Sometimes you talk about the law, sometimes not. I think people just want to get to know the person, share the laid-back atmosphere of the firm, and find new people that everyone can get along with. It was standard stuff, recalls a recent interviewee. They were chit-chatty. At that stage, the firm just wants you to meet people, so you know they re not shackled to their desks.
Associates report getting an offer about a week after the callbacks.
It s kind of like Hey, we re in town, let s get together. They take associate concerns very seriously. Maybe so, but it wasn t always that way. In the mid-1990s, surveys by The American Lawyer pegged the firm as the worst lifestyle firm in D.C. Associates complained of abusive partners and scanty training. One associate points out that the firm has instituted a system through which you fill out anonymous evaluations of each partner you ve worked with.