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In the flood of "help me choose" questions, I have kind of a different one. I am interested in lit and picking between one of DPW/Deb/S&C/Weil, and a midsize firm which is one of Vault's top 5 in "best midsize firms by region" for NYC. I don't want to say which one due to the smaller size and to avoid outing myself. I like everyone I've met at both.

My salary would be higher in biglaw (though right now I am having trouble determining by how much -- estimate $40k). I am possibly interested in clerking, but I don't care about government exits like AUSA, DOJ, etc. (Exit options would be basically going solo or leaving law entirely, but I am hoping to stay at firms for the long haul.) The midsize firm is strong in areas that I am interested in, the biglaw firm is not. I should graduate with around $120,000 in debt.

Can people point me towards some relevant factors that would help me make the call? What should I consider in making this decision? If I choose the midsize one and decide someday I want to do NYC biglaw commercial lit, or pursue federal clerkships, have I hamstrung myself in those options? Please be quick as time is of the essence.

Go to the biglaw firm first, make more money, get the fancy, nationally known firm on your resume, preserve your clerking potential, and then down the road move to the mid-size firm as a mid-level. In general, biglaw to midlaw is quite feasible and done all the time, whereas the reverse is less so.

I assume the midsize isn’t one of the three lit boutiques in the top five on that list, as they all pay very well afaik, but all of those are at least (really more) as prestigious and selective as biglaw.