly harsh. Not in Latham's LA office, but have worked closely with people in the LA office. I get the impression is a bit of a sweatshop, even by normal biglaw standards.

I agree that Latham's corporate group may be the largest by sheer numbers, but this is no reason to pick a firm. As you mentioned, the LA office has reputation of being a bit of a sweatshop and it's corporate group recently has not had the same momentum as other firms in LA. As other firms are expanding their corporate groups with exciting hires, Latham has basically sat still.

Especially if OP has other options, I would recommend he or she look around or talk with current associates. That's what I did when I was deciding and was surprised at how candid junior associates can be.

OP here: Thanks to everyone for the insights. I'm now leaning toward Latham due to quality of work and the people I met, even though I understand it is a bit sweatshoppy. I really liked the people at Milbank too, but it seems to be more support-focused.

Agree that it's best to steer clear of Proskauer. The firm's stability is concerning and I got weird vibes from the people.

Anon because I've worked at two of the mentioned firms.

If by corporate you mean true "corporate", I agree Latham is the best option (but a sweatshop) -- bigger deals, bigger group and more clout in the corporate world. But if you meant corporate as transactional more generally, I'd note Milbank's Project Finance group in LA is pretty large and the firm's PF group is tops in the nation (and maybe the world). Milbank is also generally more humane than Latham and the PF group generates their own deals rather than take work from NY.

Latham if you want corporate and willing to take a quality of life hit for a few years.