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I am generally interested in corporate work, not banking though, but not sure which firm to pick. The advice so far that I've gotten is that every NY firm is a sweatshop so just pick whichever people you liked the best, but I feel like that ignores a lot of relevant factors. While these are all good options, it seems hard to actually distinguish between them, especially over Zoom. I am primarily concerned with: stable-ish hours (ideally not constant fire drills), getting to try different practice areas, culture/what the people are like, diversity considerations (I am a woman), exit options, associate dynamic with partners, and prestige outside of NY in the event I want to move markets. I really don't care about making partner or prestige for the sake of prestige. All of the firms fully paid their summer associates and did COVID special bonuses.

Simpson Thacher
pros:

• nice-ish but seem kind of awkward
  modified lockstep and centralized staffing
  stronger for M&A/PE
  prestige outside of NY
  no billable hours

cons:

• rotation system
  less social
  the partners I've met seem very intense
  deferred first year associates until January

Debevoise
pros:

• culture? (they seem nicest)
  fully lockstep and centralized staffing
  diverse corp work but also good at M&A/PE
  NYC focused
  no billable hours

cons:

• rotation system
  NYC/international focus
  less social
  new Hudson Yards office - harder to get to via public transit

Latham
pros:

• social culture (but also bro-y???)
  unassigned system
  associates committees (transparency and less hierarchical)
  prestige outside of NY
  new midtown office
  emerging companies practice

cons:

• unassigned system (can be bad for women)
  1900 billable requirement
  semi black box bonuses (can be bad for women)

I would love to hear from any current/former associates at any of these firms about their experiences, especially in transactional groups. I'm also setting up calls with current associates to ask questions about their time at the firms.

Three of the best firms in the country/world, so you really can't go wrong with any of these choices.

One thing I will add is that having no billable hour requirement is REALLY underrated. You will be working like a dog at any biglaw firm, but not having that looming stress of meeting a certain amount of hours a week/month is incredibly nice. With that alone, I would rule out Latham and then choose between STB and Debevoise based on fit.

Good luck!

in similar shoes and have to say the fact that LW offers 15k signing bonus is kind of appealing lmao

I think Debevoise is more know for Fund Formation which I am not that interested in, I am more into M&A and PE practice, so I am looking at Latham and STB right now. They have very different culture and growth style, LW seems more entrepreneurial and STB seems more traditional white-shoe, gentleman culture. Heard horror stories about both firms (Latham being the 2008 incident; STB being their more than high turnover rate and some close friends' experience there). But in terms of M&A in New York I think STB has a edge (how much it matters idk)