Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions Forum

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Jan 29, 2016 9:02 am

I'm likely putting my condo up for rent for 3 months in the summer (can negotiate length of time). It's a 2BR, you'd get 1BR and have a roommate. Each room has its own private bathroom (and there's a third half bath for guests). large living room, dining room and kitchen. fully furnished. has washer, dryer. all high end appliances (i.e., miele, bosch, etc.)

location is in hayes valley, tho it's close to mission and castro. about 25 minute walk to FiDi. cablecar and muni stops are right outside the building so you can get there in 10 if you have to.

asking rent is $2900/month all in (no utilities, etc.). and yes i can get more thru craigslist.

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by holly45 » Fri Jan 29, 2016 10:59 am

My friend and I are looking to sublet a 2 bedroom for the summer in/near SOMA, we'll be working in SV from May 29- August 6. Whether it's a 2 bedroom apartment or 2 bedrooms in a larger house/unit, we are flexible. Must be furnished. Please PM me if you have or know anything that matches this description. Thank you!

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Feb 01, 2016 7:07 pm

ballouttacontrol wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote: I'm not sure how to take the second question - are you talking about lateraling or breaking in as a first year at the firm where you summer? In the first case, the market is pretty hot right now so you may be in luck (depending on academic credentials, whether you're already in a tax group, etc.). The second scenario is obviously going to be very firm-dependent and hard to predict. A lot of bay area offices don't hire for their tax group every year because the groups are so small.

ETA a little more info on type of tax work done.
Thanks for this, I meant breaking in as a SA. My resume is all tax (IRS Office of Chief Counsel this summer, many years of experience as CPA) so I'm concerned that I'm pigeonholing myself into a specialization that doesn't exist in the market.
Old Gregg wrote:If you want to do tax at Fenwick, just interview for the regular SA and switch groups down the line :mrgreen:
Does this actually happen or nah? I asked a partner at another SV firm about potentially doing this (I was a 0L considering law school) and he seemed very hesitant.

edited for quoting silliness
It is common practice to pitch yourself differently in interviews than what you actually want. The only exceptions to this, that I know of, are IP and mayyyybe tax, if it is a segregated group. When u actually show up to work nowhere will remember what u said u were interested in in the interview so u can then focus on making in-roads to your desired practice group. The caveat to this is if the group is segregated from the general Summer Associate pool. I know sometimes tax can be like this, but is not always. Not a tax person though so defer to any of them around here.
Have you considered doing Employee Benefits/Comp work? There is a fair bit of this in the Bay Area due to all of the incentive comp. Again, there's usually only a few partners and a few associates, but this is one place that I saw a lot of tax when I worked as a corporate paralegal in SV. The EB&C associates definitely need/have tax experience and understand both business and personal tax issues (which a CPA would be familiar with).

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Feb 04, 2016 2:07 pm

Any thoughts on Fenwick MV vs. MoFo SF vs. Skadden PA for corporate work (1L summer)?

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Old Gregg

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by Old Gregg » Thu Feb 04, 2016 3:09 pm

just entirely different corporate practices. MoFo way more M&A. Skadden way more M&A, cap markets, debt finance. Fenwick has way more startup/VC and a lot of M&A, but not nearly as much M&A as the other two firms. All three are the best (or among the best) at what they do, but it really depends on what you want to do. u won't be doing facebook's M&A or a16z's financings at Skadden or MoFo, but on the other hand, you won't be doing some crazy multibillion dollar old school biopharma deal at fenwick.

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by sundance95 » Tue Feb 09, 2016 1:34 pm

Here are five headlines from SFist's morning round up:
SFist wrote:In 2013, Twitter was valued at $40 billion. Yesterday, its worth was reportedly $10 billion. [Wired]

How LinkedIn's stock tumble could impact SF's commercial real estate market. [SocketSite]

Right after Uber dropped their whatever new logo, their design chief quit. [Medium]

The CEO of SF-based Zenefits has resigned following a number of allegations of regulatory compliance failures. [Buzzfeed]

Housing prices in the San Francisco Bay Area, already at a record high, are reaching the bubble stage. [SF Business Times]
Q4 2015 had a 28% year-over-year reduction in SV venture deal volume compared with Q4 2014. Here's what the last year of deals looked like:

Q4 2014 - 364 ($5923.6 MM)
Q1 2015 - 331 ($5746.5 MM)
Q2 2015 - 389 ($9685.5 MM)
Q3 2015 - 362 ($7027.1 MM)
Q4 2015 - 263 ($4229.8 MM)

Source: https://newsroom.cnb.com/venture-capita ... =position1

see also: http://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/article ... rtup-money

Three questions for the TLS SF crowd-

1) How concerned are you, if at all, about a possible tech slowdown?
2) What practice areas, if any, are likely to benefit from a tech slowdown?
3) Are there other ways to profit from a slowdown? What's the best way to position yourself short on tech?

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Old Gregg

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by Old Gregg » Wed Feb 10, 2016 12:41 pm

You're looking at the wrong metrics. Look at how much venture capital funds raised each year. Not saying it's healthy but it is a lot of money and money that has to be invested.

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by Old Gregg » Wed Feb 10, 2016 12:46 pm

Also some of what you are talking about is weird:

1) we don't know the number of overall VC deals because many more are stealth.
2) twitters decline was not overnight.
3) LinkedIn and SF real estate is a laughable connection because most of LinkedIn is in the peninsula. As an employer, though, LinkedIn doesn't power the Bay Area economy. To reach that level, you're at least looking at a sales force.

Anyways, not saying we are not in for a decline or that there isn't a bubble. I'm pretty agnostic on all this. But I also believe that a modest decline and subsequent upswing is the sign of a healthy economy and doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing in the near term.

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by hdunlop » Wed Feb 10, 2016 1:22 pm

My two cents are that the ongoing correction is the greatest thing that could happen to SV since we were in or at a minimum heading quickly toward a bubble and this will hopefully deflate it rather than letting it esplode.

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sundance95

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by sundance95 » Wed Feb 10, 2016 3:19 pm

Old Gregg wrote:Also some of what you are talking about is weird:

1) we don't know the number of overall VC deals because many more are stealth.
2) twitters decline was not overnight.
3) LinkedIn and SF real estate is a laughable connection because most of LinkedIn is in the peninsula. As an employer, though, LinkedIn doesn't power the Bay Area economy. To reach that level, you're at least looking at a sales force.

Anyways, not saying we are not in for a decline or that there isn't a bubble. I'm pretty agnostic on all this. But I also believe that a modest decline and subsequent upswing is the sign of a healthy economy and doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing in the near term.
Thanks, I appreciate your points. To be clear, I'm happy to be corrected--I'm trying to start a conversation and see what folks' views are, not advancing a particular view.

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Feb 10, 2016 4:35 pm

Corporate 1st year at one of the valley firms here. I'm pretty concerned but I do agree that it is probably a good thing in the long run.

I've only billed 130 hours in 2016. Nothing seems to be coming up in the near term. I haven't received an assignment in over 2 weeks and the couple I have received in 2016 have produced significantly less hours than I had been receiving in November/December. We've been told everyone's hours are down and they're trying to find work for us.

I hope this is just a short-term correction and deal flow, at lower, more realistic valuations, picks up again soon.

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Feb 15, 2016 7:00 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
ballouttacontrol wrote: It is common practice to pitch yourself differently in interviews than what you actually want. The only exceptions to this, that I know of, are IP and mayyyybe tax, if it is a segregated group. When u actually show up to work nowhere will remember what u said u were interested in in the interview so u can then focus on making in-roads to your desired practice group. The caveat to this is if the group is segregated from the general Summer Associate pool. I know sometimes tax can be like this, but is not always. Not a tax person though so defer to any of them around here.
Have you considered doing Employee Benefits/Comp work? There is a fair bit of this in the Bay Area due to all of the incentive comp. Again, there's usually only a few partners and a few associates, but this is one place that I saw a lot of tax when I worked as a corporate paralegal in SV. The EB&C associates definitely need/have tax experience and understand both business and personal tax issues (which a CPA would be familiar with).
That's a good point. I would prefer to stay in tax because it's what I know and because I actually really enjoy the topic, both as a CPA and as a topic in law school. I guess beggars can't be choosers though.

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Feb 16, 2016 7:41 pm

Other than MoFo, what firms in SF proper have a substantial tech trans practice? From what little I know most of the heavyweights in this area are in SV.

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Mar 03, 2016 8:33 pm

Jobless, desperate 3L has a question...

3L from non-T14 (T30), no ties to CA, didn't go to school in CA, no-IP but interested in soft IP (took some transactional IP classes) & corporate stuff (worked at a business consulting firm for tech companies)

The only tie to CA is that I worked at a small firm in SF during 2L summer.
My overall GPA is only 1/3 but my 2L GPA is top 15% & 10%, respectively.

Do I have a shot at SF/SV big firms? How likely would it be?

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by bruinfan10 » Thu Mar 03, 2016 8:41 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Jobless, desperate 3L has a question...

3L from non-T14 (T30), no ties to CA, didn't go to school in CA, no-IP but interested in soft IP (took some transactional IP classes) & corporate stuff (worked at a business consulting firm for tech companies)

The only tie to CA is that I worked at a small firm in SF during 2L summer.
My overall GPA is only 1/3 but my 2L GPA is top 15% & 10%, respectively.

Do I have a shot at SF/SV big firms? How likely would it be?
doesn't sound very promising to me, sorry to say. isn't this what the vale thread is for? http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... tart=10025

of all the areas for a jobless 3L to pick, i'd have to say the bay area has got to be one of the worst. insane COL and small/selective legal market.

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Mar 04, 2016 12:10 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
sundance95 wrote:Looking for some SF intelligence--How are things in MoFo lit post-Apple v. Samsung? Feel free to PM.
Yes - the SF office actually has a much larger transactional practice. From what I can tell, the SV office focuses mostly on tech/VC-type work. The SF office does some of this too, but it also handles a broader array of industries and matters. Accordingly it has many more specialists within the "transactional" umbrella - tech transactions, debt, banking/finance regulation, project finance, environmental, M&A, real estate, fund formation, tax/SALT, executive comp, etc.. The M&A associates in SF do some of the same tech stuff as the SV folks, but I think they also get a little more exposure to some of the firm's larger clients (SoftBank, Apple, etc.).

Does this mean that the SV office associates tend to do a wider range of work, ranging from IP transaction, securities, M&A to anything related to startups?

Transactional work for emerging companies is more concentrated in SF and SV?

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Mar 04, 2016 4:02 am

lateral litigation hiring seems to be very slow right now in SF area

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by HmmmOkay » Wed Mar 09, 2016 9:44 pm

What do people usually expect to pay monthly for a place in San Francisco, like a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom place? is anything under $2000 a month (per person) a solid deal?

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Mar 09, 2016 10:10 pm

HmmmOkay wrote:What do people usually expect to pay monthly for a place in San Francisco, like a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom place? is anything under $2000 $3000 a month (per person) a solid deal?

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by ilovesf » Wed Mar 09, 2016 10:15 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
HmmmOkay wrote:What do people usually expect to pay monthly for a place in San Francisco, like a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom place? is anything under $2000 $3000 a month (per person) a solid deal?
If you're paying 3000 per person for a 2 BR (so 6000) you are a fool

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by Calbears123 » Wed Mar 09, 2016 10:26 pm

Anyone guess my chance at a bay area firm? Top 15% at a T25, lived in SF my whole life, Berkeley undergrad. However I'm taking a 1l summer job out of state because I got one at an investment firm that pays.

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by ilovesf » Wed Mar 09, 2016 10:27 pm

HmmmOkay wrote:What do people usually expect to pay monthly for a place in San Francisco, like a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom place? is anything under $2000 a month (per person) a solid deal?
I really love real estate and I've moved twice in the last year so I am kind of familiar with what is out there. If you want an opinion on a few places you can PM me the link and I'll let you know.

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Mar 09, 2016 10:34 pm

Calbears123 wrote:Anyone guess my chance at a bay area firm? Top 15% at a T25, lived in SF my whole life, Berkeley undergrad. However I'm taking a 1l summer job out of state because I got one at an investment firm that pays.
Assuming T25 means T15-25, you have 40±15% chance depending on how normal you are during an interview.

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by KiltedKicker » Thu Mar 10, 2016 12:52 am

Hey, I'm a 0L considering my options and am hoping those with some insights into the Bay Area market can give some advice. I was born and raised in SV, and my dad was an IP litigator and GC here for 30 years (it's been awhile since he was at a firm, so his knowledge on all this is a bit dated). I went to school out of state, but worked for the past year at a tech start up and have a good amount of entrepreneurship related experiences on my resume. I'm keeping an open mind, but I love startups and entrepreneurship and am thinking that I'd like to do general corporate tech law at a firm like WSGR, Cooley, MoFo, etc.

Because of my career interests and personal preferences (and financial aid offers I've received thus far), I'm probably most seriously considering Berkeley, NYU, and Duke. Would my chances of getting into Bay Area biglaw be much worse at Duke (I would also have an LLM in entrepreneurship) than at other T-10 schools? Would my chances be as good or better at Berkeley than at any of CCN? So far the advice I have received is that these firms hire from all of these schools and I just have to do well, but that it would be a bit easier from NYU than Duke, and slightly easier from Berkeley than NYU.

If you want more details send a PM. Any advice that might help me with this decision would certainly be much appreciated. Thanks!

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Re: Let's Talk San Francisco - Taking Questions

Post by Tiago Splitter » Thu Mar 10, 2016 1:46 am

KiltedKicker wrote:Hey, I'm a 0L considering my options and am hoping those with some insights into the Bay Area market can give some advice. I was born and raised in SV, and my dad was an IP litigator and GC here for 30 years (it's been awhile since he was at a firm, so his knowledge on all this is a bit dated). I went to school out of state, but worked for the past year at a tech start up and have a good amount of entrepreneurship related experiences on my resume. I'm keeping an open mind, but I love startups and entrepreneurship and am thinking that I'd like to do general corporate tech law at a firm like WSGR, Cooley, MoFo, etc.

Because of my career interests and personal preferences (and financial aid offers I've received thus far), I'm probably most seriously considering Berkeley, NYU, and Duke. Would my chances of getting into Bay Area biglaw be much worse at Duke (I would also have an LLM in entrepreneurship) than at other T-10 schools? Would my chances be as good or better at Berkeley than at any of CCN? So far the advice I have received is that these firms hire from all of these schools and I just have to do well, but that it would be a bit easier from NYU than Duke, and slightly easier from Berkeley than NYU.

If you want more details send a PM. Any advice that might help me with this decision would certainly be much appreciated. Thanks!
Duke places pretty well out here. Don't be afraid to go there if it comes at a much better price than a place like NYU. Berkeley is ideal but don't pay too much.

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