Schulte Roth/Olshan Frome? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Really interested in shareholder activism from the activism side so wanted to get a more information about these firms or people on that side of shareholder activism that could provide a similar perspective.

[Anonymous User]

The size (small) and specialized nature of Olshan makes it the top activist-side destination. They have the most activism work and therefore the most activism lawyers. Schulte is a better firm, pays more, and has on average more high profile matters. But far fewer lawyers dedicated to this work making it a risky proposition for a 2L or 3L hire. The shareholder activism world is quite small so seek out people in it to understand what it’s like and the career paths (seemingly limited according to friends). Consider also Willkie Farr, Cadwalader, and Akin Gump. You may be able to touch this work at those places, too.

[Anonymous User]

Am in the space and agree with the above poster. SRZ is better than Olshan on most levels that would matter to a junior (prestige, pay, overall quality of attorneys, and higher profile work (think Exxon and P&G)). Olshan is a volume activist shop though and does more campaigns than SRZ. If you're ok with working on the company defense side, you'll have a lot more BigLaw options to choose from.

[Anonymous User]

Have heard from people in the space that Olshan really only has one good partner that they have built the practice around. Having dealt with others there, I would have to agree. Schulte’s shareholder activism practice is smaller and part of of general capital markets, so juniors would need to work on general capital markets as well before specializing or being staffed with Ele Klein. That said, Ele is routinely regarded as one of the best people to work for at Schulte and his team has very low turnover.

[Anonymous User]

Echoing the above. SRZ is a much better firm and a much safer bet. Olshan at this point is pretty much just Wolosky himself.