McDermott Forum

[Anonymous User]

What are people's general thoughts on working at Mcdermott? How are the exit options? Thinking Litigation.

[Anonymous User]

What market?

I don't know a ton about the firm. I know a few people working there, and it's generally seen as a decent firm in my market. That is to say, most big law firms are about the same and you get awesome training. But some firms carry brand-name value. Kinda like with law schools. I think if you're extremely concerned about exit-options and or prestige in general, you may want to try and interview at a V30 or V20 firm.

[Whatislaw]

Not OP, but I have a friend looking at their SF L&E. Any inputs I can pass along?

[Anonymous User]

Anon because I work at MWE.

I think it's a great place to work, as far as big law goes. As at virtually any biglaw firm, the "firm culture" that you experience is going to be largely dependent upon your office and practice group. But to the extent that firm culture does matter, I would say that McDermott honestly does pretty well.

Some data points come to mind: (1) the Chairman repeatedly (and formally) instructed associates to take vacations during the pandemic (even if we all knew they couldn't really go anywhere) (for reference, we have unlimited vacation time, so it was not a question of accruing vacation days or increased pay-outs); (2) the firm-wide meetings are personal and often silly/fun - the folks in charge at the firm are naturally charismatic, seemingly socially liberal/aware, relatively young guys that are actively trying to cultivate a relaxed and natural environment wherever possible; (3) got our special bonuses regardless of hours..; (4) every year you can bill 25 hours for 'mindfulness' that go toward your billable hour requirement, whether or not you perform such mindfulness practice by yourself or at a virtual mindfulness session (which the firm hosts many of - and many things like it) and (5) I've been encouraged to do a ton of pro bono, and our pro bono hours count towards our billable hour requirement.

The firm is ultra-transparent, at least. The Chairman and COO hold monthly town halls for associates in which they present financials/statistics for billing and collections, and they end every town hall by pretty candidly addressing any questions (anonymous or otherwise) that are sent in during the meeting. Also, MWE's 401k plan is set up to allow after-tax 401(k) contributions, which not all firms offer and which is usually more beneficial for associates that don't have much debt/are eager to save large portions of their salary.

I'm not in the Litigation group and so may struggle to speak to Lit-specific exit options. One thing that I would want to ask is the extent to which the Litigation group depends upon/simply supports the healthcare M&A/PE practice that MWE has, which is best in flight and drives some of our other specialty practices. It may be the case that the vast majority of our Lit clients aren't related to our healthcare practice, though.