firsthand squiggles
ArentFox Schiff LLP logo

ArentFox Schiff LLP

1717 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 857-6000

Overview

Profile Opener

Introduction

Self-starters will thrive at ArentFox Schiff with challenging work and strong mentorship available. Associates are proud of the firm’s diversity and pro bono initiatives, such as the recently established Center for Racial Equality.

Firm Stats


Total No. Attorneys (2024)

500 - 750

No. of Partners Named (2023)

16

Featured Rankings

Vault Law 100


No. of 1st Year Associates Hired (2023)

14


No. of Summer Associates (2024)

21 total (21 2Ls)


Base Salary

1st year: $215,000

Vault Verdict

ArentFox Schiff was born through a 2022 merger of stalwart law firms in DC and Chicago, and today, its associates engage in high-quality work alongside highly qualified partners. Associates come from diverse backgrounds, with many from law schools regionally close to the hiring office. The hiring criteria include grades, journal, and work experience. Coworkers are warm and welcoming, and employees respect others’ personal time away from the office. Lean teams and a feeling of a flattened hierarchy translate to fruitful, solid relationships between associates and partners. Notably, the partners support, train, and mentor associates and trust them with important work. Firmwide training programs are directed to junior associates and are less frequently offered to associates progressi...

About the Firm

ArentFox Schiff emerged from the 2022 merger of Arent Fox—a firm with a symbiotic relationship with the nation’s capital—and the Windy City firm Schiff Hardin. With over 600 lawyers and policy professionals, the firm covers the gamut of practice areas, including corporate, finance, intellectual property, products liability, trusts and estates, real estate, litigation, healthcare and regulatory practices.

Midwest meets DC

A quintet of Beltway insiders pooled their legal and political resources to shape ArentFox Schiff into a Capitol institution over its first 30 years. Henry Fox, the main man behind the firm’s foundation in 1942, laid the first stones in labor, government contract, and administrative specialties. In a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, Fox secured overtime...

Vault Top Ranked shield

2025 Vault Rankings


Associate Reviews


  • “The atmosphere seems more relaxed and friendly than what I hear about from former classmates at other firms. We are not the most social firm, and that is because everyone has their own lives and goes home at the end of the workday.”
  • “In general AFS's culture is warmer, more welcoming, and kinder than other firms. Lawyers and staff interact generally as respected colleagues and professionals. Relative to other firms, AFS tends to be respectful of its associates' time as well: W...

Culture & Inclusion at ArentFox Schiff LLP

"For more than a decade, Arent Fox has had a Diversity and Inclusion Committee comprised of many members of the senior management team. This Committee's goals are to recruit, retain, and promote lawyers of color, women, and LGBTQ+ lawyers, while ensuring that firm resources are dedicated for training, mentoring and business development. Arent Fox has made great strides in diversity and inclusion initiatives. This success can be attributed to increased formal involvement and collaboration by firm leadership, including the Executive..."

Getting Hired Here


  • “I participate in the firm's summer associate program recruitment and lateral associate hiring processes regularly. The firm is looking for a wide range of candidates with a multitude of backgrounds. The firm takes into consideration (i) law school attended, (ii) grades, (iii) journal experience, (iv) clerkship, (v) prior work experience, (vi) personality, and (vii) diversity for summer associate and lateral hires, but the firm emphasizes such factors far more for summer associate hires than for later...

Perks & Benefits