Why Orrick?
Listening to our team and our clients, we have built a clear strategy that informs everything we do:
- We focus on the three sectors driving the global economy: Technology & Innovation, Energy & Infrastructure and Finance.
- We focus on being the best law firm to work for, offering the best opportunities to our teams, and creating a culture of inclusion and belonging.
- And we focus on innovating to make legal jobs better and meet demands for ever-increasing levels of quality and value.
Our strategy offers a unique opportunity for law students interested in being part of a modern and inclusive global law firm, in making an impact on your team, and in driving positive change in the market and the community.
Check out our Careers page here.
Our Sector Focus
Our day job is helping companies in tech, energy and finance change the world, protect their innovations and defend their businesses. Our clients include:
- Tech: 3,000 of the most disruptive technology companies and investors globally, 37 U.S. and UK unicorns, and half of the 20 largest tech companies in the world
- E&I: One-third of the top 20 oil and gas companies, half of the top 50 global infrastructure investors, and 6 of the top 10 large-scale solar developers globally
- Finance: 14 of the top 20 global financial institutions, 9 of the top 10 private debt funds, 3 of the 4 most successful fintech companies, and numerous funds and government entities.
We offer top-tier legal support in key areas of importance to our clients’ businesses. We’re top 5 globally in venture capital for the past four years (PitchBook), top 10 for global M&A (PitchBook, Q3 2020) and top 5 for tech litigation (Bloomberg, 2020). Chambers ranks us Band 1 for power, renewable energy and infrastructure, and we have been named Project Finance Group of the Year seven times (Law360). We’re top 12 for every securitization asset class (Asset-backed and Commercial Mortgage Alerts), a #1 out-of-court creditor firm and #3 bankruptcy firm (The Deal), and #1 municipal bond counsel for more than two decades (Bond Buyer).
Half of our practice is litigation – more than a third of the Fortune 100 relies on our litigators to resolve their highest-stakes disputes. We are a five-time Employment Group of the Year (Law360), a nine-time Appellate Hot List firm (National Law Journal) and IP Litigation Powerhouse (BTI).
With innovation outpacing regulation, we help companies see around corners. Our fast-growing regulatory practice includes a Chambers Band 1 team in Cyber & Privacy and a Public Policy team that offers unique solutions at the state level. And our teams appear before most federal agencies, helping our clients get U.S. and cross-border deals done and promote pro-consumer, pro-innovation regulation.
Links:
- Read about what’s happening at Orrick here.
- Learn about the latest trends and solutions across our sectors here.
Sustainability
We have a heightened responsibility to make a social impact. The era of corporate leadership on sustainability is here – as lawyers, we take that duty seriously.
- Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: Here’s how we’re taking bold action to make our firm, our profession and our society more equitable:
- We’re piloting science-backed tools to ensure our systems of feedback, work allocation, sponsorship, communication, connection and retention are equitable and inclusive. We also improved our sponsorship program for Black and Latinx lawyers.
- As a founder of the Move the Needle Fund, we made a public pledge to improve the diversity of our client teams for 40 valued clients.
- More than two dozen Orrick lawyers are working full-time at leading public interest organizations advancing racial, social and economic justice and equity. Orrick Fellows will return to the firm in 2022 and be part of a generation of leaders with enhanced skills and experience in making a social impact.
- To expand the talent pool and ensure the success of incoming diverse talent, we are a founding member of an initiative led by Legal Innovators to train and place candidates with us for a two-year fellowship.
- We offered three months of 80% work at 100% pay for team members unable to take advantage of outside caregiving support due to heightened health risk in their families.
- Our new Gender Inclusive Workplace Policy sets out expectations for the full Orrick team to ensure everyone feels welcome and respected regardless of gender identity.
- Pro Bono & Orrick Cares: During 2020, our teams dedicated 10,000 hours to advancing racial, social and economic and justice, 10,000 hours to COVID-related relief work and 8,000 hours to voting rights. We are a top 5 firm for pro bono in the U.S. and internationally (American Lawyer) and a five-time Pro Bono Hot List firm (National Law Journal). Our full-time Pro Bono Counsel helps our associates find pro bono work that matches their interests, and pro bono representation counts like any other client work toward bonus eligibility. And our Orrick Cares program allows our everyone at Orrick to make an impact, from running races together to support a cause, to renovating and repairing homes, to volunteering at schools and food banks.
Links:
Being a Best Place to Work for Associates
We are grateful to our team for naming us to Fortune’s Best Companies to Work For list for the sixth year in a row. But the interconnected health, racial justice, economic and social crises of 2020 and ongoing today – and the experience of living at work through this period – have required us to take a fresh look at what it means to be a great place to work. Here are some ways we’re building the great legal career of the future.
- Agile Working: In 2020, nearly 25% of our U.S. lawyers took advantage of our agile working arrangements (flexible hours, remote location, etc.) – nearly 40% of those men. During the four years prior to COVID, 20% of the lawyers we promoted to partners used an agile working arrangement. While we all look forward to returning to our offices some-of-the-time, we expect the traditional 5 days a week in the office will be one of many options.
- Prioritizing Wellness and Balance: We give lawyers 40 hours of creditable time to take one week fully unplugged each year. We also discourage non-essential meetings on Fridays and weekend emails. And our wellness program went virtual in 2020 with weekly HIIT and yoga classes, guided meditations and self-care workshops.
- Professional Development: Our curriculum of 300 courses includes legal and business skills. At three key transitions in your career, you’ll complete an intensive academy, including a mini-MBA for senior associates. Our virtual academy for new associates sets up a great first year at Orrick, including opportunities to create connections and navigate the first few years of practice. We also offer bootcamps on specific topics like IP, trial skills and working with tech companies.
- Innovation: We draw on the best processes and tech to equip our lawyers with the data to make the case or close the deal. Associates can devote 50 hours of bonus-eligible time to innovation projects. And we’re not only tracking and investing in promising legal tech – we’re building the solutions we can’t find on the market. In 2020, Financial Times named us the Most Digital Law Firm in North America; over the past five years, they have also named us Most Innovative Law Firm in North America – 3-time winner, 2-time runner up.
For more information, please visit our site, follow us on Twitter, get updates on Facebook or see how we’re already connected on LinkedIn. You can also follow our Chairman, Mitch Zuklie, on Twitter and Instagram.