TOP 97th LAW FIRM-Squire, Sanders, & Dempsey

[Keny]

TOP 97th LAW FIRM-Squire, Sanders, & Dempsey

4900 Key Tower

127 Public Square

Cleveland, OH 44114-1304

Phone: (216) 479-8500

www.ssd.com

LOCATIONS

Cleveland, OH (HQ) · Cincinnati, OH · Columbus, OH ·

Houston, TX · Los Angeles, CA · Miami, FL · New

York, NY · Palo Alto, CA · Phoeniz, AZ · San

Francisco, CA · Tampa, FL · Tysons Corner, VA ·

Washington, DC · Beijing · Bratislava · Brussels ·

Budapest · Hong Kong · Kyiv · London · Madrid ·

Milan · Moscow · Prague · Rio de Janeiro · Taipei ·

Tokyo

MAJOR DEPARTMENTS/PRACTICES

Business Law · Commercial Litigation ·

Communications · Energy · Environmental Law ·

General Practice · Health Care & Life Sciences ·

Intellectual Property · International Business Law ·

International Dispute Resolution · Labor & Employment

Law · Mergers & Acquisitions · Municipal Bond/Public

Authority Financing · Real Estate · Restructuring/

Bankruptcy · Securities Law · Tax Law

THE STATS

No.of attorney : 750

No.of offices : 27

Summer associate offers : 31 out of 37 (2002)

Chairman : R. Thomas Stanton

Hiring Partner : Joseph M.Crabb

THE BUZZ

WHAT ATTORNEYS AT OTHER FIRM ARE SAYING ABOUT THIS FIRM

·                     "Congenial atmosphere"

·                     "Run of the mill"

·                     "Good international coverage"

·                     "Struggling to get to the next level"

NOTABLE PERKS

·                     Donuts every Friday morning

·                     Bar review expenses

EMPLOYMENT CONTACT

Ms. Jane C. Murphy

Legal Personnel & Prof. Development Manager

Phone : (216) 802-7571

E-mail : jamurphy@ssd.com

BASE SALARY

Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, OH; Phoenix, AZ

───────────────────────────────

1st year : $ 110,000

Los Angeles, Palo Alto, San Francisco, CA;

Washington, DC

───────────────────────────────

1st year : $ 125,000

THE SCOOP

──────────────

Founded in 1890, Squire, Sanders & Dempsey has charted a path of steady growth. The firm has

more than 750 attorneys in 27 locations worldwide, including a prominent practice in Eastern

Europe and Russia. Recent clients include the official committee of Enron's unsecured creditors.

Attorneys in the firm's Cleveland office executed a full court press against the Ohio High School

Athletic Association. The OHSAA had revoked teenage hoops sensation LeBron James' amateur

eligibility after he accepted some collectible jerseys as a gift from the owner of a local sporting

goods store. Squire got James back in his uniform in time for the state championships.

GETTING HIRED

──────────────

"Standards are high" at Squire, and one associate passes along rumors the firm "will turn down a

candidate from a top-ten law school if they don't think the writing sample is up to par." Other

sources confirm‎ Squire "tends to favor candidates from very highly regarded law schools" with "an

emphasis on prior judicial clerkships or significant writing experience." An insider in Phoenix

considers Squire "the most competitive [in the city] with respect to hiring." A colleague there

agrees, adding, "In this economy, only litigators are being hired." But, a midlevel associate

stresses, "It's not a snobby place." As a lateral hire, he recalls, "they seemed to put far greater

emphasis on my previous experience than on grades or the prestige of my law school."

OUR SURVEY SAYS

──────────────

"Anything goes" at Squire, where "you are free to be yourself as long as you do the work and put

in the time." Attorneys in offices out west suggest they are "much more laid back" than their Ohio

counterparts, with one San Francisco associate revealing she and her colleagues "typically do lunch

or midday coffee runs" together. It's not a party scene, though; the "quiet and somewhat intense"

associates "skew nerdy" (at least in Cleveland) and "rarely socialize after hours." "Time demands

are high" throughout the firm, and "the large billable requirement [2,000 hours] doesn't leave much

time for anything else." Some suggest the problem isn't how much they're expected to work, but

the "extremely slow workload" that makes meeting the goal difficult. Base salary is "highly

competitive," though insiders bemoan the "minimal discretionary" bonuses.

Squire partners are "very respectful of weekend and evening plans and try not to overburden you

if you let them know you have something coming up." But though everything is "smiles, smiles,

smiles" around the office, at least one litigator worries his bosses are so civil "you'd never know

if a partner was angry with you or dissatisfied with your work." One area in which associates

greatly appreciate partner input is their on-the-job training. "I have received more training in my

first year here than in three years at another firm," says one lateral hire. Another grateful attorney

declares, "I've never been thrown into a situation I felt I wasn't prepared to handle."