Fox Rothschild LLP - The Inside View

There’s no doubt that Fox Rothschild is a firm that’s in growth mode. In just six years, the firm has hired 650 new attorneys and opened 18 offices. Oklahoma was the latest venture, opening in March 2022. “One of the reasons I chose this firm is because it has expanded and really embraced entrepreneurs,” associates told us. “Some large firms can be daunting, but that’s not the case here. It’s very personable but we also have the resources of a big firm.” Talk about having the best of both worlds.

Expansion isn’t just happening on a geographic basis: the real estate, corporate, litigation, IP, employment and tax and wealth planning groups have all seen additional partners join them over the past two years. Incidentally, these were the most popular practices among the juniors on our list, with litigation taking the most associates. The remainder were split across entertainment and financial restructuring and bankruptcy.

Several sources were sold on to the firm due to its expertise in their respective practices, while those who were unsure what they wanted to practice were drawn to the possibility of “exploring lots of different areas.” Fox is certainly the place to do just that, given the sheer volume of accolades the firm’s picked up in our sister guide, Chambers USA: the firm’s expertise is recognized across 12 regions, as well as nationwide. Across these areas, the firm is top ranked in practices ranging from corporate and healthcare to real estate and gaming. Despite being an emerging area of law, the firm’s cannabis practice is also considered cream of the crop. The current cohort of junior associates was spread across 23 offices: the three Pennsylvania offices took the most associates, followed by the New Jersey bases.

Strategy & Future

The firm's rapid expansion is (partially) the result of a series of mergers in recent years: Fox joined forced with Smith Moore Leatherwood in 2018, adding six new offices to its portfolio in the Southeast, two years after acquiring Minneapolis’s Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly.The expansion was a source of pride for many our respondents, who nearly all were confident in the firm's trajectory. But they also agreed that the firm was more dynamic and entrepreneurial as opposed to conservative and risk-averse. "We're expanding our offices in terms of size where they already exist to reach more of a critical mass at each office, rather than have many small offices," one insider explained. 

The Work

Firmwide, work allocation is straightforward,though some felt it could do with more balance: “Some associates are slammed always while others are sometimes starved for work,” revealed one insider. We heard the firm is working on a more formal system, but for the time being assignments flow through the partners who are responsible for associates’ workloads.

The corporatedepartment handles midmarket M&A deals (on both the seller and buyer side) and devotes a fair chunk of its resources to counseling larger publicly traded companies on general matters. There are, however, more niche groups that fall under the corporate umbrella: “We always joke that gaming isn’t really a corporate practice even though we’re technically part of that group. The partners handle a lot of transactional stuff but mainly from a regulatory perspective, so it’s more administrative.” These regulatory issues typically concern state-specific licencing and compliance: “It feels like every week there’s a new jurisdiction clients want to get into because of the legalization of betting!” Associates typically put the application forms together and delve into companies’ financial positions as part of document requests. “We also help clients get licensed to work with tribes. Lots of casinos are owned by tribes because of historic land laws, which is especially common in Washington.”

“Large firms often pigeonhole junior associates into menial tasks like writing blogs, but I’m always encouraged to work closely with the client.”

Privacyis another component of the corporate department and is a growing area of the firm: “Lots of associates from other areas of the firm work with the group.” This work falls into three categories: M&A, incident response, and compliance. The last of these concerns clients’ compliance with privacy laws (funnily enough), so associates will prepare privacy policies and data security policies, along with country-transfer agreements. On the M&A side, associates review any privacy elements that arise in typical corporate transactions to make sure the parties are complying with regulatory laws. If a client experiences a data breach, associates will analyze the root cause of the breach and help the client with reporting obligations. Sources scored this group highly for awarding plenty of client contact: “Large firms often pigeonhole junior associates into menial tasks like writing blogs, but I’m always encouraged to work closely with the client.”

Corporate clients: Sportradar, MGM Resorts, and Veritas Medical Solutions. Represented Seminole Hard Rock Digital, a joint venture between Hard Rock and former employees of online gambling company The Stars Group, in obtaining licenses for online gaming and sports betting in several jurisdictions.

Litigatorstend to work as generalists for their first few years at the firm, though most offices have a specialism: labor and employment matters and business litigation are common in Philadelphia, for example. But this doesn’t mean associates are stuck with whatever their office focuses on: “I’ve worked on all sorts of cases, from employment to construction.” Associates get involved with everything from drafting discovery responses and motions to client meetings and research: “I consider myself a Jack of all trades. We don’t have time for hypothetical assignments, it’s all real-world work that gets used in court.”

Sources reckoned that business litigation matters are usually staffed more leanly than other groups: “I’ve never been on a case where someone is more senior than me, other than the partner.” Business divorce cases are common – for instance, if someone ups and leaves with all the company’s assets, the firm will deal with fallout. No two days are the same in this group: “One day I’ll be doing dreaded doc review and the next I’ll be drafting a full dispositive motion. Either way, I always get to take ownership of my work.”

Litigation clients: Pennsylvania State University, Emerson Electric, Landry’s. Represented various business entities in a multimillion dollar intra-family business dispute concerning theft from the companies by the daughter.

Culture

“It took me a while to adjust to the fact this isn’t a nine-to-five job, but things got better once I started scheduling in personal time – hybrid working has definitely helped.” Sources still found working in the office to have its benefits, with one being that it facilitated more bonding. “Being an attorney is a team sport. The senior partners are very respectful, so I never feel like there’s a hierarchy – they always ask for my opinion.” Incidentally, the words “collaborative” and “helpful” came up multiple times when we asked associates what stood out to them about the firm’s culture when they first arrived, while one source even described the firm’s atmosphere as “uplifting.”

Interviewees appreciated the general understanding that “this is our job, but it’s not our entire lives - they know we have friends and family outside the firm.” As such there’s no requirement to socialize with colleagues, but those who did want to were pleased to find the firm hosts various office-specific events, be it happy hours or in-person breakfast gatherings. Associates try to get together once a month, like meeting for dinner at a local restaurant: “We just talk and hang out, it’s nothing formal.”

Pro Bono

Attorneys can count 50 hours of pro bono towards their billing target; if attorneys do more than that and have already hit the billing target, they can count any additional hours toward the bonus threshold. Associates were divided on the firm’s commitment to pro bono: some felt this work was strongly encouraged, but others told us it had never been mentioned to them. Those who had taken part in pro bono projects mentioned that the firm is currently representing inmates at the Cumberland County Jail, New Jersey, who have brought action against the jail for allegedly failing to protect them against COVID-19: “My colleague has spent literally hundreds of hours on it.”

Pro bono hours 

• For all attorneys: Undisclosed
• Average per attorney: Undisclosed

Hours & Compensation

Billable hours: 1,850 target (1,900 litigation) 

Working 50-hour weeks on average, Fox’s associates put in similar hours to peers at other firms. Although corporate groups generally have a reputation for demanding long hours, interviewees reckoned they have a better deal than their counterparts elsewhere: “The message is to get your hours in and make sure your work is good, but otherwise do what you want.” Sources were also keen to tell us: “There’s no micro-management in terms of how quickly or how long it takes for me to do something.” It was a similar story amongst litigators: “At some firms it can be hard to get sophisticated work without giving up every ounce of your personal life, but that’s not the case here. If I don’t have a filing deadline I’ll clock off at half five.” The firm encourages ‘break time games’ to help alleviate stress on the occasion that associates do have a hefty workload: “We recently did a firmwide raffle as part of the Fox Fit & Well Initiative which was fun. They also send a monthly newsletter with wellness tips.”

"We don’t follow the Davis Polk scale, but our billing target is lower than those firms, so it makes sense.”

Associates are eligible for a bonus once they hit the billing target, which is 50 hours higher for litigators. The more hours associates put in, the higher their bonus will be – “it’s very transparent.” The firm raised associate salaries in 2021, with first to third years getting an average of $30,000 more: “We don’t follow the Davis Polk scale, but our billing target is lower than those firms, so it makes sense.” In the interest of maintaining an entrepreneurial spirit, associates are also eligible for an origination bonus: those who bring in a new client receive 10% of the retainer.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Many agreed that the firm’s DEI efforts have vastly improved since it welcomed its first chief diversity and inclusion officer, Kim Gatling, in 2020: compared to our associate survey last year, associates gave the firm higher scores in every single category. The greatest improvements were in inclusivity training and in offering mentorship from a diverse range of attorneys: “They send round a lot of surveys to try and understand how we all feel about diversity here.” We heard matters are staffed diversely in terms of traditional diversity, as well as by age and location.

Our female interviewees were relieved that upward mobility is evident at the firm: the managing partner of the Philly HQ is female, as is the co-head of the litigation group there. Smaller offices like those in New Jersey found a fairly even split between men and women, and explained that practices which are traditionally male-dominated, like gaming, are on the lookout for more female attorneys. The firm started offering 50 hours of billable credit for DEI activities in 2021, and is currently working on becoming Mansfield certified. 

Career Development

Although newbies aren’t required to bring in business, the firm regularly brings in consultants to teach newbies about networking: “Last week we had a presentation on marketing ourselves so that when we eventually make partner, it’s second nature.” Another source chimed in: “The firm encourages autonomy. I’ve never had to ask permission to contact a client.” That’s not to say newbies are left to fend to themselves: each new starter is assigned a mentor, and associates can credit up to 50 hours spent on mentoring activities toward the billing target so long as they are up to date on client billable matters: “It’s quite broad, so anything from attending hearings to just spending time asking questions counts.” Outside of the formal system, associates felt they could lean on other attorneys who simply worked in the office the same days as them.

"I’m treated like a person, not just a lowly associate who's here to get tasks done.”

While insiders recognized that partners are very busy, they agreed that most senior attorneys are “incredibly helpful and answer all the 'dumb' questions” when their workload allows. However, beyond day-to-day conversations, sources flagged formal training as an area that could be improved: “We have virtual workshops and webinars but they’ve not been overly helpful.” Some put this down to the fact that law school didn’t prepare them well enough for real-world work.

Going forward with their careers, sources felt there was nothing ambiguous about the partnership track, meaning Fox Rothschild scored significantly higher than the average firm for making partnership achievable: a whopping 65% of those we surveyed intend to make partner, compared to the 25% market average. “I consistently get emails from recruiters but I always turn them down because I feel valued here. I’m treated like a person, not just a lowly associate who's here to get tasks done.”

Get Hired 

The first stage: recruitment on and off campus  

Fox Rothschild visits approximately 40 law schools nationwide, and interviews around 20 students per school.  

Fox has a firmwide recruitment committee made up of both associates and partners – the firm typically pairs associates and partners together to conduct the interviews. During interviews, interviewers ask questions aimed at measuring “students’ analytical abilities, motivation/initiative, judgment and previous experience,” Natalie Quinn (Director of Associate Recruitment) tells us.  

Top tips for this stage:  

“My first round was focused on the kind of work I did, what I wanted to do and if my goals matched with what they were looking for. The second round I met with a whole bunch more people – a lot of those conversations were based on what I wanted to know from them," – a third-year junior associate.

“It was nice – a very natural interview, not stressful, not confrontational, just very conversational.” – a third-year junior associate.

Callbacks  

Applicants invited to second stage interview: 278  

Whether virtual or in person, all interviews will begin with an overview of the summer program presented by a member of the professional recruitment team. Interviews will then be conducted in one of two formats, either as a panel-style interview or four consecutive one-on-one interviews. “At this stage, candidates should continue to expect to answer competency-based questions. Additionally, we are trying to determine a candidate’s interest in Fox in particular, versus wanting to work generally at a large law firm,” explains Natalie Quinn. Some offices will also host office-wide networking opportunities, whether virtually or in person, to provide students the chance to meet more lawyers and “get a feel for the culture.”  

Top tips for this stage:  

“It was a very different interview experience than the others. I met with multiple people throughout the interviews. Usually it’s just one person at a time at other firms, but here I met a very senior partner, three senior associates, then two associates and then the office managing partner.” – a second-year junior associate.  

“The whole way they did interviews was totally different and felt I was really able to get the feel for the people.” – a second-year junior associate.  

Summer program  

Fox's summer program lasts for ten weeks and starts with a firmwide orientation. Throughout the program, summer associates will meet regularly as a class for training, professional development opportunities and social events. Social events include the trivia nights, scavenger hunts, and cooking classes.  

Fox does not have a rotation program, so summers are free to sample work from various practice areas. Assignments are obtained via an online portal and accompanied by weekly training that is delivered by video-conference across the offices. In addition, summers can expect a one-one writing session and business development training (the latter is delivered by the firm's marketing department). All summer associates are assigned two mentors: one is an associate and the other is a supervising partner, who keeps an eye on summers' overall workload each week. Before the summer is over, summer associates rank their practice area preferences for when they return to the firm (the majority do return), although practice area assignment is largely determined by business need.   

Top tips for this stage:  

“Recently we’re offering fellowships to 1Ls. They have a rigorous application process and six of them will be offered a job during their 1L summer. If they return for their 2L summer, they receive an additional stipend. If they join the firm as a full-time associate, they receive a second stipend. It’s an exciting new diversity initiative.” – a second-year junior associate.