NYC Trial Boutiques Forum

[Anonymous User]

Coming out of clerkship eventually and aiming to apply to boutiques in nyc that can give me the most trial / appeals experience (focusing more on trial since appeals work in nyc is more limited).

Some firms I'm looking at:

Hecker Fink (seems like amazing for crim work but unclear how many trials they do per year, or if its mostly investigations. Their civil rights appeals work seems top notch though and the Do Kwon trial will be big).\

Susman Godfrey (a stretch for me but an obvious top trial experience contender)

Mololamken (seems like associates get lots of trial/appeals experience but it's unclear to me exactly what the caseload consists of. . . seems like bankruptcy and now-nearly done 2008 securities lit?)

Elsberg (this is a very interesting one. They've gotten great reports so far and have won lots of Delaware cases. I love corporate law but I'm slightly nervous they're too focused on that).

Emery Celli (This might be a really interesting mix of trial experience, both criminal and civil rights related)

So basic questions are---do these descriptions seem right? Is there any more info you'd or clarify? And for a firm like Elsberg that seems focused on chancery work, would doing that silo you career-wise such that it'd be tricky to move into White-Collar/Crim trial spaces down the line?

Just curious! My aim is to try to get as much trial experience as possible while foregoing the AUSA route.

[Anonymous User]

Former associate at one of these firms - here are my impressions:

Some firms I'm looking at:

Hecker Fink (seems like amazing for crim work but unclear how many trials they do per year, or if its mostly investigations. Their civil rights appeals work seems top notch though and the Do Kwon trial will be big).\
Very well respected white collar lawyers, and generally perceived as the better managed/better to work for side of the Kaplan-Hecker split. Plenty of ties to the local USAOs, and they seem to be doing a good job of attracting and keeping well-qualified talent to the point where they're now at over 80 lawyers. Not sure how much of the high-profile public impact work they're getting without Robbie Kaplan, or what the partnership prospects are like now.

Susman Godfrey (a stretch for me but an obvious top trial experience contender)
Lots of information about the firm on this board. From a business perspective, in a distinctly strong place having survived its founders and apparently successfully undergone a generational transition. Very good comp, very long hours, but they're generally high quality. Practice is heavily focused on commercial trial court work, with distinctly less white collar and appeals. The firm goes to trial a lot, though I have heard it varies by office - Texas might go more than New York does. Partnership prospects are very good if you stick it out. Government exit options can be pretty good even with weaker ties, based on prestige. The firm is getting kind of big at over 200 lawyers now. Only hires people who have clerkships.

Mololamken (seems like associates get lots of trial/appeals experience but it's unclear to me exactly what the caseload consists of. . . seems like bankruptcy and now-nearly done 2008 securities lit?)
Smaller than Susman or Hecker Fink, at about 50 lawyers. The only firm on this list that has a substantial appellate practice. The docket is mostly diversified commercial (bankruptcy, securities, contracts, antitrust, IP), particularly in New York, but with growing white-collar work. Associates get good standup experience, comp is above market, and prospects for the all non-equity partnership tend to be good. Only hires out of clerkships.


Elsberg (this is a very interesting one. They've gotten great reports so far and have won lots of Delaware cases. I love corporate law but I'm slightly nervous they're too focused on that).
I know less about this one, since they're so new. Word on the street is that all the normal people from Selendy left to go form a firm that was actually good to work for. Not sure about comp/partnership/etc., but would recommend reading David Lat's Substack interview with David Elsberg to get a sense of how the firm is thinking.

Emery Celli (This might be a really interesting mix of trial experience, both criminal and civil rights related)
Not like the others, but a really cool option. Yes, obviously a civil rights firm, and I would expect that they end up paying less than the others. The work is very interesting, but you should consider a) how many actual trials are there? A lot of civil rights work is about getting excellent settlements for your clients. b) how do you feel about the causes the firm represents? Most of the work you'll probably agree with, but think about how you'll feel taking the pay cut to work on causes you don't. The firm has historically been pretty well connected politically, and I think at least a couple of Biden judicial appointees in NYC spent time there.

So basic questions are---do these descriptions seem right? Is there any more info you'd or clarify? And for a firm like Elsberg that seems focused on chancery work, would doing that silo you career-wise such that it'd be tricky to move into White-Collar/Crim trial spaces down the line?

Just curious! My aim is to try to get as much trial experience as possible while foregoing the AUSA route.

A couple of other things to think about: at all boutiques, you tend to work on stuff both more senior and more junior than you would at a bigger firm. The same biglaw hierarchy that oppresses you as a second year protects you and puts juniors at your disposal when you get to be like a fifth year. And if you're really set on going the USAO route later, big firms can be well-connected to a point where you could be better off on a former AUSA's recommendation from there, versus a less well-connected boutique.

[Crazysnackaroo]

I'll give a small throw out to a firm I worked with once on a case up in NY:

https://www.blochwhite.com/


They seemed pretty good. I think they most certainly don't pay what Susman does, for example, but they do a mix of crim, civil rights, and some other stuff.

Good luck!

[Anonymous User]

Do Kwon is fucked no matter how good a job Sean Hecker does

[Anonymous User]

Do people have thoughts on HSG, Hueston Hennigan, or Wilkinson Stekloff? I found the first replier's response very helpful.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know anything about KKL f/k/a Krieger Lewin? What is the comp like?