Mayer Brown opening in SLC, Utah. Next big law frontier? Forum

[LBJ's Hair]

i would not assume that they're billing NY rates fwiw. tbh I would assume they're not

[caesaph]

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[Anonymous User]

i would not assume that they're billing NY rates fwiw. tbh I would assume they're not

Kirkland is billing NY rates and paying Cravath scale and same on pay for Wilson and Foley. For them it was a play for bodies/talent. In Seattle they would have to compete against a number of firms. Utah had Dorsey & Whitney and that was about the only serious contender for corporate work.

I don’t know if Mayer Brown will bill and compensate at NY rates though. They may take an approach similar to Greenberg.

[Anonymous User]

i would not assume that they're billing NY rates fwiw. tbh I would assume they're not

Kirkland is billing NY rates and paying Cravath scale and same on pay for Wilson and Foley. For them it was a play for bodies/talent. In Seattle they would have to compete against a number of firms. Utah had Dorsey & Whitney and that was about the only serious contender for corporate work.

I don’t know if Mayer Brown will bill and compensate at NY rates though. They may take an approach similar to Greenberg.

I'm from UT but not currently in UT, and have heard the bolded before but it doesn't really make sense to me. Is Snell & Wilmer, Durham Jones or Holland & Hart not on the same playing field?

[Anonymous User]

i would not assume that they're billing NY rates fwiw. tbh I would assume they're not

Kirkland is billing NY rates and paying Cravath scale and same on pay for Wilson and Foley. For them it was a play for bodies/talent. In Seattle they would have to compete against a number of firms. Utah had Dorsey & Whitney and that was about the only serious contender for corporate work.

I don’t know if Mayer Brown will bill and compensate at NY rates though. They may take an approach similar to Greenberg.

I'm from UT but not currently in UT, and have heard the bolded before but it doesn't really make sense to me. Is Snell & Wilmer, Durham Jones or Holland & Hart not on the same playing field?

Different poster but I'm back in UT and have worked at 3 of the 4 named firms. Poster above you is right. Dorsey is the only serious one in terms of sophistication of work, deal size, clients, and compensation for associates for corporate work. But with that came some of my busiest years as an associate and I worked in big law on the coast so that's saying something. Also Dorsey is not anything special when it comes to litigation though and the other named ones are better known.

*Edited to add that I didn't move around those three firms because I sucked or anything. My moves involved my partners who were feeding me moving and one move because of shit pay raises and I was expected to work on matters outside of my practice and I wanted to do just corporate work.

[LBJ's Hair]

i would not assume that they're billing NY rates fwiw. tbh I would assume they're not

Kirkland is billing NY rates and paying Cravath scale and same on pay for Wilson and Foley. For them it was a play for bodies/talent. In Seattle they would have to compete against a number of firms. Utah had Dorsey & Whitney and that was about the only serious contender for corporate work.

I don’t know if Mayer Brown will bill and compensate at NY rates though. They may take an approach similar to Greenberg.

would not conflate "paying Cravath scale" with "charging NY rates"

[savvy22]

when the M&A market cools, and it will, good luck to the associates (and even junior partners) who moved to these firms.

[Anonymous User]

Even some people within Mayer Brown expressed surprise at this move, but I guess their plan is to focus on startups and venture capital. The Salt Lake City office will apparently do similar work as the MB Nor Cal office. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[Anonymous User]

I'm patiently waiting for someone to open a Big Law firm office in Indianapolis. Already, the firms there have been gutted talent wise with WFH. I imagine that market is a matter of time before the big players come in (along with Nashville).

[Anonymous User]

Even some people within Mayer Brown expressed surprise at this move, but I guess their plan is to focus on startups and venture capital. The Salt Lake City office will apparently do similar work as the MB Nor Cal office. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Wow so it’s a play for work and clients? I didn’t expect that since I have been doing EC/VC work in SF for 6 years and never been across from Mayer Brown on a deal. Obviously my firm isn’t the only one doing deals there but I’m surprised because Mayer Brown is not synonymous with EC/VC work IME.

[Anonymous User]

Even some people within Mayer Brown expressed surprise at this move, but I guess their plan is to focus on startups and venture capital. The Salt Lake City office will apparently do similar work as the MB Nor Cal office. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Wow so it’s a play for work and clients? I didn’t expect that since I have been doing EC/VC work in SF for 6 years and never been across from Mayer Brown on a deal. Obviously my firm isn’t the only one doing deals there but I’m surprised because Mayer Brown is not synonymous with EC/VC work IME.

Maybe it’s as simple as they hired some venture partner in Salt Lake City and are now opening an “office” there. Lots of people have opened “offices” in Austin that are like 8 people.

[Anonymous User]

Even some people within Mayer Brown expressed surprise at this move, but I guess their plan is to focus on startups and venture capital. The Salt Lake City office will apparently do similar work as the MB Nor Cal office. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Wow so it’s a play for work and clients? I didn’t expect that since I have been doing EC/VC work in SF for 6 years and never been across from Mayer Brown on a deal. Obviously my firm isn’t the only one doing deals there but I’m surprised because Mayer Brown is not synonymous with EC/VC work IME.

Another Bay Area EC/VC associate who's never been opposite Mayer Brown in an EC/VC context. And looking at the folks in their Bay Area offices, doesn't really look like they have much of an EC/VC footprint beyond maybe doing late stage company work, tech trans and similar.

[Anonymous User]

Delete

[Anonymous User]

But if you look at Wilson, who should have had an easier time recruiting given their venture capital practice and reputation of tech firms, but they haven’t been able to hire. Single associate in the market. They got one out of law school and one relocated associate from PA, that’s it.

There are only 4 people in the office at all, 2 of whom (1 partner, 1 associate) seem also to be splitting with other offices. How many associates should they be hiring and why does it matter where they hire those associates from? (Honest question, no idea what an office like that should look like.)

Anon because I work/worked at WSGR. Personally I could see the firm being able to fill a smaller office in a few years. They always recruit from BYU; in one of the virtual summer programs we had 6 SAs from BYU alone.

[Anonymous User]

That's interesting, why do you think that is? Are there some partners who are alums?

[CoopDawg]

Former Snell & Wilmer attorney here. You would have to be certifiably nuts to work at S&W's SLC office. If there is any debate about whether to work at S&W or BigLaw SLC, go BigLaw.

[Anonymous User]

Why is that? Pay? Hours?

Folks always say partnership chances are worth staying at mid tier firms in Utah but I’m doubting that seriously now

[Anonymous User]

Why is that? Pay? Hours?

Folks always say partnership chances are worth staying at mid tier firms in Utah but I’m doubting that seriously now

I don't know much about Utah, but I started my career in Virginia at a regional big law firm. Many partners at that law firm were making around 175-240k a year, so I immediately started making more money then most of them when I lateraled as a mid level associate. It really doesn't make sense to stay at mid tier firms when you can always lateral back to your old regional firm or another regional firm after a few years if you realize you don't want to do big law.

[CoopDawg]

Why is that? Pay? Hours?

Folks always say partnership chances are worth staying at mid tier firms in Utah but I’m doubting that seriously now

I don't know much about Utah, but I started my career in Virginia at a regional big law firm. Many partners at that law firm were making around 175-240k a year, so I immediately started making more money then most of them when I lateraled as a mid level associate. It really doesn't make sense to stay at mid tier firms when you can always lateral back to your old regional firm or another regional firm after a few years if you realize you don't want to do big law.

^ This. The main problems with S&W SLC are nightmare senior partners and middling pay at the senior associate/junior partner level. Making partner there is basically just a title change, with potentially lower pay. It's just not worth it.

[jimmyjammy]

Former Snell & Wilmer attorney here. You would have to be certifiably nuts to work at S&W's SLC office. If there is any debate about whether to work at S&W or BigLaw SLC, go BigLaw.

I now work in SLC and interviewed at Snell during law school. This may have nothing to do with what it's like to work there, but it was by far the worst interview I've ever had. The associates that took me to lunch talked non-stop the entire time about how much they hated working there and being lawyers in general. I couldn't wait to leave that place and wouldn't have taken the job if it had been my only offer.

[Anonymous User]

So is troutman in SLC now?

https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindu ... 022-02-08/

[Anonymous User]

So is troutman in SLC now?

https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindu ... 022-02-08/

Bump. Curious to know if they are really there too and who the next firm will be to open an office. Rumors and street talk are encouraged and welcomed

[tlsguy2020]

i would not assume that they're billing NY rates fwiw. tbh I would assume they're not

Jones day model of relying on far cheaper Ohio associates to do work competitors can only offer at New York prices

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know actually what the pay scale is? I would be surprised if it’s not Milbank scale because Kirkland, Wilson Sonsini, and Foley all are.

[Anonymous User]

Sounds like big moves are happening in SLC. How are folks feeling?