Overview
Introduction
Goulston & Storrs is an AmLaw 200 firm with services across four main departments—corporate, litigation, private clients, and real estate—though it is most renowned for its real estate work. The firm emphasizes work-life balance, and while COVID has somewhat challenged the execution of that promise, the firm’s robust wellness offerings and lack of a billable-hours requirement speak to its commitment. Sometimes the stress gets higher than attorneys would like, but all in all, associates at Goulston & Storrs are very sati...
Firm Stats
Total No. Attorneys (2023)
No. of Partners Named (2023)
Featured Rankings
No. of 1st Year Associates Hired (2023)
No. of Summer Associates (2023)
Base Salary
Vault Verdict
Goulston & Storrs recruits heavily from Boston, New York, and DC law schools in its search for well-rounded, diverse talent. Associates uniformly report collegiality and cooperation at all levels of the firm, and they cite the absence of a billable-hour requirement as one element that eliminates competitiveness. They also tout the firm’s formal mentorship program, which pairs each new hire with both a senior associate and a partner within their practice area. From retaining the services of an in-house therapist to having no formal billable-hours requirement, associates feel the firm distinguishes itself with a significant emphasis on work-life balance. While they do report that hours have been higher than expected over the last two years, associates generally report ...
About the Firm
Founded in 1900, Goulston & Storrs is an AmLaw 200 firm with around 200 lawyers working down the East Coast from Boston to New York City to DC. The firm touts its collaborative culture with a motto of “Collaboration: Some law firms say it. We live it.”
Keeping It Real
Operating across four main departments—corporate, litigation, private clients, and real estate—Goulston & Storrs is adept at handling a range of legal issues. The firm’s sub-specialties range from banking and finance to bankruptcy and restructuring to capital markets and securities to commercial litigation to data privacy to employment to environmental to estate planning to professional liability to real estate to tax—and much more. Among the industries the firm serves are health care, hospitality an...
2025 Vault Rankings
Associate Reviews
- “Goulston is a very tight-knit firm. Collaboration is one of the key aspects of its culture. People are friendly, thoughtful, and take the time to train younger attorneys. Many spend time together outside of work and are very close friends. The work and hours can be challenging, but the people make all the difference. I would not want to do my job anywhere else.”
- “I have a group of colleagues at work who I consider good friends (who are all around the same year/class at the firm). Otherwise, I would say that I'm friendly and professionally social with most other associates and directors at the firm.”
- “The firm strikes a solid balance between an emphasis on inclusivity and teamwork, with a recognition that attorneys are also human beings with other, non-firm demands on their time—from child care to elder care to outside interests. There are a number of opportunities to socialize with colleagues, from committee-developed discussion series and affinity-group-sponsored events, to more informal coffee catch-ups and the like. But there is not an outsized expectation on attendance at every single one of these, either. In a nutshell, I'd say the edict is to be good to each other.”
Why Work Here
Culture is Key
Vault has been surveying associates about firm life for 10 years now, and rarely do associates concur so completely about their firms' culture. A real estate associate explains, "Goulston is an incredibly warm and friendly place to work and there is definitely a sense of community within the firm." To which a trusts lawyer adds "People are friendly, and there is ample opportunity for socializing ... My spouse even enjoys the social activities!"
This culture permeates throughout the ranks. "The partners genuinely seem to care how associates are feeling" and "communication and dialogue at all levels are highly encouraged," from monthly meetings with associates and the managing directors to associates participation in firm operating committees.
Diversity at Goulston & Storrs PC
Getting Hired Here
- “Personality, fit, and diversity are currently major factors in our hiring process. The firm is expanding the schools it typically hires from, though we typically concentrate on schools in the cities in which we are located. The firm does train the hiring committee and generally gives guidance to everyone interviewing attorneys.”
- “The firm is competitive, but often loses out on candidates because it does not offer bonuses. I think that the firm has feeder schools (Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern) and has recently made an effort to target diverse candidates. Last year's OCI hiring process was conducted solely by the Hiring Committee (typically all attorneys are involved in the callback interviews), so I don't have any additional details on hiring process, goals, etc.”
- “We look for hard-working, kind, sociable, and intelligent people. G&S also strongly favors diverse applicants. The firm focuses recruiting efforts on Boston (Harvard, BU, BC, NUSL, Suffolk), New York (NYU, Columbia) and Georgetown."
Perks & Benefits