Milbank offered me a CB and apparently there is no disadvantage to interviewing later according the communication received from them (scheduling in around 2 weeks would be way easier for me since I'm not only out of state, but out of the country). Is that true or do they de facto do rolling basis like other firms?
Wrote this post in a rush, want to pick my slot within the next 30 minutes.
Further context: CCN (if at all relevant to this question)
Scheduling Milbank CB later? Forum
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Anonymous User
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Scheduling Milbank CB later?
Last edited by Anonymous User on Sat Jul 31, 2021 5:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Anonymous User
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Re: Scheduling Milbank CB later?
The sooner the better is usually correct, if you really want a firm. But if you're out of country then don't worry about it.
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Anonymous User
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Re: Scheduling Milbank CB later?
Could you just briefly explain that to me? If they explicitly say that you're not advantaged by applying earlier, shouldn't that hold true?Anonymous User wrote: ↑Sat Jul 31, 2021 5:36 pmThe sooner the better is usually correct, if you really want a firm. But if you're out of country then don't worry about it.
I already scheduled 3 callbacks for next week and I'm having to pay a bunch just to rent a place that has decent WiFi to do them (explaining why the place I'm staying doesn't would be tl;dr). Having to rent for literally every callback would be a pain in the ass. I'd do it if there was some advantage to doing it early with respect to Milbank, but it seems like there isn't (?)
I get the idea that firms have a limited number of places and they'll just offer to whoever is first in the door and they like, but if they outright say that it makes no difference...
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the lsat failure
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Re: Scheduling Milbank CB later?
You're not disadvantaged per se, but for anything that works on a rolling basis being early is always advantageous. They won't intentionally "penalize" you for doing your CB later but as spots are taken, it only makes sense that they have the latitude to be more selective. It's easier to give someone an offer when you have 100+ spots than when you have 10 left and the same caliber of people are applying/have applied.
Also think about it - would it make sense for firms to outright tell you you're disadvantaged? It would lead to an administrative nightmare as everyone tries to schedule their CBs in the same week.
Also think about it - would it make sense for firms to outright tell you you're disadvantaged? It would lead to an administrative nightmare as everyone tries to schedule their CBs in the same week.
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Anonymous User
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Re: Scheduling Milbank CB later?
Absolutely interview as early as possible. I have no insight into the recruiting committee's thought process, but the firm has been making offers for several weeks now (pre-oci) and I absolutely cannot see a world where you doing a cb after 10s/100s of offers have been made doesn't disadvantage you.
Feel free to ask me anything about Milbank as well - currently there (and interviewing candidates), TLS was a crucial source of info for me and I'm happy to pay it forward.
Feel free to ask me anything about Milbank as well - currently there (and interviewing candidates), TLS was a crucial source of info for me and I'm happy to pay it forward.
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Anonymous User
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Re: Scheduling Milbank CB later?
Thanks!Anonymous User wrote: ↑Sat Jul 31, 2021 6:21 pmAbsolutely interview as early as possible. I have no insight into the recruiting committee's thought process, but the firm has been making offers for several weeks now (pre-oci) and I absolutely cannot see a world where you doing a cb after 10s/100s of offers have been made doesn't disadvantage you.
Feel free to ask me anything about Milbank as well - currently there (and interviewing candidates), TLS was a crucial source of info for me and I'm happy to pay it forward.
Since you're anon, should I post these Qs here? If so, I guess I'd like to know:
1) What exactly is the purpose of the CB from Milbank's perspective? I've heard varying takes (assessing personality, fit, competence) and I assume it differs firm to firm (?)
2) How should I go about showing interest in the firm? I'm guessing the same old trite questions about culture or what people like about the firm aren't exactly looked upon with favor.
3) On the topic of trite/overused questions, what would you say brought you to Milbank?
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Anonymous User
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Re: Scheduling Milbank CB later?
1) What exactly is the purpose of the CB from Milbank's perspective? I've heard varying takes (assessing personality, fit, competence) and I assume it differs firm to firm (?)
2) How should I go about showing interest in the firm? I'm guessing the same old trite questions about culture or what people like about the firm aren't exactly looked upon with favor.
3) On the topic of trite/overused questions, what would you say brought you to Milbank?
(Quote)
1) like you said, the purpose behind cb's probably slightly varies by firm, but I suspect that at the vast majority of firms it's mostly a way of filtering out "bad fits" (i.e. someone who is the opposite of what the firm, at least somewhat, tries to encourage - someone who is a great fit at Kirkland for example, may not be a great fit at a Milbank or Debevoise). We were explicitly told numerous times that if someone has made it to a cb we shouldn't even look at the GPA on the resume, because the firm has decided they meet its standards on that front. At Milbank we as interviewers get a survey with 5 or so paramaters (intelligence, motivation, how personable they are, etc.) to rank the candidate and say whether we recommend they get an offer. IMO it pretty much 100% comes down to how much people liked you or think they would like to work with you/have you work for them - like every interview.
2) No right answer here since it fully depends on the interviewer. From my experience, it's super cringey when someone spews bs - at the end of the day biglaw firms are biglaw firms, and generally look identical to law students. On the other hand, not having any reasons or anything to say if asked also comes off as bad because it shows you didn't even bother to spend 5 seconds to think of a reason. I think generally coming off as authentic is preferable (but again - just an opinion) - so spend 10-30min looking at the firm profile on vault/chambers/posts on tls and ask yourself what based on that info would appeal to you - there's your why Milbank.
3) I thought that Milbank offered the best value. At the end of the day biglaw pay is generally standardized and from my vantage point as a 1L it seemed like exit opps/the work was not really different at a v-whatever, while the quantity of work definitely was. The firm was also clearly doing very well financially and seemed committed to always paying market (and with no bonus targets - aka you get a bonus even if you don't hit the target hours). I also found the partners to be vastly better (i.e. less psycho) than the partners at some other places.
I can tell you that I was spot on with a lot of the above, but that with Milbank's rise in the vault rankings and continued success also came a decrease in the chill factor. There is also a distinct difference in culture between groups that I wasn't aware of - some groups are awesome while some... may appeal to other people. If prestige is something you care about, I would personally predict that the firm will continue to slightly rise in the rankings and stabilize around the low 20s/high 10s, and pretty much guarantee that it will keep being a market leader comp wise as the firm leadership is very interested in boosting the firm's prestige.
2) How should I go about showing interest in the firm? I'm guessing the same old trite questions about culture or what people like about the firm aren't exactly looked upon with favor.
3) On the topic of trite/overused questions, what would you say brought you to Milbank?
(Quote)
1) like you said, the purpose behind cb's probably slightly varies by firm, but I suspect that at the vast majority of firms it's mostly a way of filtering out "bad fits" (i.e. someone who is the opposite of what the firm, at least somewhat, tries to encourage - someone who is a great fit at Kirkland for example, may not be a great fit at a Milbank or Debevoise). We were explicitly told numerous times that if someone has made it to a cb we shouldn't even look at the GPA on the resume, because the firm has decided they meet its standards on that front. At Milbank we as interviewers get a survey with 5 or so paramaters (intelligence, motivation, how personable they are, etc.) to rank the candidate and say whether we recommend they get an offer. IMO it pretty much 100% comes down to how much people liked you or think they would like to work with you/have you work for them - like every interview.
2) No right answer here since it fully depends on the interviewer. From my experience, it's super cringey when someone spews bs - at the end of the day biglaw firms are biglaw firms, and generally look identical to law students. On the other hand, not having any reasons or anything to say if asked also comes off as bad because it shows you didn't even bother to spend 5 seconds to think of a reason. I think generally coming off as authentic is preferable (but again - just an opinion) - so spend 10-30min looking at the firm profile on vault/chambers/posts on tls and ask yourself what based on that info would appeal to you - there's your why Milbank.
3) I thought that Milbank offered the best value. At the end of the day biglaw pay is generally standardized and from my vantage point as a 1L it seemed like exit opps/the work was not really different at a v-whatever, while the quantity of work definitely was. The firm was also clearly doing very well financially and seemed committed to always paying market (and with no bonus targets - aka you get a bonus even if you don't hit the target hours). I also found the partners to be vastly better (i.e. less psycho) than the partners at some other places.
I can tell you that I was spot on with a lot of the above, but that with Milbank's rise in the vault rankings and continued success also came a decrease in the chill factor. There is also a distinct difference in culture between groups that I wasn't aware of - some groups are awesome while some... may appeal to other people. If prestige is something you care about, I would personally predict that the firm will continue to slightly rise in the rankings and stabilize around the low 20s/high 10s, and pretty much guarantee that it will keep being a market leader comp wise as the firm leadership is very interested in boosting the firm's prestige.
