Gibson Dunn & Crutcher Reviews

Pros

Accomplished attorneys to work with and exciting and sophisticated client work so you can learn a lot. Collegial environment and nice people to work with. Good support staff and great pay.

Cons

As with most law firms it's difficult for true work/life balance. Vacations can be interrupted by work and returning emails or phone calls.

Advice to Senior Management

Give associates a better idea of how likely they are to make partner. Good job with keeping associates informed of financials and future plans for firm.

Pros

Fantastic lawyers, will get you great legal experience.

Cons

The general tone of the firm is elitist and snobby.

Pros

The learning experience for the first week was nice

Cons

Some people there were very rude

Pros

overtime compensation, friendly support staff, etc.

Cons

no support for the marketing department

Advice to Senior Management

commitment to marketing and better handling of partner personality differences

Pros

The people are fantastically talented and personable. The work is as high-level as it gets. The pay and benefits are generous, and the firm is conservatively managed (financially).

Cons

The downside is the same as with all big law firms: the hours are very long, it is becoming more and more difficult to make partner, and it can be very stressful at times.

Advice to Senior Management

Try to ensure that there is equity across the offices with regard to sharing of work, and attempt to be more transparent in decision-making.

Pros

Well-regarded corporate practice & involved in some interesting deals.

Cons

Some partners are great to work for; others not so much..... Be prepared to monitor your blackberry 24/7.

Advice to Senior Management

Senior management seemed ok. Problems were more at the deal-level with individual partners.

Pros

Quality of work is fantastic; ability to balance work and family.

Cons

There's an expectation to be "on call" most of the time, including evenings and weekends.

Advice to Senior Management

Nothing here I can think of.

Pros

Good pay, job security (no attorney layoffs, unlike most other firms), generally very nice people, probably more laid-back than other New York BigLaw offices (although that's not saying much).

Cons

The work is mind-numbing, you're on call all the time, the office space is awful (roaches in the bathrooms), there is little formal training.

Advice to Senior Management

Be careful about managing growth. The office has grown dramatically since I joined, and management needs to make sure to maintain Gibson's culture in the face of that growth.

Pros

The salaries and vacation time are great, from attorney level down to staff, and opportunities to work on complex and interesting projects are all over the place.

Cons

Even though the work is interesting, there's too much of it and management does not have a friendly eye toward maintaining a work-life balance.

Advice to Senior Management

Take more care to disseminate information down from the top, which will help lower level staff to take on more responsilbility and achieve more for the firm.

Pros

Only very smart people work here from top to bottom. Training is excellent and anyone paying attention will have the chance to learn a tremendous amount. Everyone is treated fairly on a day to day basis.

Cons

There is little to no chance for promotion to partner. Also, the firm does not want any input from associates or staff about how the firm is run or on HR policies.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't treat associates as cows tht can be hooked up to the milk machines until then run dry and then replaced by new cows when they drop dead from dehydration. Offer some sort of path toward potential partnership for lawyers who come in and work hard perfroming mistake-free work for a decade.