 |
||
|
|
||
| |||||||||||
History: Don't trust anyone over 30 Schulte Roth & Zabel was founded in 1969 by seven entrepreneurial lawyers - most of them refugees from Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton - and saw its early rise fueled by its specialty in hedge funds. Three of the founding partners were Paul Roth, Stephen Schulte, and William Zabel (all alive and kicking, a rarity for name partners at a major New York firm). Schulte Roth started to differentiate itself in the 1970s with its trusts and estates practice (normally a pokey backwater of law). Name partner Zabel helped to establish Schulte's T&E reputation by giving speeches on estate planning around the country. His self-promotion was rewarded: blue-chip sorts such as the Rockefellers, the Lehmans, Toys 'R Us founder Charles Lazarus, and legendary investor George Soros became clients of the firm. Moreover, Schulte's securities litigation and white-collar criminal defense practice, run by renowned litigator David Brodsky, a former federal prosecutor, has been a source of growth and prestige for Schulte over the past decade. Schulte's successes have borne fruit: In the last 10 years, the firm has rapidly expanded, doubling in size to over 200 attorneys. Hedge fund leader Schulte Roth & Zabel is a newcomer among prestigious law firms. Schulte is one of the few new law firms to become a major New York presence since the end of World War II. How did this firm come so far so fast? It hedged its bets. That is, Schulte made an early name for itself in hedge funds, and legal matters connected with hedge funds are still the firm's highest-profile practice area. In addition to hedge funds, name partner Bill Zabel heads the firm's unusually profitable Individual Client Services (formerly trusts & estates) department, and Brodsky runs the firm's lucrative securities litigation and white-collar defense practice. Schulte is also strong in investment management, international banking, bankruptcy and creditor's rights, real estate, and securities litigation, though the firm's weak showing in mergers and acquisitions is a consistent sore point. Entering the big time As Schulte Roth & Zabel's reputation grows, the firm increasingly attracts high-profile assignments. Its corporate department recently represented Golden Books Family Entertainment, North America's top children's book publisher, in its acquisition of Broadway Video Entertainment, as well as the sale of its Golden Books common stock to Hallmark Cards. Moreover, the department landed plum client ABN AMRO, one of the world's 15 largest banks: a real coup for a midsized firm. In addition, Schulte litigators represented NBC in its challenge of Time Warner's decision to carry the NBC cable station MSNBC. Other Schulte clients include Fortune 500 company Sequa Corporation and Big Five accounting monolith Ernst & Young. In a prominent criminal case, the firm successfully represented George Maloney, the chairman of C.R. Bard Inc., who was charged with conspiracy to defraud the Food and Drug Administration. Maloney was acquitted after an eight-week trial in 1995.
"Stiffs" need not apply Although grades and school matter in Schulte's selection process - and insiders say journal experience and clerkships are a major plus - "personality," our sources tell us, "also matters a lot." One hiring insider advises: "When you show up for the interview, try to be interesting and animated. Try to come across as someone who would be interesting to work with. If you come across as stiff, we're going to be reluctant to hire you. That's the criteria that we use on callbacks, since if you pass the screening interview, you have the necessary academic credentials." In fact, insiders say the attorneys are told to ignore the applicants' academic credentials after the screening interview. Another hiring insider says that the firm is "looking for a good fit." Says the source: "We want people who are hard working, intelligent - not prima donnas. There are no curveball questions during the interview. Basically, we're looking for honest, decent people." An associate adds that the firm is looking for "enthusiastic people." Recruits at a wide variety of law schools Schulte tends to hire from a variety of local New York law schools, as well as other national law schools, with "a special emphasis on NYU, Columbia, and Harvard." For lateral hires, insiders say Schulte "concentrates on work experience above all else." We are told that "it is much more difficult to be hired as a summer associate than as a lateral. The firm has plenty of junior level associates but has difficulty retaining senior level associates, especially in the corporate department."
Pleasant culture, open firm Schulte insiders describe the firm's culture as "easy going," "pleasant," and "relaxed." However, some note that the culture might be getting a bit more "hard-edged" as Schulte expands. As a source says: "Things are changing. It's getting bigger and better. But on the flip side, all the negative things that are associated with a big firm are beginning to creep into the culture at Schulte, too." Another adds that the culture has increasingly become "hard-driving and very bottom-line oriented." Still, associates report: "It's open, especially in comparison to the industry and the industry dynamics." Moreover, there is a definite "young feel" at the firm. Says one insider: "It's a young firm in terms of when it was founded, in terms of the age of the partners, and also in terms of the attitude." One insider raves: "I think that a great thing about this firm is that the name partners - Steve Schulte, Paul Roth, Bill Zabel - are all here, all alive, all well. They'll drop in my office and say "hello." If you are at a firm like Skadden, that will never happen. First of all, Skadden is dead. And secondly, that firm is too damn big. In contrast, I think Schulte handles big firm cases but has a small firm feel." Lagging pay The pay at Schulte is a bit below other top New York firms, and some associates voice displeasure about that fact. "Honestly," one associate says, "there is some grumbling here." An insider says that the "partners feel that the associates bill fewer hours than at other New York firms, and that this firm is not as demanding, so they feel justified in paying less." Schulte recently increased associate pay but hasn't quelled the grumbling. "Schulte intentionally lags behind the pay scale of top-tier law firms by 10 percent or more," says one insider. "I don't think this lag is justifiable under the explanations offered: quality of life and work." On top of the salaries, there are two forms of bonuses. There is a class bonus that "everyone gets," and there is also a merit bonus that ranges from $2,000 to more than $20,000, based largely on "billable hours," according to insiders. Several contacts take care to note out, however, that those hours must be "extraordinary" as well. Climbing prestige It's tough to gain the luster of the old New York law firms, but Schulte is making an impressive effort. "There seems to be a feeling that we want to become a big prestigious firm," an associate says; another one adds that "Schulte is a firm of growing stature. Come here for the potential upside." One source says that prestige varies considerably by the department. "I think it depends on the area. I'm told that the litigation department has a very good reputation. In the hedge funds area, we are at the top of the top. In other areas, we are merely regarded as a good, solid firm."
Lisa Lombardo Drew Recruiting Administrator (212) 756-2307
Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler;Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy;Shearman & Sterling;Weil, Gotshal & Manges More Company Profiles For more career information, go to Vault.com ©2000, Vault.com Inc
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
