I've had some trouble with researching firms due to a number of reasons.
When I look at firms of interest, the first thing I look for personally is their practice strengths relative to their competitors. This is because I have an (admittedly faint) idea for what type of practice I might be most interested in, so I target firms of at least some renown in that area.
The issue that follows is that I feel full-service firms (like CMS) don't really have a particular specialism, and it is harder to showcase the motivation to join that firm because of X and Y practices
in particular.
Following on from this, some firms do not display representative experience (e.g.
Taylor Wessing). This makes it hard to know what kind of work is carried out within the departments, and what parts of a sector they service. I've resorted to alternative means of researching the clients a firm works with (like Legal 500), but they are rather limited.
Finally, some firms' strategies internationally and locally remain indiscernible, despite research.
DLA Piper for example - I see no ambitious future plans or recent milestones. DLA appears to be perennially-strong in the mid-market across the board. They have one of the largest office networks worldwide, having grown it slowly since the 2005 tie-up... and... that's it? No recent groundbreaking mergers, like
BCLP's fully-integrated merger, or A&O's and CMS' ideas for US tie-ups... Seems like it's committed to slow growth and consolidation. Not much exciting stuff talk about. If I'm missing anything, do enlighten me.
P.S: Sorry to revive an old thread, just thought these are uncertainties others might share or want to discuss.