Wachtell post-clerk/lateral Forum

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone have any sense for how Wachtell assesses post-law school hiring?

They seem to value Chancery, SDNY, and CA2 clerkships quite a bit. It seems like they do take laterals but any insight into whether they are still pretty selective in terms of law school, grades, or the firm someone was previously at? Or are they looking more at whether someone has substantial experience?

Struggled hard with the substantive questions about sec reg/chancery court precedent in my OCI interview (hadn't taken sec reg/corps/m&a yet) but feel much more confident around these topics now and wondering if that door is forever closed.

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone have any sense for how Wachtell assesses post-law school hiring?

They seem to value Chancery, SDNY, and CA2 clerkships quite a bit. It seems like they do take laterals but any insight into whether they are still pretty selective in terms of law school, grades, or the firm someone was previously at? Or are they looking more at whether someone has substantial experience?

Struggled hard with the substantive questions about sec reg/chancery court precedent in my OCI interview (hadn't taken sec reg/corps/m&a yet) but feel much more confident around these topics now and wondering if that door is forever closed.

If you have to ask this question here, you aren't probably suited for Wachtell.

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone have any sense for how Wachtell assesses post-law school hiring?

They seem to value Chancery, SDNY, and CA2 clerkships quite a bit. It seems like they do take laterals but any insight into whether they are still pretty selective in terms of law school, grades, or the firm someone was previously at? Or are they looking more at whether someone has substantial experience?

Struggled hard with the substantive questions about sec reg/chancery court precedent in my OCI interview (hadn't taken sec reg/corps/m&a yet) but feel much more confident around these topics now and wondering if that door is forever closed.

If you have to ask this question here, you aren't probably suited for Wachtell.

This is such a weird, annoying gate-keepery mentality

What current law student has any perspective into any firm's lateral hiring preferences beyond what is publicly available via firm website, linkedin, or firm prospects. Sheesh

[Anonymous User]

They are still quite selective. I turned down an offer from them for 2L SA, and while it may have been light recruiting spin, several (lit) partners I spoke with mentioned that it would generally be much harder to re-recruit post-clerkship, as there are just fewer spots available. Litigation is a small practice group (<100 lawyers), so it makes some intuitive sense.

I'm speculating now, but I would assume you would need to be similar on paper to someone they would hire for the summer program, plus relevant interests/work experience/etc. I have no idea if they would flex on school or how your prior firm would factor into the decision. But you'd be competing against CA2/SDNY clerks, as you mention, who likely have solid grades and (importantly) have demonstrated they can work very hard.

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone have any sense for how Wachtell assesses post-law school hiring?

They seem to value Chancery, SDNY, and CA2 clerkships quite a bit. It seems like they do take laterals but any insight into whether they are still pretty selective in terms of law school, grades, or the firm someone was previously at? Or are they looking more at whether someone has substantial experience?

Struggled hard with the substantive questions about sec reg/chancery court precedent in my OCI interview (hadn't taken sec reg/corps/m&a yet) but feel much more confident around these topics now and wondering if that door is forever closed.

If you have to ask this question here, you aren't probably suited for Wachtell.

This is such a weird, annoying gate-keepery mentality

What current law student has any perspective into any firm's lateral hiring preferences beyond what is publicly available via firm website, linkedin, or firm prospects. Sheesh

Sorry but Wachtell only has 260+ attorneys and it doesn't take a whole lot to look through their profiles (their website or LinkedIn) to see their credentials and figure out what they have in common. If you have those credentials and want to ask how they interview, that's a different question.

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone have any sense for how Wachtell assesses post-law school hiring?

They seem to value Chancery, SDNY, and CA2 clerkships quite a bit. It seems like they do take laterals but any insight into whether they are still pretty selective in terms of law school, grades, or the firm someone was previously at? Or are they looking more at whether someone has substantial experience?

Struggled hard with the substantive questions about sec reg/chancery court precedent in my OCI interview (hadn't taken sec reg/corps/m&a yet) but feel much more confident around these topics now and wondering if that door is forever closed.

If you have to ask this question here, you aren't probably suited for Wachtell.

This is such a weird, annoying gate-keepery mentality

What current law student has any perspective into any firm's lateral hiring preferences beyond what is publicly available via firm website, linkedin, or firm prospects. Sheesh

Sorry but Wachtell only has 260+ attorneys and it doesn't take a whole lot to look through their profiles (their website or LinkedIn) to see their credentials and figure out what they have in common. If you have those credentials and want to ask how they interview, that's a different question.

Which I've done! That's where the takeaway of their interest in hiring from Chancery came from. While I was doing this, I also noticed there was a decent spread in public-facing credentials across associates that didn't seem easily explainable.

My question was more geared towards figuring out what non-credential factors are prioritized since it clearly exceeds paper credentials, and how that factors into the lateral process, when applicants actually have experience.

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone have any sense for how Wachtell assesses post-law school hiring?

They seem to value Chancery, SDNY, and CA2 clerkships quite a bit. It seems like they do take laterals but any insight into whether they are still pretty selective in terms of law school, grades, or the firm someone was previously at? Or are they looking more at whether someone has substantial experience?

Struggled hard with the substantive questions about sec reg/chancery court precedent in my OCI interview (hadn't taken sec reg/corps/m&a yet) but feel much more confident around these topics now and wondering if that door is forever closed.

If you have to ask this question here, you aren't probably suited for Wachtell.

This is such a weird, annoying gate-keepery mentality

What current law student has any perspective into any firm's lateral hiring preferences beyond what is publicly available via firm website, linkedin, or firm prospects. Sheesh

Sorry but Wachtell only has 260+ attorneys and it doesn't take a whole lot to look through their profiles (their website or LinkedIn) to see their credentials and figure out what they have in common. If you have those credentials and want to ask how they interview, that's a different question.

Which I've done! That's where the takeaway of their interest in hiring from Chancery came from. While I was doing this, I also noticed there was a decent spread in public-facing credentials across associates that didn't seem easily explainable.

My question was more geared towards figuring out what non-credential factors are prioritized since it clearly exceeds paper credentials, and how that factors into the lateral process, when applicants actually have experience.

I honestly think you might as well apply and see what happens. If they reject you, no loss. Worrying about what they may or may not care about isn't particularly productive.

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone have any sense for how Wachtell assesses post-law school hiring?

They seem to value Chancery, SDNY, and CA2 clerkships quite a bit. It seems like they do take laterals but any insight into whether they are still pretty selective in terms of law school, grades, or the firm someone was previously at? Or are they looking more at whether someone has substantial experience?

Struggled hard with the substantive questions about sec reg/chancery court precedent in my OCI interview (hadn't taken sec reg/corps/m&a yet) but feel much more confident around these topics now and wondering if that door is forever closed.

If you have to ask this question here, you aren't probably suited for Wachtell.

This is such a weird, annoying gate-keepery mentality

What current law student has any perspective into any firm's lateral hiring preferences beyond what is publicly available via firm website, linkedin, or firm prospects. Sheesh

Sorry but Wachtell only has 260+ attorneys and it doesn't take a whole lot to look through their profiles (their website or LinkedIn) to see their credentials and figure out what they have in common. If you have those credentials and want to ask how they interview, that's a different question.

Which I've done! That's where the takeaway of their interest in hiring from Chancery came from. While I was doing this, I also noticed there was a decent spread in public-facing credentials across associates that didn't seem easily explainable.

My question was more geared towards figuring out what non-credential factors are prioritized since it clearly exceeds paper credentials, and how that factors into the lateral process, when applicants actually have experience.

I honestly think you might as well apply and see what happens. If they reject you, no loss. Worrying about what they may or may not care about isn't particularly productive.

That's honestly fair! This is definitely tempered by my OCI experience, where it seemed like I had the paper credentials but got bodied by the substantive questions due to lack of relevant knowledge, and I wanted to minimize the risk of that happening in the lateral context