Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati - The Inside View

A big player in the tech and life sciences space, Wilson Sonsini has racked up a healthy reputation for its industry practices – apt given the firm has spent more than 60 years in the tech pioneers mecca – Silicon Valley. Wilson Sonsini’s storied history has seen the firm help birth names like Apple, Twitter, and Tesla to name a few, and the firm continues to guide key players in the market through some of the biggest challenges facing their industries. To take one example, Wilson is currently defending Google in a class action lawsuit surrounding the company’s training of its generative AI models and its implications for the rights of all US copyright holders and the privacy rights of all US internet users – hefty stuff indeed.

Unsurprisingly, Wilson Sonsini bags strong Chambers USA nationwide rankings in start-ups & emerging companies and life sciences, along with antitrust, corporate/M&A, capital markets, privacy & data security, international trade CFIUS, and economic sanctions. There are also top-tier rankings in capital markets and securities litigation in California, and corporate/M&A in DC to boot.

“It didn’t jazz me up to work with a massive bank, so for me, the clients at Wilson were really exciting!”

Given the firm’s client base, it won’t come as a shock to know that the juniors we spoke to were all of a similar mindset: “It didn’t jazz me up to work with a massive bank,” one told us, “so for me, the clients at Wilson were really exciting!” The opportunity for associates to work with “cool” companies in the tech industry was, unsurprisingly, part of the draw: “We took Doordash public, we took Lyft public and we were Twitter’s counsel for the Elon Musk deal…” one junior grinned, “so it’s safe to say that Wilson is a powerhouse – the name recognition is big.”

The Work

Work allocation varies slightly by location and position at Wilson. While “it is pretty much free market,” we heard from juniors that there is a small amount of staffing just to keep newbies in the flow when things get a little slow. But this system worked for those we spoke to, with associates highlighting the fact that it encouraged them to reach out to different people across groups and offices. As one put it: “It means I can choose what I want to do. If work is slow, I’ve still always felt that I could say no to a project – I don’t have to do something I don’t want to do.”

“I’ve helped form five or six companies, which is really cool!”

This flexibility has translated particularly to the firm’s Palo Alto and San Francisco offices, where corporate juniors can move between different groups for the first two years: “It’s called the Launch Program, where you can work with any of seven or eight different practices from tech to medical devices,” one associate explained, “then, at the end of the period, you get matched up with one of the groups you’ve worked with.” The different groups that fall under the corporate banner at Wilson include employee benefits, energy, fintech, M&A, real estate, tax and general corporate (which itself includes subgroups like capital markets, private equity, and restructuring). Across its corporate practices, the firm typically works for “a lot of tech and life sciences startups,” right up to public companies “in the data and software space, from the big names to Google spin-offs!” The juniors we spoke to had typically worked on “anything to do with start-ups,” particularly seed A and B stage financing – “I’ve helped form five or six companies, which is really cool!” Corporate juniors told us that they were given a good deal of responsibility: “You’re learning so much at the beginning, it’s like drinking from a fire hose!” With smaller clients, juniors were given agency to contact clients directly, and the day-to-day often consisted of taking the first cut at comments, ancillaries and the like, and bringing in specialists from other departments when needed. There’s also plenty of your typical chasing down parties to sign the documents and managing closings.

Corporate clients: Roblox, Twitter, Hawaiian Airlines. Advised deep learning company, iSIZE, on its acquisition by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Antitrust has different buckets of work, including mergers; criminal antitrust; civil litigation; government agency; intellectual property; consumer protection; privacy; and many more. For antitrust work relating to mergers, associates work with the M&A and corporate teams on those matters, along with matters where two competing companies are merging and it risks becoming a government investigation. Across the lane in criminal antitrust, the firm covers matters where a client is facing criminal liability for alleged antitrust violations. Finally, civil litigation encompasses antitrust-orientated MDLs. “When it comes to merger work, we’re typically working on diligence for pre-merger signing, looking at the antitrust provision” one associate explained, but juniors also do a good amount of document review, “making sure we’re not exchanging information we shouldn’t be.” Criminal antitrust works in witness interviews and some deposition prep, which is the bread and butter in civil litigation: “Litigation is mostly deposition prep.,” one junior outlined, “plus the typical admin stuff.”

Antitrust clients: Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Reuters and DoorDash. Represents Google in federal court cases filed against them by the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and State Attorney General over Google’s alleged monopoly of the online search tool market.

Wilson’s litigation practice, much like its corporate practices, is (in at least some way) most often tied to technology. While litigation clients are mostly corporations of some kind, one insider did tell us that they’d “gotten wind” of some individual clients going to the firm. Regardless of clientele, those we spoke with were adamant that, “we’re not just doing doc review in the back until our eyes bleed!” Most people are staffed on securities while mixing in other types of work including international arbitrations, research for summary judgement and even arguing motions to dismiss in federal court. “It’s scary, I was really nervous!” one junior said of their experience – “I was happy doing doc review but the more I was encouraged to do more, talking to clients and being an actual lawyer, it became more exciting than scary!” With research “I would say most of it is me at my computer searching things,” but in reviewing depositions, juniors get the opportunity to sit down in a room with the people involved. Associates were particularly positive about writing memos on conducted research: “I see how it influences the final work product – I know that memo is informing the senior associate or partner working on the matter.”

Litigation clients: The Art Institute of Chicago, Starbucks and YouTube. The firm successfully defended Costco and members of its senior management against a lawsuit filed over allegations of breached animal welfare laws.

Hours, Compensation & Pro Bono

Billable hours: 1,950 requirement

1,950 hours is the minimum requirement for bonus, which includes unlimited pro bono, the first 40 hours of vacation time, 50 shadowing hours for first and second year juniors, and 100 firm citizen hours. Despite several options to run up the clock – “even if you’re struggling to get hours, it is still doable,” juniors told us. But, contrary to what you might think, “there are no consequences for not reaching it.” On the other side of the coin, “there aren’t many people who are exceeding the requirement by a lot, so I can pretty much limit my work Monday to Friday.” While those we spoke with didn’t raise many concerns about hours, we did find that “it ranges from person to person, so managing the hours can sometimes be a lot!” Particularly as a first year, “you’ll say you’ll do something, then end up with a 14-hour day. Because it’s so fast paced, it feels like everything is urgent!” Nevertheless, juniors did say that it can often be “self-imposed. There’s a way to manage your workload and communicate your bandwidth.” Weekend work, however, “really depends on what’s going on in an individual case. On a busy case your expected to be available on the weekend. As a general rule, if everyone’s working, you probably should be too!”

Pro bono hours  

• For all (US) attorneys: 90,748
• Average per (US) attorney: 73.4

Outside of client billables, the freedom to take on an unlimited amount of pro bono came in pretty handy for juniors hoping to clock up their hours when there wasn’t as much client work going round. “It’s so easy to pick up pro bono,” juniors told us, whether that was through their own practices, “this online platform where you can look through cases,” or via the firm’s dedicated pro bono partner Luke Liss. “It’s weird if you don’t do it,” one associate joked, “people take it seriously. I know a lot of people who had like, 30% or 40% of their practice dedicated to pro bono!” Insiders told us that a number of the pro bono matters – regardless of office – revolve around immigration. Particularly for those on the West Coast, we heard that you “come across a good amount of asylum cases – a lot of those are South or Central Americans escaping from gang-related violence.” Associates told us that these kind of opportunities were “great. I have an asylum case with a hearing a year from now, and we’ve had interviews with the clients, which gave me confidence!” Associates can also bring pro bono opportunities they’re interested in taking on to the firm for approval.

Career Development  

Wilson Sonsini generally offers formal training in associates’ first, third and fifth year, but according to our interviewees, the emphasis was on informal methods. Beyond the high level of responsibility expected of juniors (such as being the primary contact for clients on a lot of cases), the firm also offers shadowing billables, “so if you’re proactive about shadowing, there is incentive there.” Juniors will also assist with business pitches, “so there is that bit on the business development side as well.” Insiders acknowledged that this was helpful for building up a team’s long-term progression, but also noted that “towards the mid-level it’s pretty typical for people to leave,” though this is something that varies team-by-team. In typical BigLaw fashion, some of this movement is due to the lateral market, but juniors told us a lot of people also move into government roles: “A lot of people want to get that experience working at the FTC or DOJ.” Personal development academies are hosted by the firm to help associates plan out their long-term career development goals alongside two different personal development managers.

Culture

“It’s Biglaw, but it’s like… laid back!”

The “expectation of perfection” associated with Biglaw often comes with images of grueling hours and shouty partners. At Wilson though, as one junior put it: “It’s BigLaw, but it’s like… laid back!” Across the board, the feedback was that the firm’s West Coast origins helped to create a kind, friendly atmosphere. “What I learned from day one is that all the partners are enjoying themselves, even having fun!” one newbie grinned. Another noted that even in New York, partners made efforts to mentor coast to coast. Beyond the partners, juniors told us their peers were also “very supportive of each other. With my first motion to dismiss, all the other first years checked it for me, read it through, took time out of their days… so they’ll stop what they’re doing to give you advice, whether that’s personal or not.”

On the social side, we heard that associates have the typical group lunches to “joke around, catch up or even seriously discuss matters to get other peoples’ feedback,” but, “a few more social things would be nice.” Across the offices, we heard that Wilson Sonsini doesn’t do a lot outside of working hours: “We didn’t have a holiday party which I have qualms about!” one associate added,but “if you came here for happy hours and drinking, Wilson is not like that.” Associates told us that the firm is more family oriented, “so people don’t stick around late.” On the whole “we like each other and like talking to each other, but we do have lives outside of work! When you’re on the job it’s great, but you have to go spend time with your family.”

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion  

We heard that “there are a lot of affinity groups” who do events and outreach like Black@Wilson, who meet every quarter. We were also told that the firm held a women’s conference, where “we went to a hotel and picked each other’s brains about being a woman in BigLaw.” Juniors were also positive about Wilson’s DEI efforts on the ground: “I see more Asian women partners than I would have imagined! But I don’t think that’s the same for every group – black and Latino partners are a smaller number than I would hope.” Much like the women’s group, the firm puts on a diversity summit to encourage conversations and spark opportunities for mentorship: “It was great to see everyone come together! We don’t have a lot of opportunities like that in our industry.” During the week-long conference the firm holds social events, meetings, and speaker panels to discuss issues surrounding diversity.

Strategy & Future 

Wilson Sonsini has had a positive past year, with efforts to continue growth in London, build on existing strengths in life sciences in Boston, and associates told us that “there’s a goal to build litigation,” in LA. Of course, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing, as managing partner Doug Clark is quick to point out: “The economy and China effect all businesses, including ours. But I think the regulatory focus on tech companies in particular is a factor that’s impacted us over the past two years.” Here, Clark specifically references legislation passed in Washington and Brussels that targets the firm’s client base - like the application of antitrust - but he also notes that through all this: “The firm’s resilience in a down transactional economy is notable; we’ve still managed to grow the firm, with a strong year in M&A, and a strong year in our regulatory practice.”

“It used to take several hours to fully incorporate a company, but now it takes seven minutes!”

Wilson Sonsini is sticking to its guns when it comes to the firm’s strategy across its core tech and life sciences practices. AI in particular has been an area of focus, not only in helping clients like OpenAI and Anthropic navigate the regulatory landscape, but also in increasing the efficiency of their own practice. “We’ve invested a lot of time and capital in helping associates access the tools to take advantage of these technological changes,” Clark tells us – “we have an initiative called Neuron, which is a platform that helps service private company clients. It used to take several hours to fully incorporate a company, but now it takes seven minutes!” To some, such rapid development can take a while to adjust to, but Clark tells us, “our experience with technology allows us to more gracefully accept the impact of tech on the business. So it’s not threatening to us. It’s exciting.”

Get Hired

The first stage: recruitment on and off campus 

OCI applicants interviewed: 301

Interviewees outside OCI: 329

Given Wilson Sonsini’s strategic focus, it’ll come as no surprise that hiring partners look for those with “a strong desire to work with technology, life sciences and other growth companies,” the firm tells us. The firm participates in OCI at “the leading law schools” as well as recruiting through resume drops, and welcomes direct applications from qualified candidates nationwide. Interviews are conducted by partners who are on the hiring committee or are alumni of the school. A hiring partner adds: “Given our extensive work for technology, life sciences, renewable energy, and other growth companies at all stages of development, we are particularly interested in candidates who want to work for those companies. We are also interested in candidates who have the requisite scientific expertise for one of our intellectual property practices.” To prepare, our hiring partner source recommends candidates “know which practices and offices are hiring through the summer program. Read the bio of the attorney you are meeting on campus in advance.” 

In 2023, Wilson Sonsini first offered a new early interview option for summer associate positions — the Accelerated Consideration for Employment, or “ACE” Program. Think of this as something akin to Early Action applications for college — an opportunity for applicants to show serious interest in Wilson Sonsini and get a decision from the firm on a much earlier timeline. For applicants who have done their research and know that they want to be at Wilson Sonsini, in a specific practice group, and in a specific office, this program offers an opportunity to begin the application process earlier and move through more quickly. By applying through ACE, applicants are indicating interest and intent above and beyond that of many general pool applicants and will stand out because of it. The firm's aim is to simplify this process for candidates so that they can get back to making the most out of their law school experiences. 

The 2024 ACE opens April 15 and closes on May 27, with the goal of making initial offers before most traditional screenings begin. Visit the firm's job openings page and use the “Summer Associate – ACE @ Wilson” posting to apply. The firm will make information available each year at careers.wsgr.com. Our general applications open on May 28, 2024.

Top tips for this stage: 

"Be prepared to explain why you are interested in our firm, in working with our innovative and distinctive client base, and ideally in one or more of our practices." – a Wilson Sonsini hiring partner 

“A candidate who’s applying to Wilson Sonsini can really do one thing in my mind that will set them apart from other applicants, which is to show real enthusiasm and interest in doing well. I always say a young lawyer may make mistakes. A young lawyer may make errors. A young lawyer may not know this or that, or the other case. I can teach all of those things. But the one thing I cannot teach is that sense of enthusiasm and desire to do well. If you’re applying to Wilson Sonsini and you really want to stand out from the rest, the thing you can do to really project that ineffable quality that I’ve described is to show how much you care about your work.” – a Wilson Sonsini hiring partner

Callbacks 

Applicants invited to second stage interview: 301

During callbacks, interviewees will find themselves in an average of five virtual one-on-one interviews with a break in the middle. . Typically, interviews last 30 minutes. At this stage, interviewers “tend to focus on questions that relate to past experience and demonstrated behaviors. We ask behavioral-based questions in an effort to understand the way candidates think and react to situations that frequently occur in the course of cases, deals, and other matters.” Callback interviewers tend to leave time for candidates to ask questions about the interviewer’s practice, experience at the firm, and other topics, so be prepared with good questions. Once students receive an offer, they can visit one of Wilson Sonsini’s 14 offices and ask additional questions to help make the best decision about your future.

Top tips for this stage: 

"Be yourself. We look for candidates who are genuine about their interests and desires. We like to see passion and enthusiasm about working at our firm and show that you have a solid understanding of what we do and the clients we serve."– a Wilson Sonsini hiring partner 

Summer program 

Offers: 139

Acceptances: 74

Our hiring partner source tells us that Wilson’s summer program “incorporates many of the things important to our culture, including challenging and varied assignments, direct working relationships with our innovative clients, meeting a wide range of attorneys, and exciting social activities.” There’s no formal rotation process, and it’s on summer associates to choose which area they work in. Our source adds: “All summer associates are invited to participate in a week-long Summer Associate Academy that takes place early in the summer. The Academy includes learning sessions, fun activities, and networking opportunities.” To make the most of the program, our source advises candidates to “get to know the attorneys, the client base, and the work. We give summer associates real work for innovative companies – it’s a great opportunity!” While most summers return to the same practice area they focused on during their summer, those who want to work in a different area have their requests “reviewed and considered on a case-by-case basis.” 

Top tips for this stage: 

"Work hard, show the desire to learn and have a great attitude. Get to know the attorneys, the client base, and the work. We give summer associates real work for innovative companies – it’s a great opportunity!" – a Wilson Sonsini hiring partner 

And finally... 

"Work hard during law school and get involved on campus. Research our firm’s practices and clients, and get to know our attorneys when they visit campus for presentations, receptions and other events." – a Wilson Sonsini hiring partner

Interview with Doug Clark, Managing Partner

Commercial strategy, market position and trends

Chambers Associate: How would you define your firm’s current position and identity in the legal market? What differentiates your firm from your peer firms in the market?

Doug Clark: What differentiates us is what we’ve done for nearly 70 years – our focus on two core client sectors, tech and life sciences. This is something we’ve kept up even as we invest and grow, and London is a great example of this; there we’re still representing technology start-ups, and it’s our long-time focus!

CA: Have there been any developments at the firm over the past year that you’d like law students to know about?

Clark: I think the firm’s resilience in a down transactional economy is notable. We’ve still managed to grow the firm with a strong year in M&A, a strong year in our regulatory practice, and with that we’ve managed to keep the energy of the firm. We have a strong affinity for representing the kinds of clients we do, and that’s something that knits us together. With the downturn some firms have had to lay people off, but we’d rather stick with our team than lay them off now and just rehire different people with the same CVs down the road!

CA: Are there any domestic or international events/trendsthat are affecting any of the firm’s practices at the moment? Are there any trends that you think are affecting the business of law firms more generally, and how is that playing out with your firm?

Clark: I think the regulatory focus on tech companies in particular is a factor that’s impacted us over the past two years. In Washington and Brussels a lot of legislation has passed that targets our client base; that includes things like the application of antitrust, and that’s a trend that has and continues to be present.

CA: Last year you mentioned the firm’s demand had been impacted by a slowdown in the capital markets, but that this hasn’t influenced the strategy – is this still the case?

Clark: Our core strategy is always representing tech and life sciences start-ups to multi-nationals, and that composition is different depending on the environment. We’ve done a lot of advising for public companies and prepping growing companies for sale. Technology has also changed rapidly since we last spoke – AI is much different than it was, so we’ve been very busy representing clients in that. That includes drug developers using AI agnostics to help individuals which is very cool, and we’re also representing companies like OpenAI and Anthropic in navigating the regulatory landscape.

CA: You mentioned growth was very much the plan last year with the London office doubling in size and boosting the LA practice as well – how have these moves panned out and should we expect to see further growth in these, or other areas over the next year?

Clark: Our strong growth in LA and London has continued and we’re also seeing growth in Boston with a strong life sciences practice. We’re pleased with what we saw last year with a moderate growth in headcount and we’ll continue to invest in our existing locations.

Inside the Firm

CA: How is the firm evolving to accommodate the needs/expectations of the next generation of lawyers?

Clark: Like all firms we’re focused on improving the training and integration of our young associates in a challenging hybrid environment. We’ve created more mentoring opportunities for associates – even our more senior associates, and we’re trying to maintain a firm connection with all of our teams. The application of technology to training is of interest to us as well, particularly with heightened automation and AI, in applying those to the job.

CA: What’s the firm’s approach to bolstering diversity, equity, and inclusion?

Clark: I’m really proud of our D&I group, and the affinity groups have done a great job making connections among diverse attorneys and staff. We had a great Diversity Summit in the fall that was very inspiring. We hold a Diversity Summit every other year and bring attorneys from all our offices together to get to know each other and discuss issues that affect their lives and their practices.  It energized me, it energized the firm, and it was great to bring people together from all over the world!

The Legal Profession

CA: How do you predict the legal profession will change in the next five years? Are there any particular challenges the industry is facing?

Clark: I think the next five years is the right period to think about… the delivery of legal services will be rapidly different towards the end of the next five years, so how do we train associates as well when technology can do so much? We’ve invested a lot of time and capital in helping associates with tools to take advantage of these changes. For example, we have an initiative called Neuron, a platform that helps service private company clients; it used to take several hours to fully incorporate a company – now it takes eleven minutes! We’re putting more tools onto that platform which clients have responded very well to. Technological advances might also change the staffing or leverage model, but our experience with technology allows us to more gracefully accept the impact of tech on the business. It’s not threatening to us, it’s exciting.

The Fun Bit

CA: Is there any advice you’d give to your younger self starting out your career?

Clark: I think it’s very important to focus on the basics of your craft – I always wanted to know every deadline on every case so people can go to me! Getting time sheets in, little practice management, those are basics – when you ingrain those, they become muscle memory. Be inquisitive to experience, try to take a deposition, and lead a transaction as early as possible.

CA: Is there a movie/TV show/books about lawyers or the legal profession that you particularly enjoy? And how accurate would you say it is?

Clark: I largely avoid watching TV shows about lawyers; it gets my head into the workplace!