Vinson & Elkins LLP - The Inside View

When you think of Texas, a few key features inevitably spring to mind. Firstly, there’s the sheer size of the state. As they say, everything’s bigger in Texas. Secondly, there’s the state’s deep roots in the oil industry. And last but not least, you’ve got the ever-vibrant food scene. Hailing from the Lone Star State, Vinson & Elkins does a pretty good job of embodying those very characteristics. Starting with size, the firm’s got a tidy sum of nine US offices, spanning Austin, Dallas, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Richmond and DC. A further four overseas offices across Dubai, Dublin, London and Tokyo bring V&E’s global footprint to a very respectable 13 offices. As for the oil industry connections, there are few firms as well-versed as V&E in all things energy related. Take it from our colleagues over at Chambers USA  who place the firm top of the podium nationwide for its expertise in energy transition; oil and gas energy (regulatory, litigation and transactional); offshore energy; oil and gas projects; power and renewables projects (transactional). In fact, the firm’s energy prowess is so much so that Chambers Global recognizes the firm’s oil and gas (projects and energy) work as top notch across multiple global jurisdictions. 

This brings us to the last of the three features: the vibrant food scene. Now, we’re not suggesting that you’d be able to rock up at the firm and stack your plate high with all things Tex-Mex – though we’re sure V&E would put on a great spread. No – we’re alluding to the firm’s vast offering of work, where associates can certainly get their fill. While the firm’s deep expertise in the energy sector means it advises a number of big players on all things energy related, that’s not V&E’s only rodeo. “I wanted to join a firm that covered everything,” said one insider. Indeed, in the firm’s home state alone, Chambers USA awards the firm further top accolades for its bankruptcy/restructuring; capital markets (debt and equity); corporate/M&A; environment (mainly transactional); securities litigation; real estate (including zoning/land use); tax; technology (corporate and commercial); and employee benefits and executive compensation know-how. There’s plenty more to this cowboy’s story, but you’ll have to head on over to chambers.com for the full breakdown. 

Accolades aside, juniors also tipped their hats to the firm’s “entrepreneurial” nature. “There is a good amount of informal training on the job, and that’s supported by the infrastructure,” highlighted an insider, “I was surprised by the number of resources, staff and specialists who are here to help you.” Looks like you can take the firm out of Texas, but you can’t take Texas out of the firm; it’s clear that that Southern hospitality streak runs deep.  

The majority of juniors join the firm’s Houston office, followed by New York and Dallas. The rest are spread across DC, Austin, San Francisco and Richmond. 

Strategy & Future 

“They are very communicative” when it comes to keeping associates in-the-loop regarding firm strategy, insiders told us, with firm presentations every quarter giving insight into the firm’s financials and future outlook. It was noted that “the firm doesn’t tell us if they’re pulling back or hiring more in a group” per se, but “in conversations one on one withpartners they’re not going to hide that.”  We heard that the firm has been expanding its antitrust practice,alongside continuing to meet client demand for growing transactional renewable energy and decarbonization technologies.

The Work 

Summer associates at V&E are encouraged to explore  different groups. There’s the opportunity to rotate between three practices, though those who already have their eyes set on a certain practice can also focus on just the one. Once the summer’s up, associates then join a specific practice. At this stage, work assignment varies by practice group. While the corporate group has a formal work allocation system, the litigation group has more of a mixed approach: “It’s free market so you do reach out to partners to get work, but every office has a talent lead who is dedicated to monitoring if we need or are seeking out work.” Associates fill in a bi-weekly survey so the partner has a good picture of people’s capacity. “I struggled in the system when I joined,” a few sources noted, “but as soon as the firm got busy and I got known, that dissipated – once juniors have a place and gain trust, they’ll be fine.”  

Of the ten practices featured on our associate list, the corporate  practice was the largest by far – something that was also reflected in the variety of the work on offer. M&A, capital markets, private equity and fund formation transactions all play a key part in the practice. The firm’s energy transactions team now falls under the corporate umbrella, with the team typically assisting on the energy aspects of manufacturing, technology and consumer goods clients. Juniors in the practice are generally kept busy with making updates to purchase agreements, joint operating agreements, and service agreements, which usually involves coordinating with expects and incorporating their opinions into the documents. “I have gotten to reach out to and initiate conversations with clients, as well as had drafting experience creating NDAs and drafting clauses,” one junior outlined. 

Corporate/M&A clients: Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, Crescent Energy Company, Riverstone Holdings. Advised Blackstone Infrastructure Partners in its entry into an agreement to purchase $1.1 billion of equity interests in Tallgrass Energy. 

“You can be selective about what group you want to work in.” 

Complex commercial litigation  also covers a broad range of work at the firm. “You can be selective about what group you want to work in,” an insider explained, “you just need to ask the people who are working on matters you want to work on.” The practice is pretty generalist with “your regular breach of contracts, securities, antitrust, data breach and cybersecurity – anything that comes through the door you can do.”  We heard that general commercial litigation makes up most of the work, but juniors can also get involved in their fair share of bankruptcy and trademark prosecution and maintenance work. “When starting, you’re focused on reviewing documents,” one junior admitted, but soon after: “it gets a lot more substantive.” Across many of the groups: “a lot of the matters a leanly staffed,” juniors made clear, “there are lots of chances to develop, particularly on things like bankruptcy where it’s also fast moving.” Things like discovery, drafting strategy and research, prepping experts, drafting expert reports and even direct communication with clients “shows your opinion is considered – they know your name.” 

Commercial litigation clients: AECOM Capital, Minnesota Vikings Football, Eastern Caribbean Central Bank. Represented Oncor Electric Delivery in 132 cases in relation to the February 2021 winter storm in Texas that led to state-wide power outages. 

Career Development 

Upon joining the firm, newbies are assigned formal mentors. “You get a bunch,” a source enthused, “we have monthly coffees and dinner which the firm pays for.”  Outside of formal mentorship, juniors are also encouraged to build relationships with informal mentors. Training is also a strong point for the firm, according to insiders. Litigators noted the V&E Academy as a particular highlight, which includes a motion practice class in the first year, deposition in the second year, and trial in the third year. 

Associates also noted the firm’s recent push on business development training. “We bring in V&E alumni who are now in-house counsel,” one junior outlined, “and they teach you how to develop business for the firm as a senior associate.” New associates are also expected to submit a business plan to help develop their practice.  

All of the insiders we spoke with mirrored the sentiment, “I’m not planning on leaving anytime soon!” In that vein, our sources noted, “partnership does feel attainable here.” 

Culture 

Southern firms have a certain reputation for the idyll, and it’s fair to say that our interviewees certainly felt that, at least at V&E: “they really stay true to that Southern culture.” Juniors across the board made it clear that there's an open-door policy, and: “people generally enjoy working with their colleagues, so there isn’t drama or anything.” In fact: “Everyone you work with is personally invested in seeing you succeed,” insiders praised. Perhaps most importantly for juniors, “they understand that you won’t know everything so when they give feedback, it’s constructive; it’s never like 'you’re stupid' or anything like that, and with that I’ve never felt a gap between myself and a partner on a deal.”  The culture clearly stems from the top down, with juniors highlighting, “When I’m working crazy hours, the partners are too – they’re not away playing golf!”  

“Now I have friends at the firm from all over the world.” 

As far as social events go, the firm hosts the classic summer events and holiday parties. “I think we could plan more things,” said an interviewee, “though there are happy hours which are well attended.” That said, V&E does also put on the occasional firmwide event to bring associates together. “We have an associate summit every year for first years where we fly out associates from all offices to Houston!” a source enthused, “it’s just a few days of bonding, but now I have friends at the firm from all over the world.” 

Hours & Compensation 

Billable hours: 1,900 target 

V&E reduced its billable target a few years ago; associates now have a target of 1,900 hours. Sources were keen to note, however, that first years aren’t held to this target, though of course, “there are informal expectations to be billing a good amount of hours.” Breaking the official target down, associates can dedicate up to 100 hours towards legal development activities, which includes things like recruitment and pro bono. Hitting the 1,900 hours target unlocks the base level bonus for associates. Insiders noted: “When you go beyond the target, the firm hands out discretionary bonuses.”  The hours thresholds sit at 1,900, 2,150, 2,300 and 2,500.  

“Someone is always willing to cover for me.” 

Juniors we spoke with were, understandably, a little daunted by traditional BigLaw hours expectations. “I was really scared I wouldn’t have time for my kids before joining,” one insider admitted, “and I really wanted to make the family thing and the BigLaw thing work.”  Reassuringly, since starting, “I’ve gotten to meet second-years, third-years and partners who are moms, so it’s clear the firm is big on making the family side work.” Although juniors are expected to go into the office at least four days a week with either Monday or Friday being work from home days, V&E doesn’t take a hardline approach: “I like the fact that I can say I’m going to have dinner with my kids, then log on later in the evening – someone is always willing to cover for me.” Associates indicated that this was also true for going on vacations. “We’re not expected to be working,” and even with weekend work, “there’s usually only the occasional ask, and that’s usually based on how much you get done in the week – at least half the weekends I don’t have weekend work.” 

Pro Bono 

Our interviewees had mixed feelings on pro bono at V&E, although technically, “you can do as much as you want,” associates can only dedicate up to 100 hours towards their 2,000-hour billable targets – a bucket which is also shared with other ‘non-billable’ activities. However, for associates who bill at least 2,150 hours, they can contribute 150 pro bono hours to their annual target.

Nevertheless, “they do encourage you to do 20 to 50 hours a year,” associates noted. Involvement is encouraged by weekly rounds of emails highlighting pro bono matters that associates can hop onto. “They ask how much time you have and align the matters they send you to your interests,” an insider explained, “it is easy to get on pro bono cases, but it can be difficult to find the time.” Juniors did highlight, though, that it's rare for a first year to miss out on their bonus, so “you can take on more pro bono when you’re slower without worrying.” As such, many associates had the opportunity to try their hand at a number of cases when starting at the firm. We heard that immigration work is quite common at V&E,  alongside a lot of appellate activity. 

Pro bono hours 

• For all US offices: 22,503 
• Average per US attorney: 33

Inclusion

Juniors we spoke with at V&E felt that “everyone cares and does a good job at making people feel supported.” The firm has a number of affinity groups which associates can join. “They get together with some regularity,” one associate told us, adding: “we have a budget in these groups to do things socially, like a networking or lunch event.”

Anyone from across the firm can join one of V&E’s affinity groups, which include the Asian and Middle Eastern, Black, Hispanic/Latinx, LGBTQ+, Military and Veterans, Working Parents and Women of Color groups. “It’s been invaluable,” one associate said of the lattermost, “because you have a shared experience. You get to talk about issues others maybe don’t understand.” Events hosted by the groups “are occasionally business development related,” but for the most part, these take the shape of informal socials, “sometimes lunches, sometimes dinners – we’ve had even flower-arranging and candle-making!”

Get Hired

The first stage: recruitment on and off campus 

OCI applicants interviewed:  undisclosed

Vinson & Elkins visits roughly 34 law schools and job fairs, plus diversity-focused events each year. The firm also collects resumes from numerous other schools. V&E Lead Partner for Recruiting, Lande Spottswood, tells us: “We select schools primarily based on their rankings, and beyond the top 20, we look at other great law schools where we have historical relationships, such as the University of Houston, SMU in Dallas, and Fordham in New York.”  She notes the firm interviews between 20 and 60 students at each OCI, but she says: “The number of total interviews we conduct during formal OCI programs continues to decrease over the last few years as the number of students we meet and interview outside of OCI increases.” 

Partners, counsel, and associates who represent a variety of offices and practice groups conduct the interviews, and the firm aims to make sure the interviewers have diverse backgrounds. Spottswood tells us: “All of our attorneys are prepared to interview students for any of our offices and practices.” 

“We ask behavioral and personalized questions in our interviews, to help us get to know students beyond what we see on their resumes. We look for students who are driven and have been active and/or served in leadership roles in on-campus activities, both in undergrad and in law school.  We also value previous work experience, especially where students have had the opportunity to develop team-oriented skills and demonstrate problem-solving qualities,” says Spottswood. 

Top tips for this stage: 

“We want to hear why students are interested in Vinson & Elkins and their city of interest. It is also helpful for us to know their practice area(s) of interest, which can help direct the conversation, and assist us when making decisions regarding callback interviews.”  – Lande Spottswood, Lead Partner for Recruiting

Callbacks

Applicants invited to second-stage interviews (OCI & Pre-OCI): undisclosed

Most offices have two or three 30-minute interview slots and a lunch (if the interview is in person). Interviews are hosted by partners, counsel, and associates from a student’s practice area(s) of interest. 

“At this stage, students are meeting more attorneys from their practice areas of interest, so we are expecting candidates to be able to give more insight into how they became interested in a specific practice area,” explained Spottswood.  “We’re also interested in learning how their prior background and life experiences will translate to the practice of law at a firm like ours,” explained Spottswood. 

Top tips for this stage: 

“Be yourself, come prepared, be genuine and respectful, and take the opportunity to ask good, thoughtful questions.”  – Spottswood

“I was really impressed with the recruitment process – the Attorney Recruitment team was very invested in each individual candidate that made it to the callback and offer phases, and that was apparent through their outreach and the connections they facilitated with their lawyers.”  – a second-year associate

Summer Program 

Offers: 95

Acceptances: 53

V&E’s summer program allows students to “do substantive work from a variety of practice areas, have direct client contact, and work side-by-side with attorneys who are leaders in their fields on a variety of client matters.” 

Summer associates are assigned mentors who meet with them throughout the program, plus a work coordinator “who is responsible for gathering meaningful work projects for the students.” It’s worth noting that a couple of offices have a formal rotation system. The numerous training sessions include a writing workshop, programs for building relationships and developing a professional presence, and several inclusion and wellness programs.  Spottswood added: “There also are many social and community activities that give students the chance to get to know their colleagues – both fellow summer associates and attorneys –outside the office. We take our work seriously, but also enjoy relaxing and getting to know each other on a personal level.” 

Students receive an offer to join the firm at the end of the program.  Spottswood explained that “in the spring of their 3L year, we send out our Practice Group Preference Survey, which each incoming new lawyer will complete.”  The firm uses those responses to determine practice group assignments based on client and practice group needs. 

Top tips for this stage: 

“Remember that the summer program is a multi-week job interview. We want our summer associates to take their projects seriously, do their best work, and meet deadlines. It’s also important that they take advantage of opportunities to get to know our lawyers by joining as many activities and networking events as possible.”  – Spottswood

“We look for leaders who are problem-solvers, have a business mindset, and are good team players: you cannot be arrogant or condescending.”– a third-year associate