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Overview

Introduction

Faegre Drinker, though founded only in 2020, has foundations in law firms that were founded in the mid-1800s. It has grown exponentially through a series of mergers and acquisitions so that now it is an international firm with 1,200 attorneys and consulting professionals licensed in nearly every state in the U.S., and with offices in London and Shanghai. It provides a full range of legal services, including transactional, litigation, and regulatory. Associates are treated and taught well by partners, and they appreciate the firm's ...

Firm Stats


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Total No. Attorneys (2023)

1K - 1.5K

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No. of Partners Named (2023)

26

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Featured Rankings

Vault Law 100
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No. of 1st Year Associates Hired (2023)

26


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No. of Summer Associates (2023)

96 total (50 2Ls; 46 1Ls)


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Base Salary

1st year: $150,000 - $215,000; base salary varies by market.
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Vault Verdict

Faegre Drinker combines high-quality work and an emphasis on pro bono work with offices across markets large and small. The firm’s hiring process has become more competitive in recent years, but the firm still looks for work experience and diversity. Candidates should be friendly, cooperative, and down to earth in order to match offices where coworkers enjoy spending time together yet respect personal time. Partners value associates and care about their professional development, and partners and senior associates provide a lot of practical support and advice. Lateral hires would appreciate better structure in their onboarding process. Work assignments are generally substantive, and associates are encouraged to step up for more challenging tasks. Partners try to dispense projects e...

Firm's Response

Faegre Drinker invests in and supports the well-being of all our colleagues. As we embark on a new journey in our hybrid workplace, we recognize that our mental health, well-being and the ability to thrive in all aspects of our lives is important to who we are and how we come together as a firm and serve our clients. In 2022, we launched a...

About the Firm

Faegre Drinker is an international law firm providing litigation, regulatory, and business services to clients ranging from Fortune 100 companies to startups. The firm was formed in February 2020 through the merger of Faegre Baker Daniels and Drinker Biddle & Reath.

Two Become One

Both Faegre Drinker legacy firms have storied histories. The former Drinker Biddle & Reath was founded and headquartered in Philadelphia in 1849 when John Christian Bullitt launched a firm named Bullitt and Fairthorne—which would later become Drinker Biddle. In 1871, the firm presided over the creation of Drexel, Morgan and Co.—an investment bank that would later become JP Morgan. Drinker Biddle also assisted Georg von Trapp (of the legendary von Trapp Family) in 1939 with visa issues at Ellis...

Associate Reviews

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  • “The firm culture is generally positive—I enjoy working with colleagues because there is a culture of trust, cooperation, and support between the attorney and professional staff. Typically, folks go out of their way to uplift and encourage you to improve. The firm has sponsored lunches on Tuesday and breakfast on Wednesday. The practice area and diversity collective have organized happy hours and social events to celebrate individual attorneys' personal life milestones.”
  • “I think this is one of the biggest selling points for me with the firm, and it's a significant reason why I've remained at Faegre for the entirety of my career. The culture here is very important and has leaders who are excellent lawyers but who don't take themselves so seriously that they're difficult to be around. That permeates throughout the firm in really good ways. People are professional but down to earth. I highly value the relationships with my colleagues (including the staff).”
  • “The day-to-day atmosphere is great. Everyone is very friendly and works hard to get things done, but doors are always open if you want to chat about anything. As an associate at a BigLaw firm, I don't feel like one of the many. Everyone brings something unique to the table, and we work as a team to accomplish the client's goal.”
  • “People are extremely nice and friendly. Most people are always willing to help. People respect vacation time (I have yet to work on a vacation) and are also respectful of non-work obligations that come up during the week/weekend. People seem to genuinely like each other.”

Why Work Here


Welcome to Faegre Drinker! 

We are a firm committed to providing opportunities for our lawyers to grow and succeed in their legal careers.  You will thrive here if you are sincere and authentic and want to perform high-quality work in an open and collaborative environment.  That’s who we are and what we are looking for:  excellent lawyers without arrogance.

Diversity at Faegre Drinker

"We believe that by reflecting the composition and attributes of our clients and communities, we are better equipped to understand their needs and objectives. A key component of our firm's core values is to cultivate an inclusive culture. Our diversity and inclusion initiatives are designed to 1) foster mutual professional and personal respect; 2) create an environment in which individual contributions are valued and where biases based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or any other protected category do not exist; 3) attract the best and..."

Getting Hired Here

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  • “We have become more competitive since the merger, but there is still space for students who are not top of their class when they are also well rounded and bring relevant background to the work. ...”
  • “Of course, we want to make sure people can do the work from an academic and intellectual standpoint, but equally important are personality and finding people we truly get along with and who are generally kind and good people. We are also very committed to hiring diverse talent. The firm does provide training for interviews and guidelines.”
  • “The most competitive part of the hiring process is securing the interview. It seems that the interview stage tends to be fairly easy for most candidates. Prior work experience, personality, and diversity tend to be the highest considerations in hiring decisions. ...”
  • “To my disappointment, the firm is moving from regional schools like I went to toward preferencing T20 hiring. Academic credentials are the threshold qualifications, and diversity and personality come next.”

Perks & Benefits


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