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At a Glance

Uppers

“My colleagues and the type of work I get to do. The compensation is fantastic as well.”

“Mayer Brown is full of extremely intelligent lawyers who work hard and are generally kind and down-to-earth. The work is interesting and often high-stakes.”

Downers

“The hours are long, and sometimes partners' expectations feel unreasonable.”

“As it tends to be in BigLaw, sometimes work really just piles up. I regularly have to work on weekends and late into the evening. Usually I'm able to balance this out later in the week, but sometimes there's just a lot to do.”

About Mayer Brown LLP

Mayer Brown is an international law firm with offices across the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East that employs more than 1,600 lawyers—among the 25 largest law firm workforces in the world. Known for its top-flight corporate, finance, and appellate work, Mayer Brown serves many of the world’s largest companies, including a significant proportion of the Fortune 100, FTSE 100, CAC 40, DAX, Hang Seng, and Nikkei index companies, and more than half of the world’s largest banks.

I’ve Got to See a Man About a Horse

It was the summer of 1879, and a Chicago court was hearing arguments about the sale of a lame horse. The defendant was David Mayer, a wealthy local merchant. His attorney was his younger brother Levy, who had just graduated from Yale Law School. The Mayers lost. They appealed to a higher court, as did their adversary: a 30-year-old, self-taught Czech lawyer named Adolf Kraus. The Mayers felt they should have prevailed; Kraus believed he was entitled to $200, not the $25 he’d been awarded. The appeal ended in a settlement two years later, under most unusual circumstances: the younger Mayer had impressed Kraus in the courtroom, so Kraus asked him to form a partnership. Each man contributed $100 to satisfy the pending claim and erase any conflict of interest. They quickly discovered that they worked well together. Almost a century later, the firm—then known as Mayer, Brown & Platt—began expansion that would see it double in size, opening offices throughout the United States and in Europe.

How Appealing

Although Mayer Brown’s practices cover everything from banking to real estate, it’s particularly well known for its appellate work. In fact, it was one of the first firms to establish a dedicated Supreme Court practice, which it formed in the early 1980s with recruits from the U.S. solicitor general’s office. The Appellate practice includes more than 45 lawyers and has argued more than 250 cases before the Supreme Court, representing either parties or amici in approximately 15 cases each term for the past several years, and arguing an average of four per term. Unsurprisingly, the firm ranks among the top 25 in Vault’s Appellate Litigation ranking.

Of course, you can’t discuss Mayer Brown without mentioning its corporate practice, which is core to the firm’s work. The firm’s experience extends across such industries as agribusiness, chemicals, health care, hospitality, infrastructure, life sciences, oil and gas, private equity, technology, transportation, and more. When it comes to banking and finance, the firm has more than 300 lawyers across the globe that counsel clients on everything from asset finance to derivatives to emerging markets to global projects to structured finance, and more.

Put Me In, Coach

While Mayer Brown is big on learning by doing, the firm offers its attorneys various coaching opportunities to support them in their careers. The firm provides both individual and group coaching on career planning, communication, leave transitions, mentor relationships, and time management.

News & Awards

NOTABLE CASES

One of Mayer Brown’s signature strengths is the sophisticated advice it gives the global financial services industry. For instance, the firm helped create some of the most significant securitization products used in the capital markets today, such as the Mortgage Partnership Finance Program for the Federal Home Loan Banks.

In disputes, Mayer Brown has also its mark. For example, it pioneered the use of arbitration to avoid inefficient consumer class actions in AT&T v. Concepcion and recently obtained a landmark settlement for the US Women’s National Soccer Team players in their equal-pay lawsuit against the US Soccer Federation.

AWARDS & ACCOLADES
  • Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality, Corporate Equality Index, 2022—Human Rights Campaign Foundation

  • Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certified, 2022—Diversity Lab

  • Pro Bono Hot List, 2020—The National Law Journal

  • Ranked in 38 practice areas across seven jurisdictions, 2022—IFLR1000

Mayer Brown LLP

71 South Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
Phone: (312) 782-0600

Firm Stats

Chair of the Firm: Jon Van Gorp
Managing Partner: Jeremy Clay
Recruiting Chairs: J. Bradley Keck (National); Eric Reilly (Charlotte); Beth Vogel, Linda Shi (Chicago); Phil Lau (Houston); Matthew Marmolejo, Jason Linder (LA); Joe Castelluccio (NY); Mike Molano (NorCal); Lauren Shurman, Mark Hindley (SLC); Lauren Pryor, Alex Lakatos, Gabriela Sakamoto, Oral Pottinger (DC)
Total No. Attorneys (2022):
1.5K - 2K
No. of Partners Named 2022:
26
Billable-Hour Requirement:
2,000

Base Salary

1st year (2021): $215,000
2nd year (2020): $225,000
3rd year (2019): $250,000
4th year (2018): $295,000
5th year (2017): $345,000
6th year (2016): $370,000
7th year (2015): $400,000
8th+ year (2014 & More Senior): $415,000 Summer Associate salary based on annualized salary of $215,000

Employment Contact

Recruiting contacts for all locations at www.mayerbrown.com/en/careers

No. of U.S. Offices: 9

No. of International Offices: 18

Major Office Locations

Charlotte, NC
Chicago, IL
Houston, TX
Los Angeles, CA
New York, NY
Palo Alto, CA
Salt Lake City
San Francisco, CA
Washington, DC I Beijing
Brasília*
Brussels
Dubai
Düsseldorf
Frankfurt
Hanoi
Ho Chi Minh City
Hong Kong
London
Mexico City
Paris
Rio de Janeiro*
São Paulo*
Shanghai
Singapore
Tokyo
Vitória*
*Tauil & Chequer Advogados in association with Mayer Brown

Major Departments

Antitrust & Competition
Banking & Finance
Capital Markets
Corporate & Securities
Cybersecurity & Data Privacy
Employment & Benefits
Financial Services Regulatory & Enforcement
Global Mobility & Migration
Government Transactions
Intellectual Property
International Trade
Joint Ventures & Strategic Alliances
Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Mergers & Acquisitions
Private Clients, Trusts & Estates
Real Estate Markets
Restructuring
Risk Management
Tax
Technology Transactions
*See firm website for complete list of practice areas and industries.