Partner contact, good substantive mentoring, good compensation for sane hours expectations

Firm cannot quite decide whether it wants to be a more relaxed, collegial alternative to v100 firms, or a competitive finance boutique stealing clients from v10s

Well-managed and transparent; you'll get honest answers to questions. However, make sure you know the history and trajectory of the group you're planning to enter. Practice groups have very divergent prospects and spreads within the partnership are larger than at most v100 firms.