Cravath vs. Covington (DC) Forum

[Anonymous User]

I am having a hard time choosing between Cravath and Covington (DC). I am not certain about my long-term goals. I could see myself doing legal academia, bid fed government work, or staying in private practice if I really liked it. I know for sure I want to do litigation (but not regulatory work). I'm uncertain about what type of litigation and would prefer to have a generalist training early on to get exposure to different types of work. I think it's unlikely I'd stay at either firm long-term. I wouldn't mind living in NY for a few years, but it's very hard for me to see myself staying there for more than 5 years. I liked the people at Cravath a bit better, but both seemed nice.

[Anonymous User]

You have made this question very difficult to answer because you have basically expressed no real preferences that could distinguish between the two. Here are some things to think about:

-NY or DC. They are absolutely not the same vibe at all, and most people have a preference.
-Exit opportunities. Covington definitely sends people to bigfed with regularity; I imagine Cravath would more likely send people to certain bigfed divisions like the SEC. But try to get a sense of what the exit opportunities are.
-Work assignment. Cravath is rotational; Covington is not, but you can try things out and split your time at the beginning.
-Practice areas. Get a sense of what is available at each firm. Cravath is probably more finance/general commercial lit focused than Covington, which does a lot of white collar work, investigations, and government-related litigation (e.g., government contracts, which have their own governing statutes). You may have a preference.

Also, I would not judge too much on just talking to people unless you got a really bad vibe. But you are perhaps the first person I know who has said that you like the Cravath people better than the Cov DC people lol.

[Elston Gunn]

If you’re really certain you don’t want to do regulatory work (and I don’t know how you would be at this point, but hey), then it really just comes down to whether you want to live in NY or DC. DC Biglaw is on the whole slightly more sane than V10 NY, but Covington’s lit groups are very, very intense too.

You’ll likely make the exact same money at both places, though there’s a higher chance of Covington screwing you, and you’ll definitely spend a lot longer agonizing over whether they’ll actually match any raises/new bonuses. Then again DC housing is way cheaper than NY (people who act like they’re almost equivalent are crazy imo). You can get into government from both places, though obviously there are a lot more jobs in DC. Neither place will help you get into academia (that’s on your publishing and, to a lesser extent, clerkship).

[Anonymous User]

You’ll likely make the exact same money at both places, though there’s a higher chance of Covington screwing you, and you’ll definitely spend a lot longer agonizing over whether they’ll actually match any raises/new bonuses.

This is no longer completely true--Covington matched this year once the market settled and announced a pretty generous WFH policy early on compared to other firms. Not to say that the stain of its opposition a couple years ago is completely gone, but the firm does seem to be improving.

[Elston Gunn]

You’ll likely make the exact same money at both places, though there’s a higher chance of Covington screwing you, and you’ll definitely spend a lot longer agonizing over whether they’ll actually match any raises/new bonuses.

This is no longer completely true--Covington matched this year once the market settled and announced a pretty generous WFH policy early on compared to other firms. Not to say that the stain of its opposition a couple years ago is completely gone, but the firm does seem to be improving.

Yeah they always end up matching (so far). But if you care about small differences, there’s absolutely a higher chance that Covington would not match a raise/big bonus than there is for Cravath.

Oh one other thing I should have mentioned is that Covington (like virtually all DC based firms) has a billable minimum to get a bonus, which Cravath doesn’t. You are probably going to blow past 1950 hours at Cravath, but it’s still a definite positive to not have a minimum.

[Anonymous User]

You have to decide where you want to live first. That overriding QOL choice will matter so much more than the incremental differences between these top flight firms. I would only let the city decision take a back seat if the firms were truly of different quality, and these are not.

Assuming you genuinely don’t care where you live, I would do Covington and never look back. You’ll have a better quality of life, more substantive litigation opportunities (depending on your CSM rotation), and a broader array of exit options. The reason I stress quality of life and exit options over partnership here is that every single one of my friends and acquaintances at Cravath has burned out and left by or before their fifth year, so I don’t consider partnership a realistic probability; in ten years, these will be old resume lines and what will matter is the next job or two, what litigation experiences you had, and whether you had any time to enjoy your late 20s.

This is not to say Cravath has inferior exits; it’s indisputably among the ‘best’ large law firms in the country and it would set you up well to lateral to another large firm or perhaps become an AUSA. For litigators who are interested in academia or government, though, Covington will enlarge those choices. And you’ll hate your life less.