Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP - The Inside View

Although Sheppard Mullin has over a century’s load of history behind it, let’s get one thing straight: it wasn’t just the years of prestige behind its name that attracted budding associates. Rather, it was the firm’s entrepreneurial spirit that drew in its juniors: “When I was looking, I wanted the people to be interesting and collaborative in developing skills.” The firm’s chilled-out feel continued to sway associates, as “they were more relaxed than other firms. There seemed to be less of a hierarchy and a more relaxed office environment around things like wearing casual clothes.” One insider put it simply: “It was such a Cali vibe, I loved it!”

“It was such a Cali vibe, I loved it!”

Don't be mistaken though – this firm is no laid back larry. Sources were quick to add that “this is still very much a BigLaw firm.” And according to Chambers USA, they aren’t wrong. In California alone, Sheppard sweeps up gold medals in energy, corporate/M&A, insurance, and commercial litigation, and the firm is also recognized for its strong private wealth disputes work in the Cali area. Its prowess extends beyond the Sunshine State, though. Across the US, the firm is known for government contracts, healthcare, intellectual property, labor & employment, and media and entertainment, as evidenced by this interviewee: “I knew the firm had a strong litigation and IP department, so I was enticed by that.”

The firm has 12 offices in the US with the majority nestled comfortably on the West Coast. A good portion of associates on our list were housed in Century City, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Del Mar, New York, and San Fransisco. The remaining few were based between Dallas, Chicago, and Orange County.

Strategy & Future

For Sheppard Mullin, the plan is to grow, grow, grow, as Lucantonio Salvi, chair of the firm’s executive committee, tells us: “Our strategic plan is our big driver… We call it Project 2025, and it focuses on all aspects of growth in leadership, operations, and our people.” And although 2023 held plenty of uncertainty for firms, Sheppard Mullin was unfazed. “We grew,” Salvi informs us, as “our practice mix is an intentional balance of litigation and transactional work which strategically positions us to face whatever the market, the economy, and our clients require in the future.”

Beyond that, the firm has been focusing on being at the forefront of developments in AI, since “we actually started investing in AI years and years ago,” Salvi shares, “but now with its advancements and the introduction of GenAI, this has been accelerated and we have implemented training programs to facilitate adoption and use of the new technology.” He reassures us that “we don’t believe AI will replace the important work we do completely. Instead, we have invested across platforms making sure we put in guideposts to use it responsibly to support clients. We have an AI Governance Committee as well as AI-focused technology teams” who have been “using AI tools externally that have been developed, and then developing internally to create tech for clients to better serve areas such as litigation and transactional, and helping develop use cases to provide the highest quality legal work in the most efficient manner to our clients.” In fact, alongside in-house developers, the firm has even “created a proprietary GenAI platform we refer to as Pantheon,” Salvi details. “It is available firmwide, allowing attorneys and staff to be more efficient and productive performing routine tasks and administrative work while focusing on high-level, sophisticated legal work.”

The Work

When it comes to work allocation, most practice groups operate as a free market system. For litigation associates, “I found I had to knock on doors and introduce myself to get work. It was a great way to talk to partners and jive with personalities to see if they were someone you wanted to work with.” On the transactional side, associates were said to receive a first assignment upon arrival, and “I’ve gotten work through that ever since,” one interviewee told us. In corporate, juniors can spend a year taking on work from other teams before settling on a specialty (but note that some do stay generalists). The free-market approach was well received by sources: “On day one, a centralized system would have been nice, but I do think they do it on purpose. They don’t want to pigeonhole you, so it does allow for flexibility. By week three, I got it!”

In the labor & employment group, juniors can get their hands on direct litigation, discrimination, harassment, and class action work. They told us that the work is pretty litigation-heavy, but the team does dabble in advising and counseling. “I have been able to do a little bit of drafting motions, investigations and even work on employee handbooks!” enthused one interviewee. However, most of the meat on these juniors’ platters was pure litigation: “There is a lot of discovery – like, a lot. But I went the whole first year without doing document review, which is unheard of!” Other typical tasks include writing motions, legal research to support a motion, and drafting memos for internal and external use. Associates over on the West Coast spoke of a considerable amount of cross-team collaboration in the practice, with one sharing that “there is lots of collaborating across the country here. If we have bigger clients, associates and partners can be pulled together from anywhere.” After all, there’s no ‘I’ in team (or labor & employment!)

Labor & employment clients: Lyft, Marriott International, American Express. Represented In-N-Out Burger in multiple overlapping and competing PAGA (Private Attorneys General Act of 2004) actions.

“You aren’t just doing bits and pieces; you can be drafting a motion from start to finish so you’re involved in every step of the process…”

Juniors in intellectual property can get involved in patent, trademark, or copyright matters. This work is said to mainly center around different areas of technology and life science. These associates confirmed working across offices too, with San Fransisco, Del Mar, and DC getting shoutouts for their collaborative efforts. The Del Mar office was specifically praised for having strength in its FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) licensing: “Del Mar has a big IP presence.” Day-to-day life for IP juniors involves anything from researching a draft motion, completing document review, and client communication via phone call or email. “You aren’t just doing bits and pieces. You can be drafting a motion from start to finish so you’re involved in every step of the process, which is the best way to learn!” exclaimed one eager IP insider. Interviewees were keen to get involved in more patent work but were equally understanding that “because I don’t have a technical background, I would need to know more details before I could do this work.”

Intellectual property clients: Warner Music Group, Netflix, Spotify. Defended Bytedance and TikTok creators against an alleged infringement on a patent owned by 10Tales.

Career Development

Career development is said to start from day dot. Newbies are matched with a partner and senior associate mentor, which “was a huge resource for me – I learned so much from them.” But mentorship doesn’t stop there: “At this point I have about five mentors at the firm I would go to for professional advice informally through my relationships,” one commented. Others noted the firm’s affinity groups as “a great way to chat with people similar to you about your progress based on the factors in your life!”

So, what else is in store for juniors? There is a first-year boot camp where all new associates stay in a hotel overnight to meet other juniors and are given training on the basics of being an associate. Sounds like summer camp! The firm also hosts yearly retreats for each practice group to meet other lawyers of all levels across the US: “It sounds more fun but really, it is weekends of training and learning the next steps for your next role,” confirmed one event-goer. A recent addition to the firm is the introduction of the new directors of litigation and transactional training. Sources have wasted no time in utilizing them, as “they are a great resource for me to have one-to-one training on certain assignments and skills I should be building.”

Culture

“We work hard and sometimes the hours are grueling, but there is an underlying consistency of wellness and friendliness,” detailed one associate when we asked about the firm’s culture. The firm is said to have a “Cali-feel compared to East Coast firms, which is less intense.” When it comes to work, sources were glad to be a part of the team: “As a first year, I am not here to do the grunt work – I am genuinely a part of the team.” They also noted that compared to what they’ve heard from peers at other firms, “I have had a positive experience when I’m brought in at a critical minute and a part of critical decisions.” Socially, juniors can network in weekly lunches with their teams (“which is just to get food and chat, not to talk about work!”), and we also heard about office happy hours and biyearly out-of-office get togethers headed by the partners. Sources did note that while “this isn’t a party firm, people do make the effort to see people outside of work.”

Hours & Compensation

“I definitely wasn’t billing a lot in my first few months, so it takes the pressure off.”

Billable hours: 1,950 target

The firm’s billable hour structure was described as a “bit confusing,” so we asked our interviewees to break it down for us: “The billable target is 1,950. All your pro bono counts once you surpass 1,750. You also have 40 rest and recharge hours with 75 training hours once you hit 1,750.” The bonus scheme is said to start at around 1,815 hours for half bonuses, rising to full bonus at 1,850. Despite all of this, most sources highlighted that this is (thankfully) “something we can hit easily.” Associates praised that in their first year, they’re allowed to prorate their second six months. “This is awesome because it allows you to build up work in the beginning,” one insider hailed. “I definitely wasn’t billing a lot in my first few months, so it takes the pressure off.”

According to our survey, average weekly associate hours sit just below the market average at 47 hours. Most associates found they could maintain a healthy work-life balance, with some attributing this to the firm’s hybrid policy with three days expected in-office. Others pointed out that many partners and senior associates have families, “so there is an expectation for people to go home and have dinner with their families.” However, “there is also an expectation to respond promptly to emails into the evening and sometimes on weekends.”

Pro Bono

“Pro bono is super common; I’ve heard of associates doing hundreds of hours of pro bono!” said one junior. The firms allows associates to credit an unlimited amount of pro bono hours towards their billable target once they surpass 1,750 hours. There is a pro bono partner, Dan Brown, who was described as “amazing at coordinating everything and getting us rewarding work,” and Brown's passion for disability rights has led to several landmark cases for the firm such as the Center for Independence of the Disabled v Metropolitan Transportation Authority and The Taxis for All Campaign v New York Taxi and Limousine Commission. Examples of other pro bono opportunities available include asylum, criminal defense and trademark work, as well as work within local communities such as non-profits and religious groups. “From doing pro bono, I’ve been able to go to trial and have a really great experience while adding it to my billable hours as well,” said one pro bono aficionado. Although pro bono is assigned by the firm, associates can volunteer to participate in matters that are emailed around, so “people naturally want to do it, especially while you’re building skills in first year.”

Pro bono hours 

• For all US attorneys: 41,360
• Average per US attorney: 37

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

When asked about diversity at the firm, one associate praised: “I see a lot of diversity, such as equal amounts of women and people from all kinds of backgrounds, so the firm is definitely working on that!” We also heard that Sheppard Mullin continues to be Mansfield certified year-on-year, and another example of the firm’s efforts is their numerous affinity groups, including Women Attorneys, Attorneys of Color, LGBTQ+ Attorneys, and Veterans. The parental leave is “a great pull factor,” as 12 weeks can be taken off before delivery, followed by six to 12 weeks of fully paid leave and the opportunity for two more months of unpaid leave. “The policy is so accommodating that it doesn’t make it impossible for parents to get on the partnership track!” stated one happy future thinker.

“…the firm showed us the change in numbers, and we’ve had a significant increase in female attorneys.”

One area that insiders agreed that the firm excels in is women’s representation. “I went to a women’s law retreat recently where the firm showed us the change in numbers, and we’ve had a significant increase in female attorneys,” recalled one junior, who continued: “The firm would like to bump it up more, so it reflects our society.” Any events are mostly run by the affinity groups, “but the firm buys in and supports them.” Some of these events include happy hours and external speakers “with information on how to better the firm environment.” Despite all of this, some sources still thought that “there’s still a way to go.” They noted that “it is still a majoritively white office,” but quickly followed this with: “I think that’s a systemic issue that no one firm can avoid, but I do see the firm prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion for hiring.”

Get Hired 

The first stage: recruitment on and off campus  

OCI applicants interviewed: 930  

Sheppard Mullin attends OCIs at schools around the country, but UCLA and USC are typically top feeder schools due to the firm’s large presence in Southern California. Depending on the school, the firm may interview anywhere between ten and 150 students on campus. OCIs are conducted by a mix of partners and associates. Hiring sources at the firm tell us interviewers are evaluating candidates “on key characteristics such as communication, preparedness, academic credentials, prior work experience, technical skills, interest in our firm, interest in the law, leadership skills and drive.”  

Top tips: “Do your homework to find out what practice areas are hiring and explain why you want to practice in those specific areas.” – hiring sources at the firm  

Callbacks  

At the callback stage, candidates meet with four to six attorneys – again, a mix of both partners and associates. Most offices conduct virtual callbacks but once a candidate receives an offer, we encourage them to tour the office, and meet more attorneys over coffee or lunch if desired. “We use behavioral interview questions during our callback process,” hiring sources at the firm tell us. “The questions are aimed at distilling the candidate’s skills, client service and value, self-awareness, communication and critical thinking skills, as well as their ability to work in a team and self-manage.”  

Top tips: “I would encourage you to find someone you can call in advance and talk to. If you’ve spoken to people at different offices, the firm thinks you’re really working for this.” – a junior associate  

“Read up on different interviewing techniques and styles, attorney bios, practice areas, and firm clients in advance.” – hiring sources at the firm   

Summer program  

Offers: 53  

Sheppard Mullin’s ten-week summer program starts off with a reception and two-day summer associate academy in LA. The firm tells us the program is “designed to acquaint students with the firm’s practice through hands-on work experience and lawyers through a variety of social activities and work assignments.” Each office has a work assignment coordinator to distribute assignments to the summers. Assigning attorneys review the work and then deliver feedback at mid-summer and end-of-summer reviews. Sheppard Mullin also understands the importance of socializing and networking: “The summer is a time for you to get to know the firm and the firm to get to know you! Attend the events and lunches, build relationships, go to court or client meetings, and have fun.”  

Top tips: “You need to be independent because you need to go out and get work via our free market system.” – a junior associate  

“Demonstrate your ownership and ability to work hard – if you make a mistake, own up to it immediately and propose a solution.” – hiring sources at the firm  

Associates advised candidates to “keep in mind that we hire summers by practice area, specifically for corporate, labor & employment, business trial and healthcare, as opposed to hiring you as a general summer associate.”  

And finally….  

“There are no rainmakers here who play golf all week!” one junior associate told us. “Work is very important; the firm expects talented attorneys.”