Large Firm

In this episode, Joan Kerecz, a graduate of Duke University School of Law, discusses her large firm’s public finance practices, which gave her a rare chance to help public entities raise money for projects, from building roads to expanding hospitals and schools. Joan also talks to us about the on-campus interview climate at her law school, and her decision to move firms after two years.

At a large law firm, the hours, pay, and exit opportunities are among the tradeoffs associates continuously negotiate–if they get the job in the first place. This week Holly Carnell, a 2009 graduate of Loyola University Chicago School of Law, describes her challenge of getting her corporate healthcare biglaw job at McGuireWoods from a non-elite law school.

Biglaw is changing—America's largest firms are testing new attorney tracks and different expectations. Pioneer WilmerHale’s DiscoverySolutions (DS) provides litigation support for the firm's attorneys. Nat Croumer, a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, is the Discovery Attorney Administrative Manager for DS. Nat discusses how electronic document discovery is essential to modern civil litigation.

Patent attorney Carlos Rosario, graduate of Santa Clara University School of Law, was first attracted to intellectual property in law school because he found technology exciting. Though he graduated 3.5 years ago, he has twice switched firms in Silicon Valley to strike an ideal balance between patent prosecution and patent litigation. Today, Carlos works for one of the largest global intellectual property firms.