Weil (NY) vs. Cooley/WSGR (SF/SV) Forum

[Anonymous User]

Los Angeles native that has only been to the bay twice before. Interested in transactional work and I think I want to be in the technology industry. Would like to eventually (in around ~5-10 years) be in Southern California.

Which firm would give me the best exit opportunities in general? What about if I want to lateral to a firm in Southern California? Any an all advice is appreciated (doesn’t have to be about exit options, could be about culture, hours, etc.). Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

Sorry, but may I ask when you had your CB with WAGR. And when did you know the decision? Is it for SF or PA office. For transactional work in tech, I would vote for Cooley/WSGR.

[ParisHilton]

Cooley>Weil>WSGR

[Anonymous User]

Sorry, but may I ask when you had your CB with WAGR. And when did you know the decision? Is it for SF or PA office. For transactional work in tech, I would vote for Cooley/WSGR.

Sorry due to my unusual circumstances, I don’t think I can reveal anything without outing myself.

[Anonymous User]

Cooley>Weil>WSGR

Thanks! Do you think you could elaborate a little bit?

[Anonymous User]

Weil NY isn't particularly known for tech work. If your goal is to practice in CA, it'd be best to start in CA. Both Cooley and WSGR are great firms, though WSGR, I believe, has a more startup-oriented focus.

[dabigchina]

Cooley>Weil>WSGR

Cooley and WSGR are peers, though only WSGR paid the STB/Cravath summer bonus. The only thing that really differentiates Cooley from WSGR is that it has a relatively large corporate practice in SF proper. If OP absolutely cannot bear to live in the South Bay, she should choose Cooley, keeping in mind their decision regarding the summer bonus.

[ParisHilton]

Cooley>Weil>WSGR

Thanks! Do you think you could elaborate a little bit?

WSGR has lost a TON of people to other tech-oriented firms and is now widely considered to be the worst of the four (Gunderson, Cooley, Fenwick, and WSGR). Further, I have heard horror stories from there, which is part of the reason while many people from my school go the other three, no one goes to WSGR anymore.

[Anonymous User]

Cooley>Weil>WSGR

Thanks! Do you think you could elaborate a little bit?

WSGR has lost a TON of people to other tech-oriented firms and is now widely considered to be the worst of the four (Gunderson, Cooley, Fenwick, and WSGR). Further, I have heard horror stories from there, which is part of the reason while many people from my school go the other three, no one goes to WSGR anymore.

Just lol... what school do you go to? And what "horror stories" have you heard?

[ParisHilton]

Cooley>Weil>WSGR

Thanks! Do you think you could elaborate a little bit?

WSGR has lost a TON of people to other tech-oriented firms and is now widely considered to be the worst of the four (Gunderson, Cooley, Fenwick, and WSGR). Further, I have heard horror stories from there, which is part of the reason while many people from my school go the other three, no one goes to WSGR anymore.

Just lol... what school do you go to? And what "horror stories" have you heard?

One of HYS. Stories of associates being berated, horrible partners and also stories from clients who had hired them to do financings or fund formations and quickly moved on to the other three (whereas I have heard none of this from the other three). Also WSGR is less startup-focused than the other three, as it has moved to more mature clients.

[Anonymous User]

Cooley>Weil>WSGR

Thanks! Do you think you could elaborate a little bit?

WSGR has lost a TON of people to other tech-oriented firms and is now widely considered to be the worst of the four (Gunderson, Cooley, Fenwick, and WSGR). Further, I have heard horror stories from there, which is part of the reason while many people from my school go the other three, no one goes to WSGR anymore.

Just lol... what school do you go to? And what "horror stories" have you heard?

One of HYS. Stories of associates being berated, horrible partners and also stories from clients who had hired them to do financings or fund formations and quickly moved on to the other three (whereas I have heard none of this from the other three). Also WSGR is less startup-focused than the other three, as it has moved to more mature clients.

I generally don't react to posts like yours, but this one just has too much misinformation to let slide.

First, based on your post history, you're a rising 2L at S. Not sure why you want to hide that here when you've posted it elsewhere.

Second, "stories of associates being berated, horrible partners..." Since we're just sticking to anecdotal evidence, here is just a counterpoint: I'm a junior associate at WSGR PA in the corporate practice, and I've never run into any "screamers" here or even heard of similar experiences from my colleagues. And trust me, we'd talk about it. We all rotate groups regularly the first two years and word like that travels extremely fast. If you've actually heard verifiable stories of associates being berated or bullied here, then that's a real bummer and hopefully that partner is no longer here. A rising 2L with insider knowledge about a firm that one of its attorneys has never heard though... Makes me wonder if these stories you've heard are just the generic third-hand accounts from the law school rumor mill that are thrown around about every firm depending on who the student is interviewing with.

Third, "stories from clients who... quickly moved on to the other three (whereas I have heard none of this from the other three)..." - just lol. The legal market is small here and we all know each other. I've been across from the same deal teams from Cooley, Goodwin, STB, and Latham several times over. (Interestingly enough, I still have never been across from Fenwick or Gunderson on anything... but looking forward to it when I get the opportunity.) You've never heard of clients switching between firms? I could name recent IPO pitches we've won from each of the other three native firms, and I'm sure it happens at the start-up level as well. Of course we lose clients for various reasons, as does every law firm. Just the nature of business, personalities, etc.

Fourth, "WSGR is less startup-focused than the other three" - wait, what? We have 3,000+ private company clients and pick up another 10+ every day based on the new matters e-mails I get. Yes, some portion of that includes later stage pre-IPO companies, but I promise you we are swimming in start-up work if that is what a summer candidate is looking for. Summers here regularly jump right into incorporations and early-stage financings. And then you're dinging WSGR for having more mature clients? That's our whole business model here - we serve clients at every stage of their life cycle.

OP -- a lot in this thread is just wildly inaccurate, most importantly the "widely considered to be the worst of the four" comment. If that doesn't cause someone to lose credibility in this thread, I'm not sure if anything will. Come back for a second look. Talk to actual practicing attorneys, talk to in-house counsel, talk to entrepreneurs... But I'd definitely take the word of a rising 2L with a grain of salt, especially one who has a shockingly distorted view of the Bay Area legal market for someone who attends law school here.

Let me know if you head back this way for a second look and I'll take you out to lunch/coffee - also happy to discuss exit opps I've seen and introduce you to alums in Southern California. Most importantly, congrats on those options for your summer - I don't think you can go wrong. Just based on your stated objectives, I'd probably go Cooley/WSGR over Weil in your case.

[Anonymous User]

Can someone speak to exit option differences?

I have an offer at Cooley NY, and wondering if it would be similar as the SF office.

[Anonymous User]

Cooley>Weil>WSGR

Thanks! Do you think you could elaborate a little bit?

WSGR has lost a TON of people to other tech-oriented firms and is now widely considered to be the worst of the four (Gunderson, Cooley, Fenwick, and WSGR). Further, I have heard horror stories from there, which is part of the reason while many people from my school go the other three, no one goes to WSGR anymore.

Just lol... what school do you go to? And what "horror stories" have you heard?

One of HYS. Stories of associates being berated, horrible partners and also stories from clients who had hired them to do financings or fund formations and quickly moved on to the other three (whereas I have heard none of this from the other three). Also WSGR is less startup-focused than the other three, as it has moved to more mature clients.

I generally don't react to posts like yours, but this one just has too much misinformation to let slide.

First, based on your post history, you're a rising 2L at S. Not sure why you want to hide that here when you've posted it elsewhere.

Second, "stories of associates being berated, horrible partners..." Since we're just sticking to anecdotal evidence, here is just a counterpoint: I'm a junior associate at WSGR PA in the corporate practice, and I've never run into any "screamers" here or even heard of similar experiences from my colleagues. And trust me, we'd talk about it. We all rotate groups regularly the first two years and word like that travels extremely fast. If you've actually heard verifiable stories of associates being berated or bullied here, then that's a real bummer and hopefully that partner is no longer here. A rising 2L with insider knowledge about a firm that one of its attorneys has never heard though... Makes me wonder if these stories you've heard are just the generic third-hand accounts from the law school rumor mill that are thrown around about every firm depending on who the student is interviewing with.

Third, "stories from clients who... quickly moved on to the other three (whereas I have heard none of this from the other three)..." - just lol. The legal market is small here and we all know each other. I've been across from the same deal teams from Cooley, Goodwin, STB, and Latham several times over. (Interestingly enough, I still have never been across from Fenwick or Gunderson on anything... but looking forward to it when I get the opportunity.) You've never heard of clients switching between firms? I could name recent IPO pitches we've won from each of the other three native firms, and I'm sure it happens at the start-up level as well. Of course we lose clients for various reasons, as does every law firm. Just the nature of business, personalities, etc.

Fourth, "WSGR is less startup-focused than the other three" - wait, what? We have 3,000+ private company clients and pick up another 10+ every day based on the new matters e-mails I get. Yes, some portion of that includes later stage pre-IPO companies, but I promise you we are swimming in start-up work if that is what a summer candidate is looking for. Summers here regularly jump right into incorporations and early-stage financings. And then you're dinging WSGR for having more mature clients? That's our whole business model here - we serve clients at every stage of their life cycle.

OP -- a lot in this thread is just wildly inaccurate, most importantly the "widely considered to be the worst of the four" comment. If that doesn't cause someone to lose credibility in this thread, I'm not sure if anything will. Come back for a second look. Talk to actual practicing attorneys, talk to in-house counsel, talk to entrepreneurs... But I'd definitely take the word of a rising 2L with a grain of salt, especially one who has a shockingly distorted view of the Bay Area legal market for someone who attends law school here.

Let me know if you head back this way for a second look and I'll take you out to lunch/coffee - also happy to discuss exit opps I've seen and introduce you to alums in Southern California. Most importantly, congrats on those options for your summer - I don't think you can go wrong. Just based on your stated objectives, I'd probably go Cooley/WSGR over Weil in your case.

OP here.
Wow, thank you for such a thorough response! Unfortunately, I start school soon so I won't be able to do a second look but I really appreciate the offer. I'm heavily leaning towards Cooley/WSGR right now.

[Anonymous User]

If you want to be in CA - Cooley/WSGR, if you want to be in NY, Weil. If you're set on tech related work - Cooley/WSGR.

With regards to the Cooley v WSGR discussion in this thread - I think the earlier poster was clearly wrong in saying WSGR is the worst of the SV firms. They're peers in most regards.

However, Cooley is generally regarded locally and nationally as a quickly ascending firm, while WSGR is currently treading water/declining depending on who you talk to. All you have to look at is the recent move of laterals from WSGR to other SV shops - Cooley en masse, Goodwin, Latham, etc.

That's not to say WSGR isn't still a great firm to be at for corporate work - it definitely is - but their relative decline along with the lukewarm workplace culture (i.e. the best you'll ever hear from many associates is "it's not nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be") doesn't seem to be a great combo going forward if your decision is between them and Cooley.