Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati - The Inside View

Sometimes a firm’s legacy can feel perhaps too many chapters ago to hold relevance today, however, being one of the first firms founded in Silicon Valley is certainly defining enough to make a mark. “You can still talk to the people who incorporated Google and took Apple public,” insiders headlined, proving that perhaps history isn’t all that far away.

The firm’s representations of Google and Apple are just two of many notches Wilson Sonsini has on its belt over the course of over 60 years of practice. Today’s Wilson Sonsini represents tech giants, startups, and many more across its 17-office network (13 stateside and an additional four internationally).

“You can still talk to the people who incorporated Google and took Apple public.”

In fact, our sister guide Chambers USA paints a good picture of Wilson Sonsini’s range, bestowing the firm with best-in-class accolades across the States, particularly in California for its debt & equity capital markets, venture capital, and appellate and securities litigation know-how. Nationally, the firm scores further top praise for its artificial intelligence and startups & emerging companies prowess, as well as life sciences, antitrust, and corporate/M&A.

So, for budding attorneys looking for a front row seat on startup, tech, and life sciences action, where better to be? “A ton of client interaction early on, mentorship and responsibility, and the ability to choose who you work with and what you want to learn,” were stand out qualities of the associate experience, according to insiders. Of course, high-caliber work comes with high-caliber expectations, though associates were keen to reassure that while “the work can be complex and challenging, people are reasonable human beings and are respectful of boundaries.”

Of the firm’s 13 office network stateside, most associates are based in the Palo Alto and San Francisco offices, followed by New York, Washington DC, Seattle, San Diego, andBoston.

Strategy & Future

“Our firm’s mission and our brand are tightly aligned,” Doug Clark, managing partner, reminds us: “We are known for representing technology, life sciences and other emerging growth enterprises throughout their entire life cycle, as well as the players in the financial ecosystem that support them.” In turn, the firm looks to grow in the markets which complement its strategy. For example, “we’ve continued to grow our litigation department, including here in the Bay Area but also in Los Angeles and New York, and will continue to grow in those areas,” Clark details. As market conditions begin to see signs of recovery, “Our very important and historically great capital market practice that focuses on IPOs has benefitted from its return (after a two-three year down cycle),” Clark shares, “We represent some really great late-stage private companies in life sciences and technology – and some recent IPOs include Interscope and Chime.” M&A and private financings have also picked up, “particularly in exciting sub sectors like AI.”

The firm has an international focus alongside its domestic strategy related to continued investment. “We are very optimistic about our growth possibilities in New York and Boston, where we’ve experienced rapid growth over the last several years, as well as continued growth in Brussels and London,” Clark details, adding, “Brussels has regulatory practices: data privacy and security, as well as competition. We have a lot of confidence in those practices, which also exist in London, in addition to a national security practice.” In addition, “we also have strong offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai that primarily focus on private equity and capital markets.”

Read more from our conversation with Doug Clark under the 'Get Hired' tab.

Summer Program

Incoming summers are matched to a specific practice, such as corporate, litigation or patents & innovations. As an introduction to the firm, summers are given shadowing opportunities, which cover a number of tasks including client calls. “They do a good job at allocating actual non-urgent work,” from research tasks to taking a stab at drafting parts of ancillaries or claims, one associate recalled. “For example, this year, a summer associate helped carry out research for a motion to dismiss, and their work went into our brief,” said an insider. Summers are also encouraged to get involved in the firm’s pro bono work.

The firm also hosts a Summer Associate Academy, which is a week long. “The entire class is flown out to Palo Alto,” a source detailed, adding, “It’s a good way to meet everyone and learn about the firm.” The program involves breakfasts, lunches, coffee chats, cooking and pottery classes, musicals, and baseball games to assist integration and networking. “You don’t fully appreciate it until you come back as a fall associate, but it’s easier to get started with those relationships with partners and associates in place,” juniors emphasized, underlining, “You rely on your class mates a lot when you start out too!”

The Work

Work allocation was described by associates as “an entrepreneurial model.” There are career development managers in each practice group who help support the work conversations and help juniors navigate reaching out to partners.

“It can be a little tough at the beginning as it takes time to build those relationships and requires some finessing to work with the right people,” some sources mentioned. That said, sources acknowledged the benefit of being able to seek out the matters and areas that interest you. As an additional layer of support, the patents and innovation practices recently launched an internal page that features each patent and innovations attorney’s education and science expertise, which helps to facilitate staffing opportunities.

Kickstarting with the ‘Launch Program’, for their first two years, corporate newbies in the Palo Alto and San Francisco offices are given the opportunity to explore the multitude of groups on offer, including emerging companies, tech transactions, energy and climate solutions, public company representations, capital markets, and M&A, before declaring their specialization.

“The firm prides itself on being a start-up firm, so it’s common for juniors to dabble in that work.”

“Around 70% of the launch groups do some type of start-up work, but there is also debt and public company and later stage work to get involved with,” an associate said, explaining, “With the market shift, companies have been staying private for longer and we have sophisticated private clients. However, the firm prides itself on being a start-up firm, so it’s common for juniors to dabble in that work.” As such, a multitude of tech companies, including digital healthcare, pharma biotech, AI, and crypto (“there are a lot of awesome clients!”), line the client books.

Depending on the matter at hand, juniors can get involved with drafting ancillaries, handling disclosure schedules and diligence, and lots of project management, which sources explained requires “being organized and fast paced to keep up with lots of moving parts.” Juniors are also able to have a bigger stake in smaller matters, including “running most of the day to day and interfacing with clients.”

Corporate clients: LinkedIn, Roblox, Google Ventures. Represented Stripe, a financial services platform, in multiple deals including a $70 million Series D funding and its acquisition of Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure platform.

As for the litigation practice, work includes complex litigation, white-collar & patent litigation, technology litigation and appellate litigation. As generalists, juniors are able to work across the three, as well as work cross-office. “Location doesn’t limit what you can get involved in, but certain partners have specialized niches,” an associate explained.

Junior associate responsibilities differ depending on the scale of the matter, but as a rule of thumb, juniors are tasked with doc review and discovery, which, as a source explained, involves “creating a narrative behind the case for contract disputes and intensive investigations,” as well as preparation for interviews and depositions, drafting responses, motions and other filings. Juniors can also get involved in compliance counseling, which essentially means “looking at a new DOJ rule, understanding the nitty gritty, and translating in for a lay person.”

Litigation clients: The Art Institute of Chicago, ByteDance/TikTok, Hulu. Defended OpenAI in a first-of-its-kind defamation case against a generative AI company based on AI output.

The patents & innovations practice covers patent prosecution, which involves counseling, and in some cases, appearing before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Juniors are able to get involved in due diligence for transactions, which is “typically where a venture capital or life sciences company is interested in acquiring another company or licensing a technology,” an associate explained, adding, “We verify it to make sure it’s sound without any lien or litigation.”

This is the practice where you’ll find a high concentration of attorneys with masters degrees and PhDs, spread across subgroups like organic chemistry, computer science, mechanical devices, and life sciences. Here, juniors can get stuck in with preparing applications, reviewing and filing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and responding to Office Actions from the USPTO. “These are argumentative by nature, so you’re essentially trying to find out what you can argue against and get around,” an associate uncovered. Client interaction is also aplenty, with an insider highlighting: “I really enjoy the client counselling aspect and advising on where their portfolio is heading and recommending a strategy.”

Patents & innovations clients: Cytovale, Juvena Therapeutics, OrbiMed. Represented Enlaza Therapeutics on IP matters related to the company’s drug discovery collaboration with Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Career Development

Fresh-faced fall associates take part in a six-month long integration program upon joining the firm. Newbies are also assigned a career development manager who assists associates with making connections, discussing feedback, and generally navigating career goals. They are also paired with a first-year guide and are given a stipend to connect weekly. “It’s awesome!” sources praised. Lateral associates are also assigned mentors to assist with integration.

“People remember what it’s like to be a junior and pay it back with a culture of feedback and mentorship.”

Day-to-day, senior attorneys are also approachable: “You can ask most attorneys for 15 minutes of their time; people remember what it’s like to be a junior and pay it back with a culture of feedback and mentorship.”

Third, fifth, and seventh year associates also take part in training academies respective of their class year. “As you get more senior, there is more of a focus on business development,” sources explained of these sessions.

Looking ahead to partnership, while a few of our source felt it was still a bit early to being thinking about, most agreed that “there is a clear, well-defined progression.” As one interviewee detailed, once you become more senior at the firm, “you learn whether you’re on track for partnership or not, and you have more engaged training and discussions as a senior associate.” For those weighing up exit options, sources were optimistic: “When people go in-house, the firm is supportive.”

Hours & Compensation

Billable hours: 1,950 target

Associates must hit the 1,950 billable target to unlock their bonus, which can include a maximum of 100 Citizenship Hours, a maximum of 50 Shadowing Hours for first- and second-year associates (up to 25 shadowing hours for all others), a maximum of 40 Discretionary Time Off Hours, and an unlimited amount of pro bono work. Ultimately, notwithstanding disruptive market conditions, sources agreed that the target is “perfectly attainable.”

Juniors reported averaging around 40 hours of billable work a week – but, of course, the hours are subject to ebbs and flows, whether that’s prepping for a court deadline as a litigator, or clocking in some later nights on a pivotal point in the deal as a corporate associate. Ultimately, “you usually have good visibility of when that’s going to happen, and people are appreciative of your time,” a source reassured.

Associates valued the flexibility on offer when it comes to in-office attendance. While it varies from practice to practice, associates are typically expected to be in-office around three days a week.

In turn, associates receive lockstep compensation and market bonuses. The firm also matched special bonuses last year.

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is recognized as a Strong Performer for Benefits & Quality of Life in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey.

Culture

It can be hard to pinpoint what shapes a firm’s culture, but a good place to start is often the caliber of person they’re looking to hire. Harking back to the firm’s entrepreneurial Silicon Valley roots, juniors highlighted that the ideal candidate is “someone who wants to roll their sleeves up and get on with things – and is curious.”

“There is a hierarchy, but partners are easy to talk to and their doors are open,” associates assured. Bonding is also aided by the firm’s jam-packed social calendar, which includes plenty of summer associate events, the fall associate welcome event, first-year integration events such as cooking classes, pottery, painting and boat trips, monthly practice group lunches, quarterly office happy hours, summer and winter holiday parties, and an in-office trick or treat event for attorneys’ kids!

Pro Bono

With no limit on the number of pro bono hours associates can count towards their billable targets, sources unanimously agreed involvement is seen as “a high priority,” and in turn, it’s “pretty easy” to get involved. Associates’ involvement with pro bono work begins during their time as a summer, and thereafter, they receive frequent emails detailing opportunities they can get stuck into.

Projects often range from short term commitments, like small business clinics, to longer term landlord-tenant disputes and immigration cases. For one particular matter, the firm partnered with the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) to resolve a lawsuit alleging discriminatory policing in Louisiana. The firm has partnered with the Center for Justice and Accountability on various human rights cases relating to the Torture Victim Protection Act, including one anticipated to proceed to trial in 2026. 

“You’re able to participate in so much, from depositions to arguing at hearings…”

Aside from providing further opportunities for juniors to step up to the plate, sources also described the work as “incredibly rewarding.” As one litigator enthused, “You’re able to participate in so much, from depositions to arguing at hearings – which is really cool!”

Pro bono hours  

• For all US offices: 74,528
• Average per US attorney: 81.5

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is recognized as a Strong Performer for Pro Bono in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey.

Inclusion

Several sources spoke highly of the firm’s efforts to be inclusive, particularly the support given to numerous affinity groups. In particular, an insider highlighted the firm’s receptiveness to new ideas and actioning them, including things like “providing the funds for lunch and care packages for a women’s shelter.”

The affinity groups were also praised for being “good for cross-group mentorship,” for example, Women of Wilson (WoW) pairs juniors with senior attorneys, and also hosts a variety of events, from an informative speaker series to socials like pottery and WNBA games.

The firm hosts its own annual diversity and women’s summit every other year, where attorneys are flown out to meet and connect with one another. Attendance at this event also counts towards ‘firm citizenship’ hours.

Get Hired 

The first stage: recruitment on and off campus  

 OCI applicants interviewed: 187 

Interviewees outside OCI: 389 

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 2026 ACE opened October 22 and closed on January 12, with the goal to match candidates with their preferred office and practice. 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. The firm’s general applications opened on January 12, 2026, and close on March 2, 2026. We are planning on reopening for two weeks in June of 2026. 

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: 260 

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 13 US 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: 103 

Acceptances: 52 

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: Our firm’s mission and our brand are tightly aligned. We are known for representing technology, life sciences and other emerging growth enterprises throughout their entire life cycle, as well as the players in the financial ecosystem that support them. That drives our growth strategy. We hire to suit the mission, and we grow in the markets that are suited to the mission. We think that this is a very good time to be in the business we’re in, with the focus we have.

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

Doug Clark: We have focused on our mission and our values. We’ve remained true to who we are and what we are, and that includes our ongoing commitment to creating a workplace that is fair and inclusive. We also continue to focus on our priorities in pro bono representation. For example, we focus on representing individuals and cases that can change their lives, whether for victims of human trafficking, asylum cases, or landlord tenant cases.

Other developments in the past year that have been beneficial: we’ve continued to grow our litigation department, including here in the Bay Area, but also in Los Angeles and New York, and will continue to grow in those areas. Also, the markets that our clients are in have improved over the course of the last year. Our very important and historically great capital markets practice that focuses on IPOs has benefitted from its return (after a 2-3 year down cycle). We will continue to benefit from that because we represent some really great late-stage private companies in life sciences and technology – and some recent IPOs include Interscope and Chime. M&A has also picked up--that is a key practice for us—and private financings, particularly in exciting sub sectors like AI, have been robust. So, there’s a lot of investment and interest in the spaces that our clients are in. We hope that it continues to fuel an exciting year for the firm. When I think about where law students should invest their human capital, the industries that we focus on are key opportunity sets to focus on as well.

CA: Are there any domestic or international events/trends that 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: Obviously, we’re affected by macroeconomic trends like everyone else is. Early in the year, the uncertainty around tariffs, not the existence of tariffs or tariff policy, created some pressure. Uncertainty is never good for any business, including ours. For example, our London office was impacted earlier in the year but that has settled. Time has not calmed the outcome with respect to tariffs, but it has calmed the degree of certainty with respect to tariffs. There are macroeconomic trends like that, but large portions of the market have been strong, and all law firms benefit from that, as stability and valuations help drive transactions. There are parts of our business that don’t run on the same market-driven economic cycle, like litigation. Our regulatory practices, which are important to us, have the kind of disruption that they always have when there is a transition in the administration. There is nothing unique about this time per se; there is always a bit of change. We are dealing with the same macro and domestic economic issues that other law firms have, but I think our entire industry is very resilient and we are very resilient.

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

Clark: Our law firm historically has had and continues to have a slightly different focus than other large law firms because we represent companies throughout their life cycle, including the very early stage. We have literally thousands of active clients at any one time, ranging from a start-up spun out of a university with just a couple of people to large multi-national companies. That is our business model and what we will invest in over the coming years. For that model to work, as it has for decades, you need a good innovative environment, a good financing environment, and a good regulatory environment that lends itself to exits – and just generally a positive environment with respect to regulations and courts, and we see all those pieces coming into play.

We have an international focus on top of our domestic one. We have 17 locations, and we are focused on organic growth in all of them. We are very optimistic about our growth possibilities in New York and Boston, where we’ve experienced rapid growth over the last several years, as well as continued growth in Brussels and London. Brussels has regulatory practices: data privacy and security, as well as competition. We have a lot of confidence in those practices, which also exist in London, in addition to a national security practice. We have a lot of confidence in London as an innovative economy and have invested in that and will continue to do so. The London tech ecosystem really began to gain momentum about eight years ago (putting a margin of error on that number due to the pandemic) and around this time the first generation of innovative companies were exiting either from M&A or other exits like capital markets. We built the office to accommodate the exits and not just representing clients in early-stage life cycles. We also have strong offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai that primarily focus on private equity and capital markets. There is a global ecosystem at the firm.

Inside the Firm

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

Clark: It is something that we are very focused on because that is literally the future of the law firm. Over the past several years and with the accelerant everyone is feeling, we have invested a lot in innovation and training. Training has always been essential to raising the next generation of lawyers—and we couple that with innovation and effective practice efficiency tools that enable young attorneys and attorneys my age to deploy technology responsibly to make their work better and faster. All of our industries are being affected by the next generations of AI and we’re very focused on making sure that we use that powerful tool to the benefit of the next generation of lawyers at the firm.

The Legal Profession

CA: How do you predict the rise in AI will affect the ways in which lawyers work? How will it affect the services law firms provide?

Clark: I think we are going to learn a lot about the latter part of that question in the next few years, as frankly better tools are developed internally at law firms and made available externally to law firms. It is a certainty that lawyers, whether new or seasoned, who learn how to use AI effectively will be better off than those who don’t. It is becoming an important part of law school curricula, and that is where they will begin to learn how to use AI in the context of overall practice. I think it is too soon to be a doomsayer about it requiring fewer lawyers or what impact it will have on the size of incoming classes. It may be the case that AI will enable us to take on more great work, so we don’t have to change the number of people that we hire. As with every single industry, we’re going to be learning a lot about the impact of very powerful technology tools, which has really been the case since the late ‘90s. AI and other advanced technologies have impacted relatively simple tasks in litigation, such as document review, and created the ability for young lawyers to start at a higher part in the value chain. I hope that it helps other practices and the same thing occurs.

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: There are some things that businesses and law firms to some extent are struggling with. I think that we’re still finding our way with in-person work and how we can balance the flexibility that we all learned to avail ourselves of during the pandemic and still create an in-person culture that results in better collaboration, training, and collegiality. We’re gravitating toward a good place on that; our firm continues to support a hybrid model. There is no reason to turn our back on some of the benefits of being able to work like this. We’re still working to balance those two things, as a lot of law firms are.

The Fun Bit

CA: Throwing it back to law school: it's been a long day of classes and studying. What's your go-to easy meal to have before you crash?

Clark: I don’t want to underscore that I wasn’t the healthiest eater in law school, but I think at the end of the day pizza was not a crazy option for me.

CA: What was the first concert you attended?

Clark: I saw The Who in 1976; I was 13 years old at the time. It’s actually the only time I’ve seen them. My second concert was Jackson Browne. I’m absolutely dating myself with those references. They were both fantastic, but The Who was more of a spectacle. I still enjoy going to concerts occasionally.

CA: Thinking about the ways in which the legal profession is developing, what is the one skill you have learnt in your career that you think is key for young attorneys to learn?

Clark: I think that really focusing on the developments in the law, in both the area that you’re in and adjacent areas and being inquisitive of knowledge are important—it’s a benefit to all of us in life to be lifetime learners. In the practice of the law, continuing to expand your knowledge base of the substance of what we do is a tremendous skill and enables one to provide a broad range of client services and to be a good docent to clients across disciplines.