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Looking for opinions on these firms for litigation, though that's not a hard rule for me at this point and I'm open to exploring.

The way I see it right now:

Cahill
Pros
-Smaller, less likely to get lost in the shuffle
-First Am practice is interesting, though fading (?)
-Extra bonus
-Free market system gives me a little bit more control over work

Cons
-If it turns out I don't like litigation this summer, it pushes me into a very specialized corporate practice.
-Firm is less resilient to a potential counter-cycle (?)
-Maybe I can't handle a full-on free market approach

SullCrom
Pros
-Seems like more commitment to training (?)
-Great practice in tons of different areas, so less likely to get trapped in a niche field
-Better exit options if I did corporate?
-Flexibility within each department to find the right type of work, at least for the early part of the career, but not quite a Cahill-style free market

Cons
-Culture concerns. Hours will be bad everywhere, the quality of the hours spent in the office probably matters a lot, and you hear things about SullCrom.
-One of the biggest, most faceless, easy to get lost in the big class (?)

Cleary
Pros
-Broad practice like SullCrom
-Positive vibes during interviews and on forums (intangible, probably insignificant)
-Lots of focus on cool international work

Cons
-Seems like almost everything Cleary does, SullCrom does just a hair better
-Clearly stronger corporate than lit

Right now Cleary seems like a decent balance of factors, but I'm genuinely torn and wondering if there is something I'm missing/mistaken about or should otherwise consider.

I honestly think sull crom is prolly the right choice here.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 28, 2021 12:09 am

I honestly think sull crom is prolly the right choice here.

Interesting, could you give me your reasoning? Really trying to work through this

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 28, 2021 12:09 am

I honestly think sull crom is prolly the right choice here.

I second SullCrom based on what OP has laid out.

Obviously what buckets matter to you is personal preference but my breakdown would be:
Prestige: s&c>cleary>Cahill
Litigation work: s&c>cleary/Cahill
Work/life: prolly v bad everywhere but worse sull crom
Exit ops: s&c name just carries further but prolly no difference than cleary. Unless you really want Wall St exits then s&c may have An advantage.
Culture: obviously tls is v negative on s&c culture but firm culture is so dependent on what partners u end up working for that I think it’s basically a crapshoot. But let’s just say sull crom is last for arguments sake.
Given what you laid out I would take the Higher prestige and slightly better rep in complex litigation for a sacrifice on culture/balance if ur just the average big law junior who’s gonna dip in 2-3 years. You could even lateral to cleary/Cahill or whatever and still keep the s&c name. Just my two cents

start at S&C, you can lateral down vault list basically however you want. But if you start lower and later want to move up the rank, probably gonna be with less ease

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 28, 2021 8:57 am

start at S&C, you can lateral down vault list basically however you want. But if you start lower and later want to move up the rank, probably gonna be with less ease

I feel like anon things like this must be written by law students, there isn’t going to be a substantial difference in ability to lateral between S&C and Cleary