DC Lit Boutiques Forum

[Anonymous User]

My clerkship will be ending soon and I am interested in returning to private practice as a trial lawyer in DC. I would be okay with plaintiff's side work. Eventually, I would like to be an AUSA or go to Main Justice. I would not like to take too steep a cut from biglaw market pay. Could folks help me make a list of firms that fit the bill? I'd take thoughts on those firms too.

So far, I have Zuckerman Spaeder, MoloLamken, Wilkinson Stekloff, Massey & Gail, and Cohen Milstein. I worked for a different firm before clerking, so Williams & Connolly is out. I doubt I have the credentials for MTO or Kellogg (I don't want this to turn into a "chance me" thread, please).

[Anonymous User]

My clerkship will be ending soon and I am interested in returning to private practice as a trial lawyer in DC. I would be okay with plaintiff's side work. Eventually, I would like to be an AUSA or go to Main Justice. I would not like to take too steep a cut from biglaw market pay. Could folks help me make a list of firms that fit the bill? I'd take thoughts on those firms too.

So far, I have Zuckerman Spaeder, MoloLamken, Wilkinson Stekloff, Massey & Gail, and Cohen Milstein. I worked for a different firm before clerking, so Williams & Connolly is out. I doubt I have the credentials for MTO or Kellogg (I don't want this to turn into a "chance me" thread, please).

That looks like a good list to me. I wouldn't count yourself out from W&C, since they routinely take post-clerkship hires who worked at other firms in their gap year(s) before clerking. They also have great placement at USAOs/Main Justice, but anecdotally, there's not a lot of institutional support at the firm to help you make the jump.

I would be a little hesitant to work at Wilkinson Stekloff right now, since they've had some signficant senior partner turnover in the last few years and I think the general sense is that people might want to wait a year or two to see if the firm is actually stable. They (and Beth Wilkinson) have great reputations in the market as trial lawyers, although it seems that they primarily work on large mass tort cases, which may not be your cup of tea if you want to do criminal law.

[Anonymous User]

Kaplan Hecker? Also there ae biglaw firms that are effectively boutiques in DC (Jenner, Kramer Levin fka Robbins Russell come to mind)

[Anonymous User]

If you're okay with plaintiff-side, it's worth applying to Keller Postman too (no criminal work, but that's going to be true by definition at plaintiff-side law firms).

[Anonymous User]

My clerkship will be ending soon and I am interested in returning to private practice as a trial lawyer in DC. I would be okay with plaintiff's side work. Eventually, I would like to be an AUSA or go to Main Justice. I would not like to take too steep a cut from biglaw market pay. Could folks help me make a list of firms that fit the bill? I'd take thoughts on those firms too.

So far, I have Zuckerman Spaeder, MoloLamken, Wilkinson Stekloff, Massey & Gail, and Cohen Milstein. I worked for a different firm before clerking, so Williams & Connolly is out. I doubt I have the credentials for MTO or Kellogg (I don't want this to turn into a "chance me" thread, please).

Kellogg seems to have stepped back on the credential sensitivity fwiw. I know of at least 4 people who are around median and got offers at my school. None of them have COA clerkships lined up or are on main journal. 2 of them aren't clerking at all.

Might be worth throwing an app that way just in case its indicative of a greater trend.

[2013]

My clerkship will be ending soon and I am interested in returning to private practice as a trial lawyer in DC. I would be okay with plaintiff's side work. Eventually, I would like to be an AUSA or go to Main Justice. I would not like to take too steep a cut from biglaw market pay. Could folks help me make a list of firms that fit the bill? I'd take thoughts on those firms too.

So far, I have Zuckerman Spaeder, MoloLamken, Wilkinson Stekloff, Massey & Gail, and Cohen Milstein. I worked for a different firm before clerking, so Williams & Connolly is out. I doubt I have the credentials for MTO or Kellogg (I don't want this to turn into a "chance me" thread, please).

Kellogg seems to have stepped back on the credential sensitivity fwiw. I know of at least 4 people who are around median and got offers at my school. None of them have COA clerkships lined up or are on main journal. 2 of them aren't clerking at all.

Might be worth throwing an app that way just in case its indicative of a greater trend.

I didn’t think Kellogg hired its summers as full-time.

[Anonymous User]

My clerkship will be ending soon and I am interested in returning to private practice as a trial lawyer in DC. I would be okay with plaintiff's side work. Eventually, I would like to be an AUSA or go to Main Justice. I would not like to take too steep a cut from biglaw market pay. Could folks help me make a list of firms that fit the bill? I'd take thoughts on those firms too.

So far, I have Zuckerman Spaeder, MoloLamken, Wilkinson Stekloff, Massey & Gail, and Cohen Milstein. I worked for a different firm before clerking, so Williams & Connolly is out. I doubt I have the credentials for MTO or Kellogg (I don't want this to turn into a "chance me" thread, please).

Kellogg seems to have stepped back on the credential sensitivity fwiw. I know of at least 4 people who are around median and got offers at my school. None of them have COA clerkships lined up or are on main journal. 2 of them aren't clerking at all.

Might be worth throwing an app that way just in case its indicative of a greater trend.

I didn’t think Kellogg hired its summers as full-time.

Yeah, it's also been my impression that getting a Kellogg Hansen summer spot isn't that tough since they don't give return offers. Many of their summers either split with another firm or have clerkships lined up.

[Anonymous User]

Not a lit boutique, but Miller & Chevalier has a well respected litigation practice and has had people become AUSAs and go into DOJ.

[Anonymous User]

I didn’t think Kellogg hired its summers as full-time.

Kellogg does offer some of its summers, but I don't think its an auto-offer or that they offer all of them. Also Kellogg has apparently been on a hiring spree, they look like they've hired close to 20 more associates than usual.

[Anonymous User]

My clerkship will be ending soon and I am interested in returning to private practice as a trial lawyer in DC. I would be okay with plaintiff's side work. Eventually, I would like to be an AUSA or go to Main Justice. I would not like to take too steep a cut from biglaw market pay. Could folks help me make a list of firms that fit the bill? I'd take thoughts on those firms too.

So far, I have Zuckerman Spaeder, MoloLamken, Wilkinson Stekloff, Massey & Gail, and Cohen Milstein. I worked for a different firm before clerking, so Williams & Connolly is out. I doubt I have the credentials for MTO or Kellogg (I don't want this to turn into a "chance me" thread, please).

Kellogg seems to have stepped back on the credential sensitivity fwiw. I know of at least 4 people who are around median and got offers at my school. None of them have COA clerkships lined up or are on main journal. 2 of them aren't clerking at all.

Might be worth throwing an app that way just in case its indicative of a greater trend.

I didn’t think Kellogg hired its summers as full-time.

this wasn't summer - this was 3L recruiting. They received full offers without having previously done a summer there

[Anonymous User]

Kellogg has definitely increased its hiring recently, but I don't buy this whole narrative that its standards have dropped through the floor. I took a quick pass through the bios of the newest associates, and the most recent batch has two SCOTUS clerks, a bunch of feeder clerks (Wilkinson, Kethledge, Livingston, Bibas), and the rest Court of Appeals/District Court clerks (usually both). I only saw one associate who hadn't clerked, and she came in from a bankruptcy practice. No idea what her story is.

[Anonymous User]

Kellogg has definitely increased its hiring recently, but I don't buy this whole narrative that its standards have dropped through the floor. I took a quick pass through the bios of the newest associates, and the most recent batch has two SCOTUS clerks, a bunch of feeder clerks (Wilkinson, Kethledge, Livingston, Bibas), and the rest Court of Appeals/District Court clerks (usually both). I only saw one associate who hadn't clerked, and she came in from a bankruptcy practice. No idea what her story is.

If they increased hiring for this year class, wouldn't those people not be represented on website until after they graduate?

[Anonymous User]

Kellogg has definitely increased its hiring recently, but I don't buy this whole narrative that its standards have dropped through the floor. I took a quick pass through the bios of the newest associates, and the most recent batch has two SCOTUS clerks, a bunch of feeder clerks (Wilkinson, Kethledge, Livingston, Bibas), and the rest Court of Appeals/District Court clerks (usually both). I only saw one associate who hadn't clerked, and she came in from a bankruptcy practice. No idea what her story is.

If they increased hiring for this year class, wouldn't those people not be represented on website until after they graduate?

I meant last year's post-clerkship hires (i.e. the ones who started this fall)

[Anonymous User]

Kellogg has definitely increased its hiring recently, but I don't buy this whole narrative that its standards have dropped through the floor. I took a quick pass through the bios of the newest associates, and the most recent batch has two SCOTUS clerks, a bunch of feeder clerks (Wilkinson, Kethledge, Livingston, Bibas), and the rest Court of Appeals/District Court clerks (usually both). I only saw one associate who hadn't clerked, and she came in from a bankruptcy practice. No idea what her story is.

I know a little about that situation and I think it's special circumstances rather than a general policy change. But as you note they are a big outlier, it's a bit weird.