Overview
Introduction
It doesn’t get better for litigators than Susman Godfrey, an elite litigation boutique with four domestic offices and only 140 attorneys. Junior associates are given immediate responsibility and are treated like future partners. Susman is known as well for other innovations, including contingency fee arrangements in representing both plaintiffs and defendants. And despite long hours and intense work, the firm is very social, and firm-hosted retreats are a notable favorite.
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Firm Stats
Total No. Attorneys (2022)
150 - 250
No. of Partners Named (2022)
5
Featured Rankings
Vault Law 100
No. of 1st Year Associates Hired (2021)
19
No. of Summer Associates (2022)
37 total (29 2 & 3Ls; 8 1Ls)
Base Salary
Base Salary (2022)1st year: $215,000
Vault Verdict
Despite its small size—in terms of both number of offices and attorneys—Susman Godfrey is a heavyweight litigation outfit and one of the best in the county. As such, hiring is extremely competitive and selective. If you didn’t clerk for a federal judge and earn impeccable grades at an elite law school, you likely won’t get a second look. Besides having an affinity for trial work, candidates should be go-getters and entrepreneurial. Susman attorneys work well together, and this creates a cordial and familial work environment. Collaboration is key not only in work product, but also in sharing firm financial information and determining fee structures for particular cases. Associates are treated like partners. While formal training is nearly non-existent, Susman associates learn by do...
Firm's Response
Susman Godfrey has been named Vault’s #1 litigation boutique in America every year since the award’s inception in 2011. As America’s premier litigation firm, we were founded on a simple vision: Hire the best, reward success, and handle every case with a relentless focus on winning at trial.
We’re trial lawyers. We don’t l...
About the Firm
Since its founding in 1980, Susman Godfrey has established itself as the nation’s premiere litigation firm. Susman Godfrey has more than 140 partners and associates across four offices—its original Houston location as well as offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle. The firm handles huge cases across the country for both plaintiffs and defendants.
Susman Godfrey boasts blue-chip clients, such as Walmart, Chevron, KKR, NBC Universal, and General Electric, and has also won historic plaintiffs’ verdicts in class actions and for smaller entities, such as the $706 million verdict for HouseCanary in 2018.
Contingency Pioneers
In 1980, Steve Susman formed a Houston firm following his success in the Corrugated Containers case, which produced the largest verdict in...
2023 Vault Rankings
Associate Reviews
- “Great collegial culture. Partners are all friends with each other; associates are not competitive with each other. Everyone is extremely busy and, as a result, are in it together.”
- “Day-to-day atmosphere is pretty casual and relaxed. There's significant social interaction between partners and associates and a lot of firm-sponsored social events (from one-on-one mentoring lunches to office happy hours to all-expenses-paid weekend retreats).”
- “SG makes a concerted effort to cultivate close bonds between lawyers. Each year, we have both an attorneys-only firm-wide retreat and several spouses-included mini retreats. Attorneys also frequently interact both inside and outside of the office, including through associate-organized game nights, cycling rides, and more.”
Getting Hired Here
- “To be competitive, a candidate usually must be a top student from a top law school. Considerations include the typical indicators of success: good grades, dynamic personality, serious interest in litigation, and a federal clerkship. A federal clerkship is actually required to be hired. There is no training for interviewers; any attorney can sign up to interview, and all attorneys fill out the same form post-interview.”
- “Firm is extremely selective. Typical candidate is a top student at a top-five law school who clerked for a federal judge who recommends her highly. And even then, the candidate has to wow us in her interview.”
- “SG's hiring criteria is one of the most, if not the most, selective in the country. Every partner-track attorney has clerked for at least one federal judge, some more than that. But Latin honors and gold stars can only get you an interview—you also will need to be entrepreneurial, self-motivated, and not afraid to dive into the deep end on day one.”
