V100 with great culture work/life balance vs. top litigation boutique for 1L SA Forum

[Anonymous User]

For a 1L who has no idea what kind of law I want to practice.

Lit boutique is top of the market $ in a higher COL location. Selective and seems like an intense place. It would be a dream credential and provide early substantive experience.

Other firm is slightly below market but lower COL which appears to more than cancel out the pay differential, laid back culture, lots of megafirm refugees, low billable hour requirement, supportive leadership... amazingly so from what I can tell.

Both markets are equally attractive to me, though the V100 is in a slightly better area for my family. I would ideally love it wherever I go and not do OCI.

Researching but interested in other opinions. Where would you go? Does turning down an offer affect chances at the same firm during 2L summer? And what's the deal with splitting summers? Is this something people just ask for? Is it seen negatively? I haven't seen any firms actually offer this option... with I suppose makes sense.

[Anonymous User]

I would go to the top litigation boutique. I went that route for my 1L summer and I felt that the signaling effect of having that top firm on my resume snowballed into a lot of great offers for 2L. I am sure I would’ve done well for 2L summer interviews anyway, but I felt like it only helped that more conventional big law firms wanted to lure me away from the uber prestigious firm. In addition, it seems like you’d be able to go to the less selective firm for 2L summer, so you may not be losing much by going to the prestigious boutique for 1L summer. The reverse may not be as true and you may always wonder what the prestigious boutique route would’ve been like. (You will probably realize it’s not as alluring as TLS people make it sound, which is a plus in its own right.) Plus, if you hate the very selective boutique, you can marshal that experience when explaining to the other firm why you think it’s a better fit for you when you are interviewing for a 2L slot.

[Anonymous User]

Go to whichever place more or less guarantees a return offer, because not all lit boutiques do.

[Anonymous User]

I would not trust that the below market firm is actually as WL balance as it appears.

[Anonymous User]

How tie-sensitive is the V100 location? In smaller markets it's often very helpful to do 1L there to get connections and show an interest in returning, even if you go to big-city BL first. If it's not very tie-sensitive, unless you have a decently strong preference to work in the V100 location, I would go with the boutique.

[Anonymous User]

I would not trust that the below market firm is actually as WL balance as it appears.

This, and also I would consider whether salary compression past the first year widens the pay gap to the point where the COL differences are not longer covering it

[Anonymous User]

I would go to the top litigation boutique. I went that route for my 1L summer and I felt that the signaling effect of having that top firm on my resume snowballed into a lot of great offers for 2L. I am sure I would’ve done well for 2L summer interviews anyway, but I felt like it only helped that more conventional big law firms wanted to lure me away from the uber prestigious firm. In addition, it seems like you’d be able to go to the less selective firm for 2L summer, so you may not be losing much by going to the prestigious boutique for 1L summer. The reverse may not be as true and you may always wonder what the prestigious boutique route would’ve been like. (You will probably realize it’s not as alluring as TLS people make it sound, which is a plus in its own right.) Plus, if you hate the very selective boutique, you can marshal that experience when explaining to the other firm why you think it’s a better fit for you when you are interviewing for a 2L slot.

Seconded

[woopig2017]

I would not trust that the below market firm is actually as WL balance as it appears.

This is the best advice (other than the poster who discusses getting a guaranteed offer). While interviewing for my first summer, I was told by several lower V100 firms that they don't match the BL scale for upper years, but they make up for that by having much more reasonable hours expectations. I know folks who were suckered in by that and they work just as much as everyone else in BL.

If I were you, I'd take the position that is more intense. Much easier to move down the chain than back up it. If you really end up hating that firm, it's only a few weeks of commitment.