Another Offer, and Some Hard Choices

I spent yesterday in NYC, interviewing at firm C, which was originally my second choice, and which now, through the permutations of OCI, has become my first choice. :)

I really liked the firm. It is in a less flashy, touristy part of town, smaller, and has a very elegant office. There is gorgeous artwork displayed on the wall, beautiful dark wood paneling everywhere, and very expensive-looking rugs everywhere. The chairs, couches, and tables all look like antiques - they have silk, embroidered covers and heavy wood frames. Closets are hidden by wood paneling; walls have wood accents; overhead lighting in the hall are recessed and muted. Everything screamed "Old, affluent New York." This is in sharp contrast to the corporate sterility of the firm S, where I was at last week.

Firm C had an all day interview process that at first sounded very intimidating, but which turned out to be a very good thing, since you are able to talk to the partners at your leisure and are not constrained by time. This means that as long as the conversation is going well, you can ask every questions that occurs to you to your heart's content. One of the partners and I ended up talking for nearly two hours, completely losing track of time and pushing my lunch back almost an hour. The two poor associates who were supposed to take me out to lunch had to wait until 1:30 and must have been starved.

The partners at C all seemed intellectual, energetic, impressive, and humane. That last part I was not expecting, but was pleased to find. Every partner also explained the firm's unique philosophy to me, which, I increasingly realized as the day went on, is really a unique system which sets their firm apart from others. The rules and institution of the firm are designed to eliminate destructive individual competition among partners and among associates, and make people more loyal to the firm as an institution. As far as I can tell, this system has worked. Even people I have met who no longer work at the firm (what the firm calls "alumni") have very positive things to say about firm C. People seem to really believe in their system and feel a great deal of loyalty and pride.

Firm C gave me an offer at the end of my interviews. I was of course very happy. On the way to the airport, I realized that there is a very good chance I will go there, and that the interviews next week are likely to be a waste of time. So, today, I sat down and cancelled most of my interviews next week except for one. I was planning to spend nearly the entire week in NY, but now I will actually be in C-Town for most of the week.

The only thing that is not ideal about firm C is its domesticness. In spite of being one of the elite firms, it has no (NO!) Asia office and does not have plans to have one. Since I may be interested in practicing law overseas, I am a bit worried that C's domesticness could very quickly become something I find frustrating. In this sense, firm S's sprawling offices and aggressive expansion may fit better with my goals (not to mention that I am rather enamored by the idea of spending a summer in Hong Kong!) Boyfriend and I spent some time last night discussing this, and he wrote me a long email dissecting the situation this morning. He thinks that firm C's failure to expand into the Asian market means that in spite of its eliteness, it will become increasingly marginalized in the next few decades. I'm really not sure what to think.

So, some hard choices ahead, but at least I have got some good options and a MUCH easier flyout week than I had previously expected. Next week, I expect to do a lot of catching up on work, and even more catching up on sleep! :D