<p>anyone have an idea for the best ones?</p>
<p>Depends on what field of specialization you want. If your thing is East Asia then your best top frims would be West Coast, e.g. San Francisco and L.A. But, on the whole the big cities like Washington and New York have a much better market for the jobs. Then again you also have to think about firms that are based elsewhere that still have offices abroad and in the big major cities. It's all about where you want to be. And if your at a good firm, chances are you'll find work in international law, but most likely I'd say you'll end up in BosWash or Cali, unless you do soemthing else.</p>
<p>yea im actually looking more at washington and new york but my dream would be london. i'll probably specialize in european and african human rights and affairs i guess, sorry i guess i shuda mentioned that.</p>
<p>Then you'll want to stay somewhere on the east coast as they always tend to look at Europe. But, being in Europe itself will not be bad at all. Even France may be good if you want to deal with Africa as the many colonial legacies.</p>
<p>thanks guys! does anyone know any specific firms (names)?</p>
<p>Cleary Gottlieb.</p>
<p>Take a look at Mardindale-Hubbell or a legal publication like New York Law Journal for information like this. There are league tables for lawyers (like for investment bankers) that list which firms did the most international M&A, international antitrust, etc. work in each given quarter and each given year (one publisher is Thomson Financial). Whether a firm is a top international firm also depends on how you define international firm. Are you looking for a firm with the most international offices? A firm that has the most lawyers with foreign credentials who practice law in their home countries? A firm that does a lot of cross-border project finance, M&A, private equity or securities work? You need to decide what you are looking for. Without looking too hard, I googled and found the following as an example:</p>
<p>Worldwide Completed M&A Deals (by value) for the first 3 quarters of 2005 (approximately correct - I typed it in by hand):
1. Sullivan & Cromwell - $230.7 billion
2. Clifford Chance - $211.0 billion
3. Shearman & Sterling - $186.7 billion
4. Cravath
5. Simpson Thacher
6. Jones Day
7. Linklaters
8. Slaughter & May
9. Davis Polk
10. Allen & Overy
11. Weil Gotshal
12. Cleary Gottlieb
13. Dewey Ballantine
14. Latham & Watkins
15. Willkie Farr
16. Freshfields
17. Herbert Smith
18. Fried Frank
19. Osler Hoskins & Harcourt
20. Gibson Dunn
21. Paul Weiss
22. Blake Cassels</p>
<p>I'm sure you can find similar information yourselves. In addition, when you are a law student and you are interviewing, the law firms coming on campus to interview at your law school will give you no shortage of information about their practices. All in good time.</p>
<p>well i guess i shouldve said this earlier too, but im actually not gonna look into doing finances, equities and all that stuff. i was actually thinking more on UNish terms like foreign governments, human rights, international treaties, and finding solutions to problems in third world countries. any ideas? </p>
<p>oh and thanks for that list by the way, i looked at several websites of the ones listed and i defenitly found some good stuff. thanks for the help so far!</p>
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<p>foreign governments, human rights, international treaties, and finding solutions to problems in third world countries. </p>
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<p>Private firms do not do this work, except possibly on the side on a pro bono basis. You're talking about NGOs and maybe State Department work.</p>
<p>Maybe you should look at being a FSO. Now, that is a job I wouldn't mind. Then again I want to do international trade (PolySci/Econ major) so I'll be fine in a top firm, but a career in the FSO is always somehting I will consider.</p>
<p>what's FSO? (might be stupid question... :D)</p>
<p>well, actually yea im even considering international trade right now. could you give me the name of some of the top firms if you know them?</p>