O'Melveny & Myers Reviews

Pros

Compensation is high, benefits are excellent, and work life balance is encouraged.

Cons

Promotions seems to not align with performance. Lack of business exposure or communication from top management regarding firm's directions or positions for short or long term.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue to hire top talents but allow them to be more involved with firm's initiatives to foster a one team environment.

Pros

Fair salaries and bonus', expert level coworkers in some positions

Cons

HR doesn't seem to have a seat at the firm leadership table.

Pros

Great place to work if you have a supportive suppervisor

Cons

If you don't have a supportive supervisor, it sucks and you want to die just to be able to get out of there.

Advice to Senior Management

Learn how to manage without resorting to fear. Fear is not a great long-term motivator.

Pros

Great people, a lot of responsibility, a lot of very interesting work, smart people, people from good schools, work life balance

Cons

law firm setting, keeping track of hours, billable hour stresses, lock step pay, little room for large bonuses, little room for fast advancement

Advice to Senior Management

I don't really have any advice for management. It is run very similarly to many large law firms. The model is fine.

Pros

The pay and benefits are good. Generally, there is recognition for a job well done (though it does depend on the attorneys one works for).

Cons

Women are not well represented in leadership positions. Administrative assistants are pigeonholed in their positions and their ability to do more than be assistants is rarely recognized. They are not encouraged to move beyond their positions into positions of management. There is huge talent pool that is left untapped.

Advice to Senior Management

Promote from within because there are many savvy and capable assistants working for you. Hire and promote more women and minorities - they are woefully underrepresented.

Pros

A lot of friendly people to chat and have lunch with when you get the chance to take a break.

Cons

A lot of politics. People don't do their work and try to blame others for not getting the job done.

Advice to Senior Management

Need to show a little more management skills by keeping track of exactly what your employees are doing at the office.

Pros

Company stability with a very long history. Firm attorney spend a lot of time working on pro bono cases, in part because the founders of the firm took the pro bono commitment very seriously. All members of staff, from copy clerks to partners, are treated with respect and consideration.

Cons

Sometimes the firm goes a little overboard when trying to keep certain things under wraps. A little more trust for support staff would be welcome.

Advice to Senior Management

Good job. It makes a huge difference when management holds themselves to the same standards that they expect from their staff and employees.

Pros

O'Melveny provides a good work environment. The partners are extremely bright and are eager to teach young lawyers. The firm name goes a long way on your resume. The clients you will work with are of the highest calibre. The best and brightest do work at this firm. There is little comparison to the quality of work.

Cons

Working at O'Melveny is demanding and the hours are long. There is little recognition for your efforts, except a bonus - which is nominal compared to the long hours required of associated. O'Melveny is not an entrepeneurial environment, but is an intellectual environment. By the time you are asked to bring in business, you have been locked in an office for 7 years and have lost all your people skills.

Advice to Senior Management

Senior Management should speak with the associates and counsel more freely. There is sometimes an us v. them environment. Profits per partner keep rising, while associate salaries have remained flat.

Pros

Working with the most talented, brilliant, motivated, thoughtful, and insightful attorneys in practice. The work is engaging and complicated and demanding and document review is outsourced. Heavy responsibility early in a career if desired.

Cons

Work-life balance is a euphemism for "no life." Experience varies widely based on the partners and clients that one serves. The work-coordination system does not encourage exploring practice areas of interest or working with partners of interest. Inconsistent feedback depending on reviewer.

Advice to Senior Management

Bonuses and benefits are very appealing, but development of associates depends on the leadership and communication skills of partners, which varies widely.

Pros

Great coworkers, great place to have come from. Good pay. Good reputation/pedigree.

Cons

Lawyers aren't the best managers. Training is sporadic and unorganized. This is a place for people that are willing/able to be self-taught. Lots of good senior, experienced lawyers to help, but training is far from their top priority. Hours are crazy, younger associates don't tend to get much responsibility. But by mid-level, plenty of responsibility on major matters.

Advice to Senior Management

None, really. I think they get what they want from relatively fungible associates. Maybe they could try to change the model? Clients are tired of paying for the pyramids of junior associate billing machines, just as associates are tired of grinding for years with only a speculative chance at a long term career with the firm.