Covington (NY) vs. White & Case (NY) Forum

[Anonymous User]

Interested in White Collar work, especially cross-border investigations. But I want to explore other practice areas (leaning lit but want to give transactional a try). After big law, ideally, I'd like to work in the government.

I enjoyed both callbacks, but as of now, I don't know a ton about the culture or reputation of either office. Would appreciate any insight!

[Anonymous User]

I don't know a lot about White & Case here, to be honest, but I can speak to Covington (used to work there on the transactional side). It's fairly lean but you'll be more than able to try out both lit and corp over the summer. There's a ton of white collar work, so you can definitely fill your schedule up with that if you want. Nancy Kestenbaum's done a ton of work with "Me Too" investigations around the country, though there's plenty of FCPA/cross-border stuff, too.

Probably most to your interest, the vast majority of white collar partners seemed to be AUSA alumni, so there's definitely a well-connected pipeline there if that's the government future you'd like.

[Anonymous User]

If transactional, the answer is White & Case. I imagine the primary appeal of Covington is the name. But beyond that, Covington’s corporate group is largely irrelevant in New York, whereas W&C led all firms — I repeat, all firms— by deal volume in M&A this year and last. Also the W&C offices are sick af. If lit, then it’s closer, but I think you should decide what you want to do.

[Anonymous User]

I don't know a lot about White & Case here, to be honest, but I can speak to Covington (used to work there on the transactional side). It's fairly lean but you'll be more than able to try out both lit and corp over the summer. There's a ton of white collar work, so you can definitely fill your schedule up with that if you want. Nancy Kestenbaum's done a ton of work with "Me Too" investigations around the country, though there's plenty of FCPA/cross-border stuff, too.

Probably most to your interest, the vast majority of white collar partners seemed to be AUSA alumni, so there's definitely a well-connected pipeline there if that's the government future you'd like.

OP here–thank you! Strong pipeline into DOJ or SEC is an enormous plus.
Can you speak at all to how you found the office culture at Cov NY? I'm not sure if I just haven't talked to enough attorneys yet, but I'm having trouble getting a read.

[Anonymous User]

I don't know a lot about White & Case here, to be honest, but I can speak to Covington (used to work there on the transactional side). It's fairly lean but you'll be more than able to try out both lit and corp over the summer. There's a ton of white collar work, so you can definitely fill your schedule up with that if you want. Nancy Kestenbaum's done a ton of work with "Me Too" investigations around the country, though there's plenty of FCPA/cross-border stuff, too.

Probably most to your interest, the vast majority of white collar partners seemed to be AUSA alumni, so there's definitely a well-connected pipeline there if that's the government future you'd like.

OP here–thank you! Strong pipeline into DOJ or SEC is an enormous plus.
Can you speak at all to how you found the office culture at Cov NY? I'm not sure if I just haven't talked to enough attorneys yet, but I'm having trouble getting a read.

There's a good amount of SEC enforcement work, too, that wouldn't be an issue.

What about the office culture are you curious about in particular? It's an extremely nice place that's not aggressively social. By that, I mean people are more than happy to interact if you are, but there aren't a lot of forced social situations, and it isn't a loud place. The office is gorgeous (albeit near Port Authority) and you'll probably share an office the first year or so before having the option of moving to a solo interior office. That might change though, they have the option of acquiring more space in the building, so maybe they can spread associates out more for more solo offices. It's honestly nice to have an officemate as a junior though, at least for me.

The firm's generally extremely supportive of giving you the type of work you're interested in doing. That's not to say you'll handpick every case or deal, but if you make it known you'd really love to do white collar work with some X or Y on the side, it'll happen. There isn't a huge glut of juniors which is both good and bad (earlier responsibility + getting out of your comfort zone earlier).

I had moved to Covington from a more "traditional" NY corporate powerhouse and found Covington much more up my alley.

The cafeteria's more of a cafe than a cafeteria, and honestly wasn't cheap, so I'd plan on bringing your food to work or buying it outside to the extent you can (once you have to go back in). Not a ton of options in part because something with the building code stopped them from operating ovens + producing hot food at full scale. This lent itself to associates dropping by others' offices to eat lunch rather than hanging out in the cafeteria, though the cafeteria still has plenty of people (just not a massive congregation in the sense I was used to at my prior firm). Maybe this changes after COVID though, for all I know, but figured I'd flag.

[Anonymous User]

What about the office culture are you curious about in particular? It's an extremely nice place that's not aggressively social. By that, I mean people are more than happy to interact if you are, but there aren't a lot of forced social situations, and it isn't a loud place.

This is definitely a firmwide vibe to the extent that I think it is part of the selection process lol

[Anonymous User]

I don't know a lot about White & Case here, to be honest, but I can speak to Covington (used to work there on the transactional side). It's fairly lean but you'll be more than able to try out both lit and corp over the summer. There's a ton of white collar work, so you can definitely fill your schedule up with that if you want. Nancy Kestenbaum's done a ton of work with "Me Too" investigations around the country, though there's plenty of FCPA/cross-border stuff, too.

Probably most to your interest, the vast majority of white collar partners seemed to be AUSA alumni, so there's definitely a well-connected pipeline there if that's the government future you'd like.

OP here–thank you! Strong pipeline into DOJ or SEC is an enormous plus.
Can you speak at all to how you found the office culture at Cov NY? I'm not sure if I just haven't talked to enough attorneys yet, but I'm having trouble getting a read.

There's a good amount of SEC enforcement work, too, that wouldn't be an issue.

What about the office culture are you curious about in particular? It's an extremely nice place that's not aggressively social. By that, I mean people are more than happy to interact if you are, but there aren't a lot of forced social situations, and it isn't a loud place. The office is gorgeous (albeit near Port Authority) and you'll probably share an office the first year or so before having the option of moving to a solo interior office. That might change though, they have the option of acquiring more space in the building, so maybe they can spread associates out more for more solo offices. It's honestly nice to have an officemate as a junior though, at least for me.

The firm's generally extremely supportive of giving you the type of work you're interested in doing. That's not to say you'll handpick every case or deal, but if you make it known you'd really love to do white collar work with some X or Y on the side, it'll happen. There isn't a huge glut of juniors which is both good and bad (earlier responsibility + getting out of your comfort zone earlier).

I had moved to Covington from a more "traditional" NY corporate powerhouse and found Covington much more up my alley.

The cafeteria's more of a cafe than a cafeteria, and honestly wasn't cheap, so I'd plan on bringing your food to work or buying it outside to the extent you can (once you have to go back in). Not a ton of options in part because something with the building code stopped them from operating ovens + producing hot food at full scale. This lent itself to associates dropping by others' offices to eat lunch rather than hanging out in the cafeteria, though the cafeteria still has plenty of people (just not a massive congregation in the sense I was used to at my prior firm). Maybe this changes after COVID though, for all I know, but figured I'd flag.

I was at Cov NY briefly after transferring from another office and agree with all of this.

For white collar specifically, I wasn’t there long, but Nancy Kestenbaum is pretty good to work with; Alan Vinegrad is not going to be your friend but is incredibly good at his job and all in all is a decent boss; and Barbara Hoffman is very particular but also kind and respectful. Didn’t have any particularly bad experiences with any of the NY partners/counsel.

[Anonymous User]

Suits was filmed in part at the White & Case office; also 24-hr gym. Also led all firms in M&A deal volume since last year.

[becodalapa]

Suits was filmed in part at the White & Case office

Glad we're focusing on the important things here.

[Anonymous User]

Suits was filmed in part at the White & Case office

Glad we're focusing on the important things here.

Look up the word “focus” then quote the entire comment.