Researching Firms and Judges: Researching Law Firms

The best method to research workplace culture, reputation, day to day operations, and more inside scoop on the firm is through associate written reviews.

Loyola Law Library provides students with access to Vault. Vault offers associate reviews on topics including:

• Lateral & Clerk Integration
• Associate Life: Satisfaction
• Firm Culture
• Associate / Partner Relations
• Hours
• Compensation
• Quality of Work
• Training & Mentoring
• Career Outlook
• Diversity Efforts

Vault is available at:

A third option for researching firm culture is Above the Law's Law Firm Rankings, which rank firms based on a combination of "objective data points (changes in headcount over time, promotional prospects, and number of women partners) [and] subjective feedback from over 20,000 associates, partners, and other members of the legal community." The rankings are available at:

Another option for researching law firm culture is Chambers Associate, which contains "blog style" reviews of top law firms.  In regards to workplace culture, Chambers Associate provides associate reviews on the following topics:

• The Work
• Offices
• Culture
• Hours & Compensation
• Diversity
• Training & Development
• Pro Bono
• Strategy & The Future

Chambers Associate is available at:

Other useful resources for researching firm culture include:

Often times, firms will have several offices and each office will specialize in a few specific practice areas. Firm websites often include descriptions about what certain offices specialize in. Look at the partners and see what most partners specialize in at an office.

If you are interested in a specific practice area, US News  allows you to look up a list of firms that practice in a specialized area:

NALP's Directory of Legal Employers provides breakdowns of each of the firm's offices. Specifically, NALP provides insight on an office's specialties and how many attorneys work in each specialty. For instance, notice below that this firm's major practice area is in litigation.  

NALP is available at:

Many of the previously mentioned resources provide insight on firm interviews including questions asked, general comments, and what types of candidates the firm is looking for.

For more general advice on what to expect in a firm interview, see:

Additionally, brush up on recent cases your firm has handled by checking: