first

Bedbugs are next to impossible to get rid of. Knowing this, I wouldn't work at Cadwalader for $200K per year.

Most firms figuratively suck the blood of their attorneys. Cadwalader does so literally.

i want to know what was in the box of the employee that was found to be the cause and led to his/her firing.

it was probably a blanket and pillow and she was spending nights there.

Bed Bugs to 190

Cadwalader attorneys are like bed bugs...they sneak up into all of your private belongings while you sleep, sucking away and biting at everything to make sure you know they are there...but they are impossible to get rid of after repeated attempts at extermination.

3.43 - you are an idiot. that doesn't even make sense.

or maybe that describes all lawyers in general....

I hope Cadwalader bills its clients electronically lest they unintentionally mail them a bedbug. The last thing they need is a bedbug-related malpractice suit!

Get these bedbugs some documents to review! I'll bill them out at $225 an hour.

Back off of CWT. Sorry you didn't get a call back. Or if you did, sorry you got a taste before CWT wished you a successful career somewhere else. But please wipe off the tears and move on.

Don't forget some of CWTs other 20th floor visitors (movie stars).

3:58 -- I don't forget. I just think it is more likely I'd get bitten by a bedbug at CWT's offices than by Cameron Diaz.

3:58....shame on you....must be drinking too much of that CWT Flavia...

Cameron Diaz brought it!

Cadwalader is a fantastic place to work. Lots of us enjoy working here. The hours (in most departments - Cap Markets being a notable exception) are not above the norm (2k/yr).

With respect to the bedbugs, it's nice to work at a place that, despite the obvious PR difficulties involved, lets us know about such issues as they arise, rather than ... sweeping them under the bed.

I wonder whether CWT associate bonuses will include a can of raid.

that was well played...one of the funniest posts on ATL in a while.

5:15 is clearly not "in the know" ...

This year Cadwalader is giving you the option, you may have the can of Raid, should you choose to allow them to take $4.15 out of your paycheck (plus $1,000 for processing fees) so that it doesn't hurt the partners bottom lines. Additionally, if it takes you more than 17 seconds to use the bathroom, eat your lunch, and make this decision, you're fired.

Ps. If you read this message on a Cadwalader computer, you will be happy to notice when you check that "ding" on your outlook that you've been fired for not billing hours. Unless, you are still billing clients for work you're not doing for them, and then by all means, carry on...

I heard that numerous cwt associates and several partners did not survive the last round of pest control.

5:22 -- Does this mean that CWT and Fried Frank have merged?

How'd they protect the email against forwarding, printing, or copying? I want to see an update on that.

You would have to be a drooling, mentally retarded mouth breather not to get a callback to CWT. They hire ANYONE.

CWT hire mediocre SUNY Buffalo law grads.....they literally hire anyone.

CWT will hire associates with less credentials than CWT's walls have art.

Anyone with options goes elsewhere.

ATTENTION CADWALADER ASSOCIATES:

To share this uncopyable unforwardable email, simply bring up the email, and press ALT+Print Screen. Then, open up MS-Paint and press CTRL-V or Paste. Use MS Paint to crop out your name and any details, and save it as a .bmp or .jpg, then the file is attachable and sendable.

Or just type it up and send it from your shady yahoo-account - can't be too long of a message.

It's never that crucial Billy Gates.
On another note, that is silly to say CWT will hire anyone. Where/who does that info actually come from?

6:51/6:53/6:56 (same person): since you clearly see yourself as too good to work at cwt, what about your life makes you feel so strongly against CWT that you would bother saying that? Who cares?

ATTN Loyola 2L - please settle a bet for us. Apply to CWT and report back, mkay?

This bedbug was found on the 20th floor, and the first batch were found on the 33rd. Apparently, spraying with "a combination of compounds, none of which have an odor, and all of which are entirely safe for use in an office environment" didn't do much to the bugs beyond inspiring wanderlust. Not sure why they thought spritzing the place with some benign "compounds" would take care of the problem; from what I've read about bedbugs, even a flamethrower may or may not have gotten rid of them.

I work for the extermination company now.

CADWALADER YOU HAVE NO CHANCE TO SURVIVE MAKE YOUR TIME

why would you ever work at CWT...id flip my shit if i thought i could be bringing bedbugs back to my apt.

id rather have my firm infested with snakes!

jenna haze to 190k!

someone "print screen" the memo.

your all bittar you couldnt get jobs at Cadwalder. your pathetic little lifes are sad since all your doing is sitting around bad mouthing CWT. Don't you have a better thing to do? No? I Didn't think so, couldn't get an callback interview could you? I'm sorry we're the most dynamic and fastest growing firm on Wall Street that is quickly passing firms like Davis Polk and Simpson and your gonna practice personal injury law in Trenton. Good luck with that, remember I like a high shine on my shoes.

I'm in ur conference room bitin' ur d00dz

Whoever said "You would have to be a drooling, mentally retarded mouth breather not to get a callback to CWT" doesn't know what he is talking about.

CWT does hire plenty of drooling, mentally retarded mouth breathers. So there. Get your facts straight.

White guys with asian girls!

12:23 -- You just demonstrated why I'd never entertain a call back interview to CWT. Are your pleadings and contracts as well drafted as your blog postings?

To 12:23:

Learn to spell first! You are such a loser 12:33 for defending your firm in this manner! Your post screams inferiority complex. This just proves to all of us what kind of lawyers work at CWT. Thanks for validating our ideas!

People who are really happy where they are don't write jealous nonsense about other firms. Such comments could only come from someone who did not get the offer they wanted. I suspect the same person has posted more than once. A better name for 2:09 is probably, "3L w/ no job and no prospects after graduation" or maybe, "3L w/ no offer from CWT."

3:05, I totally agree.

I'm willing to make the bet that all the people that have been postings on the message boards and blogs for the last 10 years about CWT are one or two guys who were not given offers to the TOP FIRM ON WALL STREET. I wonder how someone can keep a job after posting four thousend times about how bad CWT is. I BET they never even worked here or saw the inside of 100 Maiden or 1 World Financial. Just a bunch of jealous loosers.

Sorry your jealous loosers.

12:23 - Please submit your letter of resignation immediately. You have just done more to tarnish Cadwalader's reputation than any person, legal tabloid, bed bug, or anything else could ever do.

12:23 -- I hope to god that you're not an attorney. How could you be? I think that even at a shitty firm like CWT you'd have been fired by now if for no other reason that submitting timesheet entries along the line of:

"1 Huor: Resurch da requiriments fo' summarie judgement in fif circuit."

Also, does the TTT law school from under which you crawled require students to know the difference between "lose" and "loose"? Apparently not.

chomp, chomp, chomp

03:26-- What is a "looser"? Or did you mean *loser*? Ah, you must be from CWT.

12:23, 3:05, etc - its fake people, but is very subtle... As for the poster entitled "3L w/ firm way better than CWT" I hope this namesake is a joke also - surely "way, way better" or "way super better" is in order right?

3:05/3:26 -- Don't worry, you might move up here someday. Wait, I forgot you're from CWT, so no you won't.

I'm not even going to mention spelling again.

05:23 -- Yep ;)

5:23 -- right on - come on people, no half-stepping now! If we do this right our influence will all but ensure CWT drops out of the Vault 20's (and then forget them ever reaching V14 territory...)

You're firms must be humming with all that time you have to spellcheck blog posts and hate on CWT. Sorry you couldn't get an offer LOSERS. Can you understand that now?

Enjoy you're sweatshops. I'll enjoy the opportunities you get from working at the top cap markets firm on the street.

I don't "hate" CWT, I'm going to stop now. I feel bad.

"You're firms" and "you're sweatshops." Tee hee!

"3L w/ firm way better than CWT" ... good luck to you. Please tell me how much you enjoy being a first year associate at that firm. Enjoy the prestige. Soak it up. High five officemate everyday. Because it is the only thing that you will have to make you feel good about yourself and your lifestyle.

I have yet to grasp why people care about rankings, reputation, etc. of firms other than their own. Are the posters all 3Ls who don't know any better? Are they refugees from autoadmit? "5:42": who gives a shit?

I agree with 6:38. Doesn't Biglaw pretty much suck across the board? If you're getting paid as much money as the next guy, who really cares?

Also, when I fill out that Vault survey every year, I make sure to be as arbitrary as possible, by giving the lowest number I can to my old firm and the firms of various tools I have encountered over the years. Therefore, I don't take whether a firm is a V20 vs a V50 firm all that seriously . . .

I just find this obsession with other firms very weird. I just don't understand why people don't focus on their own careers.

Does this happen in other professions? It's truly bizarre. That's the only thing I can say about it. I mean, the CWT bed bug thing is funny and perfect fodder for a legal tabloid like ATL, but it is just plain creepy when people use it as an opportunity to bash another firm. I've had friends who've worked at CWT. Some have liked it, others hated it. It's no different from other NYC biglaw shops. Get over yourselves.

And, I also have to say, I love how people rip into each other about typos in the fucking comments section of a BLOG!!! Who cares????

Can someone please explain to me what part of "3L w/ firm way better than CWT" implies that I am a current first year associate?

The reason why people focus on the prestige of their and competing firms is because they derive intangible value from the rankings. Since all top firms pay the same and have similar working conditions, associates look to less relevant factors (i.e., prestige) to "one-up" their competition.

This arises directly from type-a personalities unable to rise above the level of other type-a s.

6:58 - I agree with you 100%
I will say that I understand when 2/3Ls are obsessed with rankings of firms because it mirrors their attitudes about law school ranking, plus they are in the process of making difficult decisions about which firm to go to. (I still don't see why they shout out their law firms and knock others when they haven't worked one day as an associate there but whatever....)

What I really don't understand, however, is when real associates at law firms insult other firms with such verocity. Personally when I see threads about non-CWT firms my first inclination is not to throw outrageous comments for which I have no basis. I'm happy where I'm at so it's no big deal.

The unsolicited advice I will offer, for what it's worth: when making decisions about firms don't focus so much on the rankings unless they will actually have on impact on your career aspirations. Rather, focus on what makes sense for your personal life and professional growth. You don't want to suffer through your career.
Oh yeah, and I'd also like to distance myself from the smug-ass comments made be one of the other CWT-ers. Yikes!

I am a former CWT capital markets associate and believe that some of the bad publicity about CWT is warranted. The general thinking at the firm is that most associates with choices would not go to CWT. The firm takes students from lower ranked law schools or students from higher ranked law schools who have less than stellar grades. I went to a US News top-10 law school and have seen the recruiting stats of CWT compared to other NY law firms, and this holds true for my school. The stats broke down the number of callbacks, the number of offers and the number of acceptances by grade ranges. And CWT fared worse than other similarly ranked Amlaw firms.

Of course there are exceptions, but from what I saw CWT capital markets is called on by clients for transactions that have been done before by a more reputable law firm or that have become so commoditized that 2nd year associates can run the deals. As an associate in capital markets, you will work for one partner or for a small group of partners. That partner or partner group focuses on a particular type of capital markets transaction. So you would become an expert on one of CDOs, RMBS, CMBS, repos, CDS or equity derivatives. And because of the internal politics, as a general rule you are not allowed to work for other partners in the department. You essentially need your partner's sign off to work for another partner in the group, which is difficult to get - either the partner you work for will not sign off or you are already working until 2am on a regular basis and do an all-nighter once a week.

The cast of characters at the firm make for stories you want to hear about but not experience. In corporate, you have Dennis Block who is inaccessible and is known for throwing staplers at people - he's basically on his own island in corporate. In capital markets, you have a young partner who has developed a reputation for hazing new associates and screaming at associates and secretaries. One poor junior associate got the worst of his wrath - on one occasion, the associate entered his office without the correct answer and the partner screamed, "stop coming into my office with your dick in your hands!". On another occasion, he was so angry at this associate that he told him - "you make me so mad that I'm going to go home to beat my wife." He told me that he developed a sick nervous feeling every day he went to work. Needless to say, after a few months of weekly screamings this associate left the firm. I have heard of other horror stories, although in fairness none nearly as bad as these.

I think the hours are better now that the market has slowed down. However, the hours generally are so bad that associates take pride in how long they work. One associate in capital markets worked so hard one week that the firm put him up in a hotel across the street - he would go to the hotel to take 3 hr naps and come back to work. He went home (his home was in Manhattan) only a couple of times for fresh change of clothes. Another litigation associate worked so much that she literally made her office her home - she slept on the floor of her office every night for a month until the cleaning lady reported it. She was told by HR to stop that because it makes CWT look like a sweat shop.

As a capital markets associate, you make money for the firm during your first year. Here's how: the firm does not invest in training you (only the training you need to meet CLE requirements), the firm makes you specialize in a very narrow area of capital markets, the firm squeezes short term gains out of you at the expense of long term development. The result: there are a hoard of junior associates, several senior associates, counsel and partners but very few midlevels. The firm laterals mid levels from low ranked law firms and/or who went to mediocre law schools. And the firm loses good associates for other law firms that have better environments. All of my friends who left CWT are much happier with their new law firms.

Bottom line: law firms are different, despite a common belief of law school students that they are the same soulless environments with different labels. Go to CWT if that is your best option, but don't plan to make a career there. Do capital markets because that gives you the most exit opportunities. If you went to a decent law school, you can move up to a better NY law firm - such as Cleary or Simpson or Sullivan. If you went to a mediocre law school, you can work there a few years and go in house. If you have international ambitions, you can get a job in London, Hong Kong, Tokyo because capital markets is essentially the same in the financial centers and capital markets expertise - especially derivatives - is highly sought after.

who cares whether you work at CWT or Smith & Jones personal injury associates; if you can't spell i have no respect for you and it makes me embarrassed to call you a coworker