For associates with an interest in cross border work and notable development opportunities - where there’s a Willkie, there’s a way!
Getting a response from a situationship can be tough. Getting a response following a job interview might be even tougher. But with a reputation for being exceptional for their responsiveness, our insiders “felt most in touch with Willkie” during the days of their law firm interviews. “It’s impressive because of the amount of work people are balancing alongside communicating with applicants,” shared one source, whilst others were drawn to the pro bono work at the firm (spoiler: “It’s huge at Willkie!”).
Willkie will satisfy most prestige needs too – our sister publication, Chambers USA, marks the firm out as a leader nationwide in derivatives, transactional & regulatory insurance, and regulatory & compliance investment funds. In New York, Willkie gets top props for insurance and litigation, the latter of which is given top honors in the District of Columbia. The firm's prestige goes even further still across the firm’s seven international offices: Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Milan, Munich, Paris and Rome. Chambers Global places Willkie in the cream of the crop internationally for insurance, and references private equity, investment funds, restructuring, and corporate investigations as notable global practices for the firm.
“Willkie stood out because the vibe was excellent!””
Rankings aside, for our interviewees, vibes played a significant role in bringing them onboard, and “Willkie stood out because the vibe was excellent! People were kind and interested in the world beyond corporate practice, and that has continued to stand out.”
Strategy & Future
“Obviously AI is booming, so Willkie is trying to implement platforms to use these new tools,” one junior told us; “we’re not shying away from advancements in ways to make technology useful.” We heard that the firm is taking a “cautious approach that adds value,” by co-building with Lexis Nexis to ensure they have a tailor-made system to improve efficiencies. This approach meant interviewees felt that they weren’t going to be replaced anytime soon. “There will always be a demand for bespoke legal counsel,” one insisted, “I don’t know if there’s a replacement for someone holding your hand through a transaction, but we are looking at ways we can save associates from doing grunt work.”
Read our conversation with Danielle Scalzo, partner and executive committee member, and Bonnie Hurry, chief human resources officer, under the 'Get Hired' tab.
Summer Program
Summer acts as the perfect opportunity “to figure out who you enjoy spending time with,” both from a social and a working perspective. Our interviewees noted that they remained friends with their summer class because “on the social side it lived up to expectations; it seemed like a lot of us blended together well, so we got really close in the office and at events after work.” In addition to the events put on, the firm has a summer lunch program for summers to connect with attorneys at a local restaurant – a sweet respite from the work.
Summers are split into separate pools either on the litigation or transactional side, within which they get the opportunity to try out different practices. In New York in particular, summers join either the litigation or the transactional pool. Responsibility ranged with some grumbles about experience being somewhat limited: “I got exposure,” one junior wryly told us, “but my cup did not run-eth over with hours.” Others praised the substantive tasks they were given, including “good observational opportunities, staffing on teams, sitting in on meetings, and conducting research.” General consensus seemed to be that “the summer program was very representative of life as a junior.”
The Work
When juniors return as fully fledged associates within their chosen practice, they rest assured knowing that their work is overseen by an assigning group of partners. These partners keep track of matters associates are working on through the Horizons dashboard (which showcases the clients associates are working with, as well as their projects and workload), and importantly, ensure that nobody is drowning: “Unless you’re at trial, but when you’re at trial that’s the only thing you’re doing!” Beyond this, work allocation is largely organic and builds off the relationships formed over the summer, meaning juniors are given work directly from partners they spent time with during the program, and “once you’ve built that trust they’ll give you more work.” Associates are also given the opportunity to work across offices on different deals (the only downside being the accompanying time difference!).
“There’s an understanding from people that when you first start out, things will take longer.”
Flexibility is the name of the game for litigation associates who can work across a range of contentious matters including antitrust, class actions, communications, ERISA, international arbitration, investigations, restructuring, securities, white collar and general commercial, among others. Juniors also find themselves working across Willkie’s range of offices because “particularly between DC and New York, all litigation matters are cross staffed without respect to where you are so, depending on the matter we can be working with Chicago, LA, etc….” For the first three years juniors send weekly workload reports to assigning partners where they can specify areas of interest to tailor their practice. Insiders were pleased to report that the system works well.
As you might imagine, Willkie’s expectations of its juniors increases significantly because “you learn so much as afirst year!” It’s not a case of diving into the deep end though as “there’s certainly a learning curve when you get here, but there’s an understanding from people that when you first start out, things will take longer.” As a first year, doc review was a frequently mentioned task, along with helping to prep presentations for client meetings as well as meetings with opposing counsel, and, inevitably, research. However, as juniors increase in their experience they are given “a good amount of drafting,” including memos and motions. Sources also reported that juniors can even get experience second chairing depositions so, “if you want to do more, and you prove that you can do more, you can do more.”
Litigation clients: Bloomberg, and Wells Fargo. Represented a group of 29 underwriter banks for an IPO of Uber Technologies in a securities class action.
The intellectual property team tend to staff juniors by looking into their technical backgrounds, to see who fits best. We heard that juniors can work on both the litigious and the transactional sides of the practice. “I’ve been working mostly on IP litigations,” one source informed us, but on the transactional side “you can help out with opinion work as well as carry out the due diligence on deals.” Typical tasks for an associate starting out includes “a ton of legal research,” evolving into help with depositions and expert reports, drafting, and deciding upon relevant documents for exhibits. “You pick up a lot of experience with the beginning stage of the litigation cycle,” explained one insider. Associates also work on licensing involving patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. The foremost of these has juniors monitoring patent applications or tracking appeals on trademark cases.
IP clients: CC Industries, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Aspen Skiing Company. Represented Netflix against GoTV Streaming in a patent infringement lawsuit.
“They give you the opportunity to do a wide breadth of work wherever you are.”
Corporate and financial services has associates working across practices, across offices, and across teams. From LA to Houston, from Chicago to New York, all the way to London, different offices have different strengths. Dallas and Houston in particular have a strong energy client base; DC has a strong privacy and communications team in addition to its litigation and appellate strengths; and LA has a star-studded entertainment client list. Due to the offices' openly collaborative nature, “they give you the opportunity to do a wide breadth of work wherever you are.” Starting out as a junior “you’re given one public company, one private equity, and one private company,” so you’ll be doing anything from M&A to SEC filings for public companies.
“There’s a really good ramp up process,” we were told, with one source sharing: “As I’ve progressed into second year, I think there are more opportunities to do more substantive work.” As afirst year, for the first few months “you have no idea what you’re doing, but that evolves quickly” as juniors are given a lot of responsibility early on to carry out due diligence, work on ancillary documents, and speak with the client. And then as a second year, you’re “making sure the first year is doing what they should be doing!”
Corporate and financial services clients: Saks Global, Create Music Group, CoinFund. Advised Ryan Reynolds and his media company Maximum Effort in a deal to buy back Maximum Effort Marketing from MNTN.
Culture
All of our interviewees were extremely positive about the firm’s culture which matches “intellectual curiosity” with “super personability” across the board. “Everyone is nice to each other, and careful not to be mean even when giving feedback,” one junior noted.New recruits are gauged based on their answer to the question: How do you add to the collective good? As one junior explained, “it’s deeper than talent – they understand the value of that interpersonal relationship.” Associates are expected in-office three days a week to help establish these relationships, a balance which interviewees told us they love: “It means I can stay home with my cats on Fridays!”
We heard that every office ensures associates have opportunities to mingle through formal and informal lunches, happy hours, and seasonal holiday parties. One junior’s account painted a particularly vivid picture of Willkie’s Chicago office where the social committee organizes events like the “'Willkie games,’ where associates play games like ping pong and foosball in a tournament – they just announced the brackets during our town hall!” Practices generally put on smaller events for their teams. Firmwide, the firm hosts milestone programming for associates in first, third, and fifth year, which includes flying associates out to the New York office. “We’ve done ice skating, and gone to a jazz club” and attendance is encouragedbecause “it helps people loosen up!”
Hours & Compensation
Billable hours: no requirement
“A large part of our culture lends itself to no billables,” one insider told us, so as a result “if you have a second to breathe you can take that time.” Associates are expected to enter in seven hours of time every day, but “no requirement takes pressure off.” At a minimum, associates are kept to 35 hours a week, but we heard from most of our interviewees that “a normal week is anywhere between 40 and 50 hours. Weeks can even reach 60 hours when you’re at trial.”
However, these hours aren’t the norm, and when associates are hitting super high hours, “there is a button on our reports saying, ‘I’m underwater, help me!’ so they can make adjustments and redistribute work.” Ultimately there was the general feeling that partners respect juniors’ time, supported by the fact that they encourage and “want you to take vacation – they understand the need to reset.” All in all, insiders felt that “because work isn’t always within our control the lockstep compensation is really reassuring.”
Pro Bono
“Everyone has something on their docket.”
Willkie’s policy of uncapped pro bono was acclaimed by associates because since it’s billed the same as client work it “encourages folks to take on these matters.” In fact, the firm’s portal tracking internal and external pro bono opportunities makes it “almost like, too easy to get pro bono” and as a result, “everyone has something on their docket.” Associates get recognition as a “pro bono champion” once they’ve taken on 25 hours, with some people spending “up to 40% of their time on a broad swathe of pro bono matters.”
We heard of people get involved in both transactional and litigation matters including everything from helping startups in the US who are eligible for US grants, to name changes and individual civil rights cases. The Chicago office in particular was praised for their “great culture” surrounding pro bono where there’s “a lot of civic engagement, and a lot of partners are involved in the community.” It was also not unheard of for juniors to bring in their own pro bono clients for the firm.
Pro bono hours
- For all US attorneys: 92,446
- Average per US attorney: 73
Career Development
Associates get a mixture of formal and informal training opportunities, from mentors to CLEswith some mandatory, and some really cool: “At the last one I went to, the head of litigation sat down with a new partner, who was a former Assistant to the Solicitor General, talking about arguing in front of the Supreme Court!” The mentoring piece was seen as “pretty good” too, with a formal mentoring system ensuring juniors are given a partner and a senior associate as mentors when starting out.
However, it was the informal training that our interviewees most appreciated. “Mid-levels do an exceptional job,” but even “partners make time to give feedback beyond just passing you a redline.” Juniors also noted that the firm makes an effort to future-proof associates, mentioning that “they recognize the growing importance of AI; we have the most robust AI toolbox of firms, obviously including Harvey, but we’re also trained on how to use it ethically.”
“You see a bunch of people come up through the Wilkie ranks.”
Speaking of future-proofing, our interviewees felt they were well versed with the path to partnership. “I do envisage it as something attainable,” one junior told us, with another explaining that “you see a bunch of people come up through the Wilkie ranks… the path to partnership seems far out right now, but every year our reviews are helpful and the expectations of what we have to do to progress there are well laid out.” For those who don’t see partnership as the ultimate goal, “we have placed a decent number of people in-house from the time I’ve been here.”
Inclusion
“They value individuality,” something that, one junior told us, is a reflection of the firm’s approach to inclusion. We heard that Willkie is supportive of affinity group activities, and anyone is welcome to partake. These include the Asian and Pacific Islander Group, the Black Affinity Group, First Generation Professionals, Jewish Affinity Group, Latinx Affinity Group, LGBTQ+ affinity group, South Asian and Middle Eastern Affinity Group, and the Veteran’s Affinity Group.
As an example of previous events hosted, interviewees mentioned that the LGBTQ+ Group is “extremely active,” and the Black Affinity Group brings in speakers for Black History Month, the Chicago office puts on an event for Lunar New Year,and that the Veteran’s Group in New York take part in the Tunnels to Towers 5k, sponsored by the firm.
Get Hired
OCI applicants interviewed: 539
Interviews outside OCI: undisclosed
Willkie is committed to interviewing students from a wide range of schools each year to bring in top talent. In addition to OCIs and a direct application portal, the firm takes part in a variety of job fairs with a particular focus on those related to specific skill sets such as the Loyola Patent Fair.
OCIs are conducted by a combination of partners and associates with significant interviewing experience who are often alumni of the school. Students should be prepared to discuss their “backgrounds including previous work and leadership experience.” The firm is “interested in knowing the particular markets or practice areas the students want.”
Top tips from Danielle Scalzo, chair of the professional personnel committee
“Be prepared to draw on your prior experiences to demonstrate your strengths and skills even if they weren’t in the legal industry.”
“While intellect and analytical skills are important to being a lawyer, so are things like interpersonal skills, good judgment and grit.”
Callbacks
Applicants invited to second stage interview: undisclosed
The callback process differs slightly office to office, but typically students meet with both partners and associates. This is an opportunity for the firm to take “a deeper dive into the candidates’ experience and interests.” Some topics of discussion include “questions about experiences working through challenges because showing perseverance is a helpful predictor of success.” Candidates should also be able to have substantive conversation about their previous work experiences.
Top tips from Scalzo
“Have an understanding of the firm and demonstrate that you have a genuine interest in working with us. Show us that you’re willing to work hard and be a part of our team.”
“It is helpful to come prepared with thoughtful questions for your interviewers and, where possible, try to connect personally with them. Just as you are looking for a great fit to start your career, your interviewers are looking for motivated associates to join their teams.”
“Though it may not always be obvious, there are distinctions among firms, and students should do their research on what makes a place different from its peers. Then, trust your instincts and focus on the kind of place you think will be a good home for you to start your career.”
Summer Program
Offers: 277
Acceptances: 116
The firm’s 10-week summer program “is a great mix of real work, thoughtful mentoring and fun social opportunities.” Some offices hire summer associates into particular practices, while the New York office hires into a litigation or transactional track, which includes practice areas like corporate, asset management, finance, real estate, executive compensation & employee benefits, tax and intellectual property. During the first week of the program, “all summer associates participate in firm-wide orientation as a class in NYC,” where the firm kicks off their mock arbitration and corporate negotiation seminar training programs.
Top tips from Scalzo
“I would encourage all summer associates to approach each day as a job interview, albeit a fun one. Thoughtfully consider each assignment you’re given and the contributions you can make, even as the most junior person, to your teams.”
“Start to form relationships with as many people as you can at the firm – attorneys, staff, your summer classmates – they will all play important roles in your career. Making the most out of your summer can really set you up for a smooth transition into life as an associate at the firm after you graduate.”
And finally….
“Be yourself – Willkie’s a down-to-earth place. Our attorneys are practicing at the top of their fields but are ultimately people who care about each other and root for each other's success.”- Danielle Scalzo
Interview with Danielle Scalzo, partner and executive committee member, and Bonnie Hurry, chief human resources officer
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?
Danielle Scalzo: Willkie has a strong coast–to–coast presence in the United States, with offices in major business centers across Europe. With a 16–office global network, we pride ourselves on a deeply collaborative culture.
CA: Have there been any developments at the firm over the past year that you’d like law students to know about?
Scalzo: We are making investments in our infrastructure and office space, including a full–scale renovation of our New York office and renovations to new office spaces in other locations, such as Los Angeles and Dallas. Our bright, modern workspaces are designed to foster collaboration and innovation.
From a leadership perspective, Jeff Poss, Private Equity practice leader, will become joint Chair, succeeding one of our current Chairs, Tom Cerabino. We have also recently opened an office in Hamburg and continue to invest in AI and other innovative technologies.
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?
Scalzo: Our Private Equity practice remains very active, but there has been a shift toward larger deals. Restructuring is also particularly busy on a global scale, driven by higher interest rates and tighter credit conditions, and the energy sector remains active as well.
CA: What is your firm’s commercial strategy focusing on, and how do you expect the next year to unfold?
Scalzo: We’ve grown deliberately over the last five years to build out infrastructure and expand our footprint, and we’re seeing a steady flow of work go back and forth between offices. This has helped strengthen our ability to attract and retain talent. We’re focusing both on bringing in partners with well-established practices and developing internal talent.
Inside the Firm
CA: How is the firm evolving to accommodate the needs/expectations of the next generation of lawyers?
Scalzo: The Associates’ Committee remains the main channel of communication, and we value the input associates give - we want to make sure those voices are heard by leadership. We have revamped our longstanding in-person milestone programming to have our professional development seminars take place at the first, third, fifth years, and senior years, with the focus being on ensuring associates have the skills needed at each class year – whether that’s professionalism, delegation, leadership or business development skills. We build in social and networking events to encourage people to forge connections. And we’re highly focused on mentoring with a mix of formal and informal programs.
Bonnie Hurry: We engage with the Willkie community in a variety of ways! We leaned into take your Kid to Work Day where we had more than 40 kids, both from children of partners and associates and staff, so that was a really engaging program – a microcosm of what we do well in terms of building community. We also had a ping pong tournament in the San Francisco office – that was a fun friendly competition for bragging rights. The range of events we do is broad, and our associates appreciate the interaction with their colleagues.
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?
Scalzo: There’s no doubt AI will continue to change how legal work is done, and Willkie is at the forefront of that. Beyond that, we’ve seen further consolidation in the legal market; we’ve seen firms merging and bringing in outside capital. For us, we expect to continue to see the emergence of new and exciting areas like AI, data centers, and energy infrastructure, which have grown over recent years.
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?
Scalzo: We’re highly focused on AI; we had a firmwide global rollout of Harvey in August which has helped accelerate due diligence, streamline litigation prep, and improve legal research. We’re also very focused on training so our lawyers know how to use AI effectively and responsibly.
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?
Scalzo: A leftover chicken cutlet, straight out of the fridge.
CA: What was the first concert you attended?
Scalzo: The Steve Miller band at an open-air local amphitheater.
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?
Scalzo: Public speaking and professional presence – they’re important no matter the area of the law you’re practicing in.
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
Main areas of work
*See firm website for complete list of practice areas and industries.
Firm profile
Willkie has continuously attracted some of the best legal minds in the world by fostering a collegial culture; cultivating an inclusive workplace; and seeking to inspire all employees to serve as stewards for each other, our clients, and the broader community.
Recruitment
Law schools attending for OCIs in 2026:
• Berkeley
• Chicago
• Columbia
• Cornell
• Duke
• GW
• Georgetown
• Harvard
• Michigan
• Northwestern
• NYU
• Penn
• Stanford
• Tulane
• U Texas
• UCLA
• USC
• UVA
• Vanderbilt
Summer associate profile:
Willkie’s summer program offers leading law students a firsthand introduction to life as a junior associate. Our summer associates work side-by-side with our attorneys in practice areas of their choice and on a wide range of pro bono matters. In addition to working on client matters, Willkie offers professional development and networking opportunities, as well as an array of social activities.
Summer program components:
In addition to working on client matters, summer associates participate in a corporate negotiation, a writing workshop, and a mock arbitration training seminar. These programs equip summer associates with the skills necessary to produce high quality work. While summers will receive regular feedback on their work, we have two formal evaluations during the program where summers gain insight into their strengths and valuable information on how they can elevate their work to the next level.
Our social events are created with the goal of helping our summer associates get to know one another, our attorneys, and their city. Through our summer program, summer associates gain a clear sense of life at Willkie, develop their talents and position themselves to succeed in their careers.
Social media
This Firm's Rankings in
USA Guide, 2025
Ranked Departments
-
California
- Insurance: Insurer (Band 3)
- Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations (Band 4)
- Media & Entertainment: Transactional (Band 4)
- Technology (Band 3)
-
California: Southern
- Real Estate (Band 4)
- Tax (Band 3)
-
District of Columbia
- Environment: Mainly Transactional (Band 3)
- Litigation: General Commercial: Highly Regarded (Band 1)
- Telecom, Broadcast & Satellite (Band 2)
-
Illinois
- Banking & Finance (Band 4)
- Intellectual Property (Band 3)
- Litigation: General Commercial (Band 3)
-
New York
- Antitrust (Band 4)
- Banking & Finance (Band 4)
- Bankruptcy/Restructuring: The Elite (Band 3)
- Corporate/M&A: Shareholder Activism (Band 2)
- Corporate/M&A: The Elite (Band 4)
- Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation (Band 2)
- Insurance: Dispute Resolution: Insurer (Band 2)
- Insurance: Transactional & Regulatory (Band 1)
- Intellectual Property: Patent (Band 5)
- Litigation: General Commercial: Highly Regarded (Band 1)
- Litigation: Securities (Band 2)
- Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations: The Elite (Band 4)
- Private Equity: Buyouts (Band 2)
- Real Estate: Mainly Corporate & Finance (Band 4)
- Real Estate: Mainly Dirt (Band 4)
- Tax (Band 3)
- Technology (Band 4)
-
Texas
- Banking & Finance (Band 5)
- Corporate/M&A: The Elite (Band 5)
- Tax (Band 4)
-
USA - Nationwide
- Accountant and Auditor Liability (Band 2)
- Artificial Intelligence (Band 2)
- Banking & Finance (Band 4)
- Bankruptcy/Restructuring: The Elite (Band 3)
- Corporate Crime & Investigations: Highly Regarded (Band 2)
- Corporate/M&A: The Elite (Band 4)
- Derivatives (Band 1)
- Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation (Band 4)
- Energy Transition (Band 3)
- Energy: Electricity (Regulatory & Litigation) (Band 5)
- Energy: Oil & Gas (Transactional) (Band 4)
- ERISA Litigation (Band 3)
- FCPA (Band 5)
- Financial Services Regulation: Broker Dealer (Compliance & Enforcement) (Band 4)
- Hedge Funds (Band 3)
- Insurance: Dispute Resolution: Insurer (Band 4)
- Insurance: Transactional & Regulatory (Band 1)
- International Trade: Export Controls & Economic Sanctions: Highly Regarded (Band 2)
- Investment Funds: Investor Representation (Band 3)
- Investment Funds: Regulatory & Compliance (Band 1)
- Private Equity: Buyouts: High-end Capability (Band 3)
- Private Equity: Buyouts: Mid-Market (Band 1)
- Private Equity: Fund Formation (Band 3)
- Projects: Renewables & Alternative Energy (Band 4)
- Real Estate (Band 4)
- Registered Funds (Band 2)
- Securities: Litigation (Band 4)
- Securities: Regulation: Enforcement (Band 4)
- Tax: Corporate & Finance (Band 4)