2022 DIVERSITY DATABASE UNDERWRITER Simpson Thacher

Our Survey Says

VAULT'S VERDICT:

Associates come to Simpson Thacher for many reasons, including its people, opportunities to engage in high-quality work, and maybe even the freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. The hiring process focuses on well-rounded people who will fit in with the rest of the firm, along with law school attended, grades, activities, and work experience. Firm settings are friendly and supportive, and employees socialize together but not to the detriment of family or vacation time. Partners treat associates well and support their development, and associates learn through formal training programs like STBReady (for first years), hands-on guidance, and assigned associate and partner mentors. Laterals and clerks appreciate integration efforts, especially those from practice groups and deal teams. Associates get meaningful, challenging work that is critical to project completion, and centralized staffing helps with fair work distribution, though some work is doled out based on previous connections and performance. Associates appreciate that, busy as they may be, the firm has no formal billable hour policy. Salaries are top of the market, and lockstep bonuses limit internal competition. Firm tech is adequate, with improvements coming, and wellness offerings abound but could be promoted more than they are. Simpson Thacher strongly promotes pro bono involvement through weekly newsletters and expects associates to put in 20 hours (or more) of pro bono work a year. Diversity efforts are good in terms of hiring, affinity groups, and other resources, but retention and upper-level promotion could be better. Making partner is challenging, while opportunities to be promoted to counsel or exit to another firm, in-house, or government position are strong.