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My school limits the number of open offers we can have at a time and I have been very fortunate to get offers at these firms. Thus, unfortunately, I need to say no to one by the end of the week.

I am only interested in litigation, some particular interest in enforcement/investigations work/generally government-facing matters. However, I want the chance to explore as many practice areas within lit as possible so I can find what I like best. I don't want a place that forces you to specialize too early (or ever really). I also want a diverse array of clients with regard to industries.

Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated!

At Cleary you pretty much never have to specialize in Lit. We have partners who still do a mix of white collar/investigations and commercial lit. Others do commercial and bankruptcy. We have a pretty solid investigations practice since that's what you're looking for. I think WH as well, although that might be more in DC. Not sure about SC/DPW - I thought they were predominately corporate?

These are all great choices. I think one big difference is between WH and the other three. WH is a much smaller office with particular expertise in the areas in which you are interested, but may not have certain other practice you might later find you are interested in. The other big difference is that WH is litigation-driven, whereas the others are driven by their transactional departments. If I were in your shoes, my rankings would be: WH->DPW->S&C->Cleary.

I’d take Wilmer pretty clearly over the others. After that, S&C / DPW, then Cleary last.

WH for sure.

Not sure this is as obvious: S&C/DPW lit groups are excellent and quite busy, can't speak for cleary. Also S&C is generalist so you would be able to move across groups. WH NY is v small but also a fantastic option, particularly if you have DC in mind down the road. All to say I don't think WH NY is slam dunk better option for lit than S&C/DPW, particularly. Seems pretty equal imo. Go with where u feel comfortable.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 03, 2021 7:30 pm

Not sure this is as obvious: S&C/DPW lit groups are excellent and quite busy, can't speak for cleary. Also S&C is generalist so you would be able to move across groups. WH NY is v small but also a fantastic option, particularly if you have DC in mind down the road. All to say I don't think WH NY is slam dunk better option for lit than S&C/DPW, particularly. Seems pretty equal imo. Go with where u feel comfortable.

As one of the above posters going with Wilmer, my recommendation turns specifically on the OP’s interest in government-facing matters and investigations. On general commercial lit or securities, I’d agree this is even and comes down to personal preference. S&C and Davis Polk have traditionally strong litigation practices, and I’m sure they are busy, but they just don’t compare to Wilmer’s government practice and have nothing close to the bench of high ranking alums from State, Defense, USTr, Commerce, DOJ, ect.