Overview
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)
No. of Partners Named (2023)
Featured Rankings
No. of 1st Year Associates Hired (2023)
No. of Summer Associates (2024)
Base Salary
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...
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: We work hard, but unnecessary fire drills, unexpected crunches, and last-minute rushes that result in canceled plans, unforeseen weekend work, and very late nights are infrequent.”
- “There is a lot of collaboration among attorneys and across partners and associates and strong support for life outside of the law, but we all work hard. There are opportunities to meet your team members and colleagues with firm-sponsored events like catered lunches, but the in-office presence is still low, and there are few organic gatherings.”
- “Everyone is very friendly and seem to get along well together. Attorneys socialize at firm-sponsored events, such as weekly attorney lunches, and at spontaneous events, such as happy hours, as well. I genuinely like the people I work with, and the firm does a good job hiring those who are a good fit for the firm's culture.”
Diversity at ArentFox Schiff LLP
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 lateral hires (the firm focuses more on (v) and (vi) for lateral hires).”
- “Each office has dozens of applicants that apply for at least two to four summer associate spots. Based on being part of the hiring process, each office focuses on schools that are within the same region. Most hires are part of the OCI process, but a few can directly apply for each office when applications are open.”
- “I don't think the firm really has particular qualifications that serve as a hard yes or hard no. AFS is BigLaw without the big ego, in my opinion. They consider candidates who are from a variety of backgrounds, educationally and professionally. I know people who were top of their class and others that didn't do so well but made up for it with cocurriculars. Importantly, the firm does not seem to give undue importance to being on a journal, which is good. So many students think not being on a journal will harm their chances, but it ultimately will not. It is about finding well-rounded people.”
- “The firm has training for interviewers which is helpful. Feeder schools seem to be Georgetown and George Washington here in DC. I believe the firm looks for quality candidates from these schools that are a good "fit" in terms of collegial personality.”
Perks & Benefits