LW NY vs Cleary NY Forum

[Anonymous User]

For corporate and maybe a bit of capital markets as well. Junior from non-NY big law looking to lateral into NY. LW seems like the better firm (or at least doing well lately) but Cleary is headquartered in NY. Would that make a difference?

Need to make a decision fairly quick so any thoughts would be much appreciated.

[Anonymous User]

For corporate and maybe a bit of capital markets as well. Junior from non-NY big law looking to lateral into NY. LW seems like the better firm (or at least doing well lately) but Cleary is headquartered in NY. Would that make a difference?

Need to make a decision fairly quick so any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Are both firms making you pick groups? After first couple of years Latham expects you to pick a group, IIRC; not sure what Cleary has. If you’re thinking capital markets or credit/debt finance, the answer hands down is Latham - Cleary doesn’t really compete for bank/underwriter side representations.

On M&A, Cleary’s more established and old school NY, while Latham’s a cobbling together of people who’ve been there while and a swathe of laterals. Cleary M&A is in a period of flux right now, though, with some big Freshfields departures in the last couple of years. I’m not sure what this means for some of the bigger relationships, like TPG or Google. Also a question of whether you want to do more public or private equity work. Both firms have clients in those areas - and Latham’s brought in a bunch of folks with more public company expertise lately, so does compete - but if you think you’re interested at all in private equity, Latham’s the clear choice: much broader coverage in both mid- and large-cap PE M&A, probably only half a peg below STB/Kirkland.

Last question is culture - and this is where being NY headquartered may make a difference. Cleary is probably still perceived as being a little “old school” and “formal”, while Latham prides itself on being diverse and scrappy (and maybe a little more frat-like culturally). YMMV, of course.

[Anonymous User]

For corporate and maybe a bit of capital markets as well. Junior from non-NY big law looking to lateral into NY. LW seems like the better firm (or at least doing well lately) but Cleary is headquartered in NY. Would that make a difference?

Need to make a decision fairly quick so any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Are both firms making you pick groups? After first couple of years Latham expects you to pick a group, IIRC; not sure what Cleary has. If you’re thinking capital markets or credit/debt finance, the answer hands down is Latham - Cleary doesn’t really compete for bank/underwriter side representations.

On M&A, Cleary’s more established and old school NY, while Latham’s a cobbling together of people who’ve been there while and a swathe of laterals. Cleary M&A is in a period of flux right now, though, with some big Freshfields departures in the last couple of years. I’m not sure what this means for some of the bigger relationships, like TPG or Google. Also a question of whether you want to do more public or private equity work. Both firms have clients in those areas - and Latham’s brought in a bunch of folks with more public company expertise lately, so does compete - but if you think you’re interested at all in private equity, Latham’s the clear choice: much broader coverage in both mid- and large-cap PE M&A, probably only half a peg below STB/Kirkland.

Last question is culture - and this is where being NY headquartered may make a difference. Cleary is probably still perceived as being a little “old school” and “formal”, while Latham prides itself on being diverse and scrappy (and maybe a little more frat-like culturally). YMMV, of course.

+1. Latham probably preferable choice here especially given the unofficial 2k hours minimum Cleary announced. Latham gets more mega deals and Google has officially left Cleary after the partner departures to Freshfields.

[Anonymous User]

For corporate and maybe a bit of capital markets as well. Junior from non-NY big law looking to lateral into NY. LW seems like the better firm (or at least doing well lately) but Cleary is headquartered in NY. Would that make a difference?

Need to make a decision fairly quick so any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Are both firms making you pick groups? After first couple of years Latham expects you to pick a group, IIRC; not sure what Cleary has. If you’re thinking capital markets or credit/debt finance, the answer hands down is Latham - Cleary doesn’t really compete for bank/underwriter side representations.

On M&A, Cleary’s more established and old school NY, while Latham’s a cobbling together of people who’ve been there while and a swathe of laterals. Cleary M&A is in a period of flux right now, though, with some big Freshfields departures in the last couple of years. I’m not sure what this means for some of the bigger relationships, like TPG or Google. Also a question of whether you want to do more public or private equity work. Both firms have clients in those areas - and Latham’s brought in a bunch of folks with more public company expertise lately, so does compete - but if you think you’re interested at all in private equity, Latham’s the clear choice: much broader coverage in both mid- and large-cap PE M&A, probably only half a peg below STB/Kirkland.

Last question is culture - and this is where being NY headquartered may make a difference. Cleary is probably still perceived as being a little “old school” and “formal”, while Latham prides itself on being diverse and scrappy (and maybe a little more frat-like culturally). YMMV, of course.

+1. Latham probably preferable choice here especially given the unofficial 2k hours minimum Cleary announced. Latham gets more mega deals and Google has officially left Cleary after the partner departures to Freshfields.

Previous anon. That’s interesting on Cleary - I didn’t know that about Google. Slight caveat on Latham’s mega-deals: some of them are done out of Chicago or CA offices, so may want to see what the expected diet is in NY/who you’d mainly be working for if that’s of interest.

[Wild Card]

Congratulations. You're very fortunate. It seems that Latham is on the upswing whereas Cleary is facing a downturn. At the same time, we must never forget the Great Lathaming.

[Anonymous User]

OP here - thanks a lot for all the input!

[Anonymous User]

A lot of misinformation on this thread. "Google has officially left Cleary"? Just lol.

[dealcrusher]

I'm a Cleary associate. Pick who you want, but we definitely still work for Google, and our capital markets team is routinely ranked among the top in the world - possible that LW is better in that area, I wouldn't know, but we certainly compete in that area. I don't think the people above are giving you great information.

[Anonymous User]

A lot of misinformation on this thread. "Google has officially left Cleary"? Just lol.

Do you mind elaborating regarding the above? I have heard mix things regarding the Cleary Google relationship.