HISTORY & CULTURE

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is a recognized leader across all practice areas and a firm that enables young lawyers to thrive in their development. The three Columbia Law grads who founded the firm in 1884 had a vision of creating an innovative, top-tier law practice that provided the highest quality service for its clients. They succeeded, and generations of attorneys have upheld this standard, helping Simpson become the global powerhouse that it is today. Simpson Thacher represents a wide array of corporate and financial institution clients spanning a broad range of practices and industries. The breadth of the firm’s practices provides associates with enviable opportunities for professional development and growth, and the collegial culture at Simpson truly sets the firm apart. Attorneys regularly refer to the firm’s clients as “our client,” not “my client.”  With five domestic offices and eleven offices worldwide, Simpson truly operates as one firm, working across departments and offices to provide the highest quality of seamless legal services to clients in every part of the world.

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

Training begins when associates walk through the door at Simpson Thacher, and a broad curriculum of continuing education is provided to associates at all levels. From a CLE presentation over lunch or listening to a podcast while commuting, opportunities for professional development at Simpson are countless. The firm is committed to assisting in the transition from law school to law practice by providing associates with a broad range of mentoring and training programs as they progress throughout their careers. Centralized staffing is a cornerstone of Simpson’s development plan and allows associates to have a voice in the types of work that they do.

Highlights

• STBReady – First-year associates begin their careers at Simpson Thacher by taking part in STBReady, a multi-day, firm-wide immersive training program. It is designed to help prepare associates to contribute meaningfully from day one, and creates a strong foundation for associates’ professional development. STBReady provides first-year associates with business and financial literacy training, as well as practice and industry-specific learning. Sessions focus on teamwork, efficiency, knowledge sharing, and technology.
• STBAdvance – At important transition points in their careers, third and fifth-year associates participate in STBAdvance. STBAdvance incorporates training across multiple subject areas to help accelerate the development of leadership behaviors and next-level skills as associates become more senior. Topics are covered both by practice group and as a class. STBAdvance focuses on addressing the role of a midlevel or senior, management and team leadership skills and goal setting.
• NY Corporate Advisor Program – New York corporate associates are paired with a partner advisor for their first three months at the firm to help accelerate development through a close working relationship with a partner from the very start of their careers.
• Development Mentor Program – Complementing the NY Corporate Advisor Program, associates in other groups and offices are paired with a partner mentor to help guide them and to serve as a sounding board during their first three years at the firm. New York corporate associates also receive partner mentors once in their permanent groups.
• Associate Benchmarks – Because the development and advancement of associates is critical to Simpson’s success, the firm introduced and promotes associate benchmarks to provide clear, illustrative guidelines helping associates to understand what opportunities and experiences the firm expects them to receive at varying stages of their careers.

CORPORATE

Simpson’s award-winning corporate attorneys lead market-shaping deals in areas that include M&A, leveraged buyouts, fund formations, project financings, capital markets, and real estate, just to name a few. Through the firm’s corporate rotation and centralized staffing systems, Simpson provides access to a balanced mix of strategic and private equity clients that is second to none in the law firm community. Corporate attorneys at Simpson Thacher handle the most sophisticated and complex legal transactions, not only for the premier banks and private equity firms, but for a vast array of leading companies across all major industries.    

LITIGATION

The firm’s global litigation department is the second largest department in the firm and focuses on our clients’ most important disputes and investigations including antitrust, government and internal investigations, insurance, IP, securities, and other high-stakes business disputes.  The vast majority of the department’s work comes directly from clients who brought their specific matter to the firm due to the litigation department.  Our clients include the world’s leading financial services institutions as well as household names in the technology, consumer products, entertainment, and insurance industries.  Our junior litigators are trained to be generalists who specialize in preparing cases for trial, no matter the subject.

SUMMER PROGRAM

Being part of the summer associate program at Simpson Thacher is an unparalleled professional experience, as well as an opportunity to foster meaningful personal connections. Simpson summer associates become part of the firm upon arrival and are active team members on the firm’s most challenging and complex deals and cases. Summer associates are encouraged to take on assignments in numerous practice areas to gain exposure to the breadth of the firm’s work and to experience first-hand how Simpson attorneys work collaboratively alongside our clients to meet their goals. The summer is filled with robust professional development opportunities, including mentoring relationships and a comprehensive training curriculum. Summer associates return to law school having sampled an array of practice areas and knowing what being part of Simpson Thacher really means.

Highlights

• Ability to explore different types of practice areas and assignments.
• Formal and informal mentorship opportunities with both partners and associates, including substantive work with a partner mentor.
• Various social events to get to know attorneys and fellow summer associates including: Annual Partner Dinner, New York Yankees Game, Shakespeare in the Park, Volunteer Day and Affinity Group events, to name a few.
• Weekly summer associate-only training lunches and introductions to various practice groups at the firm.
• Hands-on assigning associates paired with all summer associates to help allocate assignments throughout the summer program.

PRO BONO

Pro bono work has strong institutional roots at Simpson Thacher. The particular matters the firm pursues are as diverse as the interests of Simpson’s lawyers. It is a long-standing tradition of the firm to provide legal services free of charge for those who cannot afford a lawyer. Simpson lawyers devote tens of thousands of hours every year to pro bono projects that include advocating on behalf of low-income clients and the nonprofits that serve them, in every community in which the firm has an office and beyond.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION

The commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion at Simpson Thacher is evident from the top down. Creating an inclusive environment is a priority for firm leadership because the firm recognizes that the diversity of its talent pool is an integral part of the firm’s ability to gather the diverse perspectives necessary to provide the best legal counsel to clients. From active affinity groups and inclusion networks throughout the firm to regular programming featuring speakers in high-profile positions and professional development and mentoring efforts that benefit all associates, the firm is constantly thinking of ways to engage partners and associates year-round on topics that foster an inclusive atmosphere. The firm supports both a Diversity and Women’s Advisory Council that consist of associates and counsel across all offices. These members provide input to firm leadership on initiatives that support the advancement and retention of  lawyers from diverse backgrounds at Simpson Thacher. Two examples of professional development and connectivity programs at the firm are our biennial Diversity Leadership Conference which is open to all affinity group and inclusion network members and our annual Women’s Leadership Conference, which is open to all third-year women associates. Both initiatives offer our lawyers the opportunity to build and hone important leadership and professional skills, while solidifying their relationships with our partners and with one another. The firm also hosts an annual Citywide Diversity reception to further advance the diversity dialogue among Simpson lawyers and within the greater legal community. Recent speakers have included America Ferrera, Issa Rae, Rita Moreno, Laverne Cox, Preet Bharara, Misty Copeland, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Bryan Stevenson. This year, we are happy to host Taraji P. Henson.

ALUMNI

The knowledge and expertise that attorneys develop at Simpson Thacher has proven to be an extraordinary launch pad to myriad positions in both the public and private sector. Simpson alumni have gone on to careers with U.S. Attorney’s Offices, the DOJ, SEC, federal and state court judges, financial services firms, entertainment and sports companies, and nonprofits. This network of firm alumni remains part of the Simpson Thacher family, and alumni often become firm clients due to the close connections made while at the firm. A more comprehensive description of the firm is available on our website (www.stblaw.com).