OVERVIEW:
With the same reputation for excellence in Simpson Thacher’s global brand, the lawyers in our Washington, D.C. office serve our diverse base of high-profile clients in their most challenging and mission-critical engagements. Our transactional practice is distinguished in the D.C. market by the breadth and depth of our capabilities, boasting the full complement of services and expertise of an elite Wall Street firm in the heart of our Nation’s Capital. In addition, many of our partners have extensive government experience and help clients both navigate complex regulatory reviews and investigations and litigate high-profile matters. Over 140 D.C.-based lawyers work on integrated teams across our 11 global offices to put the collective strength of the entire Firm to work for our clients on capital markets transactions, banking and credit transactions, M&A transactions, bank regulatory, private and registered funds, tax matters, governance and compliance matters, competition matters, government and internal investigations, and international regulatory and compliance matters.
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.
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 experinces the firm expects them to receive at varying stages of their careers.
CORPORATE
Like the Firm more generally, Simpson’s D.C. office benefits from an unrivaled franchise with blue chip private equity sponsors and financial institutions. Simpson’s award-winning corporate attorneys offer these sophisticated clients transactional capabilities for all facets of their business from fundraising to M&A activity and related financings to IPOs and sales, complemented by specialized expertise in areas such as tax, national security, and bank and SEC regulation. In addition, our D.C. corporate attorneys serve a diverse roster of strategic clients on their most important transactional assignments. Through the firm’s corporate rotation and centralized staffing systems, Simpson provides opportunities to learn and develop across a broad spectrum of clients and practice areas. At the same time, junior attorneys in our D.C. office will benefit in each rotation from the training and mentorship of a consistent team of more senior attorneys and partners. In this manner, our D.C. office combines the exceptional training and client work one would expect from a premier global law firm with the personal investment in individual professional development that is more typically found only in a smaller firm.
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
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.
