Orrick Careers, Benefits, Review

We focus more than 90% of our practice on three interconnected sectors that will drive the economy of the future. This enables us to get to know our clients’ markets and business and deliver actionable, commercial advice. Our clients include:

Tech & Innovation

• 10 of the world’s 20 largest public tech companies
• 500+ life sciences companies
• 4,000 venture-backed companies

Energy & Infrastructure

• 40% of the top 20 solar companies
• 40% of the top 50 infrastructure investors

Finance

• Nine of the top 10 private debt funds
• 14 of the top 20 global banks
• 150+ fintech companies

We offer top-tier legal support in areas key to our clients’ businesses. Orrick ranks:

• Band 1 for Renewable Energy – Chambers, 2022
• Band 1 for Infrastructure – Chambers, 2022
• Band 1 for U.S. Privacy and Data Security – Chambers, 2022
• 1 for Clean Tech – Vault, 2023
• 1 Bond Counsel for 20+ years – The Bond Buyer, 2021
• 1 in Affordable Housing, Health Care and Green Bonds - The Bond Buyer, 2021
• Top 5 in the U.S. and No. 1 in Europe for Venture Capital – Pitchbook, 2021

Law 360 has recognized us as:

• Project Finance Practice Group of the Year (seven times)
• Employment Practice Group of the Year (five times)
• Sports Practice Group of the Year (three times)

Litigation, IP and Regulation comprise half of our practice. We represent more than a third of the Fortune 100 and offer top-tier legal support in areas key to our clients’ businesses.

• No firm represented more S&P 500 tech companies in litigation (Bloomberg, 2021).
• We are Top 3 for “Litigator of the Week” awards and runner-up mentions in 2022 in The American Lawyer
• Our appellate practice made the National Law Journal’s Appellate Hot List in 2022 for the 11th time.
• We help clients navigate a regulatory and enforcement environment where innovation outpaces regulation.
• Our teams deliver synthesized solutions, drawing on our privacy, security, licensing, antitrust, white collar, enforcement and corporate governance perspectives.
• Our teams appear before most federal agencies – helping clients get U.S. and cross-border deals done – and promote pro-consumer, pro-innovation regulation.
• Our Public Policy team offers unique solutions. For example, we represented the major sports leagues and companies to advocate for responsible online gambling laws.

We work hard to make Orrick a best place to work for lawyers and staff.

Fortune ranked us No. 13 on its list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in the U.S. in 2022, our seventh year in a row on the list and our second time in the top 15. Here are some ways we embody a commitment to being a best place to work:

Flexibility: A New Way to Work

We’re rethinking our workplace and designing a hybrid approach based on listening to our people.

• We create flexibility through hybrid work for most professional, subject to team needs. For some roles, we offer 100% remote opportunities.

• Our “work from anywhere” program enables everyone to work fully remote for defined periods of time.

• We give our team a tech allowance to invest in their remote office.

• The majority of our lawyers work in the office at least 1-2 days a week, and we’re focused on finding ways to connect both in and out of the office.

• About a quarter of our 2022 partner class took advantage of a flexible work arrangement before their promotion. Many partners choose flexible work arrangements as well.

• Our nationwide salary scale applies regardless of where lawyers work.

Wellness and Personal Sustainability

• Parental Leave: We offer some of the most generous parental leave in Big Law. We provide 16 weeks of parenting leave to moms and dads whether they are a lawyer or staff member, birth parent or non-birth parent.

• Birth parents receive an additional six weeks of disability benefits. Team members may also add two weeks of flexible or paid time off to bring all birth parents to a total of 24 weeks of parental leave.

• Parents can take this leave anytime in the 12 months after the child’s birth.

• Unplug Time: We were the first law firm to offer “unplug time” – a week each year to be unplugged from work phones and computers. That time is bonus-eligible for associates.

• Saving for Retirement: Our 401(k) program surpasses the industry average for the number of investment options. Our team members defer more of their savings to retirement, pushing their account balances higher than on average at other firms.

• Employee Assistance Program: We offer a generous EAP program. It includes 10 free, confidential sessions per issue per year for team members and their families. Roughly one in five team members accessed web-based EAP services in 2021; many others accessed EAP counseling benefits.

• Modern Health: In 2022, we added this easy-to-access mental wellness platform for coaching and counseling support. The benefit provides everyone 10 one-on-one sessions with coaches and 10 with therapists at no cost to Orrick team members and their families, regardless of medical plan enrollment.

• Calm: We give everyone a premium subscription to the Calm app, a tool for mindfulness, stress management and good sleep.

• Meditation: Our wellness ambassador leads mindfulness and meditation sessions. She also circulates weekly emails to the firm, creating moments to pause and reflect.

• Reflection and Rejuvenation: In 2022, we called on the Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi, CEO of The Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In a series of meetings and programs, he inspired our senior leaders, partners, associates and staff and spurred our commitment to make time for reflection in our new workplace.

• Wellness Dollars: We send “Wellness Dollars” to associates after particularly intensive months to encourage them to invest in self-care.

Professional Development

Mentoring

We’ve shifted the focus of our mentoring program to emphasize connectivity over proximity. We redesigned our materials and resources to better support hybrid mentoring, help mentoring pairs make the most of their meetings and encourage accountability for their goals.

• Our practice groups take a holistic look at mentoring matches to ensure they’re making the best pairings for a hybrid workplace. Our affinity groups are forming mentoring circles. Every new associate gets one-on-one coaching.

• We reinforced our commitment during the Orrick Global Awards in 2022 when we recognized a staff member with a mentoring award for the first time.

Sponsorship

At about six years into practice, we pair associates interested in partnership with a sponsor, who coaches them through the consideration process and supports their success as a partner. We offer regular panel discussions to demystify the path to partnership. We pair Black and Latinx lawyers with a senior leader as their sponsor.

Learning

We offer 300+ courses a year on legal and business topics – and up to 60 hours a year of bonus-eligible time for training for lawyers. Junior associates jump in with bootcamps in areas such IP, trial skills and working with startups. To hone business skills, our curriculum includes three intensive academies at key career advancement points. Our academy for new associates sets up a great first year at Orrick, while our senior associates complete a mini-MBA. Professional staff expand technical and soft skills through live and recorded trainings; we offer a variety of training options for managers.

Impactful Work for Innovative Clients

As an associate, it’s essential to get in the reps to develop excellence. At Orrick, associates get that experience through meaningful roles on teams delivering impactful work for innovative clients.

Our goal is to be the most diverse and inclusive firm in the sectors in which we focus. We work toward that goal by integrating diversity, equity and inclusion into everything we do – so you can bring your whole heart and mind to your work.

• Our leadership team is 50% diverse.

• Over the past seven years, half of our new partner classes have been diverse.

• Across our firm, 59% of our lawyers are diverse, including 73% of associates, and 43% of our lawyers are women.

• Our progress has earned us Yale Law Women’s Top Firm for Diversity Award.

• As a founder of the Move the Needle Fund, we have pledged that our client teams for 40 valued clients will be at least 55% diverse by 2025.

Supporting and Connecting Our Team

• Affinity Groups and Professional Inclusion Networks connect our lawyers and staff and provide input to leadership.

• For lawyers, we have an Asian Pacific Attorney Affinity Group, Black Lawyers of Orrick, First Generation Lawyers, LGBTQ+ Attorney Affinity Group, Middle Eastern / North African Attorney Affinity Group, Orrick Latinx Attorneys, South Asian Affinity Group and Women’s Initiative.

• Lawyers and staff may join groups for parents and veterans as well as a DiversAbility Network.

• Staff-specific groups include the Professionals of Color Network, Professional PRIDE Network and Professional Women’s Network.

• Inclusion Conversation Series: To bring new perspectives into our firm and challenge our collective thinking, we sponsor an annual Inclusion Conversation Series for our team and clients.

• We’ve benefited from the insights of a range of speakers – Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Dr. Eddie Glaude Jr., Retired Four-Star Admiral Michelle Howard, Laila Ireland, Daniel Dae Kim, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, Soledad O’Brien, Shane Ortega, Kal Penn, Paola Ramos and others.

• Career Fairs: We’ve created two career fairs to help our clients and peer firms recruit diverse talent.

• The Bay Area Diversity Career Fair is open to corporate legal departments that want to interview. We founded the fair and host it with the Bar Association of San Francisco.

• The Veterans’ Legal Career Fair has helped more than 600 active duty and veteran lawyers and their spouses find employment.

• Gender Inclusion: In recent years, we have added a module on gender bias to our mandatory workplace respect training, rolled out a new gender inclusive policy and added preferred pronouns to email signature blocks.

• We launched an LGBTQ+ mentoring program for lawyers to provide another layer of connection and support. We also hosted our third annual virtual Pride parade in 2022. It featured photos of team members and their families showing solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community.

• Associates can devote 50 hours of bonus-eligible time to DEI-related activities.

Recruiting and hiring, training and mentoring, inclusion and career development

• We’re rethinking and refining how we recruit out of law school to tap a more diverse candidate pool.

• We partner with Legal Innovators to recruit from a wide range of law schools, broaden our pool of diverse applicants and give new hires exceptional support. Orrick has welcomed and hired several fellows through the Legal Innovators program in the last few years.

• We emphasize diverse 1L hiring and split summers with in-house corporate legal departments.

• Orrick achieved Mansfield Certified Plus status in 2022 for the fifth year in a row. Mansfield Certification Plus indicates that firms have achieved at least 30 percent women, lawyers of color, LGBTQ+ lawyers and/or lawyers with disabilities for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, senior lateral positions and formal pitches.

• Yale Law Women named us a Top Firm for Diversity, and Law360 ranked us in the Top 10 for Women Equity Partner Representation.

• We have received a 100% score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index for 16 years in a row.

We believe we have a heightened responsibility to make a social impact. As lawyers, we take that duty seriously.

Racial Justice Fellowship Program

We launched the Orrick Racial Justice Fellowship Program to use our skills as lawyers to help create a more just and equitable world. We launched the program in 2021 and have committed to supporting it for several years.

Each year, five experienced lawyers embed for a full year with leading justice organizations – without missing a beat in career advancement or compensation.

In 2022, our Racial Justice Fellows worked with:  

• The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights to challenge the criminalization of poverty.
• NYU School of Law’s Policing Project to make policing more accountable.
• The nonprofit Common Future to deploy capital to entrepreneurs in underserved communities.
• The Law Foundation of Silicon Valley on litigation advocacy and representing clients with mental health and physical disabilities in obtaining services and benefits.
• A New Way of Life to reunite formerly incarcerated mothers with their children.

Watch our Racial Justice Fellows share learnings from their work on the front lines in 2022 to make our communities more equitable and inclusive.

Pro Bono

• More than 98% of our lawyers represented pro bono clients in 2021, dedicating more than 141,000 hours globally.
• Our pro bono work helped more than 700 people and social impact organizations in 2021.
• Our pro bono clients in recent years have included:
• Disabled Veterans: We represented disabled veterans in several efforts to secure benefits. That work includes winning a decision that provides compensation to more than 100,000 “Blue Water” U.S. Navy veterans exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.
• Mercy Corps: We advised the global humanitarian organization Mercy Corps on a merger that expands its impact.
• Ukrainian Civilians: We set up a nonprofit to support the efforts of ex-U.S. Navy SEALS rescuing Ukrainian orphans. We also traveled to Poland to advise on a framework for Ukrainians seeking refuge in the UK.

Pro bono managers help our lawyers choose projects that interest and inspire them.

The American Lawyer named Orrick the No. 1 law firm in the U.S. for pro bono impact in 2022. Law360 ranked us No. 1 in Social Impact in 2022.

Taking a Stand

We take a stand – and act – on issues that impact members of our team, including on topics of racial and gender justice and equity. We have spoken out against racial injustice and violence and in support of people affected by the Dobbs decision.

• Abortion rights: We filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the clinics in the Dobbs case and collaborated with Planned Parenthood in the legal battle to stop Kentucky from closing its last abortion clinic.
  
  
• Voting rights: We worked with the States United Democracy Center in preparation for the 2022 U.S. elections. We provided a roadmap for recount integrity in key states. Our efforts also secured an injunction to shut down a robocall campaign designed to disenfranchise Black voters during the 2020 election.
• Immigrants’ rights: We helped achieve a settlement in the long-running Flores litigation, forcing the U.S. government to correct inhumane conditions in border facilities.

Orrick Cares

 Long a part of our culture, this program offers individuals and teams the opportunity to make a social impact through volunteerism and firm-matching contributions of their charitable giving.

• Our team supported 15 organizations in 2021.
• Professional staff members receive a day off each year to volunteer with the charity of their choice. We also offer office-organized opportunities to volunteer.
• Team members can suggest projects and get funding. We also conduct matching relief campaigns in response to events that include flooding in Germany and wildfires in California.

We believe we have a heightened responsibility to make a social impact. As lawyers, we take that duty seriously.

Racial Justice Fellowship Program

We launched the Orrick Racial Justice Fellowship Program to use our skills as lawyers to help create a more just and equitable world. We launched the program in 2021 and have committed to supporting it for several years.

Each year, five experienced lawyers embed for a full year with leading justice organizations – without missing a beat in career advancement or compensation.

In 2022, our Racial Justice Fellows worked with:  

• The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights to challenge the criminalization of poverty.
• NYU School of Law’s Policing Project to make policing more accountable.
• The nonprofit Common Future to deploy capital to entrepreneurs in underserved communities.
• The Law Foundation of Silicon Valley on litigation advocacy and representing clients with mental health and physical disabilities in obtaining services and benefits.
• A New Way of Life to reunite formerly incarcerated mothers with their children.

Pro Bono

• More than 98% of our lawyers represented pro bono clients in 2021, dedicating more than 141,000 hours globally.

• Our pro bono work helped more than 700 people and social impact organizations in 2021.

• Our pro bono clients in recent years have included:

• Disabled Veterans: We represented disabled veterans in several efforts to secure benefits. That work includes winning a decision that provides compensation to more than 100,000 “Blue Water” U.S. Navy veterans exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

• Mercy Corps: We advised the global humanitarian organization Mercy Corps on a merger that expands its impact.

• Ukrainian Civilians: We set up a nonprofit to support the efforts of ex-U.S. Navy SEALS rescuing Ukrainian orphans. We also traveled to Poland to advise on a framework for Ukrainians seeking refuge in the UK.

Pro bono managers help our lawyers choose projects that interest and inspire them.

The American Lawyer named Orrick the No. 1 law firm in the U.S. for pro bono impact in 2022. Law360 ranked us No. 1 in Social Impact in 2022.

Taking a Stand

We take a stand – and act – on issues that impact members of our team, including on topics of racial and gender justice and equity. We have spoken out against racial injustice and violence and in support of people affected by the Dobbs decision.

• Abortion rights: We filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the clinics in the Dobbs case and collaborated with Planned Parenthood in the legal battle to stop Kentucky from closing its last abortion clinic.
  
  
• Voting rights: We worked with the States United Democracy Center in preparation for the 2022 U.S. elections. We provided a roadmap for recount integrity in key states. Our efforts also secured an injunction to shut down a robocall campaign designed to disenfranchise Black voters during the 2020 election.

• Immigrants’ rights: We helped achieve a settlement in the long-running Flores litigation, forcing the U.S. government to correct inhumane conditions in border facilities.

Orrick Cares

Long a part of our culture, this program offers individuals and teams the opportunity to make a social impact through volunteerism and firm-matching contributions of their charitable giving.

• Our team supported 15 organizations in 2021.

• Professional staff members receive a day off each year to volunteer with the charity of their choice. We also offer office-organized opportunities to volunteer.

• Team members can suggest projects and get funding. We also conduct matching relief campaigns in response to events that include flooding in Germany and wildfires in California.