CSM, PW, Quinn, WilmerHale for NY Litigation Forum

[Anonymous User]

All NYC offers for litigation. Long-term goals are possibly to exit to a USAO, but not 100% set - would like to see what sort of work I enjoy over the summer.

[Anonymous User]

If AUSA is your goal, I’d go with Paul, Weiss. They have been a reliable feeder to both Eastern and Southern in recent years. Cravath and Wilmer come in second - they have both placed AUSAs but not nearly as much as the heavy hitters like Debevoise, DPW (which also has a DA externship program) and PW. IIRC, Quinn has sent maybe one AUSA ever to a NYC USAO so I would stay away - they don’t have the best reputation among litigators and have much weaker exit options than the rest.

[Anonymous User]

All NYC offers for litigation. Long-term goals are possibly to exit to a USAO, but not 100% set - would like to see what sort of work I enjoy over the summer.

I don't think WilmerHale and Quinn should be in consideration for the reason given above. PW has a good number of ex-AUSA's, but you seem open to more than just USAO. With that in mind, I'd go with the overall better law firm with the more prestigious name. I have friends who are on the hiring committee for a USAO in a big city (not NYC but still definitely East Coast elites ) and they're very prestige-oriented. Not aware of any evidence that PW produces a disproportionately high number of AUSAs.

[Anonymous User]

All NYC offers for litigation. Long-term goals are possibly to exit to a USAO, but not 100% set - would like to see what sort of work I enjoy over the summer.

I don't think WilmerHale and Quinn should be in consideration for the reason given above. PW has a good number of ex-AUSA's, but you seem open to more than just USAO. With that in mind, I'd go with the overall better law firm with the more prestigious name. I have friends who are on the hiring committee for a USAO in a big city (not NYC but still definitely East Coast elites ) and they're very prestige-oriented. Not aware of any evidence that PW produces a disproportionately high number of AUSAs.

In litigation, Paul Weiss is at least as prestigious than Cravath. Cravath's rotation system makes it hard to meet the connected partners and the firm has almost no former AUSAs because of its odd hiring policy. Easy Paul Weiss imo.

[Anonymous User]

And yet a very high proportion of AUSAs at EDNY and SDNY come from there, which is probably attributable to the prestige factor. Like it or not, it's a prestige-oriented field.

[The Lsat Airbender]

I'd go with the overall better law firm with the more prestigious name. I have friends who are on the hiring committee for a USAO in a big city (not NYC but still definitely East Coast elites ) and they're very prestige-oriented.

yeah, I also would go with PW here

[Anonymous User]

Cravath and Paul Weiss are going to give you the same chance as becoming an ausa. I would go with the firm you like people at more. The differentiators for ausa hiring are going to come down to if and for whom you clerk for anyway.

[The Great Gadfly]

Cravath and Paul Weiss are going to give you the same chance as becoming an ausa. I would go with the firm you like people at more. The differentiators for ausa hiring are going to come down to if and for whom you clerk for anyway.

It won't come down to which judge you clerk for, unless it's a feeder.

[Anonymous User]

Cravath and Paul Weiss are going to give you the same chance as becoming an ausa. I would go with the firm you like people at more. The differentiators for ausa hiring are going to come down to if and for whom you clerk for anyway.

Over the past several years, 8/662 lawyers who left PW went to a USAO (not limited to EDNY/SDNY). That's about a percent.

[Anonymous User]

Cravath and Paul Weiss are going to give you the same chance as becoming an ausa. I would go with the firm you like people at more. The differentiators for ausa hiring are going to come down to if and for whom you clerk for anyway.

Over the past several years, 8/662 lawyers who left PW went to a USAO (not limited to EDNY/SDNY). That's about a percent.

How do you even have these numbers? lol

[Anonymous User]

Cravath and Paul Weiss are going to give you the same chance as becoming an ausa. I would go with the firm you like people at more. The differentiators for ausa hiring are going to come down to if and for whom you clerk for anyway.

Over the past several years, 8/662 lawyers who left PW went to a USAO (not limited to EDNY/SDNY). That's about a percent.

How do you even have these numbers? lol

not poster but almost assuredly firmprospects

[Anonymous User]

There aren’t a lot of ex-Cravath AUSAs in EDNY/SDNY. And PW has definitely sent more. Firm Prospects only picks up people who change their LinkedIns and can be wildly inaccurate.

[Anonymous User]

Cravath has a much smaller class than PW so just bear that in mind when comparing absolute numbers. SDNY/EDNY are not distinguishing between the top tier of nyc lit firms when making hiring decisions. More important factors will be whether you clerked, whether you clerked for a judge in taht district, what your judge and people you work for say about you, how you interview etc. no usao is choosing one person over another based on whether they worked at Cravath or Paul Weiss or wilmerhale

[Anonymous User]

Surprised Quinn only has a few votes. Isn't it a litigation-only shop?

[Anonymous User]

It’s just a fact that some firms feed more AUSAs than others. Certain firms have more partners who served in the EDNY/SDNY front offices and the many AUSAs who are alums of certain firms tend to favor applicants from their old firms. Also, these firms generally have stronger white collar practices.

Quinn has barely made any AUSAs. Their white collar practice is pretty weak and their scorched earth litigation practices don’t make them many friends and significantly hamper exit options for their associates.

[Anonymous User]

It’s just a fact that some firms feed more AUSAs than others. Certain firms have more partners who served in the EDNY/SDNY front offices and the many AUSAs who are alums of certain firms tend to favor applicants from their old firms. Also, these firms generally have stronger white collar practices.

Quinn has barely made any AUSAs. Their white collar practice is pretty weak and their scorched earth litigation practices don’t make them many friends and significantly hamper exit options for their associates.

I'm all about Quinn-hating (I have made the very same point about their scorched earth tactics in other threads), but I don't think it's fair to say it significantly hampers exit options. At the end of the day QE lawyers are well-credentialed and get a good litigation experience, which makes them at least as desirable as anybody else. Some companies that are often on the other side of the v from Quinn-represented plaintiffs may be reluctant, but I don't think it's a significant number or a hard rule.

The lack of AUSAs probably has more to do with 1) lack of connections and 2) self-selection. Anecdotally, the QE folks I know/knew were more focused on big paychecks in private practice than DOJ/AUSA preftige routes. Hence why most people are steering OP away from QE in the first place.

[Anonymous User]

The way to become an ausa at a sdny/EDNY is to do well at a top law school, do a clerkship in sdny/EDNY, do a few years at ANY top tier firm (Cravath, pw, wilmerhale, Quinn will all count), apply to that office and have your judge as a reference. There are no “feeder” firms; any feeding effect you see is self-selection.

[Anonymous User]

Alternatively- you can do the above but replace judge with “partner at your firm who had a senior position in one of the offices and is close with the people in charge of hiring.” That definitely seems at least as common as reference from a judge anecdotally.

I’ve also seen people get the job with reference from a well known/regarded out of district/circuit job.