Fenwick & West LLP
VAULT RANKINGS 2013
THE BUZZ…
• “They got the Facebook IPO!”
• “Family-friendly”
• “Prestigious in Silicon Valley”
• “Aggressive”
NEWS AND UPDATES
Vault's Scoop
Uppers
• “Really awesome tech clients”
• “Warm and welcoming culture”
• “Great training and exposure”
Downers
• “Lots of hours”
• “Demanding”
• “Need more associates”
ABOUT THIS COMPANY:
THE SCOOP
In 1972, four attorneys moved from New York to Palo Alto to found a firm based on their vision that the Silicon Valley would become the future tech Mecca of the world. They were right. Small wonder, then, that the area's alpha geeks—Apple Computer, Cisco Systems and VeriSign, to name just a few—look to Fenwick & West for tech-savvy counsel.
Laying the Legal Groundwork for the iUniverse
Just four years after its founding, Fenwick & West snagged future tech icons Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak as clients, eventually helping incorporate the Apple Computer for them, the first step in building the eventual Apple universe of iPods and iPads we all know and love.
From the Community
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Fenwick & West LLP Perspective
Fenwick & West LLP HIGHLIGHTS
History
Many technology law gurus throughout Silicon Valley claim to have been there at the creation. William Fenwick can claim to have been there before the creation. While a student in 1968, Fenwick authored a dissertation titled "Automation and the Law: The Challenge to the Attorney." The paper's conclusions must have been happy ones, as Fenwick and colleagues (including now-retired name partner Henry West: at the time, a refugee from New York's Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton) set out to provide sophisticated legal services in the next high-tech mecca. After considering promising locations in Florida and North Carolina, the founders eventually settled on Palo Alto, and opened shop in 1974.
YOUR CAREER AT Fenwick & West LLP
Visionaries
When Fenwick & West's founders decided to head to the Golden State in 1972, it was just in time to help start the tech revolution. The firm is renowned for its ground-breaking work at the intersection of law and technology. For the past three decades it has been on the forefront of some of Silicon Valley's most newsworthy deals. Back in 1976, home computing pioneer Apple Computers used the firm to incorporate. That was just the beginning. Today, Fenwick & West leads the pack in the industry's hottest technology deals, including the largest Internet deal ever-VeriSign's $21 billion acquisition of Network Solutions, the largest software merger ever-- Symantec's $13 billion acquisition of VERITAS-and one of the largest and most significant IP litigation payouts of 2005-Compuware's $400M settlement with IBM.
Q&A WITH Fenwick & West LLP
Stats
1. Total number of attorneys: 311
a. Number of partners: 69
b. Number of of counsel: 8
c. Number of associates: 226
d. Number of lawyers working part-time: 5
3. Please provide the number of attorneys in each office:
Palo Alto -- 252; San Francisco -- 51; DC -- 7; Idaho -- 1
4. Please provide the number of attorneys working in each firm practice area:
Litigation -- 85; Corporate -- 119; Intellectual Property -- 87; Tax -- 20
5. Number of summer associates: 69
a. Expected number of full-time employment offers: 64
7. Minimum billable hour requirement: 1800
Getting Hired
Tips from the inside
Vault’s Verdict: Fenwick & West has been placing an increased emphasis on grades in recent years, but a tech background or even just enthusiasm for Silicon Valley culture will help in the interview.
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Company Initiatives
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