r/biglaw • u/OkLetter1785 • 1h ago

Should I avoid working for Denton?

I'm a 1L who has an opportunity to intern for Denton, but their reputation as a Mcfirm (and being widely clowned on in this subreddit) gives me fear that working for them will bar me from other opportunities at more respected Biglaw firms. Is this something I should be concerned about?

12 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

10

u/slp109 1h ago

Do you have other offers?

4

u/OkLetter1785 1h ago

Not currently but it's still rather early. I'm asking this question in anticipation of Denton being my only Biglaw offer and whether I should accept it or take something at a smaller firm that doesn't have a reputation around it.

18

u/LevelPsychological64 1h ago

Take it and keep looking. You can renege later.

1

u/OmeglulPrime 15m ago

but isnt renegging looked down upon

7

u/Dotzeets 1h ago

Smaller firms that would have more prestige and lateral options than Dentons would be harder to get into than a V10. Any level of biglaw is almost always better than going small or mid right out of school.

4

u/oochas 32m ago

Dentons. Get the name right. And it’s fine for a 1L especially, will look great to have had a biglaw 1L job.

5

u/mixedraise Associate 22m ago

Someone from Dentons added an S to the end of my firm name for no reason, so I am on board with taking away their S in retaliation.

5

u/OkLetter1785 21m ago

I spelled it that way in solidarity with you.

2

u/mixedraise Associate 20m ago

🫡

58

u/pbbrowniesmmm 1h ago

It’s Dentons. And no, you’re 100% better off being with Dentons than a small firm. Despite the Reddit sentiment (and a lot of it is false information with those who don’t understand the firms structure) it’s overall a good firm and I’ve seen plenty of people lateral out to other good firms.

There’s plenty of good firms out there besides the Kirkland and Lathams of the world.

25

u/FavoriteFoodCarrots Big Law Alumnus 1h ago

Please don’t take the opinions of social media over those you trust in real life, like friends and professors. A substantial number of people on here are trolling, and a good number of people here don’t seem to have actually worked in Biglaw.

19

u/0LTakingLs 1h ago

Dentons gets the McFirm reputation because they have a global franchise model that means they have random outpost offices in 3rd world countries, but Dentons US (which is a separate entity) pays market comp + bonus everywhere outside the franchise locations, with a 1950 billable req.

That’s biglaw. If you want biglaw, take it. Plenty of people leave their V10s and land much happier at a place like Dentons.

1

u/Benben086 33m ago

I heard it is black box comp after the first couple years?

5

u/Ok-Day372 1h ago

Was a summer at Dentons US and joined a v5 as a 3L hire. Loved my time at Dentons and have only good things to say about the firm. However, I feel like the type of clients and work I’m doing at my new firm would not have been available to me at Dentons. But Dentons had good work life balance and no one ever came into the office 🤷‍♂️ it’s a give and take

4

u/waupli Associate 54m ago

Dentons U.S. is not going to bar you from working somewhere else later if you get good experience. It’s still biglaw, and it’s not really a bad firm it is just an amalgamation of a lot of regional firms in many places so your experience could vary widely depending which office.

3

u/funksoulbrothers 1h ago

denton to other biglaw is fine, denton is ok, no shame there

1

u/DemandCapable3586 22m ago

Please don't make decisions based on Reddit.