Small Law Insider


"A resource for pre-interview and post-offer research on small law firms across the United States."

The Platinum List: 
Good small firms around the country

The "shit list":
(The 411 on less desirable firms)

Notes on criteria (how we decide what to include as good or bad)

Checklist of questions to ask at an interview with a small law firm

Good resources for researching or discussing Small Law

Contact us:
email - small.law.insider@gmail.com
in person - I ama 3L in Chicago, IL and you can email me to talk about the blog over coffee, if you like :-)

Attention J.D. class of '08!! Email our link to your friends so they can fill us in on information and use us to do research when they're interviewing!!!

     Welcome to Small Law Insider, the very first site dedicated to providing reliable information on small law firms. For decades, anyone could find out good information about large or prestigious law firms--BigLaw or boutiques. Now, we are building a dataset about small law firms that are shadowy and unknown.

     Oftentimes, small law firms rely on the lack of information to coax applicants into accepting a different job than really exists. They promise litigation experience or good partner support or great benefits--then the new hires realize after a month or two that the support staff is poorly chosen and trained, the partners are not helpful, the work is different than they expected, or that there is a lot of turnover. Without a good resource, applicants can't tel what a firm is really like. This site aims to close the information gap.

     Furthermore, this site will reward *good* small firms that provide good pay, good mentoring, or meaningful work. Afterall, we'd want new graduates or job-seekers to be able to see what the best jobs look like. If we all share this information, we'll all benefit from increased openness in job searching!

We rely on readers with firsthand knowledge of law firms (interviewed or worked at a small firm) to build a reliable picture of what these firms are like -- pay, atmosphere, hours, benefits, structure, turnover, staff issues, partners, etc. If you have information about a small law firm (less than 50 attorneys) please submit it to us at small.law.insider@gmail.com and include what details you would like witheld to protect your identity. We will only publish information that seems to come from credible sources. If you have problems with anything you see on the page, email us at small.law.insider@gmail.com and we will investigate. Again, we seek accuracy so applicants are aware of what's really out there.