Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP - The Inside View

Imagine the moment you receive that call - a job offer from your dream firm. Suddenly, the world really does feel like your oyster. With strength in cross-border work and a knack for building connections across the globe, Cleary might just be the firm you want to hear at the other end of the line. Four offices make up the US network with ten more internationally, and with additional strength in Latin America, the firm’s reach is hard to miss. That reach is backed by serious credentials. Chambers USA confirms Cleary’s standings with best-in-class recognition nationwide across antitrust, investment grade debt capital markets, derivatives, international trade, mining & metals, private equity fund formation, and tax. The firm also scoops up acclaim for its artificial intelligence, financial servicesregulation, general commercial litigation, securities litigation, corporate crime & investigations, as well as its equity, securitization and structured products capital markets expertise.

“We want people who love the idea of the academics of law and taking theory as an overlay for practice..."

If somehow there isn't a practice listed there to draw you in, then perhaps the culture will. For newbies joining the ranks, there was a certain quality that unified them: “We want people who love the idea of the academics of law and taking theory as an overlay for practice. The phrase used was a ‘bunch of law nerds’, and that appealed to me!” Given the shared interest in learning, interviewees also expressed how the investment in their development was significant as well: “The amount of training you have as you grow with the firm has always been impressive. Most lawyers will take time out of their day to talk through things.” The vast majority of junior associates on our list could be found in the New York office, followed by Washington DC.

Cleary is recognized as an Excellent Performer for Junior Satisfaction and The Elite for Mid to Senior Satisfaction in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey.

Strategy & Future

Associates were quick to highlight the firm’s developing work with cryptocurrency clients and its growth in the AI space, something that partner Kyle Harris seconded: “We’ve also continued to invest in legal innovation and AI. We launched ClearyX back in 2022, then acquired Springbok AI, whose team became the base of our AI Acceleration team.” The firm acquired Springbok in March 2025, and we heard that the Springbok team will be working on custom AI builds across the different practice areas.

On that point, Harris adds: "We work with a variety of technology companies and public institutions to develop smart, safe legal AI innovations, and most recently we became a Founding Advisor for Stanford Law School's Frontier Technology Lab — also known as liftlab — to advance the use of AI and other technologies in the delivery of legal services."

Elsewhere, “one trend has been a very complex regulatory environment in the US, as well as around the world,” Harris explains, “That’s led to heightened antitrust scrutiny of transactions and general business conduct, and increasing attention to foreign direct investment laws and restrictions.” The result? “It makes for a pretty complex web of regulations that businesses need to navigate, and enforcement that businesses need to navigate” Harris adds, “but that plays to our strong suit, as we’re very strong in those practice areas.”

Growth-wise, the emphasis is very much on the States: “We want to maintain strength elsewhere as well, it’s just that the US is a particular growth focus for us. We want to grow particularly our corporate practices including M&A, capital markets and restructuring, as well as our regulatory practices, particularly antitrust and competition, and dispute resolution too.”

Read more from our conversation with Kyle Harris under the ‘Get Hired’ tab.

Cleary is recognized as an Excellent Performer for AI Integration in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey.

Summer Program

Summer associates are free to explore the firm’s various practices. Although work is assigned on initial practice area preferences, participants have the flexibility to go beyond. “It’s a hands-on experience, you’re incorporated into the team, you’re attending the same meetings and doing the same tasks that first years will do,” insiders shared. Within it, there is an overseas rotation program which allows summers to spend four weeks abroad in another office. “I give this advice regardless, try out different practices and assignments, try to get a sense of the culture and what kind of people succeed in that group,” an associate advised. There are plenty of opportunities to socialize, which “in my experience created a social bond amongst my class across practice groups,” a rookie enthused.

The Work

The practices at Cleary operate with centralized staffing for work assignment, which is run by attorney development managers. The ADMs were praised for being intentional about workload whilst keeping associate development in mind. Associates themselves are able to reach out and request specific types of work and experiences to build skills.

Cleary is recognized as a Strong Performer for Work Allocation & Autonomy in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey.

“…you’ll be trained to be a generalist superstar rather than a specialized lawyer.”

Cleary’s corporate department is split into M&A, capital markets, private funds, debt finance, and structured finance as well as a dedicated full-service LatAm practice. There is a diverse array of clients that make up the books including but not limited to: public and private companies, emerging companies, and sovereign wealth funds, such as tech, mining, manufacturing and retail. Here, juniors select a developmental practice (a major) and a complimentary practice (a minor), before being formally assigned into a practice in their second year. The M&A practice covers the range of public, private, and strategic transactions. “As a result, you’ll be trained to be a generalist superstar rather than a specialized lawyer,” one source reckoned.

On the other side of the coin, the capital market practice handles debt and equity offerings, the creation of IPOs – “everyone is getting IPO experience with the amount that we are doing,” and corporate governance work. Those in capital markets explained that their work is split between deal work and governance, handling annual reports, proxy statements and 10-Qs and 10-K filings for the SEC. Corporate sources indicated that “starting out, you’re a master of diligence, assessing legal risks by reviewing contracts and identifying materials,” as well as having a project management role. “Sometimes it’s straightforward, but there are curveballs with international elements,” one insider highlighted, requiring liaising with local counsel.

Corporate clients: Synopsys, General Mills, LATAM Airlines. Represented Lennar in its taxable spin-off of Millrose Properties valued at $8.5 billion.

The litigation department comprises three main areas of disputes related work: civil litigation, arbitration, and enforcement. While juniors are generalists and can work across the above, matters are staffed across US offices, with certain sub-areas more prevalent in specific regions (e.g., enforcement matters in DC; IP litigation in the Bay Area). As a rule of thumb, juniors are responsible for lots of research tasks and fact gathering, “there tends to be a lot of moving pieces – reviewing millions of documents and interviewing dozens of people” to build chronologies which in turn are used for advocacy in front of agencies and in court. Rookies also roll up their sleeves to assist with interview prep and depositions, even potentially stepping up to second chair: “It’s not common, but the opportunity does come up when fully invested and part of the team,” an insider acknowledged. Juniors also pick up the pen to implement comments or edits, eventually tackling larger drafts.

Litigation clients: Amazon, Kuwaiti Military Office, The Republic of Argentina.Represented Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, a fin-tech company in connection with litigation brought by the SEC for its allegedly unregistered sales and offers of the digital asset XRP.

“I enjoyed the process of thinking through arguments on an expedited timeline.”

Moving along to the antitrust & competition department, the group handles merger clearance both domestically and globally, as well as antitrust disputes. In the States, most of the juniors are found in the DC office, although “it’s a seamless transition working across the offices like one big group” which, incidentally, spans every US office at the firm). Our sources explained that they had experience of early-stage antitrust counselling and merger clearance, antitrust litigation, as well as civil and criminal investigations. With a statutory 30-days to reply to a Second Request, one insider relished “drafting white papers for the FTC with compelling evidence. I enjoyed the process of thinking through arguments on an expedited timeline.” Juniors also get involved in a variety of other tasks from fact development and doc review - “sitting in on calls with businesses to understand their company and industry for legal research questions” - preparing exhibits and witnesses, to taking first passes at ancillaries for filings and motions for trials, as well as assisting with advocacy in front of government agencies. There is scope to second chair depositions as well.

Antitrust clients: Capital One, T-Mobile, Keurig Dr. Pepper. Representing Google on the antitrust aspect of its $32 billion acquisition of Wiz Inc, a leading cloud security platform.

Career Development

Our interviewees certainly felt that the firm had their backs when it came to their professional development: “Without a doubt! We do a lot of training and development across practice groups; the firm stands out for how much it invests in junior development.” Starting out, newbies spend some time covering the basics of business with a mini-MBA program. Thereafter the abundance of training continues with tailored practice sessions delivered by colleagues which “is super comprehensive.” Litigators have a dedicated academy which tackles skills such as cross examination over two or three days, “it's real classroom style hands-on training.” There is also training covering soft skills such as how to give feedback and manage juniors as they progress. Associates also valued the support to attend conferences to build their knowledge externally.

“…there are a number of senior associates I’ve worked with repeatedly who have become mentors to me. They’re always keen to give feedback candidly and thoughtfully.”

Fresh-faced junior associates are paired with an associate mentor for day-to-day questions as well as a more senior attorney for career development advice. With an open-door culture, associates found that informal mentorship is commonplace too: “Working with people on teams, there are a number of senior associates I’ve worked with repeatedly who have become mentors to me. They’re always keen to give feedback candidly and thoughtfully,” a junior shared.

As for the path to partnership, sources agreed that if it’s a goal, “the timeline is clear around eight years. People are made aware in sixth year what they need to do if they want to be partner – it’s not a secret.” The firm has recently introduced a non-equity tier, which “makes it a little easier to make partner, it seems more attainable to me!”  Cleary also has an active internal alumni relations and career services team. “They want to make themselves known as a resource,” sources told us. Internally, the firm has career coaches that associates are able to talk about their options confidentially.

Cleary is recognized as an Excellent Performer for Career Development in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey.

Culture

“It’s a really thoughtful place, it’s an intellectual culture – it attracts people who are smart, and maybe nerdy too,” insiders were quick to highlight, as well as those who are “globally minded.” According to our sources, the lockstep compensation model encourages a collaborative environment: “This culture comes from partners and seniors, it has been ingrained over time, and it permeates through the firm.”

“It’s a really thoughtful place, it’s an intellectual culture – it attracts people who are smart, and maybe nerdy too…”

Socially, associates are more than happy to get together and enjoy the low-stakes monthly wine and cheese social, open to all professionals at the firm. We heard that there is a ‘small dinner concept’ where a group of partners and associates go to a restaurant in the city which “is a good opportunity to interact more informally.” Other events include practice get-togethers and occasional retreats, as well as the typical seasonal events for the summers and, of course, the holiday party. There are also free Spanish and Portuguese classes for those who want to build up their skills, and sports leagues.

Cleary is recognized as The Elite for Culture in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey.

Hours & Compensation

Billable hours: 1,950 target.

A recent change has seen an all-in target of 1,950 – 2,150 hours, which is devoted to an associate’s development as a lawyer. This includes 1,800 minimum client billable hours, with the rest made up of pro bono, business development and firm citizenship efforts. Centralized staffing relieves some pressure “as it makes sure everyone hits around the same target. If you are slow, chances are the practice group is slow.” Our sources indicated billing on average 40 – 50 hours a week but caveated that this is subject to ebbs and flows, as is typical across BigLaw. Of course, busy periods can see associates working late into the night. The market bonus isn’t tied to the billable target, although associates are expected to be in good standing and enter their hours in a timely manner to be eligible: “If you do that, you get your bonus!” There are also additional bonus thresholds for those that go the extra mile. Associates are expected in the office Monday through Thursday and have the option to work from home on Friday.

Cleary is recognized as an Excellent Performer for Benefits & Quality of Life in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey.

Pro Bono

Associates are encouraged to complete at least 20 hours of pro bono a year, but with no limit on how much is counted towards their all-in target; many do more. In fact, if you do more than 100 hours of pro bono in a year, then you make the pro bono honor roll! With dedicated pro bono attorneys, weekly emails are circulated highlighting opportunities to get involved in, categorized as limited or long-term representation, and geared corporate or litigation experiences, making it easy to get involved.

“…it’s rewarding knowing that I can help, it’s great.”

Bitesize opportunities include helping out at legal clinics such as assisting non-profits and low-income small businesses; humanitarian immigration and asylum cases; civil rights and criminal justice reform; human rights protection; and amicus briefs. One litigator recalled stepping up on a pro bono project, “I’ve been interested in developing my drafting skills. That was an experience I wouldn’t have been able to get as a second year; I put a lot of myself into that brief.”

Pro bono hours

• For all (US) attorneys: 39,625
• Average per (US) attorney: 59

Cleary is recognized as The Elite for Pro Bono in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey.

Inclusion

As one junior put it: “The culture is inclusive and considerate, so you can thrive regardless of background. It’s one of the reasons I choose the firm with its international nature; it gives the firm that cosmopolitan feel.” We were told that the firm’s affinity groups are robust and reflect different backgrounds, identities and common interests, providing the space to build meaningful relationships. Although another mentioned, “I think it’s a problem with BigLaw itself with issues around inclusion in the industry, but the firm is aware and is making efforts.” Sources felt positive about the gender representation andhighlighted how “the associate pool is confident that growth will continue” with diverse representation across the board.

Get Hired 

The first stage: recruitment on and off campus    

CIP applicants interviewed: undisclosed  

OCI applicants interviewed: undisclosed  

Preview Programs applicants interviewed: undisclosed  

“We recruit at a wide range of schools across the country in search of academically strong and intellectually curious candidates who are enthusiastic about practicing law,” hiring partner Kyle Harris tells us. There are several avenues for candidates to apply to the firm’s summer program. In addition to continued partnerships with school-hosted on-campus and resume collection programs, the firm solicits applications through its Cleary Interview Program (CIP), an interview program that provides candidates with an opportunity to interview directly with the firm and expands Cleary’s reach to law schools across the country.   

First round interviews are conducted by senior lawyers at the firm and are typically virtual and 20 to 30 minutes in length. “Candidates can expect to be asked about their interests as well as academic and work experiences.” Harris adds, “Knowing information about the firm’s practice and/or clients is key.”   

Callbacks   

Applicants invited to second stage interview: undisclosed 

Candidates will have the option to select either an in-person or virtual callback interview and can expect to meet up to four or five attorneys during their callback interview. Harris points out that “we seek to tailor each candidate’s schedule to their interests, so candidates can select whom they would like to meet with, including attorneys from a particular practice area.” Harris outlines four skills the firm is looking to identify in candidates, including “leadership, client service orientation, determination, and intellectual ability.”   

Top tips for this stage:   

"Enjoy the process! This is an awesome chance to meet with a large number of lawyers to expand your network.” - Hiring partner Kyle Harris   

Summer Program   

Offers: undisclosed   

Summer associates are free to sample work from multiple practice areas, including Cleary’s pool of pro bono projects. “We seek to assign work based on practice area preference, balancing firm needs. Since there are no formal rotations, summer associates may explore different practices without being required to move between prescribed groups.” Harris expands, “We have a strong focus on intensive training programs throughout the summer. In addition to lunches hosted by different practice groups, summer associates will attend a corporate training seminar that provides an understanding of transactional practice areas, and a litigation training that provides a foundation in key advocacy skills, discovery skills, and substantive areas of law that are central to the practice.”    

And finally…    

Summer associates have the opportunity to spend four weeks at one of Cleary’s overseas offices (subject to office capacity and, in some cases, applicable language ability), which offers “a unique opportunity to experience first-hand the worldwide Cleary culture and global reach of our firm.”    

Interview with Kyle Harris, 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?  

Kyle Harris: We’re known as a firm with serious intellectual firepower that cares a lot about the craft of lawyering and providing excellent legal service, and has a very high consistency of quality across our offices, our practices, and our people, and that’s what we try to bring to clients. I think we’re known as a very collaborative place. People come to us to get the full firm because we take a very multi-disciplinary approach and we’re known as a very international place. We collaborate very well with our partners and across offices, and that’s awesome for young lawyers looking to come here because it’s something that they want to be a part of. 

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

Harris: There are a few I’d like to highlight. First, our new managing partner, Jeff Karpf, is working with partners across the firm to continue our ambitious growth goals. We’re continuing to expand aggressively in the US, adding lawyers to our New York, Washington, D.C., and California offices.  

On the talent front, in addition to the lateral hires we brought in over the past year – which included counsel from TikTok, a team of leading patent and trade secret lawyers, and leaders in shareholder engagement and activism defense – we had our largest internal class of promotions go into effect at the start of this year. 

We’ve also continued to invest in legal innovation and AI. We launched ClearyX back in 2022, then acquired Springbok AI, whose team became the base of our AI Acceleration team. We work with a variety of technology companies and public institutions to develop smart, safe legal AI innovations, and most recently we became a Founding Advisor for Stanford Law School's Frontier Technology Lab — also known as liftlab — to advance the use of AI and other technologies in the delivery of legal services.  That’s very important in litigation,  antitrust, and many other practice areas, and we will continue to invest in that, preparing the firm for changes in the legal landscape of tomorrow.  

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? 

Harris: There are a lot, so I’ll try to distill it down. I think one trend has been a very complex regulatory environment in the US, as well as around the world. That’s led to heightened antitrust scrutiny of transactions and general business conduct, and increasing attention to foreign direct investment laws and restrictions. It makes for a pretty complex web of regulations that businesses need to navigate, and enforcement that businesses need to navigate. But that plays to our strong suit, as we’re very strong in those practice areas. Besides that, the US has been the most dynamic and fastest growing economy since the great financial crisis, so we’ve seen a lot of investment in the US from abroad. That was accelerated by some of the industrial policy of the Biden administration, and also plays very well to our strong suit in cross-border deals. We’re seeing that change again now, and it seems there’s a move for more domestic investment in Europe that will probably have an impact around the world. With breaking tariff developments too, all of those will play to our strengths because we’re strong in so many different geographies. Finally, there’s been a great amount of consideration and competition in the legal market generally. I think that’s something we’ve managed very well where we’ve continued to grow quickly, and that’s important for the consistency of culture and excellence. It’s an interesting time to be in a Big Law firm. There’s a lot changing in the world, both within the legal industry and outside of it, but we’ve navigated it well and our focus is to keep doing so.  

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

Harris: Our strategy is first that we are a very international firm and we want to continue that while also growing out footprint in the US. The US continues to be a market that is the largest market for legal services, so we’re focusing our growth efforts in the US, but that doesn’t mean that we’re growing in the US at the expense of other jurisdictions. We want to maintain strength elsewhere as well, it’s just that the US is a particular area of growth focus for us. We want to grow particularly our corporate practices including M&A, capital markets and restructuring, as well as our regulatory practices, particularly antitrust and competition, and dispute resolution too. So those are the key practice areas we’re focused on, and where we plan to continue our growth efforts the most.  

Inside the Firm 

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

Harris: I spend a lot of time speaking with younger lawyers, both those already here and those looking to become lawyers. I think that young lawyers really want their firm to be investing in them. They know that this is a demanding job and firms expect a lot of them, so they’re only willing to expend that effort at a place that cares about them and their development and wants to invest in them. That’s something that’s been important to us for a long time, but something that we continue to focus on. We spend a lot of time on internal training and development, and spend a lot of time on our staffing function and making sure that people across the firm are getting the right opportunities, that those are being distributed equitably, and that people are getting the chance to grow and learn, and that we’re providing that more informal mentorship that young lawyers also need as they’re growing.  

Some of those things are not necessarily new, but I don’t think that firms have honestly always done quite so well at them. A lot of times practice in Big Law is really a sink or swim environment and in our mind it’s important to challenge young lawyers and give them opportunities to grow, but also to support them and show that we care about their future, here and elsewhere. We want to be exposing great lawyers to the world and investing in their development, and I think people really respond to that.  

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? 

Harris: I think we’re going to see a continued consolidation among firms, and the profound impact of AI on legal practice will only deepen. What's exciting is that at Cleary we're not just watching these changes happen — we're actively shaping them. We've built out our AI capabilities deliberately and systematically, and we're well positioned to leverage them to do more and focus on higher-value work.. I think this will be particularly beneficial for young associates. But there’s no question that it’s going to change the model of many firms, and it’s going to be important for us to navigate that well. 

The Fun Bit 

CA: What was the first car you owned? 

Harris: It was 1984 Mustang convertible that my grandfather passed on to me. 

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

Harris: For me I think it was the very first day of law school and my very first class, which was a civil procedure class with Steven Burbank at the University of Pennsylvania. Steven Burbank was, and is, a legend and a brilliant legal mind, but he could be an intimidating figure in the classroom and I remember stepping in that very first day and when he started calling on people I was thinking ‘oh boy, what have I gotten myself into’, but I thought it was thrilling and set the stage for what law school was to follow – challenging but a lot of fun.  

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

Harris: That’s a good one, I have to say George Clooney. He’s a little bit older now, but use some of that AI and touch him up a little bit for the younger parts of the movie and I think that would be quite an honor.