WWYD? SullCrom NY vs. Sidley DC vs. A&P DC Forum

[cornmuffin12345]

I am generally interested in litigation, white collar, antitrust, investigations, maybe some kind of regulatory work, etc. I could see myself working in government eventually, or staying at a firm for a while. Given my indecisiveness, what firm should I choose?

[Anonymous User]

Preferred location carries so, so much weigh in this decision

[Wild Card]

All my family and friends are in NY, and SullCrom NY is fancier than the others, so that one.

IDK what's good about Sidley DC besides appellate lit, which you can't do anyway unless you COA clerked.

And APKS has fallen from grace compared to Cov and WilmerHale and even Kirkland, or w/e.

This is like choosing between Columbia and UVA/GULC.

[Anonymous User]

All my family and friends are in NY, and SullCrom NY is fancier than the others, so that one.

IDK what's good about Sidley DC besides appellate lit, which you can't do anyway unless you COA clerked.

And APKS has fallen from grace compared to Cov and WilmerHale and even Kirkland, or w/e.

This is like choosing between Columbia and UVA/GULC.

[Anonymous User]

All my family and friends are in NY, and SullCrom NY is fancier than the others, so that one.

IDK what's good about Sidley DC besides appellate lit, which you can't do anyway unless you COA clerked.

And APKS has fallen from grace compared to Cov and WilmerHale and even Kirkland, or w/e.

This is like choosing between Columbia and UVA/GULC.

Soooo you choose the one that gave you the one outta UVA/Columbia that gave you the most scholarship money. AKA the one in DC where the COL is way lower

[Anonymous User]

S&C NY is probably the strongest of the firms when compared to other firms in the market.

But I would never live in NYC if I had any other remotely comparable option, so it would be Sidley or A&P. I would pick one based on practice group/vibe at that point. Check Chambers.

[Anonymous User]

Not sure if this matters, but culturally wise as in politics isn't Sidley DC fairly conservative and A&P fairly liberal? Maybe that matters to OP.

[Anonymous User]

All my family and friends are in NY, and SullCrom NY is fancier than the others, so that one.

IDK what's good about Sidley DC besides appellate lit, which you can't do anyway unless you COA clerked.

And APKS has fallen from grace compared to Cov and WilmerHale and even Kirkland, or w/e.

This is like choosing between Columbia and UVA/GULC.

How has AP fallen from grace?

[Anonymous User]

Not sure if this matters, but culturally wise as in politics isn't Sidley DC fairly conservative and A&P fairly liberal? Maybe that matters to OP.

This would be a big factor in my decision. I’d go either over S&C. I don’t think S&C is more prestigious than the other two options—it’s way easier to get a job in New York than in DC.

[Anonymous User]

Not sure if this matters, but culturally wise as in politics isn't Sidley DC fairly conservative and A&P fairly liberal? Maybe that matters to OP.

This would be a big factor in my decision. I’d go either over S&C. I don’t think S&C is more prestigious than the other two options—it’s way easier to get a job in New York than in DC.

I think the ~preftige~ or grade sensitivity here is a total wash. Maybe even S&C ahead, just based on the credentials of people going to these firms from my school

But I also think the "DC is more competitive" sentiment is not totally accurate for big law. Applicable for DC appellate groups and the lit boutiques, but the people doing generic regulatory or corporate work at Cov DC or Latham DC have the same credentials as the people going to Cravath, Davis Polk, or SullCrom

[The Lsat Airbender]

But I also think the "DC is more competitive" sentiment is not totally accurate for big law. Applicable for DC appellate groups and the lit boutiques, but the people doing generic regulatory or corporate work at Cov DC or Latham DC have the same credentials as the people going to Cravath, Davis Polk, or SullCrom

People really like the inferential chain of "competitiveness" > desirability > quality, even when the competitiveness gap is actually due to some other factor orthogonal to quality.

[Anonymous User]

But I also think the "DC is more competitive" sentiment is not totally accurate for big law. Applicable for DC appellate groups and the lit boutiques, but the people doing generic regulatory or corporate work at Cov DC or Latham DC have the same credentials as the people going to Cravath, Davis Polk, or SullCrom

People really like the inferential chain of "competitiveness" > desirability > quality, even when the competitiveness gap is actually due to some other factor orthogonal to quality.

Previous poster here. It’s weird to be comparing these options and not mention any location preference and IME rising 2Ls are overly concerned with Vault rank, hence why I mentioned that S&C is not more “prestigious.” Maybe that’s true about corporate work in DC, since there’s not a ton of people doing corporate work in general, but at my school doing regulatory work at Covington DC was way more competitive than snagging Cravath, Davis Polk, or SullCrom

[The Lsat Airbender]

Previous poster here. It’s weird to be comparing these options and not mention any location preference and IME rising 2Ls are overly concerned with Vault rank, hence why I mentioned that S&C is not more “prestigious.”

totally agree

[Anonymous User]

lMaybe that’s true about corporate work in DC, since there’s not a ton of people doing corporate work in general, but at my school doing regulatory work at Covington DC was way more competitive than snagging Cravath, Davis Polk, or SullCrom

Seconded. Both lit and reg in DC were substantially more competitive than either of those or corporate in NY. And the reg people often had prior related experience. Obviously this excludes boutiques both in NY and DC that have more idiosyncratic staffing needs.