Hueston Hennigan LLP

Our Survey Says

VAULT'S VERDICT:

As a litigation boutique, Hueston Hennigan hires very selectively—associates need top grades from a top school, a clerkship under their belt, and the right personality to boot. The firm culture is very much “work hard, play hard”—associates report that the work doesn’t stop, but the firm sponsors multiple social activities per week and associates partake. The learning curve at Hueston Hennigan is steep, since there is not much formal training, but associates are given high levels of responsibility from day one at the firm. In this respect, associates feel they have a real edge over their peers at other firms, as the early experience translates into great career opportunities—many associates have gone on to careers with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, for example. Partnership is a possibility as well, though just how possible is not clear given the firm’s young age. There are certainly not many complaints about compensation, which associates report is top of market and includes a generous bonus structure and other benefits like 401(k) matching.

ASSOCIATE REVIEWS:

The below associate quotes are derived from Vault's Annual Associate survey, which took place from late January 2020 to early April 2020.

GETTING HIRED

Hiring Process

• “Hueston Hennigan is extremely selective. Generally, associates need to be from a top school, have completed a federal clerkship, have law review experience, and be at the top of their class. Soft factors matter as well. Applicants need to be able to explain their legal reasoning well and also be engaging. It's a very high standard.”
• “We emphasize personality and ability to discuss legal issues during interviews, along with diversity and grades.”
• “The firm hires candidates typical of other elite litigation boutiques. Candidates need a strong academic record from a top school and usually have a clerkship.”

Interview Questions

• “Can you explain your Law Review note and defend your ultimate conclusion? What is the most interesting case you worked on and why”
• “It is mostly conversational questions about past experience with the occasional legal question thrown in. The legal question is usually regarding a matter that you have worked on and brought up during the interview.”

Lateral & Clerk Integration

• “It's standard for associates to clerk before joining the firm. No special arrangements made around this.”
• “The vast majority of new associates are clerks.”

ASSOCIATE LIFE

Firm Culture

• “There are regular firmwide events, including a summer retreat at a Southern California resort. The lawyers regularly socialize outside of work. Our culture differs somewhat between the Los Angeles and Newport offices. The Los Angeles office is more social with organized happy hours each week. Most attorneys in Newport are married with children, so there are fewer after-hours events.”
• “There's a real sense of camaraderie at the firm. Everyone is brilliant and accomplished but also grounded and humble. There are multiple firm events every week, including a weekly firmwide lunch and a happy hour every Friday in the office.”
• “We socialize often, weekly. Various firm events planned throughout year, loose social organizations around particular interests, summer event program (basically a summer program budget for socializing, but without summer associates).”
• “Weekly happy hours, weekly firm lunches, and plenty of opportunities to get to know one another. The firm organizes great events and is definitely not lacking for social engagement.”

Associate/Partner Relations

• “Partners are willing to give associates a lot of responsibility. Most associates have frequent client contact and will be part of the litigation decision-making and strategy. Performance reviews occur in regular intervals, and they seem pretty transparent. There is no real discussion of firm finances or performance beyond high-level comments that the firm is ‘doing well.’”
• “The partners are great to work for and genuinely care about the associates' development. Associates are rewarded for quality work by receiving opportunities that peers at other firms would not get, including significant roles at trial and hearings. The firm strikes me as more transparent than typical big law firms, at least for associates. The decision-making process around partnership decisions is somewhat opaque, likely because the firm has not existed long enough (five years) for there to be an established process and expectations.”

Hours

• “[The] firm is busy. Plenty of work to go around. No shortage of hours.”
• “Make no mistake, this is not a ‘lifestyle’ firm. You work. A lot. A good year would be billing 2,200 hours. But on the bright side, there's no facetime requirement. Plus, all the work is extremely interesting, so you don't notice time fly by. So while some people work 2,500+ hours, it feels like 2,100+ because of how interesting the work [is] and how pleasant everyone is.”
• “On the whole, I appreciate the enormous flexibility of the work environment. There is no facetime requirement, and that makes the high number of hours manageable on a longer-term basis. People are comfortable with associates going away on weekends or on Fridays or working from home as needed and don't ask questions as long as you're getting your work done. It's a very professional environment in that regard. Work is not as evenly distributed as it should be—a common problem for boutiques—but the firm is good about addressing those problems when they're raised. There's some irritating fiefdoms around certain partners, but again—not unusual.”
• “The firm has a 2,000 [hour] requirement for bonuses. All pro bono hours count toward this number which is great for younger associates looking for early experience.”

Compensation

• “WAY above market pay. Phenomenal compensation. Even a 401(k) match.”
• “Wish there was more transparency with how bonuses are determined. But, bonus over market rate. And health care is heavily subsidized plus contribution to our 401(k)—great financial benefits.”
• “Our compensation is near the top of market. Our bonuses are substantially higher than the Cravath scale. There are only a handful of litigation boutiques that pay more.”
• “Hueston Hennigan pays Cravath scale, and bonuses are above market. The range between market bonuses and Hueston's bonuses shrinks as associates become more senior. Associates get additional bonus compensation for an excess of hours billed but only after hitting certain thresholds.”

Quality of Work

• “We're encouraged to bite off as much as we can chew here. I manage productions, run meet-and-confer calls, participate in every aspect of case strategy, hire and manage experts, author and edit briefs, [and] take and defend depositions.”
• “Work assignments are superb. This is probably the best place in terms of on-the-job training for young associates. Junior associates frequently handle substantive assignments, have client relationships, and get to be part of the strategy decisions.”
• “Associates come to this firm for early substantive experience, and the firm makes good on its promises, providing opportunities that junior or even mid-level associates wouldn't get elsewhere”

Wellness Efforts

• “The firm doesn’t really do anything in this regard. We have a lot of healthy snack options in the kitchen and our office manager always accommodates any requests or dietary needs.”
• “People seem to really care about each other and everyone's well-being, but there are no formal programs.”

Training & Mentoring

• “The firm holds CLEs and some initial lunches from more-senior associates regarding how to write, Hueston Hennigan's preferred style, and so forth. Otherwise, [there are] few formal avenues for training. But they do take informal mentorship relationships seriously.”
• “You get pushed in the deep end; not much formal training but you are given lots of responsibility and ownership of cases, which helps you develop skills”
• “We don't get much training. You hit the ground running. But partners always have their doors open and when you ask them for help or mentoring on any topic, they always engage substantively and deeply, and they don't try to brush you off.”

Career Outlook

• “I know that I am positioned better than my peers in terms of experience and opportunities. Hueston Hennigan feels like a gold star on a resume that makes me marketable to diverse potential exit options.”
• “We recently promoted at least one individual to partner and two individuals to counsel. A lot of people leave to work as a U.S. Attorney or a similar position. ...”
• “Promotion to partnership is difficult but possible. The firm has carved out of counsel roles for senior associates and counsel who are valuable to the firm but do not make partner. The exit opportunities are fantastic, whether moving to another firm or to the government, such as the U.S. Attorney's Office.”
• “Yes, promotion to partnership is realistic. It's still unclear how this will play out now that the firm is growing. So far, the firm hasn't had to make decisions among a class of larger than two or three people. It has a counsel program (two-ish years) and offers of counsel positions to senior laterals who come in from partnership at other firms or from the USAO, but at that level, each promotion track is individualized.”

PRO BONO

Pro Bono Commitment

• “Pro bono hours are counted as billable hours, and associates are encouraged to take on a pro bono trial within their first year. The firm is very supportive of pro bono work. Unfortunately, associates are often too busy with billable work to have substantial participation in pro bono projects.”
• “Our firm allows unlimited hours toward pro bono work, which makes it a lot easier to participate and encourages more pro bono work. We primarily work with domestic abuse cases, which the firm sets us up with. We are currently working on a high-profile immigration case.”
• “Massive pro bono wins every year.”