STB v. LW NYC Forum

[Anonymous User]

I am fortunate to get to decide between Simpson Thacher and Latham & Watkins in NYC. Obviously both are great firms. Would love any thoughts comparing these two firms in terms of litigation practices, the size difference, where would be a good place to stay long term, and any other relevant differences people know about that might not be readily apparent from research.

[Anonymous User]

Also would like to know this! Congrats on the offers

[Anonymous User]

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=310601

[Anonymous User]

These are the two firms that I hope to get into.. do you mind sharing your stats?

[Anonymous User]

Congrats on the offers!

I worked at Latham NY and absolutely loved it. I haven't worked at Simpson, but I have friends that did/do work there. Here are what I perceive as the differences between the two firms (again, caveat that I do not have direct experience working at Simpson):

1. Culture: Simpson is more old-school than Latham. Simpson cares about facetime and is more conservative (little c) than Latham. I don't think anyone knew or cared whether I was in the office at Latham ever.

The people at both firms seem nice. They're both very large so you'll find your fit in either. Neither have a reputation for difficult personalities/screamers. Latham is probably a bit more "broey" than Simpson.

2. Work: In terms of sophisticated work/training, when I started, Simpson was definitely considered better than Latham. I believe that is quietly changing and both firms do a wide range of high-level corporate work. However, you'll still find people, including on this forum, that hold Simpson in higher esteem than Latham. Personally, I think this is dependent on practice groups. I would think Simpson has a stronger funds formation group whereas Latham's finance groups are stronger. I believe capm and m&a are a wash, although many will probably consider Simpson's capm group stronger (probably because they do more IPO and issuer work than high yield/bank representation). I'd need more details regarding what practice area you're interested in to help here.

3. Other: Consider this my plug for Latham - the unassigned program is fantastic if you don't know what you're interested in. I know Simpson has a rotational program, and that can work. But, I think the unassigned program is unique in that you can try out anything. You can be on a complex commercial litigation team and an M&A team at the same time. You'll be exposed to work/groups that you didn't even know existed. The drawback is that if you know what group you want to be in - you might get stuck for a deal or two in a group you have no interest in.

Latham has incredible KM, training series and tech. I know that probably is on the bottom of your considerations right now, but is HUGE. Not having to fight with dinosaur aged technology, having amazingly competent support staff and access to amazing precedents and deal notes is going to make a huge difference on your everyday life - way more than Vault/Chamber rankings. I don't know about Simpson's resources, so I can't say for sure which one is better, but I know Latham is top-notch.

Edit: Just noticed this is stale and OP has probably already made a decision lol. Oh well, I'll leave this up for others in the same position.

[Anonymous User]

I’d make the decision based on if I was sure I wanted to stay in NY. If not, Latham no doubt.

[Anonymous User]

Congrats on the offers!

I worked at Latham NY and absolutely loved it. I haven't worked at Simpson, but I have friends that did/do work there. Here are what I perceive as the differences between the two firms (again, caveat that I do not have direct experience working at Simpson):

1. Culture: Simpson is more old-school than Latham. Simpson cares about facetime and is more conservative (little c) than Latham. I don't think anyone knew or cared whether I was in the office at Latham ever.

The people at both firms seem nice. They're both very large so you'll find your fit in either. Neither have a reputation for difficult personalities/screamers. Latham is probably a bit more "broey" than Simpson.

2. Work: In terms of sophisticated work/training, when I started, Simpson was definitely considered better than Latham. I believe that is quietly changing and both firms do a wide range of high-level corporate work. However, you'll still find people, including on this forum, that hold Simpson in higher esteem than Latham. Personally, I think this is dependent on practice groups. I would think Simpson has a stronger funds formation group whereas Latham's finance groups are stronger. I believe capm and m&a are a wash, although many will probably consider Simpson's capm group stronger (probably because they do more IPO and issuer work than high yield/bank representation). I'd need more details regarding what practice area you're interested in to help here.

3. Other: Consider this my plug for Latham - the unassigned program is fantastic if you don't know what you're interested in. I know Simpson has a rotational program, and that can work. But, I think the unassigned program is unique in that you can try out anything. You can be on a complex commercial litigation team and an M&A team at the same time. You'll be exposed to work/groups that you didn't even know existed. The drawback is that if you know what group you want to be in - you might get stuck for a deal or two in a group you have no interest in.

Latham has incredible KM, training series and tech. I know that probably is on the bottom of your considerations right now, but is HUGE. Not having to fight with dinosaur aged technology, having amazingly competent support staff and access to amazing precedents and deal notes is going to make a huge difference on your everyday life - way more than Vault/Chamber rankings. I don't know about Simpson's resources, so I can't say for sure which one is better, but I know Latham is top-notch.

Edit: Just noticed this is stale and OP has probably already made a decision lol. Oh well, I'll leave this up for others in the same position.

STB NY is stronger in corporate than Latham NY (check Chambers), but OP was interested in lit. Also, STB definitely has a couple of screamers, and their M&A team has known to have toxic personalities.

[Anonymous User]

Congrats on the offers!

I worked at Latham NY and absolutely loved it. I haven't worked at Simpson, but I have friends that did/do work there. Here are what I perceive as the differences between the two firms (again, caveat that I do not have direct experience working at Simpson):

1. Culture: Simpson is more old-school than Latham. Simpson cares about facetime and is more conservative (little c) than Latham. I don't think anyone knew or cared whether I was in the office at Latham ever.

The people at both firms seem nice. They're both very large so you'll find your fit in either. Neither have a reputation for difficult personalities/screamers. Latham is probably a bit more "broey" than Simpson.

2. Work: In terms of sophisticated work/training, when I started, Simpson was definitely considered better than Latham. I believe that is quietly changing and both firms do a wide range of high-level corporate work. However, you'll still find people, including on this forum, that hold Simpson in higher esteem than Latham. Personally, I think this is dependent on practice groups. I would think Simpson has a stronger funds formation group whereas Latham's finance groups are stronger. I believe capm and m&a are a wash, although many will probably consider Simpson's capm group stronger (probably because they do more IPO and issuer work than high yield/bank representation). I'd need more details regarding what practice area you're interested in to help here.

3. Other: Consider this my plug for Latham - the unassigned program is fantastic if you don't know what you're interested in. I know Simpson has a rotational program, and that can work. But, I think the unassigned program is unique in that you can try out anything. You can be on a complex commercial litigation team and an M&A team at the same time. You'll be exposed to work/groups that you didn't even know existed. The drawback is that if you know what group you want to be in - you might get stuck for a deal or two in a group you have no interest in.

Latham has incredible KM, training series and tech. I know that probably is on the bottom of your considerations right now, but is HUGE. Not having to fight with dinosaur aged technology, having amazingly competent support staff and access to amazing precedents and deal notes is going to make a huge difference on your everyday life - way more than Vault/Chamber rankings. I don't know about Simpson's resources, so I can't say for sure which one is better, but I know Latham is top-notch.

Edit: Just noticed this is stale and OP has probably already made a decision lol. Oh well, I'll leave this up for others in the same position.

STB NY is stronger in corporate than Latham NY (check Chambers), but OP was interested in lit. Also, STB definitely has a couple of screamers, and their M&A team has known to have toxic personalities.

They're both Band 1 across the major groups (M&A, cap markets, debt finance) on Chambers.

[Anonymous User]

Congrats on the offers!

I worked at Latham NY and absolutely loved it. I haven't worked at Simpson, but I have friends that did/do work there. Here are what I perceive as the differences between the two firms (again, caveat that I do not have direct experience working at Simpson):

1. Culture: Simpson is more old-school than Latham. Simpson cares about facetime and is more conservative (little c) than Latham. I don't think anyone knew or cared whether I was in the office at Latham ever.

The people at both firms seem nice. They're both very large so you'll find your fit in either. Neither have a reputation for difficult personalities/screamers. Latham is probably a bit more "broey" than Simpson.

2. Work: In terms of sophisticated work/training, when I started, Simpson was definitely considered better than Latham. I believe that is quietly changing and both firms do a wide range of high-level corporate work. However, you'll still find people, including on this forum, that hold Simpson in higher esteem than Latham. Personally, I think this is dependent on practice groups. I would think Simpson has a stronger funds formation group whereas Latham's finance groups are stronger. I believe capm and m&a are a wash, although many will probably consider Simpson's capm group stronger (probably because they do more IPO and issuer work than high yield/bank representation). I'd need more details regarding what practice area you're interested in to help here.

3. Other: Consider this my plug for Latham - the unassigned program is fantastic if you don't know what you're interested in. I know Simpson has a rotational program, and that can work. But, I think the unassigned program is unique in that you can try out anything. You can be on a complex commercial litigation team and an M&A team at the same time. You'll be exposed to work/groups that you didn't even know existed. The drawback is that if you know what group you want to be in - you might get stuck for a deal or two in a group you have no interest in.

Latham has incredible KM, training series and tech. I know that probably is on the bottom of your considerations right now, but is HUGE. Not having to fight with dinosaur aged technology, having amazingly competent support staff and access to amazing precedents and deal notes is going to make a huge difference on your everyday life - way more than Vault/Chamber rankings. I don't know about Simpson's resources, so I can't say for sure which one is better, but I know Latham is top-notch.

Edit: Just noticed this is stale and OP has probably already made a decision lol. Oh well, I'll leave this up for others in the same position.

STB NY is stronger in corporate than Latham NY (check Chambers), but OP was interested in lit. Also, STB definitely has a couple of screamers, and their M&A team has known to have toxic personalities.

They're both Band 1 across the major groups (M&A, cap markets, debt finance) on Chambers.

Latham NY is band 3 for Corporate/M&A (https://chambers.com/legal-rankings/cor ... 37:12806:1), behind firms like STB/DPW/KE/Cleary/PW.

[Anonymous User]

It really epitomizes peak TLS to have the OP ask about litigation and then receive replies here that are exclusively about Chambers corporate rankings. Not to mention someone necro’ing a months-old thread. *chefs kiss*

[JiveTurkey]

These are the two firms that I hope to get into.. do you mind sharing your stats?

Relying on random stats not much of a thing for firms like it is for applying to law schools. Ask your career services office for GPA data for your specific school.

[Anonymous User]

These are the two firms that I hope to get into.. do you mind sharing your stats?

Why don't you tell us your stats and we can give you a rough idea

[Anonymous User]

MVP median with 2 years of work experience (one year in business, one year as paralegal)

[Anonymous User]

MVP median with 2 years of work experience (one year in business, one year as paralegal)

Just don't screw up your interviews and you'll probably do fine.