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Have offers at both firms for next summer. Interested more in corporate work, with a particular focus on M&A and Cap Markets (which has me thinking Davis Polk). Curious of people's thoughts about the culture, exit opps, and general reputation for both firms. Thanks!

For purposes of being a summer associate, both are the same along virtually every substantive metric. If you picked one over the other based on a preference for the neighborhood the office is in, that would not be an irrational way to make this decision.

Both excellent and both at the top end of the prestige rankings in New York. Lean DPW for capital markets, lean Cleary for international work.

DPW takes the edge here for both M&A and cap markets. Good culture, too. Cleary has really good culture but is not as strong in those practice groups. This being said, if you prefer a more generalist structure where you can do all kinds of corp work because you’re in a general pool for transactional work, then go with Cleary.