Willkie Farr (NY) vs Dechert (Philly) vs Skadden (Wilmington) Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm fortunate to have received offers from these firms. I would be able to pay down my loans much sooner if I chose either Dechert or Skadden. I'm mostly interested in corporate/transactional, which makes me hesitant to choose Skadden given that their Wilmington office mostly does business/corporate litigation, not transactional (but then again, it's Skadden!!, though not the NY office). Skadden DE's transactional group is very small, and I've heard the likelihood of being placed in litigation despite telling the firm you're interested in transactional is substantial. Willkie is the firm I'm most attracted to given its strength in corporate/transactional practice areas and its culture (at least what I've heard about its culture), but NY is a very expensive place to live. Dechert is a very solid firm and has strong transactional practices, and of course is in a lower COL area, making it very attractive. I don't know which to choose...

[Anonymous User]

Seems like Dechert is the firm that meets all of your goals/requirements. And yes, Skadden is Skadden, but if they don't really have the work that you want to do (and you're absolutely sure you want to do transactional work) the name won't mean much.

[Anonymous User]

Dechert. Great firm, has what you want to do, lower COL than NY. This isn't a difficult decision.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for the responses and for voting! To those voting for Skadden or Willkie, could you share what your thought process is?

[Anonymous User]

Willkie associate here,

Willkie is genuinely a great place to work and our corporate group is a strong group (I think top 20 in NY). Obviously, working in Philly or Delaware would be cheaper, but Willkie is a great option if you want to be in NY