Wiley Rein LLP

Our Survey Says

VAULT'S VERDICT:

Wiley recruits heavily from local DC law schools in addition to the T14s and seeks candidates looking to stay in DC for the long haul. Associates feel a sense of camaraderie with their colleagues, and there is plenty of socializing during the work day and beyond, but associates aren’t pressured into giving up personal time if they’d prefer to pass on a social event. A low associate-to-partner ratio means there are plenty of opportunities to form relationships, and partners operate with an open-door policy that contributes to associates feeling respected and appreciated. Generally, partners are transparent on firm decision-making, but associates wish there was greater insight into the bonus structure. That said, they seem generally satisfied with their compensation, which is lockstep for the first three years and then merit based. Associates report satisfactory work-life balance, achieved with some help from the designated workload management partner. Interesting work is a high point for associates, and additional experience is available through various pro bono initiatives. Pro bono work is encouraged and recognized at Wiley, but some feel the 50-hour cap—though appealable—is on the low end. Formal training varies by practice group, but overall, associates receive plenty of support both through formal programs and informal mentoring. Regarding wellness, Wiley is on top of it—the firm offers seminars, massages, healthy snacks, discounted gym memberships, and free counseling sessions. The firm is committed to diversity and offers numerous affinity groups, but improving retainment is a continuous work in progress. Wiley associates feel confident in their careers, as realistic opportunities include partnership or a counsel role at the firm, as well as alternate careers working in government, clerking, or in-house.

ASSOCIATE REVIEWS:

GETTING HIRED

Hiring Process

• “The firm is looking for law school grades; a friendly, kind, and respectful personality; and someone who has shown they are self motivated. Diversity is also a big focus.”
• “You must check the boxes to get past the initial screening—strong grades from a top law school, journal and/or moot court, good writing sample, etc. From there, we are looking for associates who are critical thinkers and good problem solvers with an interest in regulatory law. We want to invest in new hires that will be here for the long haul—not a two-to-three [year] stint.”
• “Personality helps a lot in the hiring process. We really enjoy working together and want to ensure that whoever is hired is a good person to work with, as well. Having ties to DC—whether through prior work or internships on the Hill or in government—or going to a law school here is a huge plus. A lot of the work the firm does is government-centric, so the firm focuses on hiring people who have the potential to grow into being Washington lawyers.”
• “I think Wiley looks for people with excellent writing and analytical skills who also fit in well with the friendly culture at the firm. Wiley tends to hire a lot from law schools in the area, such as George Mason and George Washington, but schools like Harvard and Yale are also represented here.”

Interview Questions

• “Generally, interviews are focused on the candidate's resume and interest in particular practice groups.”
• “My interview at Wiley was very conversational. Partners and associates wanted to get to know me as a person, my interests, hobbies, favorite law school courses, etc.”
• “Interviews are more of a conversation. I had one interview where I just asked the partner about her work experience (she was pretty impressive); in another, we just talked about a town where she went to college that happened to be where I grew up. I do remember having an interview and being asked about a time I screwed up and what I did to fix it/learn from it.”

Lateral & Clerk Integration

• “Coming from [a] clerkship, I was seamlessly integrated into my practice group due to personal outreach and support from the legal talent department.”
• “[The] firm makes an effort to integrate laterals and clerks by planning lateral dinners and integration lunches.”

ASSOCIATE LIFE

Firm Culture

• “We socialize enough that it isn't draining, but you feel a sense of camaraderie. There is a strong emphasis on work-life balance so there is never pressure to hang out rather than go home, and social events are always very low key but fun.”
• “It seems that there are social opportunities on a weekly basis. If you can't make one because of work one week, there are plenty of opportunities to attend other events. I was slightly worried about the firm’s conservative reputation, but the firm's culture has been extremely focused on inclusivity and diversity and this has been reflected throughout practice groups. This has also resulted in lots of support for different specific initiatives important to individual attorneys.”
• “Although Wiley folks are not known for frequent late-night happy hours or weekend get-togethers, we connect with each other regularly through informal lunches (e.g., practice group, associate-only, and all-attorney lunches), affinity groups (e.g., parents in the law, LGBTQ & Allies, Women's Forum, Veterans, Federalist Society, etc.), work events (e.g., welcoming new partners, holiday events, wellness events), and the summer associate program (baseball games, concerts, and other activities). We are a close group but also respect that everyone has a life outside of work.”
• “People are generally very nice and fun to talk to. They are respectful of your time in and outside the office (e.g., they respect your vacation time, and if you stay late to work on something, your colleagues are also there helping out). We have a few big social occasions throughout the year (holiday party, summer BBQ, etc.), and a few smaller ones too (diversity events, associate happy hours, etc.), but there's not a huge sense of obligation to attend. Most of the partners have families and young children, and so people (at least in my group) tend to leave the office relatively early and continue working from home. Politically, there are lots of committees to get things done (diversity, recruiting, executive, evaluation, etc.).”

Associate/Partner Relations

• “Partners are very respectful of associates and for the most part, follow the open-door policy that allows associates to easily discuss questions about assignments with partners. Whenever there have been big decisions, the firm will send emails explaining what is going on and typically host informational meetings with opportunities to ask questions.”
• “Most matters tend to be flat in our practice, so it is very collaborative between associates and partners. The firm is very transparent with associates regarding most actions, firm status, and opportunities, with the notable exception of bonuses.”
• “Partner relationships are good. The ratio of associates to partners is very low; usually you are working directly with a partner, even as a first- or second-year associate. Annual review process is fairly transparent—there are specified ‘competencies’ that you are rated on.”
• “Partners treat associates very well and try to develop good relationships with associates they work with.”

Hours

• “It fluctuates. It would be wonderful to have a steady, predictable workload, but that's of course unrealistic in this profession. At the moment, I feel I have too little work and am eager to do more.”
• “We have a great system in which we have a workload management partner who you can ask for work, and then he communicates with the other partners to place work. This system really helps with workload management. I feel comfortable with the amount of work I have, and that if I am too slow or too busy, I can just email the workload management partner, and he will help regulate my docket.”
• “I am never given too little work. I usually have a good amount of work but am never required to stay very late. I get in around 9:30 and leave around 6/6:30 because I prefer to work from home in the evenings. The firm and partners in my practice group are very accommodating. As long as you make your hours and complete your work on time, they don't care where you are working from.”
• “Overall, I am pleased with my work hours and flexibility. Wiley has a 1,950 billable-hours requirement, which includes up to 50 hours of pro bono. It does not include any business development or other nonbillable work activities. …”

Compensation

• “Wiley tracks the Cravath market salary for first- through third-year associates. Fourth-year associates and above receive ‘merit-based compensation’—so lockstep is out. But if you do good work and are a good firm citizen (e.g., contribute to pro bono, business development, recruitment, etc.) you are compensated well salary wise. Wiley is NOT a bonus firm, however. If you want/expect the BigLaw bonus, Wiley is not the firm for you.”
• “I am generally satisfied with my compensation, but it's a little unclear how the hours billed relate to the merit-based compensation.”
• “De minimus bonuses.”
• “We are paid lockstep market for the first three years. I am very happy with this, especially given that Wiley is not a BigLaw firm and associates are treated like human beings/time with family and weekends are generally respected.”

Quality of Work

• “I am very satisfied with the substance of the work I am given. My assignments range from typical first-year work, such as discreet, pure legal research and doc review, to drafting and filing motions and interviewing clients. I do something new every week and am always intellectually stimulated.”
• “I have never had any complaints about the level of work. Early on, I had good opportunities for substantive writing. Our matters are leanly staffed, which means lots of substantive work and, as a mid-level associate, depending on the matter, I am often the main driver in the matter with the partner taking a bit of a back seat.”
• “Assignment of work is not a formalized process and generally is based on which associate has bandwidth at the time. My group is a litigation group, and typically one associate is staffed to each case. When anything for that case needs to be done, that associate is expected to do it. This results in a mixed bag of substantive and less-substantive/mundane work. It has also resulted in opportunities to undertake tasks that would, at other firms, be reserved for significantly more senior associates.”
• “For the most part, our matters are always interesting. Though there is some document review, associates have a lot of responsibility and are able to conduct interviews, stand up in court, and write substantive pleadings.”

Wellness Efforts

• “Wiley's ‘Better Every Day’ program is wonderful. They provide sessions on various health issues, bi-yearly massages in the office, and other fun events throughout the year, such as a smoothie bar. The firm also subsidizes memberships at the gym in our building. Wiley places a lot of emphasis on work-life balance, mental health, and overall wellness.”
• “The firm has totally bought into wellness. There are consistently wellness events and initiatives including massages, healthy snacks, [and] nutrition education, among others.”
• “We do what everyone else does and have a wellness program/seminars. There is a very strong sense of work family here, and I think the attorneys look out for each other on a personal basis, regardless of firm-sanctioned or encouraged events. If someone has a particularly high-hours month, the head of legal talent checks on them, and we have frequent check-ins with our practice group heads.”
• “Wiley offers four free counseling sessions per year (can be family/relationship counseling), has an on-site gym with discounted membership rates, offers discounted WW programs, and offers several ‘wellness events’ (like seated massages, smoothie bars, etc.).”

Training & Mentoring

• “The firm organizes training on litigation, eDiscovery, writing, technology, and my practice group has its own subject matter and process training. I have two assigned mentors—they are both associates—and I feel comfortable approaching them with questions and to get advice. I understand the mentorship program changes as we progress in our careers.”
• “Formal training is often too broad to be helpful. Mentoring and informal training is great—I have received a lot of feedback on my assignments and support from more-senior associates.”
• “There is no shortage of training and mentoring opportunities at Wiley—from day events on improving legal writing and public speaking, to the firm's year-long Partnership Development Program for third-year associates and above. The firm will also go out of its way to accommodate any reasonable requests you may have for individual training. For example, the firm supported my request to audit a community college course that I felt would improve my ability to support our clients on certain technical issues, covering all tuition fees.”
• “How much formal training associates receive depends on the practice group. I think we go back and forth on how much formal training to provide associates at the beginning as there are arguments for and against a lot of formal training. However, I think there is a real commitment to finding a good balance on this front. There is quite a bit of informal training and mentoring, with each incoming associate receiving two mentors, and generally people are happy to mentor and answer questions.”

Career Outlook

• “Promotion to partner is realistic. If you don't bring in enough business, plenty of folks are promoted to of counsel as somewhat of a steppingstone (if the lawyer doesn't want to remain in that role). In terms of exit opportunities, I know several associates have left to work for the government or clerk.”
• “… Given the firm’s prominence in DC, there are a lot of exit opportunities available to associates, and the firm actively encourages associates to consider these types of opportunities including clerking, government work, and in-house counsel at clients’ companies.”
• “As a second-year associate I'm doing the best I can, and I feel I'm moving forward. If you want to make partner and try hard, you will. If you don't want to, there are a ton of other options within the firm. Everyone who leaves ends up going wherever they want. It's a fantastic place to have a full career, start a career, or even wind down a career. Something for everyone.”
• “I think promotion is generally realistic. We don't have a lot of associates, and our retention is generally pretty high. I think the firm does want people to succeed. Other options for promotion include of counsel and special counsel, and it seems these roles are being pushed more. For associates exiting the firm, many leave for clerkships and/or government positions, as well as in-house jobs in their respective industries.”

PRO BONO & DIVERSITY

Pro Bono Commitment

• “[The firm is] super flexible with allowing more than 50 hours to count toward the billable requirement. The full-time pro bono partner is always sharing opportunities to get involved. I have worked on an immigration appeal and have been the sole person working on a trademark opposition proceeding for a nonprofit; both have offered invaluable experience.”
• “The firm recognizes those who do a certain number of hours of pro bono work at a pro bono reception, which happens every few months. Recently, I worked on a pro bono project where I assisted a partner and others outside the firm with drafting and filing a petition for certiorari with the United States Supreme Court.”
• “The firm values pro bono and even has a full-time partner, Ted Howard, who does nothing but oversee and support pro bono activities.  Wiley works on a variety of cases, from the large ALCU-related cases to smaller, non-profit management support. “
• “The firm is committed, but we only get to count 50 hours toward our billable requirement, which I think is a bit low as compared to other firms.”

Diversity Efforts

• “Wiley is committed to improving diversity among its attorneys. We are not quite where we want to be yet, but it's clear that hiring and retaining diverse lawyers is a top priority for firm management.”
• “Wiley has a lot of affinity groups. The Women's Forum is by far the most active; it hosts many events throughout the year and the events are generally well attended. It is clear that Wiley values the contribution of women at all levels.”
• “There are a lot of affinity groups, including ones for women, minorities in the law, LGBTQ attorneys, and veterans. It is definitely possible to be successful (i.e., make partner) and still have a family—whether you're a man or a woman. A lot of attorneys with children leave the office around five or six [p.m.] to go home to their families and then are available remotely throughout the evening. The firm especially celebrates the contributions of women.”
• “The firm is trying [regarding] diversity. They have done a good job with women and LGBTQ+ individuals, with people from those groups at all levels of membership and leadership at the firm, and retention seems relatively good. For racial and ethnic minorities, there is a lot of room for improvement. …”