| Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson | One New York Plaza, New York, NY 10004-1980 |
| www.ffhsj.com | (212) 859-8000 Fax: (212) 859-4000 |
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Fried worldwide
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson has grown over the past 30 years into a major player in the corporate practice area, especially in mergers and acquisitions. The New York-based firm opened a Washington, D.C. office in 1949 and a Los Angeles office in 1986. The firm also has foreign outposts in London and Paris, and in April 2000 announced an alliance with Toronto-based firm McCarthy Tetrault.
History: 1980s nostalgia
While most people would probably like to forget the 1980s-era S&L loan crisis and the antics of insider traders, Fried Frank profited handsomely from the decade famous for Michael Jackson and the pastel-clad cops of Miami Vice. Thomas Vartanian served as counsel for the Federal Home Loan Bank Board when the federal government was deregulating the savings and loan business in the early 1980s. When the industry crashed several years later, Vartanian was safely ensconced as a partner at Fried Frank. In his first year at the firm, he billed $12 million, mainly working on S&L bailout cases. Fried Frank also represented infamous insider trader Ivan Boesky in his criminal cases.
Since that time, Vartarian has left behind the 1980s savings and loans fad for the new trend of the 1990s and 2000 - the e-economy. Vartarian is now the chair of the ABA's Committee on Cyberspace Law and has gained recognition for his writings on the subject of e-law, particularly as the chair of a two-year ABA global project to study issues related to determining jurisdictional principles in cyberspace.
The DC nexus
Fried Frank has more than its share of connections to the Washington power structure. Sargent Shriver, one of the firm's name partners, is a member of the Kennedy clan. Fried Frank partner Thomas Christopher is the son of former Secretary of State Warren Christopher. Litigation partner Michael Bromwich served from 1994 to 1999 as Inspector General for the Department of Justice. Tax partner Martin Ginsburg is the husband of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Finally, there's Harvey Pitt, a corporate partner who once served as general counsel for the Securities and Exchange Commission.
M&A power players
Fried Frank's most prominent practice has been mergers and acquisitions, led by former firm chairman Arthur Fleischer, Jr. The firm represented AirTouch Communications in the company's $65.9 billion merger with Vodafone Group in February 1999. Fleischer led Fried Frank's team.
In March 1999, the firm represented Allied Waste Industries regarding its purchase by Browning Ferris Industries. The $9.1 billion deal combined the country's second-largest waste management firm (Browning Ferris) with the third-largest (Allied). The firm represented seed producer Pioneer Hi-Bred International when it sold an 80 percent stake to DuPont for $1.7 billion in April 1999.
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Top schools or top grades
Associates at Fried Frank rate their firm as a little more selective than most. "It is hard to get hired out of law school," says one attorney. "With the market the way it is now, I don't think it is too difficult to get hired as a lateral." The firm's search begins at top-tier national as well as regional law schools. "If you are from a top school or George Washington, your chances are very high," reports one DC lawyer. "The firm requires good grades and recruits mostly from top-tier schools, but it also values people from the top of their class at other schools and has no requirements that associates fit into a particular mold," says another source.
Look alive
One associate claims interviewers "will put pressure on you to lead the interview. They'll ask you cookie-cutter questions to keep things moving, but I recommend you have a clear picture in your head of what you want to convey; make a sort of road map for the interview and get your point across. Show you can think out of the box and motivate yourself. Don't just answer their questions." The firm likes "people with diverse interests" and "some business background is a plus."
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Friendly folks, high stress
Fried Frank associates are in agreement that the firm is "laid-back." One source says the firm's attitude is "do whatever the hell you want as long as you work hard and get it done." "People are generally nice," one source says. "There are all types - shy and quiet and loud and obnoxious. You can pretty much be yourself." The firm is "very tolerant of different personal lifestyles," according to one DC associate. "[It] does not look for stereotypical WASP or Harvard lawyers."
It's a good thing Fried Frank associates enjoy their peers - according to our inside sources, Fried Frank can be a stressful environment. "The firm has a very hierarchical feel," says a corporate lawyer. One critic harshly exclaims that Fried Frank is "a bunch of slobs who work their associates like slaves." Another angry lawyer complains the firm's partners "expect associates to jump at any whim of a partner or a client." Still, most feel the firm is making an effort to correct any problems. Specifically, the firm has established an Office of Associate Affairs to field associate complaints and, when possible, rectify them.
I like you, you like me
Fried Frank lawyers seem to genuinely enjoy the company of their peers. Insiders report "well-attended happy hours, coffee breaks, and weekly cocktail parties. The lawyers really enjoy working and interacting together on many different levels." New associates seem to enjoy the most quality socializing time.
Erratic hours
Fried Frank associates say they work very erratic hours, with the precise workload varying by department and by deal. "When a deal heats up, I'm here until midnight or later every night and working through the weekends," offers one corporate lawyer. "At other times, I'm home in time to watch Friends. "It is either all on or all off in terms of work pressure," according to a fifth-year associate. "We are encouraged to enjoy the downtime as much as we are encouraged to work during the difficult period." Beware of making friends with the partners, unless you want a hefty workload. "If a partner gets to know and like you, apparently you are constantly busy because that partner will go to you directly with an assignment," warns one lawyer. "First-year corporate associates are assigned to a certain group of partners and I've heard they tend to be busier for that reason."
Pay follows the leader
"No first-year associate making this much money should complain about his or her earnings - no matter how many hours they work," asserts one atypical young lawyer. That individual is clearly in the minority - the rest of his fellow Fried Frank associates leap at the opportunity to kvetch about their pay. While all concerned admit that the firm's compensation hovers around the market average in terms of pay, some criticize the firm's poky response to competitors' pay increases. "The pay structure is completely outdated," gripes one New York lawyer who is not enamored of the lockstep pay system. "There is a lot of dead wood around here. People who barely work make the same money as people who work seven days a week." Another New Yorker regrets that "Fried Frank will always match what the other big firms do in terms of salary but is never the initiator." "The firm is always slow to match," says another attorney. "For the little amount of money they are saving, they could buy some favor with associates and simply match outright."
Go Orioles! Go Mets!
Fried Frank associates receive the "standard perks - meals and car service if you work late or on weekends, various parties and social events, [and] free sports tickets from time to time." In New York and DC, you'll get half off a gym membership, and since Sargent Shriver was once part owner of the Baltimore Orioles, choice seats at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. In New York, there's access to the Orioles' division rival New York Yankees as well as the Mets, the NBA's Knicks, the WNBA's Liberty, and the NHL's Rangers - "but partners get first dibs. They have to pay and we don't."
The laments and kudos of diversity
Fried Frank insiders say that their firm is making an effort to recruit minorities, but as at most firms, results have proven unimpressive. "The firm makes a lot of effort but these problems are so ingrained," says one second-year associate. "The firm has several fellowships with minority organizations, a person dedicated to minority hiring and retention, plenty of outreach, and a diversity committee, but it is hard to change these large institutions." Another insider reports that there are "no senior African-American associates and no partners." "It's definitely a vicious cycle," sighs a different contact. "Because there are no attorneys of color at the top, associates of color feel lost in the shuffle, consider their chances of partnership slim and tend to leave more quickly." The firm indicates that its junior workforce is "very diverse" and Fried Frank has established an annual Civil Rights Forum in honor of Fried Frank associate Michael Diehl, who died in September 1999. Diversity efforts, according to the firm, remain "on the front burner."
Invigorating environment
"I think I have it pretty good here," says one DC associate. "No one micromanages my time and I try not to work weekends." Other insiders also give Fried Frank credit for high-quality work. "Because I hated law school, I feared working hard as a lawyer would be miserable," says one attorney. "I'm pleased to say the intellectual rigors of the work invigorate me every day."
Among the high points are the "quality of work and the intellect of lawyers." Additionally, "the firm makes a real effort to correct any perceived problems - it seems to listen." One attorney says, "I chose Fried Frank over a bunch of other New York firms because of the relaxed atmosphere and the eccentric and interesting people."
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Elizabeth McDonald
Recruitment Director
(212) 859-8621
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Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft;Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton;Cravath, Swaine & Moore;Davis Polk & Wardwell;Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
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