The Acritas' US Law Firm Brand Index 2014 is out and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom took the top spot for the third consecutive year. Jones Day, too, held...
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Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
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According to number of attorneys Skadden is the tenth largest law firm in the world, the sixth largest in the United States and the second largest in the city of New York. It has almost 1900 attorneys spread across 23 offices.
Skadden has its own corporate culture, and in a serious departure from overnight big law firms, Skadden has never acquired a practice group larger than six attorneys. It stays away from big mergers and depends upon growth from within the firm rather than upon growth hired by large mergers. The policy seems curious to many given that mergers & acquisitions is the biggest practice area of Skadden.
At Skadden, there is a strong focus on the development of internal human resources and the firm provides mentoring programs, training seminars and lectures to develop and assimilate incoming associates and attorneys.
Skadden's extreme focus on talent development and retention can be seen from its strategies and programs like 'Sidebar.' The 'Sidebar' program allows attorneys in good standing with the firm to leave the firm for up to three years, allowed to continue attending firm programs such as networking and legal seminars, and return within three years to their respective departments.
It is difficult to visualize such extreme focus on talent retention as the Sidebar Plus program at Skadden. Under the program, associates can leave the firm for a year to go for public interest or other opportunities while continuing to receive one-third of their base salary, student loan payments and reimbursements of COBRA payments.
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Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
5 Star Rating 
4 reviews
| Year of establishment | 1948 | Number of partners | 349 |
| Number of offices | 23 | Partner to associate ratio | 0.30 |
| Biggest office | New York City | Percentage of women attorneys | 38.90 |
| Number of attorneys | 1744 | Percentage of minority attorneys | 18.10 |
| Number of associates | 1332 | Percentage of LGBT attorneys | 3.20 |
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP Reviews
Current Employee
- Reviewed on July 26, 2018
Advice to law firm management: My hope is that the firm continues to foster connections with alumni and have clear conversations with associates regarding career growth beyond the partnership track.
Pros: Great place to work. You will work hard, but there are many opportunities available for self-growth. The clients are incredible, although the work is often high stakes.
Cons: The hours are similar to any big law firm and there is a lot of work to get through on weekends.
Partners to Avoid and Why: Partners are incredibly hard working and the work itself can be very demanding. Often pressure from clients is trickled down to associates, but generally there are no partners to avoid.
Favorite Things About this Firm: The people are smart, hard working and the best in the field. The firm does a lot to support its attorneys and the benefits are great for working parents.
Current or former employee?: Current Employee
Job type: Full time
Pros: Great place to work. You will work hard, but there are many opportunities available for self-growth. The clients are incredible, although the work is often high stakes.
Cons: The hours are similar to any big law firm and there is a lot of work to get through on weekends.
Partners to Avoid and Why: Partners are incredibly hard working and the work itself can be very demanding. Often pressure from clients is trickled down to associates, but generally there are no partners to avoid.
Favorite Things About this Firm: The people are smart, hard working and the best in the field. The firm does a lot to support its attorneys and the benefits are great for working parents.
Current or former employee?: Current Employee
Job type: Full time
Former Employee
- Reviewed on December 16, 2017
Advice to law firm management: Find a balance with work and life. There are many responsibilities expected from you when you work at this firm, while it can feel rewarding, it becomes exhausting. Keep track of your superiors if you are in need of questions being answered."
Pros: A great work environment that makes you feel productive. The work here is demanding, but rewarding. The staff is great and goes out of their way to work around your needs. There is room for growth and overall I had a great time working here.
Cons: Hours here are long and tedious. With so much work expected from you, at times it can become difficult to get responses from superiors.
Current or former employee?: Former Employee
Pros: A great work environment that makes you feel productive. The work here is demanding, but rewarding. The staff is great and goes out of their way to work around your needs. There is room for growth and overall I had a great time working here.
Cons: Hours here are long and tedious. With so much work expected from you, at times it can become difficult to get responses from superiors.
Current or former employee?: Former Employee
Overview
With 23 offices, approximately 1,600 attorneys and more than 40 distinct areas of practice, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and affiliates serves clients in every major international financial center, providing the specific legal advice companies across a spectrum of industries need to compete most effectively in a global business environment. Our clients include approximately 50 percent of the Fortune 250 industrial and service corporations, as well as financial and governmental entities, small, entrepreneurial companies and nonprofits. Skadden’s attorneys and staff share a commitment to providing our clients with the highest-quality and most cost-effective legal services in an atmosphere emphasizing teamwork, creativity, responsiveness and diversity.
Practice Areas
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP practices law in the following areas and works with its clients to provide the best possible legal solutions.
- Accounting
- Advertising Litigation And Substantiation
- Africa
- Anti Bribery And Fcpa Defense And Compliance
- Antitrust And Competition
- Appellate Litigation And Legal Issues
- Asia Pacific
- Australia And New Zealand
- Banking
- Brazil
- Canada
- Cfius
- China
- Class Action Litigation
- Climate Change
- Communications
- Consumer Financial Services
- Copyright And Trademark Litigation
- Corporate
- Corporate And M&A
- Corporate Finance
- Corporate Restructuring
- Cross Border Investigations
- Derivatives
- Energy And Infrastructure Projects
- Energy Regulation And Litigation
- Energy Tax
- Environmental
- Europe
- European Union
- International Competition
- Executive Compensation And Benefits
- Exempt And Nonprofit Organizations
- False Claims Act Defense
- Financial Institutions
- Financial Institutions Regulation And Enforcement
- Gaming
- Global Policy And Litigation Strategy
- Government Enforcement And White Collar Crime
- Health Care And Life Sciences
- Health Care Regulatory Compliance
- Hong Kong Law
- India
- Insurance
- Intellectual Property
- Intellectual Property And Technology
- Intellectual Property Litigation
- International Litigation And Arbitration
- International Tax
- International Trade
- Investment Management
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Korea
- Labor And Employment Law
- Latin America
- Litigation
- Litigation And Enforcement
- Mass Torts Insurance And Consumer Litigation
- Media And Entertainment
- Mergers And Acquisitions
- Mining
- Outsourcing
- Patent Litigation
- Political Law
- Privacy And Cybersecurity
- Private Equity
- Pro Bono
- Real Estate
- Real Estate Investment Trusts
- Russia And Cis
- Securities Enforcement And Compliance
- Securities Litigation
- Securities Regulation And Corporate Governance
- Southeast Asia
- Sports
- Structured Finance
- Tax
- Tax Controversy And Litigation
- Trusts And Estates
- Ucc And Secured Transactions
- Utilities Mergers And Acquisitions
Hiring Criteria
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP follows the set of hiring criteria outlined below.
Like other top law firms, Skadden places importance on grades, but a lot remains after that. While school pedigree and grades are the beginning of trying to put your foot into Skadden, they can only ensure a call back. Personality, social interaction skills, mindset, and alignment of interests with firm requirements spell the difference between getting hired at Skadden or not. The Skadden hiring motto seems to be asking "everyone's got high grades and they are all smart and hard-working, what makes you different?" From insider experiences, Skadden goes for people who are team workers and have charisma, even if they are not toppers at their school.
Pro bono
Skadden is a charter signatory to the American Bar Association Pro Bono Challenge with pledges to commit attorney time equivalent to minimum three percent of the firm's billable hours in pro bono matters. Skadden also operates two externships, one with the Lawyers Alliance for New York and the other with the Legal Aid Society's Community Law Office. The externships operate on a rotating basis.
Skadden has always been committed to Pro bono work. Even from the founding days of the law firm, founding partners like Les Arps and Joe Floms had been associated with public service. From the 80s, Skadden has a senior lawyer devote a big part of his time only on coordinating the pro bono efforts of the firm. Skadden offices in New York and Washington D.C. provide small non-profits and low-income individuals with attorneys on a rotating basis. In addition to pro bono work Skadden also supports charitable endeavors and remains active on civic and community boards and institutions.
The Skadden Fellowship Foundation provides at least 25 two-year fellowships each year to talented young attorneys for full time pursuance of public interest law. The Financial Times ranked Skadden in the top tier of the Responsible Business Category in its 2010 "U.S. Innovative Lawyers" report.
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Notable cases
- Skadden has won several major victories for its clients in the corporate sector. It was instrumental in securing rescue for the CIT Group during the 2008 financial crises, by arranging for the largest prepackaged bankruptcy solicitation till date.
- Skadden has also secured a win for its client, Fresh Del Monte Produce in April 2012 against Del Monte Foods Co. At the end of the two-week trial, the jury found that the company had the exclusive right under the parties' contract to use the Del Monte trademark on certain refrigerated preserved fruit. The company also got a verdict in its favor in five out of six Lanham Act false advertising claims against Del Monte Foods'.
- Skadden represented Sprint Nextel Corp. when the company opposed AT&T's proposed merger with T-Mobile USA Inc. AT&T later dropped the proposed deal after the Department of Justice, FCC and some state attorney generals got involved.
- Skadden has been chosen to represent the newest country in the world - Republic of South Sudan, in its negotiations with the Republic of Sudan over the former's oil sector. The firm is also helping South Sudan in creating arrangements with international oil companies over production and transportation issues.
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP Awards and Recognitions
This March, in one of its latest recognitions, Skadden was selected as Chambers Global's Law Firm of the Year: USA. Also in March, 2012, Skadden was honored by the Global Arbitration Review. In February, 2012, Skadden was named Asia-Pacific '2012 Client Service Firm of the Year' by Chambers. The Awards and Recognitions list of Skadden is nearly endless, but some that require mention includes: Being ranked the 6th largest US law firm in 2010 by the National Law Journal, and being selected consecutively for the past six years as the best corporate law firm in the U.S. by Corporate Board Member magazine and FTI Consulting.
Diversity
As a truly global law firm Skadden strongly focuses on nursing diversity and has a Diversity Committee in place. Associates and attorneys serve on the Attorney Diversity Committee which works with the firm's principal Diversity Committee to create programs and projects for recruitment, development, and community involvement of attorneys.
Skadden and the City College of New York have created a program called the The Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom Honors Program in Legal Studies to help talented students of diverse racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Summer associate program
Skadden does a lot of on-campus recruitment and works with law school affinity groups to assess and recruit talent. In the U.S., Skadden runs programs and projects targeted at the student community conjointly with organizations like Asian Pacific American Law Students Associations, Black Law Students Associations, Latino Law Students Associations, OUTLaws (for LGBT students) and Women's Law Students Associations. The Skadden 1L Scholars Program, to be launched in New York, summer 2012 would be starting a paid internship for law students from diverse backgrounds.
Working for the Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
According to number of attorneys Skadden is the tenth largest law firm in the world, the sixth largest in the United States and the second largest in the city of New York. It has almost 1900 attorneys spread across 23 offices.
Skadden has its own corporate culture, and in a serious departure from overnight big law firms, Skadden has never acquired a practice group larger than six attorneys. It stays away from big mergers and depends upon growth from within the firm rather than upon growth hired by large mergers. The policy seems curious to many given that mergers & acquisitions is the biggest practice area of Skadden.
At Skadden, there is a strong focus on the development of internal human resources and the firm provides mentoring programs, training seminars and lectures to develop and assimilate incoming associates and attorneys.
Skadden's extreme focus on talent development and retention can be seen from its strategies and programs like 'Sidebar.' The 'Sidebar' program allows attorneys in good standing with the firm to leave the firm for up to three years, allowed to continue attending firm programs such as networking and legal seminars, and return within three years to their respective departments.
It is difficult to visualize such extreme focus on talent retention as the Sidebar Plus program at Skadden. Under the program, associates can leave the firm for a year to go for public interest or other opportunities while continuing to receive one-third of their base salary, student loan payments and reimbursements of COBRA payments.
Articles
Michele A. Roberts Has Been One of the Nation’s Best Civil Attorneys for the Past Thirty-Three Years
Professional Overview Michele A. Roberts is a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP, in Washington, D.C. She is a well-respected trial lawyer ...
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References
http://www.skadden.com/
http://www.lawfirmstats.com/
http://www.nalpdirectory.com/
http://www.wikipedia.org/
