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Any thoughts or insight about Sheppard Mullin? Can't find any more recent threads, but strongly considering them. Interested in any information!

A perfectly fine mid-tier firm for T14 students.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 18, 2022 7:46 pm

A perfectly fine mid-tier firm for T14 students.

Midtier? Sheppard is scraping the bottom of the barrel. Maybe even worse than Shearman.

Solid firm. Good financials, decent culture (to the extent you can generalize), and quite a few big name clients. Strongest offices are in LA, but has strong groups elsewhere.

Happy to answer any specific questions you may have.

It's a great firm. I worked there for a couple of years as a paralegal before law school.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 19, 2022 1:35 am

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 18, 2022 7:46 pm

A perfectly fine mid-tier firm for T14 students.

Midtier? Sheppard is scraping the bottom of the barrel. Maybe even worse than Shearman.

Lol your mind is warped

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 19, 2022 2:27 am

It's a great firm. I worked there for a couple of years as a paralegal before law school.

Lol as if a paralegal could speak to the firm...

Recently did a transaction opposite them. Good lawyers, though they didn't have an army of associates so the production speed was on the slower side. FWIW, my firm (V20) tried to poach their senior associate with a generous signing bonus, and that person politely declined.

I think it's going to be fewer hours, a little more reasonable time expectations, but a little less prestigious work and exit options.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 19, 2022 7:03 am

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 19, 2022 2:27 am

It's a great firm. I worked there for a couple of years as a paralegal before law school.

Lol as if a paralegal could speak to the firm...

Of course I can? I spent two years in one of their largest offices before matriculating to HYS. What a strange response.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 19, 2022 7:03 am

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 19, 2022 2:27 am

It's a great firm. I worked there for a couple of years as a paralegal before law school.

Lol as if a paralegal could speak to the firm...

Spoken like someone who has never been a biglaw para. I was a biglaw para at a v5 firm before lawschool and have subsequently worked for a v20 and v100 firm and I’ll tell you, you can definitely get a good bit of insight into firm culture working as professional staff.

For what it’s worth, I’ve worked with Shepard and they seem like a pleasant group of people.

Good firm in CA and decent experience opposite them on deals but not sure about the level of opportunity you would consistently get there. Don't they also decline to promote you if you don't make hours? Remember reading that at some point but might have been idle talk on the grapevine other folks can confirm.

Really solid firm. Great culture, good people, and good work. California-based but really good, reputable Chicago and NY offices. Market comp/bonuses. For some reason they poach a ton of winston people

Worked across from an L&E lawyer named Richard Simmons (lol) who sits in the LA Office a couple years ago. Genuinely one of the most unpleasant and comically awful human beings I've met, both as a lawyer and otherwise. Have had generally (but not memorably) unpleasant experiences with lawyers in other practice groups who sit in other California Offices. Would avoid, if given the choice.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 23, 2022 11:48 am

Worked across from an L&E lawyer named Richard Simmons (lol) who sits in the LA Office a couple years ago. Genuinely one of the most unpleasant and comically awful human beings I've met, both as a lawyer and otherwise. Have had generally (but not memorably) unpleasant experiences with lawyers in other practice groups who sit in other California Offices. Would avoid, if given the choice.

this is silly. sheppard l&e assoc here. simmons is a typical biglaw dinosaur but the rest of the team is great. if anything, sheppard is a culture firm where the people are laid back and chill.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 24, 2022 10:24 am

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 23, 2022 11:48 am

Worked across from an L&E lawyer named Richard Simmons (lol) who sits in the LA Office a couple years ago. Genuinely one of the most unpleasant and comically awful human beings I've met, both as a lawyer and otherwise. Have had generally (but not memorably) unpleasant experiences with lawyers in other practice groups who sit in other California Offices. Would avoid, if given the choice.

this is silly. sheppard l&e assoc here. simmons is a typical biglaw dinosaur but the rest of the team is great. if anything, sheppard is a culture firm where the people are laid back and chill.

Quoted OP. Glad for your sake that Simmons is the exception, rather than the rule for your group. (I never suggested he wasn't exceptional, lol.) I stand by what I said, all the same, and I know that other attorneys involved in the matter where all of us crossed paths felt the same way. Given that experience with Simmons and prior, more run-of-the-mill unpleasant experiences with lawyers (mostly, but not exclusively litigators) from the San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego offices, I'm comfortable sharing my negative impression of Sheppard Mullin as a datapoint in response to OP's inquiry.