Skadden Looks for People Who Really Want to Be Lawyers, But Not Necessarily Partners
Law students interested in working at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom should be ready to explain why they really want to be lawyers instead of, say, violinists.
Hiring partner Steven Glaser told the American Lawyer’s Careerist blog that the one thing he looks for is someone who really wants to be a lawyer. There’s no secret personality test, he told the interviewer. He just asks why the person wants to be a lawyer.
“You want someone with some spark and passion for lawyering,” he told the Careerist. “A lot of people end up at law school because they don’t know what else to do, and then they feel the work is beneath them. They want to write a novel or play the violin.”
But that doesn’t mean he disdains artsy types, he said. “Some of those people work out quite well. [Skadden partner] Greg Milmoe was a pianist, and now he’s one of the leading restructuring lawyers.”
Candidates also need to be prepared, he told the blog. Someone with great credentials won’t be hired if he or she knows nothing about Skadden.
Glaser didn’t refute the Careerist’s description of the law firm in this exchange:
The Careerist: “Skadden is a mega, hypercharged firm with a sweatshop reputation where the odds of making partner are almost nil. Why do people want to work at your firm?”
Glaser: “People desperately want good experience. I’m not sure that a very significant number of associates even want to be partners. I think the firm is good at fostering opportunities; it’s supportive if you eventually want to work for the government or a client.”
Asked to describe Skadden’s personality, he said it’s “confident, but not elitist. It’s not a stuffy place. People have good credentials here, but once you’re here, it doesn’t matter where you went to school or who you clerked for.”
