Overview
Introduction
You know you’ve made it in the legal industry when you’ve landed a spot at Latham. The firm is a global leader across dozens of practice areas, with over 3,000 lawyers in 14 countries, and recruits the best of the best. This globalization allows Latham to service clients with the finest legal resources, regardless of location. Those seeking autonomy to shape their practice and wanting extensive training and support will be pleased with their opportunities at this legal giant.
Firm Stats
Total No. Attorneys (2023)
No. of Partners Named (2023)
Featured Rankings
No. of 1st Year Associates Hired (2023)
No. of Summer Associates (2024)
Base Salary
Vault Verdict
A BigLaw leader in terms of size and profits per partner, Latham has a comparably large reputation for its exceptional work and commitment to pro bono. Strong credentials, including top grades and journal experience, affect hiring decisions, and students from non-T14 schools get a fair shake. Personality matters, too, so that associates blend well within collegial, respectful office settings where people, including staff, socialize. Partners are approachable and invested in associates’ professional development. Moreover, formal training, including Latham University and other skills academies, is a firm strength. However, lateral hires sometime struggle to feel fully integrated into the firm’s culture. A few basic tasks aside, associate work is generally complex and sophisticated, ...
Firm's Response
A career at Latham & Watkins will give you the opportunity to do some of the best work of your life. Opportunities are boundless—Latham’s Unassigned Program allows you to follow your intellectual curiosity to explore the firm’s market-leading practices before choosing your department, practice, or industry focus. You’re encouraged ...
About the Firm
Latham is one of the world’s largest law firms. With more than 3,000 attorneys in 30 offices around the world, Latham practices in all the major jurisdictions in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and regularly represents companies doing business in Latin America and Africa. The firm is a global leader in corporate transactions, environmental law, finance matters, litigation and trial, and tax services.
Small Shop Gets Super-Sized
Dana Latham—former commissioner of the IRS—and Paul Watkins founded the firm in 1934 to focus on tax and employment law. In the latter part of the 20th century, the firm began aggressively and steadily expanding around the globe. The firm’s largest office is its New York location, an iconic space on Avenue of the Americas. Despite its spraw...
Associate Reviews
- “Friendly. Emphasis on being in office and mentorship. Partners are very approachable and take time to create relationships with associates. There are both firm-sponsored and organic social events regularly that are well-attended.”
- “The firm is both professional and highly social. Lawyers are always chatting in the lunch room or at the in-office cafe. Such connections can easily be formed organically, but the firm also sponsors a number of happy hours, dinners, and more to develop collegiality. Staff are highly respected—I went with a fellow summer associate and two paralegals to a partner's home to connect and socialize!”
- “Friendly, collegial, people socialize together, but there's no pressure to join if you don't want to. From my perspective as a lawyer, it seems like staff are treated well and like equally valued members of the team.”
- “It's excellent. Built on both respect and competence. There is the level of interaction that you want—some people socialize more than others. My team does weekly lunches and occasional night events. Day to day, people are polite and accommodating but insistent on good work. Staff and lawyers interact quite a bit, and in my experience, it's all been very professional.”
Why Work Here
We Are Driven by Our Values and Culture. We have a unique and special culture, based around our core values of transparency, inclusion, innovation, and collaboration.
We Are Enriched by Our Diversity. Our firm reflects a rich mixture of races, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender identities, religions, culture, socioeconomic backgrounds, and primary languages. This diversity makes us who we are.
We Build Careers. From day one, we provide our associates with the mentoring, training, feedback, and career guidance, they need to be at the top of their field.
We Are Flexible. We recognize that our lawyers have varied interests outside of the office, so our policies reflect a commitment to fostering a healthy work-life balance. We provide generous parental leave policies, a reduced–pace program, and cutting-edge technology that helps help lawyers manage their workload.
We Give Back. As one of the world’s largest providers of pro bono legal services, we take seriously our commitment to give back to the communities where we live and work.
Diversity at Latham & Watkins
Getting Hired Here
- “Latham jobs are highly coveted. As such, the hiring experience is very competitive. Latham has made notable strides in recent years toward hiring from non-T14 law schools, which has been a welcomed addition to our traditional processes.”
- “It's competitive. You need good grades from good schools and, in certain instances, strong prior work experience (though the latter isn't always necessary).”
- “The firm's hiring process is very well-established, and candidates are chosen based on their law school, grades, and personality. … The firm has training for those who interview candidates.”
- “Top 20 law schools, top 15% GPA, journal experience, prior work experience, team-minded personality, and diversity are all important considerations, but nothing is determinative. The OC office recruits all across the nation, but many lawyers come from SoCal law schools.”
Perks & Benefits