How to Research Law Firms
During your first year of law school you may have attended law firm receptions and otherwise started the process of learning about different firms and practice areas. But things get real in the summer when you find yourself suddenly slammed with lists of hundreds of law firms participating in on-campus interviews (OCI) and career fairs. Whether you are bidding (i.e., selecting which law firms you would like to interview with), drafting cover letters, or preparing for interviews, it is essential that you adequately research each law firm. Here is a snapshot of some of my favorite tools and resources to do so.
VAULT
My starting point is often with Vault to get a general sense of a firm’s prestige—through the Vault Law 100—and prominence in certain practice areas or geographical regions.
With this information, you can make sure your bid list includes:
1. Firms with expertise in your areas of interest.
2. A diversified mix of firms, especially if your grades are not what you want them to be.
OCI tip: diversify your bid list to include up and coming firms as well as new offices of prominent firms that may not have name recognition in your city yet. They have top caliber matters and clients, pay the same, and may be more willing to take a chance on you.
Vault also has rankings around other criteria, such as diversity, pro bono, summer associate programs, and integration of laterals. Even though I will take a glance at these, I personally prefer to do my research of the intangibles through my network and other methods outlined below.
NALP DIRECTORY
NALP Directory is a robust search platform that helps you identify firms, get information about their business and practice areas, and learn about their recruitment and hiring process.
Here are two specific ways you can use NALP in your research.
1. Find firms using different criteria
NALP has a fantastic search function with criteria such as location, firm size, office size, and practice area.
Let’s say you’re from Atlanta but going to law school in Washington DC. You want to return home after graduation to practice, but your school’s OCI doesn’t attract many Atlanta firm offices. Using NALP to search for law firms with Atlanta offices identifies 24 firms. You can then further refine your results or start looking at the individual firms your search has identified.
2. Dive into law firm data
For every office—not just the firm as a whole—NALP provides a wealth of information, including:
Demographics
Practice areas and the number of attorneys in each
Recruiting information, including the name of the hiring partner and recruiter for that office
Partnership tracks
Diversity and pro bono activities
Minimum billable hours
Compensation
In the bidding and OCI stage, I particularly recommend you pay attention to the following two tabs.
Practice Areas Tab
On their websites, most big law firms claim to cover most practice areas—and they often do, but not necessarily in every office. Since you’ll likely be asked to pick an office, you should make sure you’re making a good decision.
First of all, you don’t want to guess about practice areas and get it wrong. Second, you need to know the office economics. In other words, is there a demand for your potential value and interest?
Here’s an example. Latham & Watkins is a prominent firm with extensive practice areas worldwide, but if you are interested to practice litigation in Houston, your research should identify that their Houston office is focused on transactional work.
Recruitment & Hiring Tab
How many summer associates will a firm hire? The Hiring Grid will show you the number of summer associates a particular office has hired in the past. Notwithstanding other data regarding the potential downsize, growth, or mergers, firms typically stay consistent with their numbers.
OCI Tip: If you are aiming for firms that typically hire students with higher grades, include offices with higher summer associate numbers. If they have to fill 30 spots, they may have more flexibility to take a chance on someone slightly outside their standard checkbox who seems promising.
Career Development Office (CDO)
With so much info at your fingertips, it’s easy to overlook the value CDO staff adds to your job search process. Besides programming and counseling, most CDOs have amazing data and information on prior year hiring trends.
For example, they’ll know which firms are sticklers about grades and which ones, even prestigious ones, have made exceptions in the past.
Sometimes this information is organized and formal; they might have a chart that shows average GPAs and other credentials of your alumni hired by the specific firm. Other times, this information may exist in the individual or collective expertise of the CDO staff.
I know sometimes you click with CDO staff and other times you may not. But almost everyone I have met in the past few years who has taken a position in the CDO office truly cares about helping students or giving back to their alma mater. Don’t ignore help that’s so readily available.
Firm Websites & Social Media
At a bare minimum, your research should include the firm’s website. Press releases highlight recent accomplishments, which is great fodder for your interview. And attorney bios can give you insight into your interviewers as well as the general tone and “feel” of the place.
Just like employers can learn a lot about their candidates through social media, this is also true in the reverse. Some firms may also have an additional social media account (e.g., Twitter or Instagram) for their recruiting department, through which you can get a great look inside the summer program. Finally, firms may have social media accounts for certain initiatives, the knowledge of which may give you a competitive advantage in the interview.
OCI Tip: Ask interviewers questions about topics of pride and excitement. For example, if you are interviewing with the corporate department of WilmerHale, it will show great initiative and curiosity if you are aware of the "WilmerHale Launch" initiative (@WHLaunch) which is a legal advice platform for entrepreneurs and startups.
Your Network
Your network is one of the most powerful tools you’ll ever have: Build it, nurture it, look for ways to give back, and ask for help when you need it.
First, your personal connections. Through law school, you’ll meet attorneys at networking receptions, job fairs, and other events.
Sure, it’s wonderful to know a powerful partner at the specific office of the firm in which you are interested. You should, however, not discount individuals in other offices and capacities who can still provide you with valuable information and help you prepare for interviews. They may have even worked with your interviewers on cross-staffed legal matters or other projects.
OCI Tip: I advise my coaching clients to put together an extensive networking Excel chart to help uncover hidden links and keep track of interactions.
Your personal connections also include corporate counsel you’ve worked with through internships, who are clients of these firms and can no doubt help you in the process. Finally, don’t forget your professors—some of whom may be part- or full-time practitioners.
The most important thing is your “connection” with your contact. Don’t under-estimate the importance of someone believing in you.
Then, your mentor’s connections. This is the “I know some people who know some people” principle: Even if you don’t know anyone even remotely connected with a firm, a mentor or professor may know someone who has worked there or is a client.
LinkedIn is an amazing tool for this. If you look up a firm, it often shows you your “2nd level connections” – individuals associated with that firm and your mutual connections.
Finally, your peers—other law students and classmates. While you are stressing out about interviews, your classmates are finishing their summer associate programs. They can help you understand a particular firm, share insight regarding specific interviewers, and ultimately help you get an offer. They are by far the closest to where you are right now, offering the freshest perspective.
Depending on how great a summer associate they were, a peer’s endorsement may also help you get in the door. Use your student organization listserves or talk to CDO to identify your peers and make sure you include them in your networking chart as well.
My final word of advice? To critically analyze any information gained from your data and people research before relying on it to make a decision. A firm that is one person’s nightmare is a perfect fit for another. I’ve seen it time and time again in the last decade as a biglaw attorney, lecturer, and coach. Be thankful for all the data and advice you receive, but run it through the filter of other people’s projections and your unique personality. Good luck!
Need help researching law firms, coming up with a tailored summer associate job search strategy, or preparing for interviews? Schedule a free consultation with a PracticePro coach here.
In the next part of this series, we'll look at basic and advanced interviewing techniques.