Latham NY Office/Firm Thoughts? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Any thoughts on the Latham NY Office/Prestige/Culture, etc? Anything at all/any info on them at all would be helpful. Thanks all!

[Anonymous User]

I have heard mostly negative things, as compared to its CA offices, but it is definitely a prestigious place to be for transactional work. If you are lit, I would choose almost any other relatively similarly-ranked firm.

[Anonymous User]

I have heard mostly negative things, as compared to its CA offices, but it is definitely a prestigious place to be for transactional work. If you are lit, I would choose almost any other relatively similarly-ranked firm.

Would you mind sharing what kinds of negative things you have heard? No worries if you're not comfortable doing so, just curious. Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

Any thoughts on the Latham NY Office/Prestige/Culture, etc? Anything at all/any info on them at all would be helpful. Thanks all!

I have a few friends at Latham NYC and they seem to like it. It’s obviously particularly strong in cap markets, though it has a lot of strong practices. One drawback is billable requirement for bonus, so you should give some thought to that if you have offers from other firms that don’t have a minimum, because that is a not-insignificant drawback.

Re prestige, it is obviously a prestigious firm, but in the eyes of NYC-centric lawyers it will always be a step behind CSM/S&C/DPW/STB/Skadden/Cleary/Debevoise in prestige, to the extent that matters to you.

[Anonymous User]

I have heard mostly negative things, as compared to its CA offices, but it is definitely a prestigious place to be for transactional work. If you are lit, I would choose almost any other relatively similarly-ranked firm.

Would you mind sharing what kinds of negative things you have heard? No worries if you're not comfortable doing so, just curious. Thanks!

Seconding as I am deciding between them and another firm right now so the info would be helpful

[Anonymous User]

Any thoughts on the Latham NY Office/Prestige/Culture, etc? Anything at all/any info on them at all would be helpful. Thanks all!

I have a few friends at Latham NYC and they seem to like it. It’s obviously particularly strong in cap markets, though it has a lot of strong practices. One drawback is billable requirement for bonus, so you should give some thought to that if you have offers from other firms that don’t have a minimum, because that is a not-insignificant drawback.

Re prestige, it is obviously a prestigious firm, but in the eyes of NYC-centric lawyers it will always be a step behind CSM/S&C/DPW/STB/Skadden/Cleary/Debevoise in prestige, to the extent that matters to you.

Agree with all this. OP, do you have any other options you are considering? If not, Latham is a fantastic outcome!

[Anonymous User]

Any thoughts on the Latham NY Office/Prestige/Culture, etc? Anything at all/any info on them at all would be helpful. Thanks all!

I have a few friends at Latham NYC and they seem to like it. It’s obviously particularly strong in cap markets, though it has a lot of strong practices. One drawback is billable requirement for bonus, so you should give some thought to that if you have offers from other firms that don’t have a minimum, because that is a not-insignificant drawback.

Re prestige, it is obviously a prestigious firm, but in the eyes of NYC-centric lawyers it will always be a step behind CSM/S&C/DPW/STB/Skadden/Cleary/Debevoise in prestige, to the extent that matters to you.

Agree with all this. OP, do you have any other options you are considering? If not, Latham is a fantastic outcome!

Thanks for the input everyone! I was considering Deb/PW/GDC/Latham but ended up going with GDC. I want to move to a different office eventually in the West Coast and maybe internationally so I was picking basically between Latham and GDC. But GDC felt like it was the strongest fit for me - really connected with everyone I spoke to, and I’ve heard great things about them. Hopefully it is a good choice!

[Anonymous User]

Any thoughts on the Latham NY Office/Prestige/Culture, etc? Anything at all/any info on them at all would be helpful. Thanks all!

I have a few friends at Latham NYC and they seem to like it. It’s obviously particularly strong in cap markets, though it has a lot of strong practices. One drawback is billable requirement for bonus, so you should give some thought to that if you have offers from other firms that don’t have a minimum, because that is a not-insignificant drawback.

Re prestige, it is obviously a prestigious firm, but in the eyes of NYC-centric lawyers it will always be a step behind CSM/S&C/DPW/STB/Skadden/Cleary/Debevoise in prestige, to the extent that matters to you.

Not sure about Debevoise and Cleary, those two firms seem to be a step below the rest firms you mentioned, and when I was speaking to multiple partners from DPW and STB, they tend to think of K&E and LW as rivals, not so much for Cleary or Debevoise. I think PW is also better than the two in both corporate and lit.

[Anonymous User]

Any thoughts on the Latham NY Office/Prestige/Culture, etc? Anything at all/any info on them at all would be helpful. Thanks all!

I have a few friends at Latham NYC and they seem to like it. It’s obviously particularly strong in cap markets, though it has a lot of strong practices. One drawback is billable requirement for bonus, so you should give some thought to that if you have offers from other firms that don’t have a minimum, because that is a not-insignificant drawback.

Re prestige, it is obviously a prestigious firm, but in the eyes of NYC-centric lawyers it will always be a step behind CSM/S&C/DPW/STB/Skadden/Cleary/Debevoise in prestige, to the extent that matters to you.

Not sure about Debevoise and Cleary, those two firms seem to be a step below the rest firms you mentioned, and when I was speaking to multiple partners from DPW and STB, they tend to think of K&E and LW as rivals, not so much for Cleary or Debevoise. I think PW is also better than the two in both corporate and lit.

I am not OP but tend to agree with the comment above. From what I know and have heard from partners & associates, it’s DPW/STB/CSM/Wachtell/S&C/Skadden and then comes K&E/LW/GDC/PW - although I have heard that Cleary has old prestige in NY but just isn’t what it used to be.

[Anonymous User]

Not sure about Debevoise and Cleary, those two firms seem to be a step below the rest firms you mentioned, and when I was speaking to multiple partners from DPW and STB, they tend to think of K&E and LW as rivals, not so much for Cleary or Debevoise. I think PW is also better than the two in both corporate and lit.

I am not OP but tend to agree with the comment above. From what I know and have heard from partners & associates, it’s DPW/STB/CSM/Wachtell/S&C/Skadden and then comes K&E/LW/GDC/PW - although I have heard that Cleary has old prestige in NY but just isn’t what it used to be.

No shade or disrespect, but it seems like there’s a fair number of 2Ls out there who have (seemingly) asked attorneys, partners in particular, for a power ranking of NY firms ...? Seems a bit impolitic, no?

Having just gone through this process, second looks, decided among multiple V10s, etc. — it never occurred to me to ask about that, at least not directly. Am I just being fuddy-duddy conservative about something that’s really not a big deal at all?

[dabigchina]

Most 2Ls won't care about this, but Latham has a great 401k plan.

No matching (most peer firms won't match), but they let summer associates participate in their 401k plan and they are set up to allow mega-backdoor Roths.

For anyone interested in retiring early, this is huge.

[Anonymous User]

Not sure about Debevoise and Cleary, those two firms seem to be a step below the rest firms you mentioned, and when I was speaking to multiple partners from DPW and STB, they tend to think of K&E and LW as rivals, not so much for Cleary or Debevoise. I think PW is also better than the two in both corporate and lit.

I am not OP but tend to agree with the comment above. From what I know and have heard from partners & associates, it’s DPW/STB/CSM/Wachtell/S&C/Skadden and then comes K&E/LW/GDC/PW - although I have heard that Cleary has old prestige in NY but just isn’t what it used to be.

No shade or disrespect, but it seems like there’s a fair number of 2Ls out there who have (seemingly) asked attorneys, partners in particular, for a power ranking of NY firms ...? Seems a bit impolitic, no?

Having just gone through this process, second looks, decided among multiple V10s, etc. — it never occurred to me to ask about that, at least not directly. Am I just being fuddy-duddy conservative about something that’s really not a big deal at all?

the partners volunteered to help me compare (they are biased ofc), this is common and helps contribute data point to their recruiting team (they want to know what offers you have).