Pros
JMP is the only investment bank I have worked at where the entire banking staff is filled with nice people who genuinely care about you and your career. Given its focus on the middle market and running with a smaller staff, one of the primary focuses for their hiring is to find people who are a good cultural fit and who pass the 'stranded at an airport bar with' test. In addition, they have been hiring top-notch senior bankers who know their respective industries or product very well. The deals that the firm has been bringing in are all very high quality Advisory (M&A or Private Placements) or ECM deals and employees get great exposure to working with clients of various sizes. The senior bankers can execute on very complex advisory deals and they bring a level of sophistication and experience not found at other middle market firms.
Cons
Senior level bankers keep busy schedules and are travelling a lot and I always wanted more exposure to them. However, this is a similar problem that all banks face.