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I'm primarily interested in litigation and would love to do soft IP work. I really enjoyed my callbacks at both firms and everybody I met was great. S&C's location is better (Century City), but it's a huge plus for me that Quinn allows permanent work from anywhere. And it seems like Quinn is just more of an LA firm — I know that S&C's national reputation is great but it seems like Quinn is a much stronger brand locally. And I think it would suck to be in a tiny office of 30 people at S&C if I didn't get along with the culture, whereas Quinn is significantly larger.


I've heard so many horror stories about Quinn's culture, long hours, and about how it's a toxic work environment, but I don't know if those referred more to the NY office. And I also feel like that might apply more generally to biglaw, especially to top firms like S&C. A tough job seems more manageable when I can work from wherever I want and wear shorts anytime I do need to go into the office.


I'm definitely leaning towards Quinn right now, but would love to hear anyone's thoughts. I also plan to go through OCI but would probably only accept callbacks from Gibson and Wilson Sonsini at this point (already rejected post-CB from Latham). I don't know yet how an offer from one of those firms would or should affect my decision.

Quinn is probably the better choice here. The horror stories apply across the firm as far as I know, but my understanding is that those horror stories are the same at S&C CC.

My partner works with Quinn SF and it's been a more chill experience than expected. I agree that Quinn is much more of a LA soft IP powerhouse than S&C and I think if you like the people you've met then you're likely to enjoy working there. Not sure if they still have these relationships, but I know one of their prior partners at the LA office worked with the Oscars doing their IP protection which I think is pretty cool.

If you want to do litigation not sure why you would even consider WSGR.

OP here: I’m interested in IP lit and not that many firms at my school’s OCI offer that. Wilson Sonsini let me bid only on lit.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 26, 2022 6:04 pm

Quinn is probably the better choice here. The horror stories apply across the firm as far as I know, but my understanding is that those horror stories are the same at S&C CC.

The horror stories are absolutely not the same at S&C, Quinn might allow you to wear jeans but few if any firms would work you harder and burn you out faster, accept at your own risk. Definitely better for IP but idk if the tradeoffs are worth it

1styearlateral wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 26, 2022 10:58 pm

If you want to do litigation not sure why you would even consider WSGR.

Current WSGR associate (in corporate) so anon on purpose, but WSGR's LA office has been hiring a lot of lit partners/associates in the last year or so, many from really elite practices such as Quinn etc. The LA office is pretty different than the Bay and significantly more lit heavy (particularly IP), so I don't think OP would have anything to lose by at least interviewing/getting a feel, especially if they have WLB concerns with QE and S&C.

S&C is a small satellite office in LA. Quinn is based in LA. Not sure why this is even a discussion.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 27, 2022 10:22 am

S&C is a small satellite office in LA. Quinn is based in LA. Not sure why this is even a discussion.

OP: Mostly due to lifestyle concerns around Quinn. I just want to know if it’s really that bad, or if the issues are generic to biglaw.

I worked at Quinn a few years ago and didn't really see it being worse than other law firms my friends were at. It tends not to be a place where you can bill really low and hang around (some of my friends in corporate at other law firms during slow times had this experience), but if you're strategic and try to just get staffed on stuff you want to be staffed on, IMO, it isn't so bad. The LA folks I met seemed pretty cool, but obviously I didn't meet all of them.

I'd ask the guy in this thread who talks about horror stories to give specifics and explain his basis of knowledge for them.

At any law firm (IMO) if you aren't gunning to become a partner, you should try to find the good partners to work with, identify and avoid the bad ones, and try to keep things reasonable and sustainable for yourself as long as you can. At least for me, I was able to do that at Quinn for a few years.