Latham Hours? Forum

[Anonymous User]

How bad are the hours at Latham? I’m looking to move into the corporate team in NY and I’ve heard the hours are brutal (currently in a major market firm with decent hours (10-8:30 daily)). Do people at Latham normally work past 830 or are people just overblowing the hours?

[Anonymous User]

I know a number of folks who have worked there and endured absolutely terrible hours (out at 9:30 pm was a "non-intense" day). They were in M&A and cap markets, though, so YMMV.

[Anonymous User]

Brutal hours are expected there. Multiple close classmates have burned out there in less than 6 months after lateraling.

[Anonymous User]

Brutal hours are expected there. Multiple close classmates have burned out there in less than 6 months after lateraling.

Anymore details on this? I'm considering making a lateral move in NYC and they're on my short list.

[Anonymous User]

Brutal hours are expected there. Multiple close classmates have burned out there in less than 6 months after lateraling.

Anymore details on this? I'm considering making a lateral move in NYC and they're on my short list.

Idk what else to say other than brutal hours. 10-midnight was the norm, not the exception. Usually fire drills every weekend for significant parts of the weekend (i.e. more than just a few hours of work on Sunday). They all said it was way less humane then their firms they lateraled from and then their newer firms since. Both of them were on track to bill 2700.

[Anonymous User]

I’m at Latham in the corporate group and don’t know anybody who has come and gone in 6 months unless that person was completely delinquent in all their responsibilities. Really depends what group you are looking to join in corporate to be able to speak to the hours but I frequently leave the office before 8pm.

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

Latham’s reputation is that when the firm is busy they run you into the ground and when the firm is not busy they conduct mass layoffs.

[Anonymous User]

Two people have told me about working 9-midnight + weekends in corporate. One was in Hong Kong during the Chinese company growth phase, and the other was in NY underwriting during the booming 80's. I remember their stories because they were exhilarating. Sleeping in a chair, showering at the office, billing 24 hours in a day . . . Both of them loved it. If Latham NY is booming like that, and you're single, and you like your coworkers, then go and enjoy it.

[BeeTeeZ]

The firm's name is used as a verb. I mean c'mon.

[Anonymous User]

I used to work at LW New York. Hours depend on practice group, but capital markets hours are particularly brutal. You have the typical ~200 hours a month that you would have at any top New York firm doing normal deals, and then you randomly get staffed on commitment paper teams for fire drills that can hit any time and require overnight work product.

On a typical weekend papers come in Friday, comments go out to client Saturday morning, conference call with client Saturday afternoon, diligence call Sunday morning and papers go to other side Sunday night after multiple rounds of internal drafts over the weekend. Papers can also come in on Monday night, which means you are doing the same routine but juggling all of your regular work. Given how much everyone hates commitment papers, no one is allowed to say they are too busy when asked to help, and new papers that require multiple 3 person teams come in the door seemingly every week. Worst part is they shield juniors from the process until they opt in to capital markets, and then there is no escape regardless of seniority (including partners). It is thankless work and, indeed, thanks is rarely given either by the firm or clients (most of whom lose the underlying bids and also had their lives destroyed by the same cycle for no benefit whatsoever).

At most other firms these are handled by banking lawyers (who basically signed up for this kind of work), but given the volume of bank side acquisition finance work going through Latham New York cap m gets roped in to them constantly.

I wouldn’t go to any top firm expecting a comfortable life, but commitment papers at Latham are the number one reason for early exits there. By contrast, I now do roughly the same amount of billable hours at another v-10 firm, but my life is infinitely better given I am able to do only normal cap m work, which is busy but very predictable.

[legalace]

I know of a Latham location at which no member of its recruited associates class received a partnership offer. They are all gone.

[QContinuum]

I know of a Latham location at which no member of its recruited associates class received a partnership offer. They are all gone.

I feel like this isn't uncommon at top firms' satellite offices. They make very few partners to begin with, so it's not at all unlikely that a smaller office wouldn't make any partners in a given year.