Downey Brand

Our Survey Says

 VAULT'S VERDICT:

Downey Brand presents associates from California or who want to work in California a top-notch work environment, work experience, and interaction with partners. Candidates should be academically accomplished, have relevant experience, and be interested in learning and doing. Office settings are professional  and respectful  but friendly, and coworkers enjoy both scheduled and organic social events. Partners are strong mentors and generous with their time, advice, and feedback. Associates generally feel that their skills and time are valued, and lateral hires favorably rate the onboarding experience. In addition to the solid hands-on guidance associates receive, formal training sessions cover both substantive topics and skills-based learning. All of this training prepares them for the interesting, challenging, and client-facing work that they do. Assignments are distributed based on experience, skill/ability level, and partner preference. Downey Brand’s 1,750-hour billable requirement is reasonable and allows for work-life balance, though associates would appreciate billable credit for business development tasks. Salaries recently increased and associates find them fair for the billable requirement. The firm can be slow to adopt new technologies but has a helpful IT Department. A dedicated pro bono partner announces and encourages related work, for which 50 hours (and more with approval from firm management) count as billable. The firm’s gender diversity, especially with women in high-level partner positions, is positive; associates would like billable credit for diversity-related activities. Counsel positions and non-equity partnership are favorable stepping stones to equity partnership, which is seen as genuinely attainable.