We consider ourselves unusual among the many law firms that flock through law school placement offices; we are able, with what we hope is intellectual honesty, to view ourselves as a firm which, while usually providing a reasonably decent living, generally uses its resources to represent the public and consumer side of issues.  This practice frequently pits our clients against major corporations and corporate law firms.  We work closely with a number of consulting firms (engineering, economic, management and accounting), and we seek to provide a quality of advice and representation as high or higher than that available to the largest corporations.  We represent small towns and large cities, very small and comparatively large electric cooperatives, as well as other entities in need of help, and our door is generally open to any consumer interest.

The firm seeks to enable its associates to rapidly develop the skills and experience necessary to take over responsibility for client representation with minimal supervision.  We recognize that this goal is not always successfully achieved.  Given the stresses of litigation, we sometimes all wind up doing photocopying or cite-checking at 3 a.m.  In any event, the legal work is intellectually difficult, but interesting.  If you enjoy the challenge of facing regiments of lawyers who, in our opinion, frequently seek to protect large and well-funded interests against the due enforcement of the law by over-awing or out-spending the opposition, you may be a candidate for Spiegel & McDiarmid.  The firm appeals to lawyers who:

• want to work for public objectives and policies in which they believe;
• are intellectually interested in complex matters;
• can handle the tensions often involved in pursuing such matters; and
• can work independently, when necessary.

We enjoy our work and seek recruits who will also enjoy the practice.

We do not apply any rigid academic hiring criteria, although we consider closely all forms of academic achievement.  In the search for excellence in a practice which frequently involves litigation and is highly competitive, we seek the ability to write, think and express oneself clearly, forcefully and persuasively in tense courtroom and negotiation situations.  These skills are necessary for summer as well as for regular associate applicants.

We are not departmentalized in any formal sense.  Although our flexibility and informality are not altogether without organizational costs, our philosophies and temperaments are more compatible with what we hope is somewhat controlled and relatively efficient anarchy!

The firm does not attempt to appeal to the lawyer or law clerk applicant whose first objective is financial return, although our starting salaries and benefits in general substantially exceed those of the federal government and of most other firms of our size and character.  We recognize that any of us could do better financially with the firms on the other side of most issues.  On the other hand, believing without excessive rationalization that you are on the right side of an issue is a psychic benefit of some importance.

Spiegelites Write About the Benefits of
Working at Smaller Firms for the National Law Journal