Hiring Process

Our interviewing and hiring process is designed so that both you and the Firm can make the right decision.

Call-back interviews in our midtown Manhattan offices are unique. They consist of free‑flowing conversations with partners and associates. This day affords you the opportunity to see, hear and learn about Cravath in greater detail from different lawyers’ perspectives. Offers for summer and full‑time employment are made quickly after the call‑back interview. Throughout the hiring season, we encourage you to reach out and speak with additional Cravath lawyers on the phone, through email or face‑to‑face. If you would like to hear from our partners about their own experiences coming to the Firm and what to expect during a call-back interview, please click here to listen to a special recruiting episode of the Cravath “On Tax” podcast.

When we interview candidates for employment as summer associates or associates, it is very much a two-way street. Particularly because we do not hire associates laterally, it is very important to us that we make offers to candidates who have the potential to excel in our challenging environment, and equally important that those who accept our offers do so because they believe Cravath is the right place for them. Although we hire many associates from the top law schools, we also hire talented students from a wide array of law schools across the U.S. and Canada. Although we hire associates with exceptional law school and college grades, we also hire students whose academic performance is less strong, but who, through our rigorous interview process, demonstrate that they possess the qualities necessary to succeed in the business world (which we recognize is different from the academic world). Although we hire associates who have charged straight through from college to law school, we also hire many students who spent time in other vocations or took detours from what might be considered the straight and narrow path, because in our practice, breadth of one’s real-world experience is very important.

Once at Cravath, everyone starts out on equal footing, without regard to academic record, schools attended or any other factors that may have been taken into account in hiring. Each associate has the chance to rise to the challenges presented and prove herself or himself capable to learn, grow and excel. Among the Firm’s partners, you will find a broad range of schools attended, participation in law review, employment before law school and so on. Despite those differences, they share a unifying characteristic: a strong commitment to excellence.