(Tax) S&C v. Skadden v. PW v. STB v. Latham Forum

[Anonymous User]

I am sitting on offers from the above firms and I need to reject 2 of them within 2 biz days (school allows max 3 open offers from the same market). Pretty set on doing corporate tax. Skadden has the "best" tax practice according to Firsthand and S&C has the "worst" but how accurate are those lists really? Is there any meaningful difference that is reflected in the rankings? Should I just go with fit? Appreciate any advice.

[Anonymous User]

I am sitting on offers from the above firms and I need to reject 2 of them within 2 biz days (school allows max 3 open offers from the same market). Pretty set on doing corporate tax. Skadden has the "best" tax practice according to Firsthand and S&C has the "worst" but how accurate are those lists really? Is there any meaningful difference that is reflected in the rankings? Should I just go with fit? Appreciate any advice.

Per Chambers (which is substantially better than Firsthand), Skadden, S&C, and STB have Band 1 practices while PW and Latham have Band 2. Unless you have a compelling reason to pick PW/LW, pick whichever of the three Ss suits you best.

[nealric]

I am sitting on offers from the above firms and I need to reject 2 of them within 2 biz days (school allows max 3 open offers from the same market). Pretty set on doing corporate tax. Skadden has the "best" tax practice according to Firsthand and S&C has the "worst" but how accurate are those lists really? Is there any meaningful difference that is reflected in the rankings? Should I just go with fit? Appreciate any advice.

I would choose based on fit. Your absolute #1 goal as a new attorney (tax or otherwise) is to find good training and development. You won't get that if you don't click with the personalities involved.

I don't think there is a meaningful difference in quality between the tax practices at those firms. They are all going to be very M&A support focused practices, and all of the firms named do large complex deals that will give you good training fact patterns.

Skadden does have a tax good practice, but it is absolutely a sweatshop (based on talking to former Skadden NYC tax folks). That's not to say the other firms won't have any sweat shop aspects.

[Anonymous User]

You should consider how likely you are to actually get tax. Not everyone who wants it actually gets it.

[Anonymous User]

Latham has an unassigned rotation program, which could result in you doing non-tax work early on unless you seriously communicate your desire to only do tax work. Something to consider.

[Anonymous User]

I am sitting on offers from the above firms and I need to reject 2 of them within 2 biz days (school allows max 3 open offers from the same market). Pretty set on doing corporate tax. Skadden has the "best" tax practice according to Firsthand and S&C has the "worst" but how accurate are those lists really? Is there any meaningful difference that is reflected in the rankings? Should I just go with fit? Appreciate any advice.

I would choose based on fit. Your absolute #1 goal as a new attorney (tax or otherwise) is to find good training and development. You won't get that if you don't click with the personalities involved.

I don't think there is a meaningful difference in quality between the tax practices at those firms. They are all going to be very M&A support focused practices, and all of the firms named do large complex deals that will give you good training fact patterns.

I second the bolded above. These firms are all in an elite-tier doing cutting edge, mostly deal-oriented tax work. Tax also has a steep and long learning curve.

So, I would go where you think you’ll get the training that suits your learning style the best.

I think that will at least partly be a function of the culture/personalities you click with the best. All great choices— congrats!

[Anonymous User]

Do you enjoy working with crippling hangovers after going out with your boss (partner) --> Skadden
Otherwise, pick whatever u want