Dechert LLP.

Pros:

Former Employee, more than 1 yearGreat Place to Work!Associate RecommendProsThe firm provided great training and opportunitiesConsThe hours were long as with most big firms.

Favorite Things About this Firm:

Friendly and business oriented staff

Advice to law firm management:

Continue to teach associates to write well; Insist on the highest quality legal writing. Continue to have Partners and senior associates review and edit your briefs until they are best possible. Teach associates will to revise their briefs 5 or more times. This will teach them to think as well as write 2. Ensure Partners treat associates and staff with respect. 3.Fire any associate who seeks to undermine another associates career to get ahead. 4. Continue excellent pro bono work, such as exoneration of wrongfully convicted man who spent years in penitentiary. Bravo.

Pros:

1. Insistence on the highest quality legal writing. Partners and senior associates will review and edit your briefs until they are best possible. You will learn to revise your briefs 5 or more times. This will teach you to think as well as write 2. Partners will treat you with respect. 3. Your fellow associates will be personable. It is the rare associate who will seek to undermine your career to get ahead

Cons:

Ocassionaly you will encounter the following: an associates who will seek to undermine your career to get ahead; a partner who will put huge pressure on you, but never commend your work, firm policy and promises of respect, mutual respect and teamwork will never filter down; firm has expanded to point where original culture has dissipated; the golden handcuffs syndrome. Litigators will seldom try a case except in pro bono matters (includes partners).

Career Opportunities:

Compensation & Benefits:

Work/Life Balance:

Senior Management:

Culture & Values:

Length of Employment:

8-10 years

Advice to law firm management:

Work to improve relationships and opportunities for the advancement of your (very tiny) minority of people of color at the firm and your retention problems will improve. We leave because you are creating an environment where most of us don't feel welcome, and in some cases, we feel that certain partners deliberately undermine us.

Pros:

This is a well-respected global law firm, with good work, excellent pay and good benefits. Despite its inhospitable atmosphere for people of color, it is very accepting of members of the LGBTQ community.

Cons:

There is limited opportunity for minorities. Minorities are routinely excluded from opportunity, and in some cases actively disparaged by white partners (behind their backs). People of color don't really feel welcome and for that reason very rarely stay more than two years.

Partners to Avoid and Why:

Alison Fumai is one to avoid. In the interest of full disclosure, I never worked with her, but she definitely seems to have a problem with people of color and seems to both pick fights with them and to try to prevent them from getting proper training and opportunity. She is also now the hiring partner (that may be why Dechert seems to only have minority hiring through Diversity fellowships). She also has a reputation for being notoriously difficult to work with because she makes unreasonable demands by expecting associates to complete assignments without adequate notice or time.

Favorite Things About this Firm:

There are some good people and there are some very good lawyers to learn from. Certain departments in the firm are truly world-class, but people don't give minority lawyers the opportunity to meaningfully participate in meetings, top end work . . . and often fail to invite them to social events . . .

Advice to law firm management:

The firm should work on offering a better salary for hard working employees. Management needs to take some training classes on how to provide better support to its staff and employees.

Pros:

A law firm in which the staff and employees have made a working environment that is pleasant. The employee and staff come together to effectively work as a unit and deliver great work.

Cons:

The firm really does not do a great job of recognizing and appreciating the administration that works very hard. The amount of work per pay is very low. Management does not offer support needed in the office.

Advice to law firm management:

Get litigation people to run the firm. Treat employees better.

Pros:

The people are friendly and the work is interesting. The company has been constantly growing.

Cons:

There is a terrible work-life balance and a lack of respect from senior staff and management. There are a lot of office politics.

Advice to law firm management:

Please consider some sort of formal program to help new employees advance within the firm, and make sure that senior members of the firm treat everyone with respect.

Pros:

Please Treat Employees Better

Cons:

Senior associates and partners do not always treat juniors with respect and, while expectations are well set, there is not a very good support system in place to help employees advance within the firm.