Hi all,
I am an M&A Associate at a magic circle firm in London and looking to move to Dallas with my partner. I will be looking for Associate roles at equally prestigious firms in Dallas. Please would someone kindly give me a breakdown of the hierarchy of the biglaw firms in Dallas? I recognise a lot of names (e.g. K&E, Latham, Vinsen Elkins, Gibson Dunn, Haynes Boone, Akin Gump etc.) but it would be really helpful to know where the key players sit in relation to each other.
Thanks very much.
Dallas - M&A Forum
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Anonymous User
- Posts: 431119
- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am
Re: Dallas - M&A
I am a midlevel associate at a firm in the class that you mentioned in Dallas, but I also have a lot of family in BigLaw so I've followed their reputations for years. All of the top firms are pretty-well respected and seem to be generally good places to work, for the most part. Most M&A people I know are happy, for BigLaw. It helps that Texas firm culture is way more relaxed and collegial than New York, London, Chicago, etc so you can do really sophisticated work here with a lower asshole quotient.
Most of the upper-tier, non-Texas-based Vault firms are satellite offices that work mainly on deals outside of the home office - Kirkland, Weil, JD, Sidley, etc. Your chances at partnership are more limited there, but not impossible. The Texas-based firms originate more work (and so make more partners) but are really oil and gas heavy - Akin, V&E, TK, HayBoo, etc - so if that's not something you are familiar with you may have some trouble integrating. The deals are structurally similar but there are a lot of new concepts and terms, and the clients are colorful. I also think the oil and gas-heavy firms take a hit on reputation - the firms that are more diversified have a better reputation, in my opinion.
As for the bad.. I do not work at any of these and can't confirm, but I've heard through the grapevine that M&A at Baker Botts, K&L, and HayBoo are dying and have little to no M&A work. BB and K&L have already been laying folks off in those areas. The Weil group has been losing people heavily - at least three groups of M&A associates/partners leaving in the last ten years, and one as recently as 2018. However, my impression is that they are leaving because they don't see any path for advancement rather than it being a bad place to work. Weil's reputation is great so if you just want to work a few years and go in-house that's not a bad option, but partnership is going to be rough. Jones Day Dallas true to JD's overall firm culture - very conservative, very traditional BigLaw, almost no one lasts more than 3 years before lateraling to another firm. K&E is brand new, only a couple of years old, and the reviews are mixed. They didn't exactly get the best of the best when recruiting at the beginning, but it's getting better, and the work is good and the global firm prestige is obviously high. They're also hiring like mad so that might be a good option for you. Gibson Dunn is a black hole - I've never heard a single thing good or bad about that office and never met anyone from it.
Personally if I were looking to move and I was considering partnership, I would look at Sidley, V&E, Akin, Norton Rose, and Kirkland. If I wanted to end up in-house outside of Dallas I would throw in Weil, Jones Day, Gibson, Baker McKenzie, and maybe HayBoo. If the goal was in-house in Texas, I would also consider TK, HayBoo, and possibly Baker Botts.
If you're a woman, beware of HayBoo, Baker Botts, Weil, and Jones Day.
Most of the upper-tier, non-Texas-based Vault firms are satellite offices that work mainly on deals outside of the home office - Kirkland, Weil, JD, Sidley, etc. Your chances at partnership are more limited there, but not impossible. The Texas-based firms originate more work (and so make more partners) but are really oil and gas heavy - Akin, V&E, TK, HayBoo, etc - so if that's not something you are familiar with you may have some trouble integrating. The deals are structurally similar but there are a lot of new concepts and terms, and the clients are colorful. I also think the oil and gas-heavy firms take a hit on reputation - the firms that are more diversified have a better reputation, in my opinion.
As for the bad.. I do not work at any of these and can't confirm, but I've heard through the grapevine that M&A at Baker Botts, K&L, and HayBoo are dying and have little to no M&A work. BB and K&L have already been laying folks off in those areas. The Weil group has been losing people heavily - at least three groups of M&A associates/partners leaving in the last ten years, and one as recently as 2018. However, my impression is that they are leaving because they don't see any path for advancement rather than it being a bad place to work. Weil's reputation is great so if you just want to work a few years and go in-house that's not a bad option, but partnership is going to be rough. Jones Day Dallas true to JD's overall firm culture - very conservative, very traditional BigLaw, almost no one lasts more than 3 years before lateraling to another firm. K&E is brand new, only a couple of years old, and the reviews are mixed. They didn't exactly get the best of the best when recruiting at the beginning, but it's getting better, and the work is good and the global firm prestige is obviously high. They're also hiring like mad so that might be a good option for you. Gibson Dunn is a black hole - I've never heard a single thing good or bad about that office and never met anyone from it.
Personally if I were looking to move and I was considering partnership, I would look at Sidley, V&E, Akin, Norton Rose, and Kirkland. If I wanted to end up in-house outside of Dallas I would throw in Weil, Jones Day, Gibson, Baker McKenzie, and maybe HayBoo. If the goal was in-house in Texas, I would also consider TK, HayBoo, and possibly Baker Botts.
If you're a woman, beware of HayBoo, Baker Botts, Weil, and Jones Day.
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lawdog97
- Posts: 38
- Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2020 1:39 pm
Re: Dallas - M&A
I am in Dallas finance, I work with a lot of big law attorneys. They all seem overworked but are not assholes like other big law attorneys I've worked with (Chicago or NYC especially).
Dallas is a unique city. There is no major river running through it,which is really disappointing. The Trinity River is lackluster. Most of the skyscrapers were built in the 1980's, giving downtown a fairly modern feel. The COL is low. Austin, San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans, Little Rock, and Tulsa are all within 6 hours if you want to escape for a weekend.
It gets extremely hot- especially if you are from London! The "concrete city" traps the heat and it can be 110 degrees with 95% humidity after a rainy August afternoon. There are not a ton of parks either.
While this is more about the city than the big law practice, you will find in Dallas most people are able to balance work and home easier in the south. We are slower moving and have different priorities. In my experience, we focus on families and community. Business comes second. (Not to say you will not work 70 hr weeks- everyone does).
Dallas is a unique city. There is no major river running through it,which is really disappointing. The Trinity River is lackluster. Most of the skyscrapers were built in the 1980's, giving downtown a fairly modern feel. The COL is low. Austin, San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans, Little Rock, and Tulsa are all within 6 hours if you want to escape for a weekend.
It gets extremely hot- especially if you are from London! The "concrete city" traps the heat and it can be 110 degrees with 95% humidity after a rainy August afternoon. There are not a ton of parks either.
While this is more about the city than the big law practice, you will find in Dallas most people are able to balance work and home easier in the south. We are slower moving and have different priorities. In my experience, we focus on families and community. Business comes second. (Not to say you will not work 70 hr weeks- everyone does).
