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I've narrowed down my options for next summer to the Silicon Valley offices of Latham, WSGR, and MoFo. At this point I'm leaning Latham but I would like to hear TLS' thoughts on the matter.

I'm interested in emerging company/venture capital work, but am also interested in in corporate work more generally and would like to try different corporate practice areas (M&A, CM, etc.). WSGR likely has the edge in emerging company/venture capital work, but Latham's emerging company practice seems pretty solid, and I also like Latham's strong all-around corporate practice, unassigned program, and general prestige. MoFo seems like a very nice place and a great general-purpose tech firm, but the offices is the smallest of the three and I'm just not sure how much corporate/startup work actually happens there. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

MoFo should be out - of the 3, they are clearly in third place. FWIW, I rarely see Latham on my deals (I'm an EC/VC midlevel),though they've been great to work with whenever I have seen them. Personally, I'd be more inclined to go with WSGR as their tech practice is larger and more well-rounded than Latham's.

Anon because I work at one of these and have close friends at the others.

Agreed that Mofo is basically a nonentity. I've also heard troubling things about their culture (at least in IP lit, though I have no idea what corporate's culture is like).

Latham SV has basically no facetime policy, which is nice. However, I get the sense that it's a bit of a crapshoot culturally (they have a lot of lateral partners) and they like to fire juniors (still). Also, go ahead and forget about "prestige;" Latham is very much second tier in SV behind the local firms.

Wilson would be my bet here. Yes, it can definitely be a sweatshop if you get stuck in the wrong group (think Saper, Presidio). However, they have enough people where you will be able to find someone that you like working with. Also, I personally think their Launch program is better than being purely unassigned, because you get to try out all the groups, while also not being 100% on your own when it comes to sourcing work.

Work in SV as well in the EC/VC space. If you want to do EC/VC work, WSGR>Mofo=Latham and it's not really too close. If you want to do tech work, WSGR is tops amongst these three as well. I rarely see Latham on the opposite side (frankly, I see Latham and MoFo pretty equally, but I see WSGR all the time) on tech or EC/VC deals. If you're interested in biotech work, you'll see Latham a bit more often, especially on late stage deals/IPOs.

OP here. Wilson seems like the move. What is holding me back is comments I have heard online and in person suggesting that Wilson doesn't have the best culture and is going through a rough patch/decline (having lost many partners to other SV offices and having been superseded by Cooley as the top SV firm).

lawstudent2021 wrote:OP here. Wilson seems like the move. What is holding me back is comments I have heard online and in person suggesting that Wilson doesn't have the best culture and is going through a rough patch/decline (having lost many partners to other SV offices and having been superseded by Cooley as the top SV firm).

Second anon above. I think there are some difficult groups, but the firm is big enough that there are a lot of great people there. You just have to be careful about where you slot.

Also, judging by some of the exits that the Wilson attorneys I know have made, having WSGR on your resume is a good thing in the Bay Area.