Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton: What Law Students Should Know

Cleary Gottlieb is the most genuinely international American law firm. While other firms have opened offices abroad and staffed them with American lawyers doing American deals, Cleary has built a model where international work is the core of the practice, not an add-on. The firm advises sovereign nations, multilateral institutions, and global companies on matters that span multiple legal systems and multiple continents.

The Basics

• Vault Rank: #16
• Headquarters: New York
• US Offices: New York, Washington DC, San Francisco (Bay Area)
• Size: ~1,200 attorneys worldwide
• Starting Salary: $225,000

What They Are Known For

International and cross-border work is the defining characteristic. Cleary advises sovereign governments on debt restructurings, bond issuances, and international disputes. When Argentina restructures its national debt or a European government faces a financial crisis, Cleary is frequently at the table. This sovereign advisory practice is unique in BigLaw, no other American firm does it at this scale.

Antitrust is elite. Cleary's competition practice is one of the best in the world, handling merger clearance, cartel investigations, and antitrust litigation before US, EU, and other regulatory authorities. The firm's ability to handle antitrust matters across jurisdictions simultaneously is a major competitive advantage.

M&A is strong, with a focus on cross-border transactions. Cleary regularly advises on the largest international mergers, often involving European or Latin American counterparties. The firm's fluency in non-US legal systems makes it a natural choice for deals that cross borders.

Finance, including banking, capital markets, and structured finance, is a significant practice. Tax is excellent and deeply integrated into the international work. Litigation covers securities, antitrust, and international disputes.

Languages matter here in a way they do not at most American law firms. Cleary attorneys frequently work in French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, and other languages. If you speak multiple languages, this is one of the few firms where that skill is a genuine asset in daily practice.

Culture and the Rotation System

Cleary uses a rotation system. New associates rotate through multiple practice areas during their first years, gaining exposure to M&A, finance, antitrust, and litigation before choosing a permanent group. The rotation is genuine, you are expected to try things that are outside your comfort zone.

The firm also uses a lockstep compensation system, meaning pay is determined strictly by class year with no individual performance adjustments. Combined with the rotation system, this creates a culture that is collaborative rather than competitive. There is no incentive to hoard work or undermine colleagues.

Cleary's culture is intellectual, cosmopolitan, and less hierarchical than many American firms. The international focus attracts attorneys who are curious about the world, fluent in multiple languages, and interested in legal problems that do not fit neatly into one jurisdiction. It is a more European sensibility than you will find at most New York firms.

The trade-off is that Cleary is smaller and less dominant in purely domestic US work. If you want to do a straightforward US leveraged buyout, there are firms with deeper benches for that. Cleary's strength is in work that crosses borders.

Summer Program

Cleary's summer class is small to mid-sized, typically 60-80 summers. The program reflects the firm's rotation philosophy, summers get exposure to multiple practice areas and are encouraged to try international and cross-border work.

The intellectual atmosphere during the summer is notable. Cleary attracts students who are interested in international law, languages, and cross-border practice, and the summer class tends to reflect that, more globally minded and less focused on domestic deal volume than summers at some competitors.

Offer rates are consistently high.

Offices

New York is headquarters. DC handles antitrust, regulatory, and government work. The Bay Area office serves the tech sector.

The international offices are where Cleary truly differentiates itself. London, Brussels, Frankfurt, Cologne, Rome, Milan, Paris, Moscow, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Beijing, Seoul, and Buenos Aires are all staffed with local attorneys practicing local law, not just American expats doing US deals. This means international secondment opportunities are real and substantive, you can spend time in a Cleary office abroad doing genuine local practice.

If you want to spend part of your career working abroad, Cleary offers more realistic opportunities for that than almost any American firm.

Compensation

Cleary matches the Cravath scale. $225,000 base for first-years with a $21,000 bonus. Total first-year comp: approximately $246,000.

The lockstep system means your compensation is transparent and predictable. You will never earn less than your classmate because a partner preferred their work. You will also never earn more. This is a deliberate design choice that reflects the firm's collaborative values.

Who Should Apply

Cleary is the right firm for students who are interested in international law, cross-border transactions, antitrust, or sovereign advisory work. It is the right firm for multilingual students who want a career that spans jurisdictions. And it is the right firm for students who value a rotation system, lockstep compensation, and a collaborative culture.

If you want to do purely domestic US PE deals or build a career outside of New York, Cleary is not the fit. But if the idea of advising a sovereign government on a debt restructuring, clearing an international merger across five regulatory jurisdictions, or rotating through four practice areas before deciding your specialty sounds like the career you want, Cleary is the firm that was designed for exactly that.