DPW or STB NY for transactional/transactional tax? Forum

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hoyalawya96

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DPW or STB NY for transactional/transactional tax?

Post by hoyalawya96 » Thu Jun 30, 2022 6:06 pm

Have an SA offer at both DPW and STB NY and want to know which firm is best if I'm considering a general transactional group or transactional tax? Thanks!

anymouseqwerty

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Re: DPW or STB NY for transactional/transactional tax?

Post by anymouseqwerty » Fri Jul 01, 2022 12:04 am

Both are great options. Both are at the top of their respective transactional practices. Some of their practice specialties overlap, but others do not. Do you have any preferences for practice areas or clients?

talons2250

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Re: DPW or STB NY for transactional/transactional tax?

Post by talons2250 » Fri Jul 01, 2022 12:09 am

You can't go wrong at either but in my experience people generally regard DPW as slightly more prestigious. So if you're into that, maybe go there. Not the best reason obviously.

JM14

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Re: DPW or STB NY for transactional/transactional tax?

Post by JM14 » Fri Jul 01, 2022 11:18 am

Both great options. I am in DPW transactional and I can tell you it's a fantastic place to work. Everyone here is really genuinely nice and approachable as well as incredibly knowledgeable which makes for a great combo for a new lawyer looking to really learn and grow in their practice area. They have a great summer and first year rotation-like system if you aren't quite sure what you are looking to do. Honestly best decision I ever made in my life. Happy to discuss if you'd like to reach out/PM me.

anymouseqwerty

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Re: DPW or STB NY for transactional/transactional tax?

Post by anymouseqwerty » Fri Jul 01, 2022 12:46 pm

This is a particularly tough choice (but also a great outcome either way) because both firms are so similar. Similar financial performance, size, associate rotation programs, clients, practice specialties, and transactional practice prestige.

Regarding transactional and tax practices, Chambers and league tables can make some distinctions.

Regarding Chambers, STB has top practices in private equity, investment funds, energy transactions, real estate, and REITs, whereas DPW is weaker or absent from these practices. On the other hand, DPW has top practices in financial services and securities regulation, derivatives, bankruptcy, hedge funds, and entertainment, whereas STB is weaker or does not have these types of practices.

But these are fairly small distinctions because the firms are both at the top of Chambers rankings for the main practices of tax, M&A, banking and finance, and capital markets. That being said, DPW is generally higher in the Bloomberg capital markets league tables (brings in more client fees from capital markets) whereas STB is higher in the Bloomberg M&A and PE league tables (brings in more client fees from M&A / PE).

So, all else held equal, you could ask: do I want to work in a transactional practice predominately driven by Blackstone and PE/M&A (STB) or by JP Morgan and capital markets (DPW)?

And if that doesn't help (prob won't lol) you can also try emailing multiple people from your school who work or summered at the firm transactional practices and get a broad variety of general impressions.

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