Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for? Forum

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Hutz_and_Goodman

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by Hutz_and_Goodman » Wed Mar 24, 2021 8:10 am

It’s interesting that the vast majority of partners named here are in transactional.

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Mar 24, 2021 8:14 am

Hutz_and_Goodman wrote:
Wed Mar 24, 2021 8:10 am
It’s interesting that the vast majority of partners named here are in transactional.
I’m guessing the vast majority of attorneys on here are transactional, as that is the major bent of biglaw these days.

IMO, anything you could describe on the transactional side pales in comparison to what you see from litigators. Biglaw litigators are a rare breed of people

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Mar 24, 2021 8:30 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Mon Mar 22, 2021 2:28 pm
Anyone have anything on Shearman?
Bump, interested in hearing about Shearman NY and/or DC attorneys.

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Mar 24, 2021 9:09 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:59 am
On the topic of STB M&A, there is an email that got passed around my firm for a while from one of their PE partners who, in response to a disagreement about whether a particular term was “market,” wrote about a 2 page long email of his resume and career highlights to demonstrate that he should be the arbiter of what was market.
that's actually... pretty hilarious lol

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Mar 24, 2021 10:42 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Mar 24, 2021 9:09 am
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:59 am
On the topic of STB M&A, there is an email that got passed around my firm for a while from one of their PE partners who, in response to a disagreement about whether a particular term was “market,” wrote about a 2 page long email of his resume and career highlights to demonstrate that he should be the arbiter of what was market.
that's actually... pretty hilarious lol
name and shame baby

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lolwutpar

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by lolwutpar » Wed Mar 24, 2021 12:17 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:59 am
On the topic of STB M&A, there is an email that got passed around my firm for a while from one of their PE partners who, in response to a disagreement about whether a particular term was “market,” wrote about a 2 page long email of his resume and career highlights to demonstrate that he should be the arbiter of what was market.
Partner Palpatine: I am what's market!

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Mar 24, 2021 12:34 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Mon Mar 22, 2021 11:24 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Mon Mar 22, 2021 10:16 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Mon Mar 22, 2021 6:57 pm
any insight re Latham NY? anyone to avoid?
The banking group generally, not because they're bad people, but because it's the most toxic culture you could imagine. They just absolutely burn through people.
What makes it a toxic culture, if not composed of bad people?
Different anon from above but also Latham NY. I will note that some of my favorite people at the firm are in the banking group. It’s just the nature of the work and constant fire drills that burn people out quickly. That said, if you’re decently competent and if you stick around you’re pretty much guaranteed to make at least counsel from what I’ve seen.

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Mar 24, 2021 1:05 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Mar 24, 2021 12:34 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Mon Mar 22, 2021 11:24 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Mon Mar 22, 2021 10:16 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Mon Mar 22, 2021 6:57 pm
any insight re Latham NY? anyone to avoid?
The banking group generally, not because they're bad people, but because it's the most toxic culture you could imagine. They just absolutely burn through people.
What makes it a toxic culture, if not composed of bad people?
Different anon from above but also Latham NY. I will note that some of my favorite people at the firm are in the banking group. It’s just the nature of the work and constant fire drills that burn people out quickly. That said, if you’re decently competent and if you stick around you’re pretty much guaranteed to make at least counsel from what I’ve seen.
Original anon here. All true. The people are nice to hang out with socially, and they genuinely try to make up for the work with social events, and it does look like most of the folks who stuck it out from my time there have made partner or counsel. But, in my experience, a Friday night happy hour doesn't make it worth it when there are regular all nighters and the bulk of your work is on nights and weekends.

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Mar 24, 2021 10:05 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Mar 24, 2021 8:14 am
IMO, anything you could describe on the transactional side pales in comparison to what you see from litigators. Biglaw litigators are a rare breed of people
I was thinking the opposite, as a lit associate from a firm that is often considered to be one of the most aggressive. Compared to lots of deal work, litigation rarely has major fire drills.

There are surely partners who are especially awful to work for - insisting on standing Sunday team calls for no reason, sitting on draft letters/briefs for days and then turning around comments on incredibly short time frames, roping associates into massive doc review projects with no benefit at all to the participants, and so forth - but fortunately, most of biglaw lit is on more relaxed schedules. That's one of the perks in my opinion compared to transactional work. It's the trade-off we litigators made to get worse exit options.

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Mar 25, 2021 1:07 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Mon Mar 15, 2021 10:51 am
On a hellish matter with a hellish partner at my V10 and it's driving me up the wall. Commiserate with me.
relative lack of comments on DC is intriguing...

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Mar 25, 2021 5:44 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Sat Mar 20, 2021 7:10 pm
STB m&a - Sebastián tiller, Ben Schaye, Mike holick, marni Lerner, William Allen. The culture and group is generally horrific.
Anyone have insight regarding STB satellites?


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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Mar 26, 2021 12:44 am

12YrsAnAssociate wrote:
Tue Mar 23, 2021 3:28 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Mar 23, 2021 12:47 pm

for incoming juniors, keep in mind that while the partner will set the tone of the deal and holds the buck for all staffing related issues, most of your experience depends on the quality of the seniors/mid-levels you work with, as you will interact with them on the daily
Let's get a list of terrible senior and mid-level associates then! (/s)
Lol one of the Skadden partners mentioned ITT works with a senior associate who is basically a carbon copy of her. Really recommend avoiding those deals.

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Mar 26, 2021 9:06 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Mar 26, 2021 12:44 am
12YrsAnAssociate wrote:
Tue Mar 23, 2021 3:28 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Mar 23, 2021 12:47 pm

for incoming juniors, keep in mind that while the partner will set the tone of the deal and holds the buck for all staffing related issues, most of your experience depends on the quality of the seniors/mid-levels you work with, as you will interact with them on the daily
Let's get a list of terrible senior and mid-level associates then! (/s)
Lol one of the Skadden partners mentioned ITT works with a senior associate who is basically a carbon copy of her. Really recommend avoiding those deals.
I wonder if that kind of behavior makes it harder or easier to make partner. Like, I'm sure partners are aware of the senior's reputation (and the reputation of the partner mentioned ITT) for being aggressively hardcore. Maybe certain partners view that as a plus and others (more normal ones) see that as a negative?

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JCougar

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by JCougar » Fri Mar 26, 2021 3:54 pm

Probably doesn't matter as long as the client is happy.

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Mar 26, 2021 3:56 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Mar 26, 2021 9:06 am
Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Mar 26, 2021 12:44 am
12YrsAnAssociate wrote:
Tue Mar 23, 2021 3:28 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Mar 23, 2021 12:47 pm

for incoming juniors, keep in mind that while the partner will set the tone of the deal and holds the buck for all staffing related issues, most of your experience depends on the quality of the seniors/mid-levels you work with, as you will interact with them on the daily
Let's get a list of terrible senior and mid-level associates then! (/s)
Lol one of the Skadden partners mentioned ITT works with a senior associate who is basically a carbon copy of her. Really recommend avoiding those deals.
I wonder if that kind of behavior makes it harder or easier to make partner. Like, I'm sure partners are aware of the senior's reputation (and the reputation of the partner mentioned ITT) for being aggressively hardcore. Maybe certain partners view that as a plus and others (more normal ones) see that as a negative?
even if they feel bad for the associates that suffer, I promise you they care more about the business and money the assholes bring in

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Mar 26, 2021 5:57 pm

Partner at a V100. What I have observed, at my firm and those of close friends, is that assholes get a fairly long leash if they are bringing in a ton of business. That leash gets considerably shorter if they are not. And if you are a big enough asshole, you can get the boot even if you have a big book of business--particularly if your behavior creates litigation risk or if it generates ill will among your partners (e.g., stealing origination credit, siloing work, etc.).

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Monochromatic Oeuvre

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by Monochromatic Oeuvre » Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:25 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Mar 26, 2021 5:57 pm
Partner at a V100. What I have observed, at my firm and those of close friends, is that assholes get a fairly long leash if they are bringing in a ton of business. That leash gets considerably shorter if they are not. And if you are a big enough asshole, you can get the boot even if you have a big book of business--particularly if your behavior creates litigation risk or if it generates ill will among your partners (e.g., stealing origination credit, siloing work, etc.).
I mentioned earlier about asshole partners getting told by HR they're specifically the reason that someone left. Even if you have a decent-sized book of business, that can have a real financial impact. Midlevels are $100k+ to replace all-in and that's not insignificant if you make five or six leave in a year. Obviously a drop in the bucket for a rainmaker, but most assholes aren't.

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:48 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Mar 26, 2021 5:57 pm
Partner at a V100. What I have observed, at my firm and those of close friends, is that assholes get a fairly long leash if they are bringing in a ton of business. That leash gets considerably shorter if they are not. And if you are a big enough asshole, you can get the boot even if you have a big book of business--particularly if your behavior creates litigation risk or if it generates ill will among your partners (e.g., stealing origination credit, siloing work, etc.).
It’s good to know that there is some limit to the tyrannical behavior even for the firms. What are some signs from the associate’s perspective that a particular partner (with known behavioral problems but with a book of business) is being booted out the door? I imagine the message is never gonna be delivered straightforwardly to the associate rank for obvious reasons.

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Mar 26, 2021 8:43 pm

Ken Young at Dechert (Philadelphia). Total bully.

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Mar 27, 2021 5:07 pm

Any thoughts on terrible reputations in the LA market?

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:11 pm

The worst partners tend to be whichever ones I get staffed with against my will.

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by 12YrsAnAssociate » Sat Mar 27, 2021 10:35 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:11 pm
The worst partners tend to be whichever ones I get staffed with against my will.
Related to this comment, I was at a firm that recruited mid-levels very heavily for a specific group. Why was that group always hiring mid-levels? The two partners that headed it were nuts, and no one lasted more than a year or two in it.

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Mar 28, 2021 12:53 am

12YrsAnAssociate wrote:
Sat Mar 27, 2021 10:35 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:11 pm
The worst partners tend to be whichever ones I get staffed with against my will.
Related to this comment, I was at a firm that recruited mid-levels very heavily for a specific group. Why was that group always hiring mid-levels? The two partners that headed it were nuts, and no one lasted more than a year or two in it.
I worked for a group where this was the case as well. The people who stuck it out almost always at least made non-equity partner. But, is it worth looking back on your late twenties and early thirties as a time of misery and sorrow? Working for a tyrant and having ruined your personal life and relationships really wears on you. Plus, it's not like you can't earn a great income somewhere else with your skillset and credentials.

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Re: Which partners at your firms are notoriously terrible to work for?

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Mar 28, 2021 4:18 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Mar 26, 2021 8:43 pm
Ken Young at Dechert (Philadelphia). Total bully.

I've been across from him on a deal. That really sucks because the associates on that team are fucking great, hope they don't have to deal with him much (he seems fairly hands off from my perspective).

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

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