How hard is it to get into Paul, Weiss?

Exceptionally difficult. The firm screens thousands of applications for a summer class of roughly 130-160 students globally, and it screens for top academic performance plus a polished, professional presence. Most successful applicants come from elite T14 schools or rank at the very top of their class at competitive regional programs.

What GPA or class rank do I need?

For T14 law schools, candidates generally need the top 25-30% of the class (roughly a 3.6+ GPA). Outside the T14, applicants usually need the top 5-10% and a spot on the main Law Review. Regional and local candidates effectively need the top 5% plus a Law Review executive position.

Does Paul, Weiss hire from non-T14 schools?

Yes. While it heavily recruits from elite national schools, it regularly hires top performers from competitive regional and local programs such as Fordham, Brooklyn Law, St. John's, Boston College and George Washington University, particularly for its New York and DC offices.

Does Paul, Weiss use an online assessment in the US?

No. There is no Watson Glaser, situational judgment test or game-based assessment in the US process. The London office runs formal assessments for training contracts, but US recruiting is traditional and relationship-driven. Direct, non-OCI and non-target applicants may complete a short one-way video (HireVue) screen instead of a live first round.

What is the offer rate after the callback?

The firm does not publish official figures, but historical industry data puts callback-to-offer conversion at roughly 30-40% per the firm guidance and 35-50% per applicant reporting, depending on office headcount needs and the cycle. Either way, the callback is the decisive gate.

What is the 2L summer-to-full-time conversion rate?

Near 100%. Barring rare performance issues or serious misconduct, every 2L summer associate who completes the roughly 10-week program receives an offer to return as a first-year associate.

Does Paul, Weiss sponsor visas for full-time associates?

Yes. The firm sponsors international JD graduates from accredited US law schools, navigating the F-1 OPT period and submitting H-1B petitions during the associate's first year. Sponsorship is consistently supported across transactional groups; litigation hires must meet state bar and federal practice eligibility.

Commercial Law

Paul, Weiss Application Guide

One of the most sought-after destinations in commercial law, an elite Wall Street firm balancing a legendary litigation practice with a market-leading private equity and M&A engine.. Every stage of the process, the questions Paul, Weiss actually asks, and the prep that gets candidates through, in one place.

Practise for Paul, Weiss

Freeno card

Start practising on Intervyo. Free tools, scored feedback, no payment.

Resume Checker, scored against Paul, Weiss
HireVue practice, AI-scored
Live AI mock interviews with Vyo
Psychometric tests in real formats
Application Tracker

Start practising free

Every interview stage, with AI feedback

Upgrade any time, no commitment

The firm

About Paul, Weiss

The business today

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (commonly Paul, Weiss) is an elite, Wall Street-rooted international law firm headquartered at 1285 Avenue of the Americas in New York. It has historically balanced two pillars: a legendary, market-defining white-collar and commercial litigation practice, and a premier corporate practice that has recently been engineered into a global transaction engine. Unlike conservative peers that grew organically over a century, Paul, Weiss now operates with a hyper-aggressive, commercial posture that combines old-school New York prestige with modern corporate pragmatism.

The firm advises large corporations, global private equity sponsors, financial institutions and high-net-worth individuals on their highest-stakes legal issues, monetizing through a traditional billable-hour model scaled across complex, high-margin mandates. It transitioned away from a pure-lockstep all-equity partnership to a multi-tiered model, adding a salaried non-equity partner layer to preserve capital while enabling explosive lateral growth.

Financially the firm sits at the apex of the industry: over 1,200 attorneys across 11 offices, $2.6 billion in 2024 gross revenue (a 32% year-over-year surge) and a record profit per equity partner of $7.5 million. Its main transactional competitors are Simpson Thacher, Kirkland & Ellis, Davis Polk and Latham & Watkins; in high-stakes litigation it rivals Cravath, Sullivan & Cromwell, Wachtell Lipton and Skadden.

The last few years have brought an unprecedented evolution: an aggressive private equity and transactional buildout (poaching from Kirkland & Ellis and Simpson Thacher with packages reaching $20 million annually, tailored to sponsors like Apollo); a dramatic London expansion past 200 lawyers with an English-law offering and an inaugural training contract; and the 2025 Executive Order episode, in which Chairman Brad Karp negotiated the revocation of Executive Order 14237 via Executive Order 14244 in exchange for a formalized policy of political neutrality, a historic shift for a firm long associated with progressive corporate culture.

Try it now

Score your Resume against Paul, Weiss's screen

Paul, Weiss talent acquisition screens thousands of Resumes per cycle. Most are read in under 30 seconds. The candidates who get to interview have Resumes that signal commercial relevance fast, in the format Paul, Weiss expects.

What Paul, Weiss looks for in a Resume

Quantified impact

Numbers in every bullet: deal size, team size, percentage uplift, revenue managed. "Led a team" is filler, "led a 6-person team that delivered £400k of revenue" is a signal.

Named firms and deals

Paul, Weiss recruiters skim for brand names they recognise. Name your prior internships, the deals you observed, the clients you worked on. Specifics beat generic descriptions.

Industry-relevant language

Use the vocabulary of the commercial law world: DCF, comps, LBO, league tables, deal flow. Generic "analysed data" reads as not-yet-in-the-industry; the right terms read as ready.

Tight, structured layout

One page max. Reverse-chronological. Three to five bullets per role. No long paragraphs, no dense blocks. The skim test decides the read.

Try it on your own Resume

Free, no card. We score on the five dimensions above and tell you what to fix.

CV Review · Demo

Target role (optional)

Drop your CV here

PDF, DOCX, or paste below

Or paste CV text

Free, no card required. Your CV stays private.

The application

How Paul, Weiss hires

4 stages, real interview questions, the criteria that decide it, and the moves that separate offers from rejections.

The process, stage by stage

1
Direct application / OCI bid
Pre-OCI direct applications open as early as May 1-15 of 1L year, the moment spring grades drop; OCI bidding runs June-July.
Apply directly the week your 1L spring grades finalize. Submit a pristine one-page resume, transcript with all 1L grades, a 7-10 page writing sample and a Paul, Weiss-specific cover letter.
2
Screening interview (live or HireVue)
June through early August, rolling
A 20-30 minute partner or senior-associate interview for T14 and target pipelines; direct, non-OCI and non-target applicants may face a 4-5 question one-way video screen instead. Walk your resume in 90 seconds and nail a specific Why Paul, Weiss.
3
Callback / Superday
July through mid-August, within days of the screener
4-5 back-to-back 30-minute interviews with partners and associates plus a fully evaluative lunch, 3-5 hours total. Stay consistent and high-energy from the first slot through lunch.
4
Offer
24-72 hours after the callback
Paul, Weiss moves fast; offers often come by partner phone call within a day or two. The 2L summer-to-full-time conversion rate is near 100%. You typically get a 14-day window to respond.

What Paul, Weiss asks at each round

Screener

Why Paul, Weiss rather than another elite Wall Street firm?
Why do you want to practice in the New York or DC market?
Why are you drawn to a high-stakes litigation or corporate practice?
Walk me through your resume.
Tell me about a recent Paul, Weiss matter that caught your eye, and why it matters.

Callback

Describe a situation where you worked with someone whose style clashed with yours. How did you resolve it?
There are several elite New York firms. Why are you specifically focusing your career launch on Paul, Weiss?
Explain the underlying legal issue in your writing sample and defend your primary conclusion.
Where do you see your legal practice in five to seven years?
What do you think makes an exceptional associate at a firm like Paul, Weiss?

Corporate / Private Equity

Walk me through a recent transaction you have been tracking: who were the buyer and seller, the deal value and the strategic rationale?
How does a rising interest rate environment change how a private equity sponsor structures a leveraged buyout?
If a client wants an aggressive cross-border M&A strategy today, what structural risks should we flag immediately?
Why corporate over litigation at this stage?
How do current macroeconomic forces affect our private equity clients right now?

Litigation

Walk me through the core legal issue of your writing sample and defend it against the opposing view.
If a corporate client faces a sudden government investigation, what are the first procedural steps a litigation team coordinates?
How do you evaluate whether a complex business dispute is better suited for trial or early alternative dispute resolution?
Explain the commercial tension between antitrust enforcement and large corporate tech mergers.
Walk me through a recent Supreme Court or Circuit ruling you believe was decided incorrectly.

What Paul, Weiss looks for

Top-tier academics

There is no hard GPA cutoff, but operationally T14 candidates need the top 25-30% (roughly 3.6+), top 20-30 schools the top 10-15% (roughly 3.75+), and regional or local schools the top 5% plus a Law Review executive position.

Exceptional writing and analysis

Law Review or a specialized journal, moot court or mock trial honors, and federal judicial externships are the markers the firm rewards as proxies for rigor and attention to detail.

Boardroom presence

The ability to explain complex legal concepts clearly and without jargon to a corporate executive or senior partner, with confidence balanced by corporate polish.

Resilience and low ego

A high-intensity, hard-charging corporate environment with extreme hours; the firm screens for stamina, coachability and humility, not entitlement.

Commercial awareness

On corporate and private equity tracks, candidates must understand how clients such as private equity sponsors actually make money and how macro forces move their decisions.

Genuine firm-specific motivation

The firm filters out generic answers; it wants candidates who can cite specific practice strengths, recent deals or trial victories and tie them to their own goals.

The edge: what separates offers from rejections

Specific moves most applicants skip. None of them need talent, only preparation.

01Nail a specific Why Paul, Weiss: cite the litigation-plus-private-equity balance, the Apollo relationship, a recent deal or a trial victory, never generic prestige
02Lead with the punchline (BLUF) and structure answers with clear signposts; resolve a clean 90-second answer rather than racing the clock
03Know every line of your resume and writing sample cold and be ready to defend your thesis under live cross-examination
04Show commercial awareness: connect legal issues to the client bottom line and to macro forces like interest rates and antitrust enforcement
05Treat junior associates, recruiters and lunch hosts with the same respect as senior partners; their feedback goes straight to the hiring committee

Prep, stage by stage

Drill each Paul, Weiss round

Dedicated pages for the four rounds Paul, Weiss runs. Practise each one free on Intervyo.

Online Assessment

Real format, calibrated to Paul, Weiss.

HireVue

Real Paul, Weiss questions, identical timer, scored on six competencies.

Live Interview

Conversational mocks tuned to Paul, Weiss's style, with follow-ups.

Superday

Hours of back-to-back interviews. Full-day rehearsal.

Pay & culture

Working at Paul, Weiss

What they pay

Graduate

$225,000 first-year base ($245,000 all-in with the $20,000 year-end bonus)

Internship

~$225,000 annualized, pro-rated over the ~10-week summer program

Perks

Top-of-market Cravath-scale pay, identical base across all US officesUp to 20 weeks of fully paid parental leave for primary caregiversJudicial clerkship bonus ($50,000-70,000 single; substantially more for SCOTUS clerks) plus class-year seniority credit1L Diversity Fellowship stipend of $30,000-50,000Firm dining facility and corporate meal delivery for late nightsFour-day hybrid (Monday-Thursday in office, Friday optional remote)Heavily institutionalized alumni network and top-tier administrative and technology support

Company	Comp	Hours / week	Exit options
Kirkland & Ellis	$225K base / Cravath scale	2,000-2,400/yr billable	Very strong (private equity)
Cravath, Swaine & Moore	$225K base / Cravath scale	~2,000/yr billable	Excellent (clerkships, PE, in-house)
Davis Polk & Wardwell	$225K base / Cravath scale	~2,000/yr billable	Excellent (banks, PE, government)
Skadden, Arps	$225K base / Cravath scale	2,000-2,300/yr billable	Excellent (in-house, government, PE)

What working at Paul, Weiss is like

Historically the "liberal Wall Street firm," celebrated for civil rights and pro bono work (Thurgood Marshall, the Windsor marriage-equality case)
Today a fast-paced, high-intensity corporate environment closer to a pure corporate model after its transactional buildout
Co-equally elite across litigation and transactional practice, a deliberate balance the firm prizes
Aggressive, entrepreneurial and growth-oriented, having executed one of the largest lateral hiring campaigns in modern legal history
Effective billable target of roughly 1,900-2,100 hours; corporate, PE and restructuring associates often exceed 2,200
Four-day in-office hybrid (Monday-Thursday), Friday optional, tracked via keycard access
Headquartered at 1285 Avenue of the Americas in New York, with a major DC office and a growing Bay Area footprint
Up-or-out progression with generous transitional support and an extensive in-house career network

Timeline

When Paul, Weiss programmes open and close

By programme. Use these dates to plan applications across the cycle and submit early on rolling lines.

Programme	Opens	Closes	Assessment	Offers	Notes
1L Summer Associate / First-Year Diversity Fellowship	Early December (1L year)	Late January to early February	Interviews and offers rolling January-February	Program runs May-July (roughly 10 weeks, paid)	High-performing 1L summers typically receive automatic offers to return for their 2L summer.
Pre-OCI / Direct 2L Recruiting	May 1-15 (after 1L finals)	Rolling through early August	Interviews and callbacks June-July	Offers June through early August, rolling	Now the primary pipeline for securing top T14 talent before OCI begins.
2L On-Campus Interviews (OCI)	June-July (school-dependent bidding)	Bidding closes per school timeline	Interview schedules late July to early August	Offers within days of the callback, by mid-August	A large share of the class is often filled via pre-OCI before formal OCI even starts.
3L & Post-Clerkship Hiring	July of 2L summer for 3L roles; rolling year-round for clerks	Rolling	-	August for 3Ls; rolling for clerks by chambers exit date	Federal clerks return with class-year seniority credit and a clerkship bonus.

FAQ

Paul, Weiss application questions

How is Paul, Weiss different from its peers?

Its distinguishing feature is co-equal excellence in two practices. At many peers on the Cravath scale, one side of the house dominates: Kirkland & Ellis is private-equity-driven, while Cravath and Davis Polk are traditional white-shoe institutions favoring conservative, steady growth and a slower partner track. Paul, Weiss deliberately operates at the top of the market in both elite litigation and private equity, having matched Kirkland's PE deal flow through its Apollo-centric teams while keeping a premier trial practice. It is also far more aggressive than the white-shoe firms, having executed one of the largest lateral campaigns in legal history, and it offers a broader pipeline into clerkships and elite government roles than the PE-focused shops. The trade-off is a high-intensity, hard-charging corporate culture.

What does Paul, Weiss actually pay associates?

The firm pays the top-of-market Cravath scale, identical across all US offices regardless of local cost of living or tax. First-year associates earn a $225,000 base with a $20,000 year-end bonus ($245,000 all-in), rising to a $435,000 base and $115,000+ bonus by the eighth year (roughly $550,000 all-in). Special and sign-on bonuses appear during high-volume deal cycles. Federal clerks receive a clerkship bonus of $50,000-70,000 for a single district or circuit clerkship (substantially more for Supreme Court clerks) plus retroactive class-year seniority credit. The summer associate program is paid pro-rated at the first-year scale over roughly ten weeks.

When and how should I apply?

For 2L positions, apply directly through the firm portal in May or June of 1L year, the moment your spring grades are released; the pre-OCI direct application is now the primary pipeline and the firm fills much of its class before formal OCI. Submit a one-page legal resume, your transcript with all 1L grades, a 7-10 page writing sample and a Paul, Weiss-specific cover letter naming your department. For 1L roles, the Diversity Fellowship opens in early December and closes around late January. Do not wait for your school's bidding window if direct applications are open; class slots fill on a rolling basis and applying even two weeks late can mean a drastically smaller pool of seats.

Does Paul, Weiss use an online assessment or psychometric test?

Not in the US. There is no Watson Glaser, situational judgment test or game-based assessment; the firm does not use behavioral platforms like Suited for US hiring. Its London office runs formal assessments for training contracts, but the US process is traditional and relationship-driven, evaluating academic credentials, journal membership, practice alignment and interview performance. Direct, non-OCI and non-target applicants may be asked to complete a short 4-5 question one-way HireVue video screen in place of a live first round, but that screen tests motivation, behavioral fit and commercial awareness, not aptitude.

What are the exit options from Paul, Weiss?

Exceptional. Three years out, associates move into federal clerkships, litigation boutiques (Kaplan Hecker & Fink, Holwell Shuster) or junior in-house roles. Five years out, corporate associates exit to private equity clients and asset managers (Apollo, Blackstone), banks (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan) and corporate counsel seats, while litigators routinely become Assistant US Attorneys in elite districts (SDNY, EDNY) or take SEC and DOJ enforcement tracks. Ten years out, alumni are entrenched as general counsels, boutique or regional partners, federal judges and senior managing directors within private equity operations.

How not to fail

Mistakes that cost candidates Paul, Weiss offers

Specific failure modes the firm screens out. None of these need talent to avoid, only awareness.

01Failing the "Why Paul, Weiss" question. A generic answer that applies to any Wall Street firm is a rejection. Cite specific practice groups, major deals or recent trial victories.
02Arrogance in informal settings. Treating junior associates, paralegals or recruiting coordinators carelessly during lunches or touchpoints is immediate grounds for rejection; feedback from everyone counts.
03Inability to explain your resume. If you list a research project, journal note or internship, be ready to explain the core legal issues clearly and concisely.
04Lack of commercial awareness. For corporate or PE tracks, failing to understand how the firm's clients make money signals a lack of preparation.
05Getting defensive under hypos. Shutting down or arguing when an interviewer pushes back on a premise or a writing-sample thesis shows weak problem-solving and poise.
06Typos and over-rehearsed answers. A single spelling error can end the screen; so can robotic, memorized answers that prevent interviewers from gauging teamwork and authenticity.

If you are rejected

What to do next

A rejection from Paul, Weiss is a common outcome in a brutally competitive pool and is not a verdict on your legal career. Pivot deliberately rather than reapplying blindly.

Target immediate peers

Firms with similar corporate or litigation profiles: Simpson Thacher, Milbank, Willkie Farr and Dechert.

Reapply after an academic milestone

If you are a 1L, maximize 2L grades, secure an executive journal position and build faculty relationships; 1L rejects can reapply for the 2L program without prejudice.

The lateral-entry strategy

Many associates enter not through the summer pipeline but as laterals after two to three years at another elite firm or a federal clerkship, when practice groups expand their mid-level benches.

Practise free

Walk into Paul, Weiss prepared

Practise every stage on Intervyo with AI-scored feedback: HireVue, psychometrics, live mock interviews, and Resume. Free to start, no card required.

Start practising free

Free tools, upgrade any time

Intervyo is not affiliated with or endorsed by Paul, Weiss. Process details are sourced from past applicants, the firm's published guidance and our own research; verify timings on the firm's official careers site before applying. Last updated July 2, 2026.

Paul, Weiss