Pros
Great place to practice corporate law. The firm is involved in some of the most exciting and high-end deals in the industry, and attorneys get to see their transactions in the WSJ and financial press nearly every day. This is a great place to learn about how money works in the corporate world. Management is very professional, and the firm as a whole is much more polite and genteel compared to other firms.
Cons
1. Many of the firm's attorneys show up here for their first real job in life, which means they're learning how to behave as a professional for the first time. Many were no doubt excellent law students and almost all are extremely smart, but they are immature and inexperienced. For them, it's great to get the training that Simpson provides, but if you're not in their shoes, you will have to put up with being treated like a kindergartener like they do. 2. Many associates have no idea how to manage a team and are terrible at managing a project, but they are nevertheless given the responsibility for doing so. This is not a Simpson-specific problem but a general problem with lawyers. But the partners and management of this firm also do not have a good way of evaluating an attorney on these very important non-legal skills. 3. HR needs serious improvement. While some of the staff are quite nice and helpful, but others are unprofessional, unhelpful and condescending. Some of them actually seem to think that they are in fact the headmaster of a kindergarten.