NY Transactional - Sidley v Cleary Forum

[Anonymous User]

Interested in doing corporate work but no specific interest. I really liked the people I talked to at Sidley during the interview, but words on the street seem to suggest that Cleary is a better firm for corporate work, at least in NY?

[Res Ipsa Loquitter]

Historically Cleary was a much more prestigious firm in NYC. Today they are peer firms in NYC (unless you are a TLS poster who repeatedly types the phrase “white shoe”), so if you liked Sidley better it wouldn’t be any impediment to your career to go there.

[CLS2023A]

Idk how Sidley does it, but Cleary has a corporate pool for the first year so you can try out different practice groups before picking a group at the end of your first year. I really appreciate that flexibility.

[Anonymous User]

Interested in doing corporate work but no specific interest. I really the people I talked to at Sidley during the interview, but words on the street seem to suggest that Cleary is a better firm for corporate work, at least in NY?

If both NY, it's Cleary >> Sidley.

[existentialcrisis]

Historically Cleary was a much more prestigious firm in NYC. Today they are peer firms in NYC (unless you are a TLS poster who repeatedly types the phrase “white shoe”), so if you liked Sidley better it wouldn’t be any impediment to your career to go there.

There is some truth to this but I think it’s easily Cleary.

They’re still clearly better at most of the main corporate practice areas.

[Wubbles]

I would go with Cleary purely to avoid the possibility of getting staffed onto securitizations at Sidley

[Anonymous User]

My understanding is that Sidley NY has been hemorrhaging associates recently, particularly in their capital markets practice. I was honestly shocked at the number of associates that lateraled to my firm within a short period of time and in that same time frame the full deal team across from me had left the firm. After asking one of the laterals for the reason, there wasn’t a clear indication as to why people were jumping ship but they confirmed a lot of associates had left.

[Res Ipsa Loquitter]

Historically Cleary was a much more prestigious firm in NYC. Today they are peer firms in NYC (unless you are a TLS poster who repeatedly types the phrase “white shoe”), so if you liked Sidley better it wouldn’t be any impediment to your career to go there.

There is some truth to this but I think it’s easily Cleary.

They’re still clearly better at most of the main corporate practice areas.

Right, I think Cleary still is the stronger firm in NYC. Although I don’t think taking Sidley would be crazy, whereas in the past it would have been

[Anonymous User]

Historically Cleary was a much more prestigious firm in NYC. Today they are peer firms in NYC (unless you are a TLS poster who repeatedly types the phrase “white shoe”), so if you liked Sidley better it wouldn’t be any impediment to your career to go there.

There is some truth to this but I think it’s easily Cleary.

They’re still clearly better at most of the main corporate practice areas.

Right, I think Cleary still is the stronger firm in NYC. Although I don’t think taking Sidley would be crazy, whereas in the past it would have been

Sidley band 2 highly regarded corporate vs Cleary band 3 the elite. In the grand v100 scheme of things, they might be "peers," but Cleary's corporate is still stronger than Sidley. People often confuse Sidley NY with Sidley Chi's powerhouse.

[Res Ipsa Loquitter]

Historically Cleary was a much more prestigious firm in NYC. Today they are peer firms in NYC (unless you are a TLS poster who repeatedly types the phrase “white shoe”), so if you liked Sidley better it wouldn’t be any impediment to your career to go there.

There is some truth to this but I think it’s easily Cleary.

They’re still clearly better at most of the main corporate practice areas.

Right, I think Cleary still is the stronger firm in NYC. Although I don’t think taking Sidley would be crazy, whereas in the past it would have been

Sidley band 2 highly regarded corporate vs Cleary band 3 the elite. In the grand v100 scheme of things, they might be "peers," but Cleary's corporate is still stronger than Sidley. People often confuse Sidley NY with Sidley Chi's powerhouse.

Yea I don’t read Chambers so not sure what that means. I’m basing my views on my experience as an associate. Just don’t see Cleary on many deals anymore.