Companies Latham & Watkins

Latham & Watkins

New York

Total Offices: 12

7,653 Total Employees

Year Founded: 1934

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What's It Like to Work at Latham & Watkins?

Updated on September 21, 2026

This page summarizes recurring themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Latham & Watkins and has not been reviewed or approved by Latham & Watkins.

What's it like to work at Latham & Watkins?

Strengths in compensation, professional development, and team support are accompanied by challenges in workload intensity, management consistency, and advancement clarity. Together, these dynamics suggest a high-performing, well-resourced environment where rewards and growth exist, but sustained pace and organizational complexity can temper overall experience depending on role and team.

Key Insight for Candidates

Defining tradeoff: Latham delivers elite, career-accelerating matters and top-tier compensation in exchange for consistently long, deal-driven, and often unpredictable hours. This matters because success typically requires high availability—including nights and weekends—to meet fast-moving client and transaction timelines.

Evidence in Action

Billable-Hour Target Norm — The 1,900 billable-hour target and an average just under 50 hours/week for associates, with weekend work noted, are documented organizational patterns. This sets an always-on pace and normalizes long, unpredictable hours, shaping expectations for availability and work-life tradeoffs.
Unassigned First-Year System — The unassigned first-year system pairs associates with senior and junior mentors and uses work allocation to expose them to varied matters. This reinforces a collaborative, developmental workplace perception, signaling structured support and early responsibility across teams.

Positive Themes About Latham & Watkins

Compensation: Pay is considered a standout, with compensation consistently described as strong and a major advantage. Feedback suggests benefits are also solid, reinforcing overall satisfaction with the rewards package.
Learning & Development: Mentoring, training, and career coaching are highlighted as structured and substantive, including senior/junior mentors and networking opportunities. Accounts indicate meaningful early responsibility and hands-on learning on complex matters.
Team Support: Colleagues are often seen as smart, professional, and supportive, with many describing a collaborative, collegial environment. Experiences do vary by office and team, but the prevailing tone points to approachable teams and strong resources.

Considerations About Latham & Watkins

Workload & Burnout: Long, unpredictable hours and demanding, deal-driven workloads are recurring themes, with weekend work and an intense pace mentioned as common tradeoffs. Feedback suggests work-life balance is the most frequent challenge.
Weak Management: Occasional concerns surface around management consistency, face-time expectations, and bureaucracy or red tape in a large organization. Some note pressure from certain partners and uneven experiences by office or group.
Career Stagnation: Advancement can feel competitive and uncertain, with questions around progression raised alongside concerns about management. This dynamic leads some to reassess long-term paths despite strong early opportunities.

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These insights are generated using AI and may not reflect internal data or verified company information. They are intended solely for general informational purposes and should not be considered a definitive assessment of the company’s reputation. If you are a representative of this company, and would like this page to be removed, you may contact us via this form.