DPW v Paul Weiss v S&C for Corporate Forum

[lawschoolistough23]

Any takes? More interested in M&A than in the cap markets/finance side of things but generally undecided. Genuinely like everyone I've talked to at each of the firms and cannot find a way to make this decision at all.

Really love PW's pro bono commitment/involvement in causes I believe in but not sure how much that really should play into my decision (especially as someone who is planning on being on the corporate side)

[Anonymous User]

Any takes? More interested in M&A than in the cap markets/finance side of things but generally undecided. Genuinely like everyone I've talked to at each of the firms and cannot find a way to make this decision at all.

Really love PW's pro bono commitment/involvement in causes I believe in but not sure how much that really should play into my decision (especially as someone who is planning on being on the corporate side)

S&C for public m&a.

[Anonymous User]

As a corporate associate, I will tell you that I personally have never really had time or bandwidth to do pro bono matters.

[NoLongerALurker]

Any takes? More interested in M&A than in the cap markets/finance side of things but generally undecided. Genuinely like everyone I've talked to at each of the firms and cannot find a way to make this decision at all.

Really love PW's pro bono commitment/involvement in causes I believe in but not sure how much that really should play into my decision (especially as someone who is planning on being on the corporate side)

S&C for public m&a.

DPW for capital markets.

PW Apollo stuff, maybe, but generally would think you are really deciding between S&C and DPW. If cap markets, go DPW. Otherwise, go S&C.

[Anonymous User]

Any takes? More interested in M&A than in the cap markets/finance side of things but generally undecided. Genuinely like everyone I've talked to at each of the firms and cannot find a way to make this decision at all.

Really love PW's pro bono commitment/involvement in causes I believe in but not sure how much that really should play into my decision (especially as someone who is planning on being on the corporate side)

S&C for public m&a.

DPW for capital markets.

PW Apollo stuff, maybe, but generally would think you are really deciding between S&C and DPW. If cap markets, go DPW. Otherwise, go S&C.

PW does have a growing public M&A practice, but that's heavily barshay. S&C is the best name for M&A, but it is not known for a great culture (although there must be some people who love it). That being said, all three firms are going to be sweatshops.

[jotarokujo]

Any takes? More interested in M&A than in the cap markets/finance side of things but generally undecided. Genuinely like everyone I've talked to at each of the firms and cannot find a way to make this decision at all.

Really love PW's pro bono commitment/involvement in causes I believe in but not sure how much that really should play into my decision (especially as someone who is planning on being on the corporate side)

corporate pro bono is definitely a thing - helping smaller companies and what not. probably wouldn't do much more than ~200 hrs though per year, especially if new york

[Anonymous User]

S&C if you want M&A, easily. I've heard (unverified) whispers of jrs at DPW who wanted M&A get slotted for cap markets. S&C has the stronger M&A practice and better flexibility to choose your practice area.

P.S., take "culture" comments with a grain of salt. Some of the things said on this forum come from comments made over a decade ago that have just been repeated ad nauseum over the years.

[Anonymous User]

Any takes? More interested in M&A than in the cap markets/finance side of things but generally undecided. Genuinely like everyone I've talked to at each of the firms and cannot find a way to make this decision at all.

Really love PW's pro bono commitment/involvement in causes I believe in but not sure how much that really should play into my decision (especially as someone who is planning on being on the corporate side)

S&C for public m&a.

DPW for capital markets.

PW Apollo stuff, maybe, but generally would think you are really deciding between S&C and DPW. If cap markets, go DPW. Otherwise, go S&C.

PW does have a growing public M&A practice, but that's heavily barshay. S&C is the best name for M&A, but it is not known for a great culture (although there must be some people who love it). That being said, all three firms are going to be sweatshops.

Why? Not trying to challenge you but I feel like I've done a decent dig on S&C's culture and seen it said a lot that it is bad compared to peer firms but no one ever really explicates on why! Is it just more intense or more yelling or what?

[Anonymous User]

Go either S&C or DPW no question... either way is win win but I give the nod to DPW for culture and because their stock seems to be on the rise

[Anonymous User]

I don’t claim any inside knowledge of S&C; I tend to think the “S&C bad culture” thing is a bit of a circlejerk / meme perpetuated on TLS without much grounding in first-hand experience.

The one thing that is objective fact and not just TLS speculation, is that S&C more or less auto-offers all students above a certain GPA threshold (3.6-3.7?) at T14 schools, whereas some of its peers (and especially DPW) are pickier when it comes to personality and fit. Not saying that automatically makes S&C a bad place to work, but it could account for some of the strange and off-putting rumors out there.

[Anonymous User]

As someone who have firsthand experience with two of these firms, I don’t think saying S&C has bad culture is purely a tls myth. With my limited experience, S&C’s culture is much more hierarchical compare to the other firm that I’ve been working with, despite the fact that the other firm is already pretty hierarchical compare to companies in other industries. I personally do not like this hierarchical environment for two main reasons.

First, associates’ opinions matter much less. I’m not saying that partners in other firms truly care about what associates think and feel. They don’t. However, S&C partners care even less. Taking the wfh policy in NYC as an example, S&C’s policy is probably the most inflexible comparing to other v10s.

Second, S&C’s management is also more bureaucratic than the other firm I’ve been with, meaning it takes much longer to get things done, particularly if you are doing something unusual.

All these being said, I cannot deny that S&C has better public m&a practice than PW and you are not guaranteed that you will be getting into the practice group you wished for in DPW. Thus, it really depends on what op cares more about.

[Anonymous User]

As someone who have firsthand experience with two of these firms, I don’t think saying S&C has bad culture is purely a tls myth. With my limited experience, S&C’s culture is much more hierarchical compare to the other firm that I’ve been working with, despite the fact that the other firm is already pretty hierarchical compare to companies in other industries. I personally do not like this hierarchical environment for two main reasons.

First, associates’ opinions matter much less. I’m not saying that partners in other firms truly care about what associates think and feel. They don’t. However, S&C partners care even less. Taking the wfh policy in NYC as an example, S&C’s policy is probably the most inflexible comparing to other v10s.

Second, S&C’s management is also more bureaucratic than the other firm I’ve been with, meaning it takes much longer to get things done, particularly if you are doing something unusual.

All these being said, I cannot deny that S&C has better public m&a practice than PW and you are not guaranteed that you will be getting into the practice group you wished for in DPW. Thus, it really depends on what op cares more about.

I have first hand experience at S&C and I've found the opposite to be true. S&C is not nearly as levered as other firms (lower partner:associate ratio), which means that teams are staffed leanly and people get responsibility early especially if the work product is there.

I've also not experienced the 'bad culture' at S&C, people are kind and courteous, and partners are genuinely interested in mentorship. Honestly can't imagine a yeller in the office or something like that.

[Anonymous User]

Have worked at DPW and PW but not S&C. Depends if you want to focus on private or public. If private, then PW>>DPW>>S&C. If public then S&C>DPW>>>PW. As someone posted before, you run the risk of not getting M&A as a permanent assignment at DPW given their rotation system and general culture "flower where we plant you"