Stats
1. Total number of attorneys: 423
a. Number of partners: 124
b. Number of counsel: 30
c. Number of associates: 242
d. Number of lawyers working part-time: 76
2. Please provide the number of attorneys in each office:
Mountain View -- 190; San Francisco -- 113; Santa Monica -- 18; Seattle – 39; NYC -- 63
3. Please provide the number of attorneys working in each firm practice area:
Litigation -- 108; Corporate -- 193; Intellectual Property -- 92; Tax -- 18
4. Number of summer associates: 40
a. Expected number of full-time employment offers: 40
5. Minimum billable hour requirement: 1800
1. What are some of the most interesting new developments at the firm?
Check out Fenwick.com and @FenwickWest on Twitter to see how our attorneys and clients are changing the world through innovation.
2. Please briefly discuss your firm's pro bono initiatives:
We recognize that providing legal services is not only an essential part of our professional responsibility, but also an excellent opportunity for our attorneys to gain valuable practical experience, learn new areas of the law and contribute to the community. The pro bono work we provide to our clients results in changes to businesses, futures and lives. During the last two years, our firm donated over 30,000 hours, valued at more than $15 million in legal fees. Our pro bono program allows our attorneys to serve others and to grow as professionals and individuals. They provide services ranging from corporate business counseling, intellectual property and tax services to women's rights, and assistance to lower income individuals, people, and organizations in our communities. We are committed to voting rights though our partnership with Election Protection and we are regularly send teams of attorneys and staff translators to detention centers to serve individuals and families who are seeking asylum. Our litigation associates also have the chance to brief and argue cases in the Ninth Circuit—an invaluable experience to have at an early stage in their careers. For our pro bono work in 2019 alone, we received awards from Euormoney, Legal Services for Children and the Law Firm of the Year Award for Community Legal Services of East Palo Alto. Learn more about our pro bono initiatives here: http://www.fenwick.com/Services/Practices/Pages/Pro-Bono.aspx
a. Do pro bono hours count toward billing requirement or associate bonuses?
Up to 50 hours of pro bono work considered "billable."
3. How is the firm management organized?
We are a registered California Limited Liability Corporation. The firm's management consists of an executive committee, which is overseen by a firm chairman, a managing partner and a non-lawyer Chief Operations Officer. The firm also has a separate compensation committee.
4. What types of personalities thrive at your firm?
Dynamic professionals, open, entrepreneurial, collegial, and intelligent.
5. Please describe training for new associates:
Weekly educational seminars in all practice areas. Substantial early client responsibility. Videotaped deposition training. Client development and management seminars for mid-level associates.
6. How are associates assigned to departments?
Associates are not formally assigned to departments. They self-select a practice group based on their interests. Furthermore, Fenwick has a "free-market" system of assignments.
7. What perks and benefits do attorneys at your firm receive?
Mortgage assistance; two-tier system of billable hours; Maui Condo; Weekend Getaways (Mexico & Napa); free-market system; discretionary bonuses; associate investment program; emergency childcare; pet insurance.
8. Does the firm offer maternity/paternity leave?
Yes.
9. What is your firm's recruiting process?
All applications are logged into Recruiting database, screened by coordinator, sent to practice group head for review based on credentials and hiring needs, and either invited in for a round of interviews or notified if we have no interest.
10. At which schools does the firm participate in on-campus recruiting?
Most of the first tier law schools (Top 25) and a few from second tier law schools (Top 50). We also participate in several consortiums and conferences across the country.
11. What advice would you give to someone interviewing at your firm?
Enthusiasm for our firm and practice is important. We also look for candidates who are self-starters, seeking a challenging and flexible work environment.
12. Please describe your firm's diversity recruitment and retention programs.
We participate in local and regional minority recruitment programs and continually seek opportunities specifically directed at retaining diverse and non-traditional partnership candidates. These benefits range from providing alternative work schedules to career development programs.
13. What is the main focus of your firm's summer associate program?
For a Summer Associate to actively seek out work that interests her/him from a variety of practice groups. We do not have a rotation system, and we have a flexible approach toward working across practice groups. While some Summer Associates have a specific practice group interest that does not change, many of our Summer Associates choose to sample a variety of Corporate, Litigation, Intellectual Property, and Tax work. At Fenwick, associates have significant opportunities to seek out the type of work they want to do and the attorneys with whom they want to work. In fact, associates are encouraged to take that initiative. Summer associates also utilize the free market system, selecting assignments from a wide variety of opportunities. We have found that our free market system encourages associates to take ownership of their careers, develop the necessary contacts within the firm to find work that interests them and maintain positive work relationships. It also motivates partners and senior associates to be invested in junior and mid-level associates’ professional development. While our system offers flexibility, the key is that we actively encourage associates to shape their own work experiences.
