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Hi Fishes,
I Will be Joining PWC AC B as SA2 on Sept 2,2022. Just want to know about Appraisal cycle. Is it Mid Year or Annual appraisal process. Also, will I be eligible for next appraisal cycle ? Tried asking the same Question to HR, but didn't get a proper response. She just mentioned as per company policy.
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1. Choate focuses only on five key areas they can operate at the top of the market—with corresponding hill billing rate (~$1000 - $2500).
2. We have practices that are relatively countercyclical to each other, ensuring a PE downturn doesn’t significantly impact profitability.
3. We don’t overhire and keep a relatively low Partner/Associate ratio. Deals are kept very lean and associates tend to stay for 2-3 years longer than other BigLaw firms.
4. Wealth Management was swallowed from Ropes & Wilmer; while it was less profitable for those firms, we now have ~$10B AUM, meaning we profit from increased synergies (note that Choate Wealth isn’t even included in Firm Revenue).
5. We have a large patent prosecution side with JDs & PHDs—controlling a large portion of Boston’s Life Science industry.
6. We have one office with great amenities, but don’t spend unnecessarily on breadth of locations, satellites, or recruiting for that matter (since we only hire ~15 each year, no need to expand from T14 & strong regional (BC, BU, etc.).
Some may not consider it true BigLaw, but we pay Cravath base, bonuses, and special bonuses. We also hire for longevity to want everyone to make partner (of course, not practical), and partners actually take more from collections than other firms.
In case it’s relevant, I’m a T6 grad who chose Choate over the likes of Ropes/Kirkland/Goodwin, etc. It’s a special place and a rarity in BigLaw—Boutique/Midlaw feel with BigLaw perks and clients. You just have to like Boston and want to do one of the limited practice areas.
No one is going to be able to answer this without their financials. It looks to me like they're running a very controlled, thoughtful business though and because of that, they probably have a ton of clients (especially for mid-market matters) and are able to charge a high billing rate.
These big law firms are becoming more and more like the Big 4. They're sloppy, uncontrolled and unable to function under nonsensical bureaucracy, so lots of boutique firms are able to do more with a lot less, or at least function effectively. All the metrics you listed are per person, so size doesn't matter. It's about the effectiveness of each individual (or at least the firm's effectiveness spread across the people they have.
This is why I said, you'd need their balance sheet. They could be undercutting BL on rates to keep clients, but keeping expenses super low, like by paying people peanuts.
My understanding is that they are heavy on PE. They are just smaller, which also means they have relatively less folks in lower profiting groups as a percentage.