Even Better Than Bonsai? Choate Hall Showers Offerees with iPods
When it comes to offeree swag, is the arms race among Biglaw shops heating up?
Sullivan & Cromwell brought out what we dubbed the "heavy artillery": bonsai trees. But perhaps S&C has been bested -- and not even by a New York firm:
Talk about firms taking recruiting to a whole new level. Last night, Choate Hall & Stewart held its offer dinner at a super-fancy, old school establishment. Choate had goody bags ready for all its offerees, and while most of us were expecting a pen (a la Goodwin) or a water bottle, lo and behold, in our red shiny gift bags, were brand new 8GB red video iPod nanos (at $200 a pop).Soooooo sweet. It's a little ridiculous, but at the same time, something has to be said for the financial health of the firm for them to be giving away iPods.
In the comments to one of our S&C bonsai posts, it was reported that Shearman & Sterling gave iPod shuffles to its summer associates. That's quite nice. But it's even nicer to give a nifty (and costly) gadget to a mere offeree, who at the end of the day might just say, "Thanks anyway, hello Ropes & Gray."
What's the nicest gift you've received, or heard of someone receiving, from a law firm encouraging acceptance of its offer? Please discuss, in the comments. Thanks.
(98) Comments
"something has to be said for the financial health of the firm for them to be giving away iPods."
How leveraged they are, rather?
Balch & Bingham in Alabama has already done this for a year or two now. When are the NY firms going to catch the Deep South on stupid SA trinkets? ;)
First to say First!
it's it really much of a hit to the bottom line to buy ipods for a few people???
Yeah, Orrick gave its summers iPod shuffles this year.
But the new Nanos look cool.
Sidley gave iPod shuffles to all offerees last year
Having an associate that you really want accept is worth a lot more than $200 and the Ipod might tip them in your favor.
Agreed. Ipods are a cheap way to make a statement, considering their hip/youthful image. Have one less forgettable happy hour and use the money to make your firm seem as cool as Google.
Skadden gives out BJ's to Tier 1 offerrees.
There is something to be said about the financial health of a law firm that can afford to give out $3000 in ipods to its 15 summer associates...small time. Same with Balch & Bingham with five 2L summers in 2007. Pikers.
Latham & Watkins gives out nothing - And I'm a T1 top 10%-er
The best offer gift I got was some delicious brownies from Kirkland. The best gift as a summer...the paycheck of a first year associate without the hours.
neither does Skadden DC
they gave out ipods to ALL their offerees who showed up to the dinner as well as last year's summers who accepted permanent offers with the firm.
Goodwin gave us portable IPod speakers; not as cool as an IPod but still pretty nice.
FTSF: you are the reason everyone thinks lawyers are weird, unsocial, and awkward. Grow up and get a life.
Wilmer gave all summers Ipods AND speakers.
11:53 - Thanks for giving lawyers a good name.
All I am asking for is a harmless rim-job. Is that too much to ask? You can have your ipod nano, my bonch has been neglected.
FIRST
to say second
Cadwalader gave me a bed and some linens to go with the bed bugs it game me.
I'm still reeling from my Paul Weiss mini-gumball machine from after the callback. What could possibly top it?
Sidley didn't give anything to offerees this year.
11:46 #2:
"OHHH LOOK AT ME! I GO TO A TIER 1." wow, you realize that your tier 1 is probably a toilet, right? T14 or bust baby. take your fordham sense of entitlement and go whine to uncle latham. retard.
Yep, I heard Sidley didn't even give jobs (permanent offers) to its summers this year, much less swag.
Kaye Scholer bought an expensive dinner.
Giving of gifts may exacerbate recruiters' anxiousness where offerees will keep open offers they know they eventually will not accept just so they can receive a gift bag or ipod later in the fall?
Snap.
Sidley gave offers to all 64 of its summers in the NY office this past summer
Milbank sent cookies and movie tickets, fried frank gave out an etch a sketch keychain, kramer levin sent out starbucks gift cards
12:12, Sidley didn't give Shuffles to its offerees last year. It gave Shuffles to all of its incoming summers (i.e. those who accepted offers), in early January if memory serves (it was more of a "welcome" or "winter" gift - and was tastefully festooned with the firm's name). If you have accetped your offer, I would imagine that some sort of gift will arrive over the winter.
12:24 did they get offers or "offers"?
A few years back K&E gave me a package from the Popcorn Factory -- that was pretty sweet.
I got a Sidley iPod shuffle at the offeree dinner last year...then I went to a different firm
I did not receive the blowjob promised. I'm going to Kirkland.
12:17 (1), on what authority do you claim that Sidley didn't give permanent offers to 2007 summers? What office?
I think the Sidley ipods were only given to offerees in NYC
Sidley(NY) - 49/49 offers + custom Ipod
SulCrom(NY) - 80/80 offers + Bonsai
Ipod lithium-ion battery life vs. Bonsai tree lifespan?
"T14 or bust baby."
GULC troll.
I was told by a partner that all the summers were asked to come back i.e. received hard offers...i was given my offer at the exit interview, so far haven't heard of any 2L summers who got soft offers
The cheapskates at Skadden didn't even send cookies! Neither for summering nor for accepting their offer.
Latham gave me a blanket at least. So did McDermott. Latham's wasn't that great of a blanket, but at least the logo was small. McDermott's was pretty nice (it was a "sweatshirt blanket"), but the logo on it is HUGE. No iPod for me :(
This article reminded me of something I've never understood. WTF is a law firm named after a prep school? Or is it vice versa (and why)? Are they both named after the same family? After this is answered, I will commence another 3 years of not thinking about tier whatever non-ny firms.
Do I detect some Sidley bitterness? Note: If you got an interview, it was because of your great "on-paper" credentials. Based on the highly un-Sidleylike tone of the comments, the rejection was likely due to personality or cultural "fit" reasons.
I got a popcorn factory bucket along with my summer offer from Fulbright & Jaworski. The actual offer comes written on the label of a nice bottle of champagne. I thought that was a nice touch.
11:46 Dunno what you are talking about...L&W gave out 512MB flash drives and pretty nice silver thermos/coffee cups......
Winston gave summers who had accepted a lovely fleece emblazoned with its name. It was easily the size of a small tent.
Winston gave summers who had accepted a lovely fleece emblazoned with its name. It was easily the size of a small tent.
Winston gave summers who had accepted a lovely fleece emblazoned with its name. It was easily the size of a small tent.
I got a mini-gumball machine from Paul Weiss just for dropping by their hospitality suite at FRP. Also, Milbank gave me Ipod speakers just for having an OCI.
Frankly, I'd rather them shove their crappy gifts up their tookisses, and give me an offer instead, but hey, thats where T1-not-T14 gets you.
What did Winston give?
The Latham drives we got were a gig. I didn't get an offer, but that softened the blow.
When I interviewed with Choate last year they gave me an ipod carrying case, but I dont own an ipod. Very sad.
Also, McDermott and Ropes & Gray both gave usb drives with their promotional videos. The McDermott drive was only 32MB (didnt know they made drives this small) whereas R&G was 512. Easy decision.
Last year Skadden gave me two $5 gift cards from Starbucks. Milbank gave me one. Easy decision.
i'd like to point out that ipod shuffles totally suck. nano is definitely the best gift i've heard of so far, but i literally would throw a shuffle out if i couldn't find somebody to take it off my hands quickly.
Bonsai tree beats an iPod anyday. Bonsai is unique, classy. Everybody has an iPod.
Definitely the call girl from A&P.
my gov't job gave me a W in '04 bumper sticker :(
Drinker Biddle has been giving iPods to its summers (usually at a mid-winter event they hold before the summer) for a few years now. At first they were minis, but then switched to nanos.
My DC judge gave me a bucket and rag and told me to wash his car. I did it. I didn't get an offer.
SRZ: fancy dinner and gift bag with: umbrella, slinky, branded post-its, travel coffee mug
MY firm gave me a BlackBerry! Wait a minute...
Linklaters gave me silly putty in a plastic pink egg last year. It was priceless.
Flash drives do not count as gifts when they're stuffed with BS about the firm and you get them at your OGI. A gift is something that arrives before your callback or after your offer.
Hmm I got brownies from Mayer Brown. Guess they're going with a theme there. Can't say that compares at all to Ipods. I got 3 flash drives at screening interviews.
12:46: Appreciate the effort at incorporating a little Yiddish into your commentary, but it's "tuchas" (or maybe "tuches"). It is definitely not "tookiss."
The Mayer Brown brownies were very good. The box weighed a ton. And I gained 4 pounds the weekend I ate them all.
does jones day give anything?
Cadwalader gave out punches in the throat.
The managing partner of WEMED took a dump on my stoop.
Skadden handed out $20 starbucks giftcards at HLS this year.
Kelley Drye lets you supersize your meal at the new associates welcome dinner
my first didnt give me anything. sucks.
it says something about their firm: that they know how to waste money. If i were a gambling man i would be tthat not one single person changed where they wanted to go because they got an ipod shuffle. this is a cheesy way of marketing. Deciding which firm to go to is an ENORMOUS decision that can't be altered by recieivng an ipod. Big waste of money. And trust me in saying that anything that lessens the bottom line matters.
why is the fact that shearman gives ipod shuffles to summer associates even worth mentioning? that's nothing big or new. i can name tons of firms that have done that consistently.
Skadden gave out nanos to their clerkship-bound SAs
Did any 2007 summers get summer gifts?
Sidley NY gave IPod shuffles (the kind that look like a stick of gum) to all offerees for the Summer '07. DC gave the clip-on shuffles to all the kids who accepted an offer to be a summer.
Sidley NY gave offers to 63 of 64 summers
Yeah, no kidding. Between the Kirkland brownies, the Mayer Brown brownies (i just got that) and the Sullivan & Cromwell cookies and all the callback lunches, I am too fat for all my suits.
How about a thread on firms that give you discounts on tailors to have clothes altered?
Balch and Bingham (AL, MS, GA, DC) - Ipod Nanos for the last 2 years (around Christmas)
Burr Foreman (TTT of Midlaw - MS, AL, and pathetically GA) - Cheesecake Factory Cheesecakes during finals (both semesters)
Troutman Sanders gave out portable ipod speakers to all interviewees.
this has already been mentioned, but I got an iPod shuffle from Sidley at the offer dinner last year.
Sidley Chicago gave clip-on Shuffles to those who accepted (2007) summer offers.
4:41, where did you hear about the 63/64 perm offer count? I'd be curious as to the Chicago results.
1:44 - cherish the SRZ umbrella - anyone can buy an ipod, but reliable umbrellas are hard to find. My biggest regret about quitting SRZ is that I didn't snag more of them before I left. At one point I had 4, but lost one in a break-up, one to my sister and one on the chinatown bus. I'm down to my last one and have resorted to begging friends who still work there to get me more.
5:35, heard about the figures from a couple of partners and recruiting folks. Heard it was all but one in DC as well (though the source is less good).
Sorry to be frank, but the candidates going to an offer dinner at Choate don't have offers at Ropes, so it's not really a concern of them grabbing and going.
7:49 - - - actually, I'd say about a third of the people at the dinner had offers from Ropes
Baker Botts gives a $3k "signing bonus" to acceptees and wish i could stand the wasteland that is texas.
K&E sent a cookie bouquet, GD&C sent a coffee basket. The Mayer Brown brownies were the tastiest.
DPW gives out bupkis. They make a point out of being a minimal swag firm. I can appreciate the perspective, as on some level it does demean the process.
DPW gives out bupkis. They make a point out of being a minimal swag firm. I can appreciate the perspective, as on some level it does demean the process.
for the record, the gum inside the paul weiss gumball machine was gross.
"WTF is a law firm named after a prep school? Or is it vice versa (and why)? Are they both named after the same family? After this is answered, I will commence another 3 years of not thinking about tier whatever non-ny firms."
Who asks this question? Hi New Money.
The Kirkland brownies were fricking tasty. Unfortunately, my appetite for working there isn't so hot. Who doesn't already have an iPod anyway? If someone gave me and iPod nano that would be less-than-exciting.
Hey 7:49 -- jealous much? I was at the Choate dinner, offers in hand from Ropes & a few other "top-tier" Boston firms as well.
Some of us just like Choate better.
I got tons of food from my small midwestern firm. A basket of goodies at my callback; another basket of goodies over the holidays; and then a huge tin of cookies in the Spring. Everything was yummy (pretzels, popcorn, cheese, specialty mustard, summer sausage, etc), but I think I would have rather $50.00 in Starbucks gift cards or an iPod instead of 50,000 calories.
Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge in Boston gave offerees iPod Shuffles this year at its offer dinner.