Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP
One West Fourth Street
Winston Salem, NC 27101
Winston Salem, NC 27101
Phone number: (336) 721-3600
Visit Website: www.womblebonddickinson.com
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Overview
Introduction
Womble Bond Dickinson focuses on energy and natural resources, financial institutions, insurance, manufacturing, real estate, retail and consumer, transportation and infrastructure, life sciences, pharma, communications and technology, private wealth, and healthcare sectors. The firm now has 27 offices in the U.K. and U.S. (including the firm’s newest office in Houston), with more than 1,000 attorneys, placing Womble Bond Dickinson among the AmLaw100.
Firm Stats
Total No. Attorneys (2021)
Featured Rankings
Best Law Firms in the South Atlantic...
Base Salary
Boston, MA; California; Houston, TX; Northern Virginia; Washington,......
No. of U.S. Offices
No. of International Offices
Major Office Locations
Atlanta, GA...
Vault Verdict
Candidates seeking a spot at Womble Bond Dickinson should prepare for substantive interview questions—expect questions about substantive work and your goals, not just a casual conversation. Firm culture varies by offices, and some note regular social events, while others feel there could be more socializing among attorneys. Generally, partners treat associates with respect—although there are some exceptions—and are proactive about informal mentoring and training. While some appreciate transparency from the top, others feel it is lacking in some areas, especially as to compensation. One gripe among associates are the discretionary bonuses, which can be unclear—and some feel they are below market. Opinions differ as to work distribution and flexibility on wo...
About the Firm
The transatlantic Womble Bond Dickinson came to be in 2017 through the combination of the U.S.’s Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice and the U.K.’s Bond Dickinson. The combining firms each have roots that date back to the 19th Century. Womble Bond Dickinson focuses on energy and natural resources, financial institutions, insurance, manufacturing, real estate, retail and consumer, transportation and infrastructure, life sciences, pharma, communications and technology, private wealth, and healthcare sectors. The combined firm now has 27 offices in the U.K. and U.S. (including the firm’s newest office in Houston), with more than 1,000 attorneys, placing Womble Bond Dickinson among the AmLaw100.
Womble Carlyle
Founded in 1876 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the firm that would become...
Associate Reviews
- “The culture is welcoming and innovative. Associates, practice groups, and Women of Womble group socialize monthly.”
- “Our office has monthly lunches for all attorneys; bimonthly lunches for associates and staff attorneys, and quarterly happy hours for associates and staff attorneys.”
- “Lawyers socialize occasionally, particularly at firm functions. I would like to see more social functions for the lawyers to interact and get to know each other better.”
- “Culture differs slightly from office to office. There are firm-organized events on occasion (holiday parties, happy hours, lunches, speaker series, etc.), and the people among my group get together here and there.”
- “Partners treat associates with respect and generally will take the time to get to know them as people and teach them.”
- “Depends on each partner. Associates are normally ‘assigned’ to a specific partner or group of partners within a group, so treatment varies. The firm does perform annual reviews and is transparent in the results and provides helpful feedback on performance and expectations”
- “Everyone is treated with respect. Work is being done on transparency, however, without a lock step raise system, compensation seems complicated and unclear.”
- “Associates are treated fairly and with respect, and I have always been impressed with the associate/partner relationships here. The firm is extremely transparent. All associates have access to a detailed accounting of our productivity and profitability and we are given trainings to understand what the firm's expectations are and how we can meet or exceed those expectations. Reviews are conducted once a year.”
- “Workflow has been very consistent and there is decent flexibility to attend to any necessary personal matters that pop up during the day. Generally, one should make an effort to come to the office regularly during business hours but if occasionally you need to work remotely, that is usually fine as well. The firm also encourages you to visit our other offices so that you can network within the larger firm, which is great.”
- “The work appears to be unevenly distributed among the associates. This often means that some associates have a very manageable work/life balance, while others are frequently working very long hours.”
- “I am happy with the amount of work I have, and the flexibility of when and where I work is what sold me on this job.”
- “The annual billable-hour requirement is 1,850 hours, with bonuses starting at 1,900 hours. You are permitted to count up to 50 pro bono hours towards your billable requirement, however, no time spent on business development counts towards your billable requirement.”
- “Our compensation is generous but below market, especially with regard to bonuses. The firm's bonus structure recently changed from a performance-based metric to a rigid hours-based metric that seems to favor the nature of certain types of practice groups (litigation) over others (transactional), even in the case of high performers.”
- “I am happy with my salary and also happy with the bonuses I have received. The health plan is also good.”
- “Bonuses are limited and mostly discretional. Regarding billable hours, there is a bonus of 10k for every additional 100 billable hours beyond the minimum requirement.”
- “… My compensation is competitive for the market and I am satisfied with it. Because our bonus eligibility is tied to hours billed and our annual billable requirement is somewhat high for the market, there is pressure felt by the associates here to stay busy and on track.”
- “I have been given substantive legal work almost since day one. And as soon as I have felt ready and requested it, I have also been given the opportunity to argue motions, defend depositions, take depositions, handle mediations, etc. From early on, I was also given my own cases and have had a lot of direct client interaction.”
- “In the short time I've been here I've gotten involved in very large sophisticated transactions and been given substantial responsibility over drafting as well as some limited client contact. This was more than I was expecting in such a short time. That has been a big positive.”
- “The specific, specialized work I do is my favorite part of my job. Womble has done a great job of creating pockets of specialized practice that small teams develop expertise in. I am very fortunate to be a part of one of those small teams.”
- “As a [junior associate], I am consistently given the opportunity to engage in and work on assignments that many of my colleagues at other firms do not have the opportunity to work on until their third or fourth year of practice. For example, I am regularly asked to draft from scratch filings for regulatory proceedings that respond to other parties' filings and I am always encouraged to provide my opinion about case strategy or legal arguments. There are times where I am assigned monotonous tasks; however, these are few and far between.”
- “The firm supports me with productivity tools including speech recognition, laptop, and home-use docking station and monitor, [as well as] excellent technical support by phone, remote, or in person.”
- “The technology at the firm is about what I would expect at any midsize to major law firm. Womble has not, however, done a good job at implementing a work at home policy. Firm management has said that a work from home policy is in the works, though, so hopefully this will change soon.”
- “The firm offers a formal 6- to 7-year formal litigation training program, culminating in a mock trial. Informal mentoring and sponsorship [are] also very good, particularly for the women.”
- “There is no formal mentorship program and initial training/onboarding is limited to some introductory technology trainings and a few web modules about the firm and its policies. Otherwise its mostly on-the-job training.”
- “Essentially no formal training exists after the first year. There is also no formal mentoring or sponsorship program. However, the partners I work with are very proactive about finding informal training opportunities. I do not know whether that is the case elsewhere.”
- “We receive monthly training classes on client development, how to give effective presentations, and how different practice groups can work together. I have also been supported to train myself in immigration law and volunteer a week of my time doing pro bono immigration work.”
- “Making partner here is very realistic. Making equity partner one day is a bit harder but initially making salaried partner is very achievable if you put in the work. For those of us that don't see partnership in our future, transitions to great in-house roles seem to occur regularly. It is very rare to see someone lateral to another firm, this is a great place to work.”
- “The firm intends for all associates to become partners. There are Of Counsel and Senior Counsel options for those that do not want to follow the partnership track. I'm not aware of any other exit opportunities.”
- “The internal message is that people want to help you make equity partner but if not, this is not an ‘up or out’ firm. Of counsel and salaried partner opportunities exist as well.”
- “… The firm … has significant in-house contacts and business subsidiaries that can provide [exit] opportunities. Generally, associates at this firm are heavily recruited by third parties.”
- “I've worked on several pro bono projects and it is generally supported.”
- “Fifty hours of pro bono work are counted towards bonus eligibility. I would like to see that increase.”
- “Committee and representatives in each office; representatives work to help identify projects for colleagues to participate in.”
- “I think the firm has great diversity policies and is making an effort to improve, which is reflected in the associate level. However, it has not yet been reflected in the equity partner level.”
- “The firm really seems to have figured out how to promote women to high level leadership position including practice group leadership, executive committee participation and equity partnership. It does need improvement in recruiting/retaining/promoting other minorities.”
- “The firm is actively trying to become more diverse, including participating in the Mansfield Rule project, which is encouraging.”
- “The firm is very inclusive, however, there are few minority partners.”
Why Work Here
Why Work Here
You deserve more from your legal practice than a paycheck and a lock-step march to partnership. Meaningful work that challenges and excites you. Mentors eager to help you grow. Freedom to seek a balance between your work and home life. The opportunity to serve your community in a way that suits your interests and values. A collegial environment filled with people you look forward to seeing each day. And a true commitment to diversity and community service.
We invite you to explore Womble Bond Dickinson and see if our firm may be a good match for your career goals. Some specifics about Womble Bond Dickinson include:
Diversity at Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP
"Diversity at Womble Bond Dickinson (US) Womble Bond Dickinson's Inclusion Initiatives over the past dozen years have solidified its reputation as a firm which values and embraces the changing landscape of the legal profession. Women, minorities, disabled and LGBTQ attorneys are increasingly moving into decision-making positions within legal departments with the authority to send outside counsel significant work. Womble Bond Dickinson's geographic footprint is increasingly becoming an economic hotbed for international businesses..."
Getting Hired Here
- “The firm typically interviews candidates from top law schools with good grades, law review, and extracurricular activities, although good performance at lower-ranked regional schools may also be considered. For litigation roles, the firm highly prizes judicial clerkships. The firm seems to prefer candidates who have roots in or a strong interest in remaining in the middle-market cities in which it dominates.”
- “It seems like when hiring associates, Womble is looking for successful students from reliable law schools. Several associates come from their summer program. The attorneys in my office come from a range of law schools.”
- “My interview and those conducted by me tend to focus on substantive work or approach-to-work questions. A lesser but always present section of time focuses on the candidate's goals and motivations.”
- “For my interviews, they were very focused on my relevant work experience, asking detailed questions about my experiences and projects I had worked on. They were also very focused on my potential commitment to [this particular office] as I had not previously lived here.”
- “As a lateral, I've been satisfied with my integration. The ramp-up of my work has been gradual but steady.”
- “Seems to depend greatly on personality, location, colleagues, etc. Generally good.”
- “They have been very active in getting me integrated and invested in me visiting several offices and other partners.”
