Dechert LLP - The Inside View

There was a common denominator in all the praise we heard from associates across the board at Dechert. “Prior to joining, I was particularly impressed with the group I’m now in and the work it does,” said one. “Dechert’s really well known for its financial services practice,” chimed another. It’s no secret that the firm’s got a varied hand when it comes to practice area strengths. Take it from our sister guide, Chambers USA, who decorates the firm with over 15 top tier awards for practices ranging from hedge & mutual funds to white-collar crime & government investigations. On its home turf of Pennsylvania, Dechert picks up top praise for its antitrust, intellectual property, product liability litigation, real estate finance, tax, corporate/M&A & private equity, and general commercial litigation expertise. Nationwide, it’s the firm’s capital markets, corporate/M&A, product liability & mass torts, toxic torts, and registered funds practices which claim top spot. Dechert also picks up a smattering of rankings across a number of its other national practices, but you’ll have to visit chambers.com for the full picture.

“…a respected global brand.”

Speaking of the firm’s national practices, Dechert’s got eight offices across the US: Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and DC. Further afield, the firm’s also got bases in Brussels, Dubai, Dublin, London, Luxembourg, Munich, Paris, and Singapore. To hammer home the point, as one associate put it, “Dechert’s a respected global brand.”

Dechert is recognized as a Strong Performer for Associate Satisfaction and three other categories in our 2025 survey.

Strategy & Future

“In 2024, we focused on implementing our strategic plan,” explains Global Managing Partner Vincent Cohen Jr., “which included accelerated, focused growth, increasing our brand profile and profitability and remaining a market leader, all the while reinforcing our stewardship culture.” This culture centers around being “accountable not only to ourselves, but to each other, the firm, our clients, and actually the communities where we live and work.” This translates into the firm putting a heavy emphasis on pro bono alongside working to grow its presence in all its main practice areas. Innovation, and specifically AI, are also areas of focus: “more than half of Dechert’s people – 1,200 plus – use our Gen AI tools regularly,” says Cohen.

Associates reported regular town halls with the firm’s leadership, designed to keep them in the loop. “I think they’ve done a good job,” said one newbie, “They’re making people aware of any changes that would come.” At the practice group level, “we have talks about potential incoming associates and hiring needs,” added another. “For newly minted attorneys, Dechert is a great place to start your career because the firm wants you to know what’s going on but also take strategic risks,” reckoned one source, emphasizing that the firm wants associates to be “thinking about what you can do and add” to the firm.

Read more from our interview with Vincent Cohen Jr. under the 'Get Hired' tab.

The Work

The practice areas with the most junior associates were financial services and finance & real estate. The remainder were split between corporate & securities, intellectual property, security & complex litigation, enforcement & investigations, antitrust/competition, product liability & mass torts, labor, and financial restructuring. The firm also has employee benefits & executive compensation; global tax; global litigation; and private client practices.

In a recent development at the firm, rather than joining a department, newbies join as either transactional or litigation associates for the first two years. “The idea is to build up skills within your general group before specializing,” an interviewee explained. Juniors are able to take out assignments from either the transactional or litigious pool: “It’s very helpful for the incomings,” said one associate, “As there’s opportunity to try out other practice groups and not get pigeonholed into something they don’t like.” Once associates join a department in their third year, work is generally allocated through a centralized system.

The finance & real estate practice group covers all real estate finance has to offer, including real estate finance, structured finance and securitization matters. The group is split into four teams: asset finance & securitization, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), commercial real estate finance, and structured credit & collateralized loan obligations. Associates tend to work in just one of these teams, giving them the chance to specialize in an area of interest and build expertise, as one source certainly did: “Private funds is fun because I can have a relative amount of creativity instead of always coloring within the lines…” As for the practicalities of getting assignments, “It’s generally understood that when someone’s started on a client’s work that they’ll maintain that work for that client, and they’ll run that matter.”

Finance & real estate clients: Wells Fargo Bank, Bank of America, Citigroup. Represented Morgan Stanley as lender in the origination of a $600 million mortgage loan secured by 83 industrial properties.

One associate was drawn to the financial services group “specifically because of its focus on regulatory compliance.” Indeed, the group has a dedicated team for each new development from the SEC. Another source hyped the group’s registered funds work – like mutual funds, ETFs, business development companies –as “an area where Dechert excels and has a strong reputation.” As a result, there’s “no shortage of different kinds of requests from funds clients,” an interviewee boasted. Overall, the group advises a range of financial services firms, asset managers and investment funds on fund formation and management, regulatory and compliance matters, regulatory investigations, and litigation, in addition to acting as transactional counsel to financial services companies and funds on regulatory matters relating to mergers and acquisitions. The group also advises on the operational integration of diversified financial institutions, tax, ERISA, executive compensation and employee benefits matters.

“You get to build something from the bottom up…”

Off the bat, newbies in the group are assigned to particular client teams, then the mid-level and senior associates in those teams put juniors into their workflows more organically. Juniors might work on mutual funds and exchange traded funds development companies, “some of it is routine regulatory work, some of it is special one-off projects like a fund launch or change to a fund’s strategy,” and work “either directly or in connection with” a board of directors to prepare for board meetings. There’s also disclosure work, which, for juniors, “is your standard updating documents,” and helping clients do internal reorganization or registration of their advisors. And the best part? “Getting to launch new funds is particularly exciting,” thought one associate, “You get to build something from the bottom up and it’s always an exciting moment for our clients when they’re bringing a new product to market, getting involved in that is always rewarding and a good learning experience.”

Financial services clients: MainStay Funds, Morgan Stanley Funds, abrdn plc. Advised 21Shares on the launch of their first Ethereum exchange-traded product, 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF (CETH).

Culture

BigLaw certainly comes with preconceptions, but sources were keen to point out that none of these materialized at Dechert. “People work hard but it doesn’t feel cutthroat or aggressive in any way,” said one insider. Associates were impressed by the culture of giving credit where credit’s due: “In my practice group in particular, I’ve been blown away by how much they love to credit people, to a point where sometimes frankly I feel silly for receiving credit for stuff!” a source laughed. “I was nervous when coming into the job because of BigLaw stereotypes,” added another, but found “in the first year I took two vacations and I’m not a night owl and that’s been fine.”

One junior highlighted their associate mentor checking in with them every day noting, “That sentiment of helping others, not just with work or professionally is something that’s common at the firm.” Another told us, “I really think that I’m thriving at the firm and that’s partly because of the relationships that it’s formed this past year and the work I’ve had the opportunity to do,” being given ample opportunities by seniors. Similarly, “it’s usually easy for me to send an email or step into a partner’s office to discuss a current matter.” Practice group socials help newbies build their network, so these were a “really nice component of the past year.”

Career Development

Juniors get “a lot of hands-on experience because we’re so leanly staffed,” sources noted, adding that “working closely with partners and senior associates will let you know how you’re progressing and how your development at the firm is going.” Beyond this, there are “ample resources, regular trainings, a whole professional development team,” including training programs for public speaking and interpersonal and soft skills. In the financial services group, there are training sessions “called fundamentals, where junior associates are able to start off on an equal playing field, as they get the same exposure to the technical tools.”

Dechert formally offers two types of mentorship: partner mentorship and associate mentorship. The relationship with the partner mentor tends to be the more formal of the two, which an interviewee noted involves getting lunch “to talk about the current state of my career and what kind of work I’m working on.” Associate mentorship is “more casual,” consisting of less formal check-ins and advice.

What about long-term career options? “People pursue many different avenues,” explained one insider, “I’ve seen people stay at the firm all the way through partnership, I’ve seen others go in-house to clients, others into government – our work is very related to the SEC and people often go there.” The firm also posts job openings for in-house clients on an internal portal. “I think that’s really neat that they provide external opportunities,” an associate praised. Additionally, the firm has an in-house executive career coach on hand to assist associates with development.

Hours & Compensation

Billable hours: 1,950 target

“You don’t have to overexert yourself to get something done.”

Of the 1,950 hours target, associates are required to do at least 25 hours of pro bono, with a further 75 available for further pro bono and community work. And how challenging is it to hit this target? “I do find it reasonable; I’ve hit it and so have my peers this year,” one junior informed us, “The firm has been very busy this past year and that’s given us an opportunity to take on a larger role in the cases and that also means more hours.” That said, our sources didn’t feel overworked; “You don’t have to overexert yourself to get something done,” one noted, as juniors are given a helping hand if there’s too much on their plate. “Maybe it was a little bold, but I turned down assignments and people didn’t mind,” shared one interviewee, “They knew I would rather work well on the stuff I did rather than stretch myself too thin and they recognized that was the appropriate call.”

For the top-billers out there, there are also two additional tiers of “extraordinary bonuses” at 2,200 and 2,400 hours. 1,850 of these hours need to be client hours, but, beyond that, “you can meet it by doing pro bono,” associates noted. As expected, there were very few complaints about this system: “I do think it rewards a lot of high performers, high billers,” one explained. To give a little insight: some of the extraordinary bonuses were up to 130% above market! Additionally, associates were content with their compensation being market rate and lockstep. “It’s a lot of money,” said one, “I feel like our work is recognized and well-compensated.” And to sweeten the deal, “there are other benefits too as well as meal allowances and transport past a certain time, so I have no complaints.”

Our sources were generally in the office Tuesday through Thursday, which we heard no qualms about. “It’s really having a good in-person attendance during the day that they care about so they can integrate people, that’s what guides the in-office policy,” sources reasoned. As such, there’s no expectation to stay back late in the office to wrap up the day’s work; our interviewees reported working from 9am to around 5 or 6pm, before heading home to finish up the day.

Pro Bono

Associates are required to undertake 25 hours of pro bono per year. “A lot of the pro bono at Dechert is very topical,” explained a source. “We didn't just start doing that this year because it's on trend. We've been doing it for more than a decade,” emphasizes Cohen, “we take our pro bono matters very seriously, and once they are taken on, they are treated just like the paid matters.” Broadly, associates had worked on a wide range of matters from representing veterans and asylum seekers, and advocating for prisoners’ rights. Corporate opportunities included helping to set up small businesses and reorganize charities.

To give some regional examples, in New York, Dechert is working on cases related to challenging a local police department’s failure to provide language translation services. The Charlotte office “has a good relationships with legal aid organizations in North Carolina and we do a lot of real estate and housing work for them,” such as estate planning. Similarly, “in Philly, that has a lot of need frankly, people are making sure we get out and give back where we can.”

Pro bono hours

• For all (US) attorneys: 62,018
• Average per US attorney: 89

Dechert is recognized as an Excellent Performer for Pro Bono in our 2025 survey.

Inclusion

There are opportunities to engage with the firm’s affinity groups on at least a monthly basis, such as groups hosting external speakers and holding get-togethers. “There are also mentorship circles within these groups which is helpful,” sourced noted, providing the chance for juniors to ask questions, such as how being a mother affects partnership. “It’s something we can’t ask in everyday life, but Dechert creates safe space for that sort of discourse,” they added.Similarly, the firm's Global Associates Committee gives new associates a way to share their opinions with upper management.

Some juniors share offices, “which means we start off with some kind of community.” What’s more, partners encourage newbies to drop by their offices when they have questions, “so there’s really a culture of trying to integrate people, not just on a professional level, but on a personal level, which I appreciate.”

Get Hired 

The first stage: recruitment on and off campus

OCI applicants interviewed: undisclosed  

Interviewees outside OCI: undisclosed  

Dechert conducts interviews at over 20 law schools and job fairs. The firm also accepts early applications and write-ins during the pre-OCI and OCI season. OCIs are conducted virtually by a mix of senior associates and partners.   

According to hiring sources, interviewers tend to have their own style, but “most will look for indicators of a candidate’s ambition, communication skills, leadership and management abilities, as well as potential in teamwork, collaboration and client relationship-building. We also enjoy being able to answer questions about the firm and our own experiences and career paths.” Without a rigid format, the interviews stood out in some associates’ memories, as this source explained: “It was more them offering me career advice, rather than the traditional 'tell me about these things on your CV' format.”   

Top tips for this stage:   

“The main personal aspect of it is you get gut feelings. One thing that stood out is every single person I met with was incredibly enthusiastic about the work they were doing. I thought these are the people I’d want to work those long hours with.” – a second-year associate    

“I didn’t know much about Dechert going into the interview. The people who interviewed me were great, very warm, and followed up. It was good to see they have a good experience at Dechert.” – a second-year associate    

Callbacks

Applicants invited to second stage interview: undisclosed   

Callbacks are offered in a hybrid format, but all candidates will have the specific ins and outs of the interview explained to them prior to the interview. Candidates typically have four 30-minute interviews with a mix of partners and associates. As with the OCIs, “callback interviews and the questions interviewers ask will still vary,” according to hiring sources at the firm, who add that “interviews can become more personalized, but different attorneys will find different aspects of candidates’ experiences and interests impressive or discussion-worthy.”  After the interviews, the hiring committee meets to consider candidates and make offers.   

Top tips for this stage:   

“The money was the same everywhere, all my firms were in the same area. Then I came here for a student dinner and drinks and felt very at home. I laughed at jokes because they were actually funny, not because I was trying to fit in. It was comfortable. If I never send out another resume in my entire life, it’d be too soon.” – a third-year associate    

Summer program   

Offers: undisclosed  

Acceptances: undisclosed  

Dechert's standard ten-week summer program starts with an orientation in New York, after which summers get to pursue work in practice groups that interest them. Assignments come from different attorneys and summer associates are encouraged to explore beyond their initial practice group interest. Negotiations and deposition training, writing skills, presentation workshops and practice group trainings are also dotted throughout the program. The firm’s offices, practice groups and many of the firm's affinity groups host social events.   

Candidates receive offers to join as fall associates in either the transactional or litigation pool at the end of the program.   

And finally...   

“You’re likely to encounter some of your biggest career opportunities here at Dechert. Our approach is to judiciously present our people with assignments that draw out their strengths and stretch their boundaries. Accordingly, we recruit lawyers who want to challenge themselves through complex, cutting-edge legal work in a highly collaborative environment. Here, you will be trusted and empowered to do your very best work.” – Christina Sarchio, Securities and Complex Litigation Partner and Deputy Chair of Talent

Interview with Vincent H. Cohen Jr., Global 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?

Vincent H. Cohen Jr.: People join Dechert because we have built a unique culture of pride in working hard to deliver results for our clients while supporting one another in valuing everyone’s voice. We're at our best when we huddle across our firm across practices, geographies and backgrounds. This approach creates fertile ground for all employees to build their skills and grow their careers. In the firm’s strategic plan that we rolled out in 2024, we also highlight five guiding principles or values central to Dechert: excellence, stewardship, diversity and inclusion, collaboration and innovation.

With respect to excellence, we practice at the forefront of the legal profession to serve our clients’ needs. We work with our clients to confront complex challenges, solve the most intractable problems and drive positive business results.

Stewardship is one of the reasons why I joined the firm when I transferred over from government to private practice. Our lawyers and business professionals are stewards of something much bigger than our individual practices or jobs. We're accountable not only to ourselves, but to each other, the firm, our clients and actually the communities where we live and work.

With respect to diversity and inclusion, we value and respect the unique experiences and talents of our individual team members, and those differences enrich our client relationships. Our inclusive workplace fosters innovative thinking and creative problem solving where teams can draw from varied backgrounds and viewpoints to develop effective legal strategies.

On collaboration, we bring together diverse perspectives and experiences across practices and geographies to address challenges with precision and ingenuity. We advise clients across their priority markets globally, offering insights into local nuances, laws and regulations, and we work together to help our clients understand how these dynamics affect our clients’ business from all angles.

Innovation is the last of the values. Building on a long history of innovation, we continue to invest in technology and nurture an innovative mindset to provide excellent client service.

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

Cohen: Dechert’s success in 2024 was due to the relentless focus on implementing our strategic plan, especially regarding our people and innovation. Our best resource is our people. Obviously, we can't achieve excellence without excellent people at all levels of the firm. One of the great aspects of having a successful financial year is the ability to reinvest in our people through programs that foster collaboration and empower their success.

One of the great things we did was our partnership with the Wharton School. We saw an opportunity to bridge the gap between legal expertise and business acumen to build a more client-focused practice. So, in 2024, we sent 50 mid-level associates from around the globe to the Wharton School for three days of intensive learning, case studies and more.

We also have an executive coaching and development department here. This has helped our lawyers advance along their career trajectory and into the upper echelons of leadership. For first years, we implemented a new pool system approach to onboard and train our U.S. associates to make them more experienced and diverse practitioners and foster a sense of connection and collaboration.

Money is very important, too; we're not a “not-for-profit.” Our people worked hard to deliver the firm's best financial year ever. To show our appreciation for the firm's exceptional performance in 2024, in addition to our usual 30 and 40% above-market bonuses, we awarded bonuses of up to 130% above market.

Dechert is at the forefront in utilizing AI to enhance efficiency and focus on strategic client solutions. More than half of Dechert’s people – 1,200 plus – use our Gen AI tools regularly. These tools include our disclosure trends tracker that scans thousands of public regulatory filings for risk disclosures to decipher trends across the industry and inform legal analysis for financial service clients. A similar tool parses SEC correspondence filings for registered funds. In January 2024, Dechert began working on projects related to agentic AI and designing systems that can perform tasks autonomously, acting as “agents” that can make decisions and take actions on behalf of users.

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?

Cohen: We take a client-focused approach centered around our core principles of collaboration and excellence because teamwork yields the best results. Our revenue increased across all our practice groups, and we got closer to our largest 20 clients with a 14% increase in time spent with them. We now advise the top ten largest global asset management firms by AUM, eight of PEI’s top ten private equity firms, more than 700 private funds and fund management groups and four of the top five pharmaceutical companies.

I'd also like to highlight our pro bono. Dechert's commitment to pro bono work is widely seen as setting the standard for international law firms. The firm has made significant strides in a wide variety of areas. We didn't just start doing that this year because it's on trend. We've been doing it for more than a decade. Our strong financial performance enables us to develop our colleagues’ careers and underwrite significant pro bono efforts related to individual liberties, civil rights, exonerations, veterans’ rights, domestic violence, homelessness and other issues. We take our pro bono matters very seriously, and once they are taken on, they are treated just like the paid matters.

CA: What is your firm’s commercial strategy focusing on, and how do you expect the next year to unfold?

Cohen: In 2024, we focused on implementing our strategic plan, which included accelerated, focused growth, increasing our brand profile and profitability and remaining a market leader, all the while reinforcing our stewardship culture. We focused on our steeples of excellence, which included complex commercial litigation, enforcement actions and investigations, and PLMT litigation.I do the enforcement actions and investigations in my practice area. Antitrust and competition matters, investment management, financing and restructuring, capital markets and securitization, mergers and acquisitions, and intellectual property – those are the steeples of excellence  we are focused on.

CA: While Dechert is known for its work in several areas, as you personally practice in the enforcement and government investigations area, we’d be interested in hearing what trends you predict are likely to continue or emerge in this area over the next few years?

Cohen: We are always looking to be counter cyclical. Given new administrations and new focus areas, there is always a change in where we find the clients’ concerns and the clients’ efforts in terms of the outside counsel support and representation they are looking for. I think you've seen that the DOJ is focusing more on violent crimes and gang-related and international cartel work as opposed to the FCPA work – that was the interest of the prior administration. It’s going to be important for firms to be able to pivot in that area.

I think it's important for all the practice groups, but especially with enforcement and investigations, to be nimble enough to switch when the focus of an administration switches. But the key is to stay busy and have a counter cyclical practice group where you can always be able to shift and become knowledgeable and experts in whatever area the government and the regulatory agencies are focusing on.

Inside the Firm

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

Cohen: We have a number of offices throughout the country, and we have seamless work between them, so if you want to work on enforcement and investigations, it doesn't mean you have to be here in D.C. with me or in New York with another leading partner in that space, Andy Levander, you can actually be in any one of our offices. Because of the seamless nature of it and our flexibility, we're allowing associates to actually reside in whatever offices they have family in or where they want to be, but still be an integral part of any practice group because we have them spread out throughout the different offices in the firm.

Innovation is core to Dechert’s strategy. We equip our people with knowledge of the latest technology and emerging skillsets, including embracing a change mindset. Technology and AI training starts as soon as people join the firm. Lawyers regularly work closely with the Innovation Team to build out practice solutions. The firm has also rolled out an Innovation Incubator training program, where lawyers get billable hours credit for work on Generative AI projects. So far, we have launched more than 30 tools. 

One example of our training is the annual Innovation Certificate Program, which is an in-depth program designed to take people out of their comfort zones, expose them to disciplines like behavioral science and design thinking, that are not traditionally linked with law and inspire an honest reflection on the way we do things in the legal industry and how we can change for the better.

CA: What’s the firm’s approach to bolstering inclusion?

Cohen: We value and respect the unique experiences and talents of our individual team members, and those differences enrich our client relationships. Our inclusive workplace fosters innovative thinking and creative problem solving where teams can draw from varied backgrounds and viewpoints to develop effective legal strategies.

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?

Cohen: In addition to innovation, collaboration is one of the guiding principles of Dechert’s strategic plan. The ability to be collaborative among offices, among jurisdictions and making sure you can be responsive to your client at any time, any day, in any place is going to be the key to being a successful law firm in the future.                                                                                                                         

The Fun Bit

CA: What was the first car you owned?

Cohen: It was a twelve-year-old hand-me-down Volvo Sedan that was beige in color when it was new. But I was so excited to get my own car, even though it was twelve years old, I washed it so often that it turned from beige to pink! So, that was my first car, but I didn't own it. I was borrowing it from my father, who gave it to me. So, that's the first car I drove.

CA: Was he happy with the color change?

Cohen: No, nobody was, but I couldn't afford to paint it, so it just got pinker and pinker! But there's a 16-year life cycle on a Volvo, usually, so I think I kept it for four years and they finally allowed me to trade it in.

CA: What memory/moment has stuck with you from law school?

Cohen: My moot court interview and opening statement that I had to do. I knew I wanted to litigate, I knew I wanted to be in court, I knew I wanted to be a trial lawyer but didn't really have the skills my first year of law school to be able to do it as well as I can now. I was not as good as I thought I was going to be, so it was humbling, but it taught me to work harder at preparing for public speaking and doing openings and closings. It led me to hone my craft and try and be a very good, persuasive oral advocate, as well as litigator. So, it was not the best memory, but it was a good memory that allowed me to always go back and think about how far I've come in that skillset.

CA: Which actor/actress would you want to play you in a biopic about your life?

Cohen: Denzel Washington. He is a wonderful actor. I remember in a movie called Glory, he was in a situation where he was getting physically assaulted and they had a close up of his face and he had one teardrop come out of his eye and I was very impressed. I was like, how can you cry on demand?  And only have one tear come out of your eye? You gotta be a great actor, so I would love Denzel Washington to play me, but I'm sure he wouldn't because my life's not that exciting!