Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP - The Inside View

Every so often the stars align, and things just click into place. That was certainly the case for this particular Willkie associate: “From the very start I knew I wanted to do transactional work, and, at the time, I knew Willkie was growing in that space,” they noted of their reasons for choosing to practice at the New York native. Fast forward a few years and, as far as our colleagues over at Chambers USA are concerned, the firm has certainly succeeded in what they set out to achieve; our sister guide rates Willkie among the nation’s best when it comes to derivatives, insurance (transactional and regulatory), investment funds (regulatory and compliance), and mid-market private equity buyouts work. Ultimately, it’s not just transactional work where this firm excels; Chambers USA also shines a spotlight on Willkie’s general commercial litigation teams in its New York and DC offices. An additional six offices across Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Palo Alto, and San Francisco make up the firm’s stateside footprint, while a further seven international bases across Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Milan, Munich, Paris, and Rome complete the firm’s 15-strong global network.

“It isn’t all about billable hours – they want to get to know you as people.”

Now, it’s all well and good talking about accolades and achievements, but what of the firm’s values? “Many firms talk about wellbeing, but during my interview with Willkie, they pointed to actual initiatives, like the lack of an hours requirement,” an insider headlined. Reflecting on their interview too, another chimed in: “It isn’t all about billable hours – they want to get to know you as people.” Pointing to another well-admired initiative, interviewees were keen to highlight the firm’s pro bono policy as one of Willkie’s standout features. The firm treats pro bono work with equal importance to client billable work, which our insiders reckoned “relates to the firm’s culture of wanting to do good and provide access and representation.”

Strategy & Future

Partner and executive committee member Danielle Scalzo tells us, “We are very excited about recent growth, and we are seeing a return on the strategic investments we have made over the years. Our strategy remains to continue growing responsibly… We had another record-breaking year in 2024 with significant contributions from M&A, litigation, asset management and restructuring.” Speaking to the firm’s breadth, Scalzo highlights, “We have a coast-to-coast US presence with offices in major business centers in Europe. We are a leading private equity firm, have a marquee insurance transactional practice and are a one-stop litigation destination.” Ultimately, what this means for Willkie, according to Scalzo, is: “We are in a good position because even when the market is quite uncertain, as we have a diverse practice mix, including strong litigation and restructuring platforms, to counteract this.”

Scalzo also makes clear that associate wellness remains a focus for the firm: “We have associate committees in each of our offices, which ensure we have open lines of communication between associates and firm leadership. We use these committees to work together with associates to find solutions to any concerns that may arise.” The firm also recently hosted its annual off-site seminar for associates, where “they were able to participate in training sessions on management, delegation and managing client relationships,” Scalzo tells us. On a more light-hearted level, the firm offers its associates a number of perks, including yoga instructors, workout classes, and juice bars! And as part of continued efforts to attract top talent, Willkie has recently kicked off a full-scale renovation of its New York office (watch this space!).

The Work

Willkie’s summer program allows candidates to try out multiple practice areas in a rotational system. Summers then rate their preferences at the end of the program and are allocated to a practice area according to business need.

“You don’t need to be 100% sure on what you want to do off the bat.”

Most junior associates sit within the firm’s litigation and corporate and financial services practice groups, while a fair few also work in asset management, real estate, and intellectual property. Work allocation is centralized, with certain partners acting as assigning partners in each office, though juniors did report being able to pick up work organically from partners they built relationships with, too. Overall, the system received full praise from our interviewees: “There isn’t a better way to do it! It gives you the chance to try new things across different practice areas,” said one; “you don’t need to be 100% sure on what you want to do off the bat.” To prevent overburdening associates, juniors report their workload each week via the assigning system.

Associates in litigation are generalists and have opportunities to spend time in departments such as antitrust, client enforcement, restructuring, IP, general commercial, white-collar, and class actions. Juniors begin in the general commercial group, which “gives you a broad range of matters to work on.” Associates are given the chance to try out matters from different practice areas during this time, as well as the ability to indicate an interest in specific types of work. “I’ve worked on a really vast range of different cases with different people,” one interviewee was pleased to report. The work can vary by office, though it’s the New York bunch that tend to work on a higher proportion of financial matters. Regardless, juniors made clear that there is a lot of cross collaboration, especially between New York and DC, which share assigning partners.

“The partners will try to give you more hands-on stuff. In my first month, I was drafting deposition outlines!”

From the start of your time at Willkie, insiders noted, “the partners will try to give you more hands-on stuff.” For example, one source noted: “In my first month, I was drafting deposition outlines.” Insiders were happy that the firm consistently “tries to make sure you get experience in things like client contact which can be harder to get practice in.” Naturally, “there are things like doc review and fact finding, but they give you a lot of responsibility,” interviewees made clear. Tasks vary from case to case, but standard assignments include drafting motions and briefs, research, and complaint drafting. Another perk of this department was the feedback system: “It’s very easy to implement partner comments into different documents, and they are always available to talk things through with you,” a source shared. Clients here vary across different sectors of industry, we were told: “I have worked on matters for large fitness companies, individuals, and public figures. I have also had the chance to work on very interesting multi-jurisdictional cases for big international clients.”

Litigation clients: Bloomberg, Adventureland LLC, Walgreens. Represented a group of underwriter banks in a securities class action in relation to Uber’s 2019 IPO.

The corporate and financial services group was described as “constantly growing.” Those in the corporate department also start out as generalists, which means “you get to work on a variety of matters.” The firm was described as having “a high concentration of middle market and private equity clients,” though there is also the opportunity to do work for public companies. Our interviewees were pleased with the responsibility that was given to them, with one commenting: “I have received pretty advanced tasks for a junior. They are keen to give people the first crack at drafting documents.” Tasks assigned to juniors can include due diligence, reviewing contracts, and drafting memos, though associates are also given ample opportunity to correspond with clients and specialist groups. We were told: “As a second-year, they won’t have me drafting the merger agreement, but I have been able to draft as much as I can and learnt a lot from partners going over it with me.”

Corporate and financial services clients: Blue Wolf Capital Partners, Cetera Financial Group, Franklin Templeton. Represented HBC, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, on its $2.65 billion acquisition of Neiman Marcus Group.

Hours & Compensation

“It doesn’t feel like a rat race.”

Billable hours: no requirement

One major perk of life at Willkie is the lack of a billable hour requirement. Bonuses, therefore, are the same per class year on a lockstep. “I think for BigLaw, people are very respectful of your time,” we were told, “so it doesn’t feel like a rat race.” It was also noted, “It’s not like the horror stories you hear about. Any long hours I have worked make sense as it was necessary for the client.” Associates were also keen to stress that the firm has no desire to overwork its attorneys: “They reach out to people who are billing less in busy periods to try to see if they can and level it out.” Ultimately, survey respondents indicated working an average of 46 hours per week, sitting slightly below the market average of 51. The current hybrid set-up for Willkie employees is an average of three days in the office.

Pro Bono

Willkie received multiple thumbs up from associates when it came to its approach to pro bono work. Associates informed us that pro bono work is treated the same as client billable work. In some cases, insiders revealed, “I know some people whose main matter is a pro bono trial, and they got taken off all other matters just to focus on it.” This is common on ‘impact litigation’ cases, which can often last years.

The firm has a pro bono department, which posts new matters on a dashboard frequently; associates are able to browse the board to scope out potential pro bono matters to take on. The firm is also encouraging of associates taking the initiative to bring in their own pro bono clients.

Pro bono hours

• For all US attorneys: 85,577
• Average per US attorney: 85

Culture

“I went to a dinner on campus, and they made me feel so welcome. It was from then that I knew I wanted to work there. I’ve made some of my best friends here!”

For all of our interviewees, people and culture were significant reasons for individuals choosing to join the firm, with the friendliness of the firm extending all the way from on-campus recruiting into daily life. We were told: “I went to a dinner on campus, and they made me feel so welcome. It was from then that I knew I wanted to work there. I’ve made some of my best friends here!” Another commented, “It’s the little things the firm does which contribute to the culture, they always make sure we have lunches. They want people to feel like they are not just a valued worker, but a valued person.” In fact, in DC, interviewees reported being invited round to group dinners at partners’ houses. The firm also frequently hosts gatherings in the form of monthly get-togethers involving food and drinks.

Career Development

From day one, we were told, Willkie ensures “you have mentors to help you grow.” These relationships often last for years, with one associate telling us “I had a mentor from when I was a summer, and we still go out to lunch now.” The firm was applauded for making sure that juniors always have someone to ask questions to: “They make sure you have a network and a team behind you at all times to grow and feel comfortable.” Partners also often ask associates to get involved in the “more advanced parts of a transaction. It is interesting how Willkie encourages associates to get involved in these things,” we were told; “in my experience, with the partners I have worked with, it’s a priority of theirs to advance their associates.” Partners also take the time to have conversations with juniors about the dynamics of different aspects of a matter.

“They make sure you have a network and a team behind you at all times to grow and feel comfortable.”

Willkie encourages associates to voice preferences for certain training sessions or events. The firm also recently took feedback on board on being more transparent about partnership and alternative career paths; for example, it recently hosted an event where speakers who used to work at the firm and had gone in-house or into government came in to discuss their career paths. “I really respected that they were willing to make us aware of all the different things you can do in your career,” said one insider, “it makes you feel like they are actually interested in your goals.” Further, “it also shows how much everyone respects the firm that they were so keen to come back and speak.”

Inclusion

The firm has a wide variety of affinity groups which host different events, as well as an Inclusion and Engagement Committee and a Women’s Professional Development Committee. There is also a dedicated inclusion officer who “makes it clear that there are different programmes and mentoring resources available for everyone.”

Get Hired

OCI applicants interviewed: Undisclosed

Interviews outside OCI: Undisclosed

Willkie is committed to interviewing students from a wider range of schools each year to bring in top talent. The firm takes part in a variety of job fairs with a particular focus on those related to specific skill sets such as the Loyola Patent Fair.

The OCIs are conducted by a combination of partners and associates with significant interviewing experience who are often alumni of the school. Additionally, the number of students interviewed varies by campus. “Some schools are a feeder for particular offices, so we typically conduct fewer interviews at those. For students from schools interested in many markets, we conduct more.” In terms of questions, interviewers ask candidates about their previous work and leadership experience. “We’re interested in knowing the particular markets or practice areas the students want.”

Top tips from Danielle Scalzo, Chair of the Professional Personnel Committee

“Be prepared to draw on your prior experiences to demonstrate your strengths and skills even if they weren’t in the legal industry.”

“While intellect and analytical skills are important to being a lawyer, so are things like interpersonal skills, good judgment and grit.”

Callbacks

Applicants invited to second stage interview: Undisclosed

The callback process differs slightly office to office, but typically students meet with partners and associates. By taking a deeper dive into the candidates’ experience and interests, “we ask questions about experiences working through challenges because showing perseverance is a helpful predictor of success.” There is also an expectation that “a candidate should be able to have a substantive conversation about work they have done during their prior summer.”

Top tips from Scalzo

“Have an understanding of the firm and demonstrate that you have a genuine interest in working with us. Show us that you’re willing to work hard and be a part of our team.”

“It is helpful to come prepared with thoughtful questions for your interviewers and, where possible, try to connect personally with them. Just as you are looking for a great fit to start your career, your interviewers are looking for motivated associates to join their teams.”

“Though it may not always be obvious, there are distinctions among firms and students should do their research on what makes a place different from its peers. Then trust your instincts and focus on the kind of place you think will be a good home for you to start your career.”

Summer Program

Offers: Undisclosed

Acceptances: Undisclosed

The firm tells us that its 10 weeks summer program “is a great mix of real work, thoughtful mentoring and fun social opportunities.” Some offices hire summer associates into particular practices. The New York office hires into a litigation and a transactional track, which includes practice areas like corporate, asset management, finance, real estate, executive compensation & employee benefits, tax and intellectual property. However, “all summer associates participate in firm-wide orientation as a class in NYC and choose between a transactional or litigation focused interactive training program.”

Top tips from Scalzo

“I would encourage all summer associates to approach each day as a job interview, albeit a fun one. Thoughtfully consider each assignment you’re given and the contributions you can make, even as the most junior person, to your teams.”

“Start to form relationships with as many people as you can at the firm – attorneys, staff, your summer classmates – they will all play important roles in your career. Making the most out of your summer can really set you up for a smooth transition into life as an associate at the firm after you graduate.”

And finally….

“Be yourself – Willkie’s a down-to-earth place. Our attorneys are practicing at the top of their fields but are ultimately people who care about each other and root for each other's success.”- Danielle Scalzo