The legal profession’s ‘Uber moment’ is a long way off, FT says
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Lawyers and plumbers have more in common than you might think, according to an article in the Financial Times that says both are immune from the so-called tech revolution.
The piece’s author, columnist Michael Skapinker, says he recently found himself in a room of lawyers discussing how they traditionally bill by the hour. You can see Legal Cheek’s various reports on crazy billable hours targets and the methods adopted by some firms to ensure they’re met.
One lawyer, Skapinker said, asked in what other job people could “get away” with charging this way. Skapinker responded: “Plumbing.”
Both law and plumbing are “essential services” that “we cannot do without”. He explained that “when a pipe bursts or a toilet stops working, they require immediate attention”, while in terms of commercial law:
“[N]o company would embark on a takeover, buy a building, relocate its head office or fire its chief executive without extensive legal advice. And that is where the largest, hourly billed legal fortunes are made.”
The similarities don’t stop there. The article (£) goes on to explain how “neither plumbing nor law has been significantly disrupted” by technological advancements, despite some tech businesses “boasting how artificial intelligence will soon make much drudge legal work redundant”.
Law is yet to reach its “Uber moment” because, Skapinker argued in a previous article, “those at the top of the most successful law firms have little incentive to change”; partners share profits among themselves, so why invest in emerging technology? “Other forces” work in the traditional legal profession’s favour. These include that, since the financial crisis, regulation has increased and companies are scared of getting things wrong, “so they will continue to spend on legal services”.
Despite Skapinker’s scepticism, City firms continue to engage with the ever-growing lawtech sector.
A host of top outfits including Allen & Overy, Slaughter and May, Mishcon de Reya, Reed Smith and Dentons have launched innovation hubs in recent years to attract entrepreneurs through their doors, while other firms have signed deals with AI software providers with the aim of improving efficiency.
Technology is having an impact on law schools, too.
Earlier this month, we revealed that the University of Manchester was teaming up with magic circle player Freshfields and AI company Neota Logic to deliver a new optional module called ‘Legal Tech and Access to Justice’. The course will use Neota’s software to teach students to build applications that improve access to justice. Freshfields, which has a large legal services base in Manchester, is covering the cost of the software license and course materials.
Top lawyers join experts from BPP University Law School, NOTICED and PRIME to help prep students — for free — ahead of the training contract application deadline
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With exams over, and students’ attention turning once more to training contract applications, Legal Cheek is bringing together a host of leading City lawyers, legal educators and diversity organisations for an evening of careers advice and networking.
They will be joined by BPP University LPC lecturer Charlie Radcliffe, formerly a City lawyer who assisted his firm with the graduate recruitment process, and NOTICED co-chair Ramesh Pani, a lawyer at Ashurst, in a Q&A chaired by Legal Cheek editor Tom Connelly. Students — who can apply to attend the free event below — will be able to ask the speakers any questions they like during the Question Time-style session.
Afterwards there will be drinks and networking with the speakers, trainees from their firms and representatives from NOTICED and PRIME, two City law diversity networks.
Apply to attend here. You’ll be asked to submit a CV and two questions for the panel. Students of all levels are welcome, but places are limited.
Days after DWF confirmed it was considering a similar move
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International law firm Fieldfisher has dismissed media reports that it was considering becoming the latest big legal player to float on the stock exchange.
The reports, which surfaced yesterday, suggested that Fieldfisher was holding meetings in the City and was exploring a possible stock market move that could value the firm at up to £800 million.
The rumours, however, appear to be just that. “We are constantly considering a range of options and opportunities to help realise our strategic objectives and to stay ahead of the competition in our dynamic and ever-changing market,” Fieldfisher said in a statement. “We do not, however, have any plans to list the firm.”
The tittle-tattle and subsequent denial come off the back of a strong set of financials for the firm. Last week, Fieldfisher revealed average profit per equity partner (PEP) is up by 17% to £750,000, while annual turnover now stands at a healthy £207 million, an increase of 24%.
Fieldfisher isn’t the only firm to be linked to a possible flotation in recent days.
On Friday, DWF confirmed it was looking into the “possibility” of an initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). In a statement the Manchester-headquartered firm said:
“If we were to proceed with an IPO, we believe that it would enable us to achieve our strategic objectives more quickly, while also enhancing our ability to attract and retain the best talent and to incentivise our people by aligning them through offering ownership within the business.”
If given the green light by the firm’s partnership, the float will be the largest in legal history (up to £1 billion) and could see a small number of DWF’s most senior lawyers receive £10 million each in shares.
Slater and Gordon was the first law firm to hit the stock market. The personal injury specialist went public with a listing on the Australian Stock Exchange in 2007. Since then, a host of UK firms have followed Slater’s lead either on the LSE or the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) including Birmingham-based Gateley, virtual outfit Keystone Law and London duo Gordon Dadds and Rosenblatt Solicitors.
City law firm Bristows has revealed a perfect retention score of 100%.
The firm — famous for its intellectual property practice — confirmed that all ten of its 2016 starters will remain at the firm upon qualification this summer. The rookies will be entering the following teams: patent litigation; commercial and intellectual property/information technology; brands, designs and copyright; and commercial, technology and copyright disputes.
Bristows, which opened its first overseas office in Brussels last month, dishes out around ten training contracts annually. In 2016, it reported a 67% retention rate, with six out of nine newbies staying on; two left the firm to pursue other careers, while one other could not be accommodated in the department of their choice.
Legal Cheek’s Firms Most List shows the new lawyers will see their pay rise from a second-year trainee salary of £41,000 to a hefty £63,000 on qualification, a boost of £22,000 or 54%. Bristows’ newest recruits earn £38,000 in their first year of training.
The firm was a strong contender in this year’s Legal Cheek Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey, scoring A*s in a whopping six categories: quality of work, peer support, partner approachability, work/life balance, tech and social life. The firm won a trophy at this year’s Legal Cheek Awards for its client secondments.
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Two British ‘lawyer’ twins have been found guilty of assaulting a police officer in Dubai.
Alena and Sasha Parker, 37, were arrested outside Dubai’s plush Byblos Hotel in August last year following an incident involving an Emirati policewoman. The identical twins were accused of “roguish behaviour” and were later charged with “insulting, resisting arrest by and physically assaulting a policewoman”, according to original reports.
The pair, who are not qualified solicitors, have vehemently denied the charges throughout, including during a preliminary hearing in April after which they were released on bail.
The twin sisters, at the time of the offence, were working for Dubai law firm Al Safar & Partners. According to its website, “senior consultant” Alena studied law at the “University of London” and passed the Legal Practice Course (LPC) at the University of Westminster. Her sister Sasha has a degree in government and politics from the “London School of Law” and is listed as a “case manager”. Both profiles remain online.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Screenshots of the twins’ law firm profiles
Now, almost a year on from the incident, the Mail Online is reporting that the twins have been convicted of assault following a hearing at the Dubai Criminal Court.
The presiding judge, Shaikha Hamad, reportedly described the evidence against the sisters as “strong and solid”. Hamad sentenced the sisters to six months in prison and ordered their deportation upon release. The twins, who were not in court, reportedly remain on bail for now and have a month to decide whether to appeal.
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The police officer, the victim in the case, was taken to hospital for treatment after the assault. She reportedly told the court that she was caught off-guard and thrown to the ground. She said:
“They threw me to the ground, injuring my head and back, sat on top of me, kicked me and hit me all over my body.”
The glam siblings — who moved to the UK from their native Belarus to study law and reportedly gained citizenship eight years ago — starred in a number of adult movies during their time in London.
Al Safar & Partners has been contacted for comment.
International law firm Mayer Brown has announced a solid autumn 2018 retention score of 80%.
From a September-qualifying cohort of ten, the Bishopsgate-based outfit confirmed eight soon-to-be associates had accepted permanent positions at the firm. Mayer Brown’s newest recruits will be spread across several of the outfit’s key practice areas including: corporate and securities, banking and finance, antitrust and competition, and litigation and dispute resolution.
Will Glassey, training principal at Mayer Brown, said:
“Many congratulations to our newly qualified trainees. Our home-grown talent represents a big part of the future of the firm and we look forward to helping our new lawyers qualifying with us reach their full potential, as they continue their careers at Mayer Brown.”
The result marks a slight drop on the outfit’s spring 2017 score. On that occasion, the 26-office outfit chalked up a perfect 100%, albeit from a qualifying cohort of just four. In autumn 2017 it retained eight of its 11 qualifiers or 73%.
Legal Cheek’s Firms Most List shows that Mayer Brown’s new junior solicitors will start on a salary of £75,000. This puts them on a pay par with their opposite numbers at the likes of Hogan Lovells, DLA Piper, Baker McKenzie and Travers Smith. Mayer Brown’s trainees currently earn £43,000 in year one, rising to £48,000 in year two.
Mayer Brown, which offers around 15 training contracts each year, was a solid performer in our Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey. It received an A* for training, as well as As for quality of work, peer support, perks and office.
Yesterday, IP experts Bristows confirmed all ten of its trainees had put pen to paper on permanent positions, handing the firm a 100% score. The firm offers around ten training contacts annually and pays its newly qualified (NQ) lawyers a salary of £63,000.
Leading lawyers and technologists come together to discuss all things tech
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It’s perhaps impossible to have a discussion about major legal profession developments without mentioning technology — the central theme of a discussion with Pinsent Masons in Glasgow earlier this month. At Legal Cheek‘s ‘Innovation in the law’, Mike McGlinchey, head of client technology was joined by Yvonne Dunn, a partner in TMT, Jennifer McCormick, a senior associate in banking and restructuring and Imogen Dewar, a solicitor in property, planning and environment and energy and infrastructure to discuss the firm’s innovation strategy.
Pinsent Masons’ global network is embracing the legal tech revolution. The law firm has been an early adopter of artificial intelligence (AI) and has invested heavily in new technologies and personnel over the past six years, including a 35-strong team of data scientists, legal engineers, innovation managers and software engineers, who work together across the UK, and internationally, to implement the firm’s proprietary in-house document review platform.
“We’re really pleased with the direction we’re heading. We are in control of our destiny and not just looking to shop for products that we have to mash together to afford the client a solution”, says Dunn, who leads the firm’s financial services technology practice.
It’s the firms’ clients that are driving this change. McCormick notes that previously clients would ask for a sample of data to be reviewed on large-scale projects, or often split projects between a number of different firms. Utilising its AI tool, known as TermFrame ERA, Pinsents can now pitch to review all of the data within compressed timescales. McGlinchey, a technologist who heads the client tech team, says demand has made embedding the technology within the firm much easier: “Ten years ago it was difficult to get adoption in some IT led technologies. The requests now come to us from our lawyers and give us a basis to work from.”
AI is transforming the legal landscape and the shift has been particularly beneficial to McCormick in her five years in banking and restructuring. She says:
“I remember working on a project in 2014 where there were around 100 lawyers reviewing tens of thousands of documents to confirm terms. Fast forward to this year where we now only need a team of eight.”
It’s not the case that the other 92 are twiddling their thumbs, McCormick tells us: they’re busy working on other projects now that there is more demand for tools of this nature.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Left to right: Pinsent Masons’ Yvonne Dunn, Mike McGlinchey, Jennifer McCormick and Imogen Dewar
Indeed, the move towards increased automation doesn’t mean junior lawyers have to compete with tech. There’s a role for them both, says Dunn, who thinks the aim is to equip lawyers in the most efficient way possible. McGlinchey agrees:
“AI is great for giving you the answer to a question, but it’s the lawyers that know the questions to ask.”
With AI taking care of rote tasks, juniors are freed to invest their time where it really matters — in high-level legal analysis. Dunn thinks junior lawyers are increasingly getting more interesting work, for example working with highly skilled technologists to add value to a client’s advice. A marked shift, notes McGlinchey, who remembers training juniors on how to use a PC for the first time and finding how adept they were at using Microsoft Paint to draw smiley faces.
Blockchain may be this year’s buzzword, but Dunn, who leads the firm’s FinTech practice, thinks it’s important to separate the hype from the reality.
The hype of two years ago around blockchain has since quietened down and we are beginning to see some genuine use cases, she explains. And with no obvious UK precedents, Dunn finds taking new emerging areas and working out how to apply the existing regulatory and legal framework to be an exciting challenge because “we often don’t know what issues we’ll be advising on next year”. For Dunn’s team, it’s also a great opportunity to connect with colleagues across jurisdictions and see what can be learnt and brought back to the UK, as well as exported out of the UK.
A prevailing question on most students’ minds is whether they should try their hand at coding. “It’s not about becoming a qualified coder, but it can be extremely helpful to know what is possible so that you can offer new solutions to legal problems”, says Dewar, who also thinks it’s a way to demonstrate creativity and differentiate yourself from the rest of your cohort.
Dunn views coding as a language and contemplates whether it should be incorporated into the undergraduate law degree. “It would be interesting to see whether coding becomes the new Outlook where everyone has some basic knowledge of it”, she says. Though it may enhance your CV, McGlinchey thinks coding know-how is not a necessity and that skills in project management and Excel are just as likely to get you ahead of the pack.
In a world where disruption is the new norm, Dunn thinks it’s imperative students show they have the curiosity and passion to do things differently. Candidates should be able to question the function of a tech tool and look at ways it can be improved or applied to solve a specific problem, advises McGlinchey, because this is better than simply reading a brochure and thinking: “This is a great piece of AI — we must buy it.”
With training contract deadline day fast-approaching, the panel cast their minds back to when they were navigating the application process. Newly qualified solicitor Dewar stresses the importance of knowing why you want to be a lawyer and the area in which you hope to qualify. Dunn advises the audience of over 60 students:
“If you don’t make it through some hothouse graduate recruitment process the first time round — don’t worry. The best thing to do is build on your skills and go back. The key is to love what you do, and love where you do it!”
The training contract application deadline for Pinsent Masons (England) is on Friday 27 July.
Satellite propulsion system and farming robots among successful applicants
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It’s been revealed which spacetech start-ups will be joining global giant Dentons‘ in-house accelerator hub this summer.
The firm has teamed up with venture capital fund Seraphim Capital to provide office space and legal advice to six “data and satellite-led businesses” as part of a new nine-week programme called ‘Space Camp’. The inaugural cohort come from the UK, the US and Denmark and will be based in Dentons’ London headquarters.
The first company to get the nod is QuadSAT. The Danish business has developed new tools and techniques for testing and calibrating satellite antennas. They’ll be joined by Tesseract, a US company which builds satellite launch systems that use non-toxic propellants. Next up, Earth Rover: this UK business is currently developing autonomous farming robots to make food production more sustainable.
Other successful applicants include Global Surface Intelligence, a tool which maps the changing behaviour of the world’s resources; Reconfigure.io, a high-speed data analytics system; and crop farming intelligence platform KisanHub.
The aim of Space Camp, Dentons says, is to “support the growth of the best spacetech start-ups, helping them secure funding, achieve scale, and foster close working relationships with industry leaders”.
This isn’t the first time a big City player has welcomed start-ups through its doors.
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Accountancy giant Deloitte has been awarded an alternative business structure (ABS) licence, six months after it unveiled plans to go head-to-head with law firms.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has approved Deloitte’s application to operate as a multi-disciplinary practice. The licence — which came into effect on 15 June — allows the firm to provide reserved legal services in the UK, namely rights of audience, conduct of litigation, reserved instrument activities, probate activities and administration of oaths.
Today’s confirmation means all ‘Big Four’ bean counters now have a legal arm. PwC‘s legal operation secured ABS status at the start of 2014, while KPMG and EY received SRA approval later that same year.
For those of you looking for a training contact, Deloitte has yet to announce whether it will be offering them. In January, when its ABS ambitions were first unveiled, Deloitte told Legal Cheek the matter was “under review”.
Its rivals, however, do offer them.
PwC currently takes on around 25 rookies annually, while EY offers a training contract which you don’t need a 2:1 to apply for. KPMG announced back in 2015 it was offering training contracts but remained tight-lipped about exact numbers.
Back to Deloitte and this month it announced an alliance with US immigration law firm Berry Appleman & Leiden (BAL) to create a new global immigration service. The move sees Deloitte take over eight of BAL’s non-US offices, in: the UK, Singapore, Australia, Dubai, China, South Africa, Mozambique and Brazil.
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She has left Love Island but this could be just the beginning for the legal inflatables she has pioneered.
Rosie Williams, a junior solicitor who qualified at Manchester-based Just Costs Solicitors in March, became the latest contestant to exit hit ITV2 show Love Island over the weekend.
But her pioneering use of balloons to celebrate key legal qualifications milestones — showcased on Williams’ 273k follower Instagram account — looks set to leave a lasting legacy as law students across the UK scramble to emulate the Love Island star’s work.
Law ballons aside, Williams’ two and a half week run on Love Island was less remarkable than many expected, as the 26 year-old played down her day job — in stark contrast to the other professional on the show, an A&E doctor called Alex, who regularly spoke about his work. Indeed, by the time she departed most viewers seemed to have forgotten that Williams, who completed the Legal Practice Course (LPC) at the University of Law, was a lawyer. She has become best known instead for her short and tumultuous relationship with alpha male Adam Collard, whose behaviour towards her has been heavily criticised.
The attention of legal profession celeb watchers will now turn to Williams’ next move. The rookie lawyer seems to have quit Just Costs Solicitors to go on Love Island. Will she be re-joining the firm? Or perhaps a move to a bigger firm could be on the cards? According to her Instagram, Williams completed a secondment at Clyde & Co last year. This morning she did an interview with Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain. Could further TV stardom await?
Follows moves by Kirkland & Ellis, Milbank and Simpson Thacher
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Akin Gump has become the latest law firm to up the salaries of its London newly qualified (NQ) lawyers to £143,000, as the US summer salary war continues to rock the City.
Last week, Akin Gump confirmed it was upping US junior associate pay to $190,000 (£143,000) — matching moves made by a host of US rivals including Milbank, Quinn Emanuel, Simpson Thacher, Weil Gotshal and Jones Day. Akin Gump has now confirmed to Legal Cheek that its City of London lot will receive the same dollar-pegged increases.
Legal Cheek’s Firms Most List shows Akin Gump takes on just four trainees each year, who earn a salary £48,000 in year one, rising to £52,000 in year two. The Washington-headquartered outfit — which originally specialised in criminal law and was founded by two former FBI agents — has 20 offices in nine countries.
Akin Gump isn’t alone in upping London junior pay to the coveted £143,000 level.
Simpson Thacher, Kirkland & Ellis and Milbank (the firm that triggered the stateside rises earlier this month) have all made similar moves.
At least one firm, however, stopped short. Quinn Emanuel confirmed last week its City NQs will now earn £125,000, a rise of £10,000 or 9%. Cravath, Weil Gotshal, Sullivan & Cromwell, Skadden and Cleary Gottlieb are yet to confirm whether or not they’ll chuck the same US rises at their London cohorts.
A junior solicitor has been removed from the profession by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) after she backdated letters to conceal her inactivity on cases.
Amanda Elizabeth Davies had been qualified for just three years when she started producing a total of 23 backdated letters on clinical negligence and personal injury matters relating to nine separate clients.
Davies, an assistant solicitor with Swansea outfit JCP Solicitors, also made misleading statements to the parent of a client bringing a claim relating to a road traffic accident, according to a judgment published by the SDT. Davies — who was born in 1986 and qualified in 2012 — admitted fabricating documents during a meeting with her employers in September 2016 and resigned with immediate effect.
In a letter to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), the now 32-year-old claimed she had been asked by the firm to take on cases beyond her expertise, with no extra support or training from the firm.
Moreover, she argued that her workload was excessive and that her misconduct had been “to buy her time”. Davies — who was dealing with her grandfather’s terminal illness diagnosis at the time of the misconduct — continued:
“I amended letters to show my supervisors that I was in control of my files and they were progressing appropriately. I did not send any of the letters created and always tried to act in the best interests of my clients, it was simply a case that I was no longer able to cope.”
The SDT agreed Davies should be struck off and ordered her to pay £2,500 costs.
Davies strike off comes just months after an award-winning corporate lawyer who sent a number of misleading emails to a client was handed a career lifeline by the SDT.
Peter Naylor “attempted to buy [himself] some time” by sending several misleading emails during his time as an associate in the corporate department of regional outfit TLT. On this occasion, however, the tribunal chose not to remove Naylor from the profession after it heard how his heavy workload had left him “physically and emotionally drained”.
US powerhouse Latham & Watkins has become the latest outfit to bump the salaries of its London newly qualified (NQ) lawyers to £143,000. The increase follows similar UK rate rises by a host of its US rivals including Akin Gump, Kirkland & Ellis, Fried Frank, Milbank and Simpson Thacher.
Latham splashed the cash late last week and upped the salaries of its US-based newbies to $190,000 (£143,000). This in response to a series of rises triggered by New York-headquartered giant Milbank earlier this month.
But the good times don’t stop there. Latham, which offers around 24 City training contracts annually, has now confirmed its London lot will receive the same six-figure sum — an uplift of roughly £19,000 or 15%. Trainee remuneration currently sits at £46,000 in year one, rising to £48,000 in year two.
Legal Cheek’s Firms Most List shows Latham’s London NQs are now £23,000 ahead of their counterparts at US duo Cleary Gottlieb and Sidley Austin (£120,000), and a whopping £25,000 over and above those plying their trade at fellow New Yorker Skadden (£118,000). Not quite matching the new coveted £143,000 pay level, Quinn Emanuel confirmed last week that its City NQs will now receive a salary of £125,000, a rise of £10,000 or 9% — a sum still impressive enough turn even most well-remmunerated of magic circle lawyers green with envy.
Monster remuneration aside, Latham was a solid performer in our Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey. It received As for, among other things, quality of work, office and perks, and Bs for training, peer support and partner approachability. It could, however, only muster a D for work/life balance. Junior lawyers at the firm report an average arrival time of 9:32am and an average leave time of 8:38pm, roughly in line with other big US players in the City.
Earlier today, Legal Cheek brought you the news that Akin Gump had joined the US pay bonanza and increased US junior lawyer pay to $190,000. Like Latham, it too chucked the same increases at its London cohort.
She wanted to do crime and family but ended up at a commercial outfit
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Dumped Love Islander Rosie Williams has opened up for the first time about her decision to quit law during a tense interview with Piers Morgan.
The 26-year-old solicitor joined Morgan and co-hosts Susanna Reid and Charlotte Hawkins on ITV’s Good Morning Britain following her eviction from the Spanish villa on Friday evening. Not one to mince his words, former news editor Morgan berated Williams this morning for quitting law to “look stupid” on television.
Williams, who qualified at Manchester-based Just Costs Solicitors in March, responded: “I was working 18-hour days in a law firm getting sleepless nights. It’s not as glamourous as it seems.”
Indeed, studying law for a total of eight years and working long hours gave the University of Law graduate little time to find love. “I didn’t have a lot of time to go out and meet men,” she told Morgan, so entering the villa — where singles spend up to eight weeks together in the hope of coupling up and finding love — was “a once in a lifetime opportunity”.
Unconvinced, Morgan labelled her decision a “terrible aberration” and that she had given up her career to “go into a villa full of half-wits to have sex on national TV”. Williams replied:
“I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to go into criminal and family law, but there’s no money in there right now. I ended up going in the civil and business side, but that wasn’t where my heart was.”
Probing Williams further, Morgan asked why she had decided to turn her back on an “incredible law career”. Williams coolly responded: “I haven’t walked away. I can still go back to law if I want”.
Rounding off the awkward interview, Welsh-born Williams explained how she now hopes to use her newfound social media fame to “make a difference and empower women” — much to Morgan’s bemusement.
There are less opportunities to do work experience in law this year than there were last year, according to new research. Among top businesses, “paid work experience places” in law are down by 11% since 2017, from 1,407 to 1,250.
The legal industry’s 11% work placement fall is not the biggest of the sectors included in the research: total work experience offerings in consulting fell by 45%, from 210 to 155, in 2017-18, while IT & telecommunications saw a decrease of 20% (from 686 to 548). However, in real number terms, law’s drop of 157 is the largest.
Though seven of the industries covered experienced downturns ranging from 3.3% to 45.2%, the remaining four have enjoyed increases. Engineering & industrial placements are up by 21%, from 1,993 to 2,419, while over in the public sector work experience spots have rocketed by 59% to 1,077.
This research comes just weeks after Legal Cheek revealed a number of barristers and solicitors were, controversially, auctioning off work experience placements in aid of a social mobility charity.
The bidding on a week’s worth of work experience with Eadie had reached a hefty £300 before the ad disappeared from the auction website. The highest bidder, according to the ad, would have had the opportunity to work alongside the top silk in chambers, read case papers and visit court.
Keily Blair and Kirsty O’Connor talk to Legal Cheek Careers about level playing fields
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Oxford University and the University of East London
Aiming high is a central theme of PwC‘s most recent social mobility programme; a partnership with Aspiring Solicitors, a diversity organisation.
Keily Blair, a director in PwC’s regulatory and commercial dispute team, explains the thinking behind the programme: “A good job can, literally, change someone’s life. We believe that people’s backgrounds are not a barrier to professional advancement and success; we want them to aim high.”
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.PwC’s Keily Blair
The firm is looking for candidates who, as Blair puts it, “may be disadvantaged by where they come from”. That could mean those who are the first generation in their family to go to university, those who did not go to the “right” schools, or alternatively people who have carried some kind of burden, such as feeling that they have had to hide their sexuality, long-term illnesses, mental health concerns or carer responsibilities.
The programme, which went live at the end of April, involves a number of workshops that aim to prepare these students for vacation scheme and training contract assessments, as well as future work. “We are opening up the firm so that it is a more accessible place, and we are going to equip potential candidates with the skills to get the best jobs so that there is more of a level playing field,” says Blair. PwC is also taking part in the Professional Ambassadors mentoring programme involving 30 members of PwC’s legal network.
Initiatives such as this latest tie-up are part of PwC’s social mobility strategy, which each year collectively helps a total of 25,000 young people to develop workplace skills. There is a particular focus on social mobility “coldspots” and providing paid work experience for at least 1,000 young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Blair has a strong belief that the only elements that should matter to an individual’s future are their “talent and determination”. She speaks as one for whom this is absolutely true: as a single mum of two, she forged a career for herself which took her from Oxford Brookes University all the way to the heady heights of magic circle firm Allen & Overy, then onto a US firm and most recently to being a director at PwC.
The Big Four giant, which has a legal function that is bigger than many major law firms and takes on 25 trainee solicitors each year, is also reviewing its graduate recruitment programmes as it looks into ways in which the more traditional elements of the recruitment process could be barriers to underrepresented groups and those with socio-economic disadvantages. For instance, PwC has recently removed the requirement for candidates to list their UCAS points. As Blair observes: “What do the UCAS points matter if a candidate got a great degree after that?”
Some things in life are free
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.PwC’s Kirsty O’Connor
When commercial disputes lawyer Kirsty O’Connor joined PwC’s regulatory and compliance team last year, she was impressed with the range of networks, programmes and targets on diversity (the firm currently has a target of 30% new female partners) and corporate social responsibility. What it didn’t have, unlike many leading law firms, was a structured legal pro bono and CSR programme. In response, she and Blair put together a proposal for such a scheme, which was green-lighted at the end of 2017. As O’Connor says,
“PwC already has a fantastic Community Affairs programme, promoting volunteering and fundraising opportunities for staff across the UK. We want to build on that programme and engage the legal network in activities supporting the community.”
As part of this, PwC will be partnering with a yet-to-be-revealed London-based university to launch a pro bono legal advice clinic in the autumn. It will be a weekly clinic where PwC’s legal network collaborates with law students to provide pro bono legal advice, particularly focused on social enterprises, as well as advising start-ups, sole traders and tech clients.
O’Connor says: “As a firm, there is an emphasis on seeing ourselves as very much part of the society around us.” The firm has an organisation-wide initiative called ‘One Firm, One Day’, where staff across PwC get involved in a whole range of volunteering and mentoring programmes (including the popular London Legal Walk). “The initiative gets huge support from staff,” O’Connor continues. “This is about encouraging everyone to collaborate with each other within what is a very large firm, and seeing what PwC can do to build trust in that society.”
PwC will be open for applications to its 2019 opportunities later this summer — get a head start on your career by signing up to the PwC Talent Network to be one of first to hear when vacancies go live and to get your application in early.
Rookie who trained at Weightmans claimed it was ‘an honest mistake’
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A former junior lawyer at international law firm DLA Piper who made inaccurate claims about her legal qualifications has been struck off by the Solicitor Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT).
Tania Bains embellished a number of her undergraduate law degree and Legal Practice Course (LPC) module results in her application for a training contract at national outfit Weightmans, and then later for an associate position at DLA Piper.
Bains, who obtained a 2:1 from the University of Wales, spent three years as a paralegal at Irwin Mitchell before landing a training contract at Weightmans in 2013. Once qualified, she joined DLA Piper’s finance and projects team — a role she applied for using a recruitment agency.
According to a judgment published by the SDT this week, Weightmans later reported Bains to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) after it discovered a copy of her misleading CV on its internal IT system.
The SDT heard how details relating to Bains’ LLB in her original training contract application conflicted with those held on record by the Univerity of Wales. Bains omitted a number of modules, included others she had never studied, and inflated the marks of some she had received.
The misleading information didn’t stop there. The SDT heard how all 11 of her LPC module grades differed from those held on file by her course provider, The Univesity of Law. A comparison (screenshotted below) was included in the judgment.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Screenshot taken from the SDT’s judgment
Appearing before the SDT, Bains claimed the score discrepancies were “an honest mistake” and that she had filled in the application from memory. Bains also said she had provided Weightmans with her LLB and LPC results during an assessment day and that the firm never queried the results. The tribunal found her explanation “not plausible or credible”.
Turning to the CV Bains submitted via a recruiter, the SDT heard how it contained details from two colleagues’ CVs and also the Weightmans website. Bains claimed she had used one of her colleague’s CV as a template, however, due to time constraints placed upon her by the recruiter, she had forgotten to go back and change various details. On this, the SDT said:
“As a result of the respondent’s [Bains] false statements, she was able to obtain a job at DLA Piper by deception as the untrue information contained within her CV may well have given her an unfair advantage over other candidates. In any event, the information was not true and she knew it was not true. The tribunal had no doubt that this would be regarded as dishonest by the standards of ordinary decent people. The tribunal was satisfied the respondent had acted dishonestly.”
The tribunal ordered Bains to be struck off and pay £6,000 in costs.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Charlotte McGing
A recent law graduate whose Allen & Overy vac scheme led to a training contract has taken to YouTube to share her tips and advice.
Charlotte McGing completed a vac scheme at the magic circle outfit in December 2016 and will begin her training contract in March 2019. Speaking to Legal Cheek, she says she made the video to help out incoming summer vac scheme students. The University of Warwick graduate continues:
“I try and make my videos as accessible and as informal as possible because I think sometimes the legal profession can seem very daunting to students and I want them to be able to go into their vac schemes with legitimate advice that isn’t generalised. I just wanted to make a video that would have helped me when I was at that stage.”
Soon-to-be Legal Practice Course (LPC) student McGing gives her advice as five key tips. These include taking “extensive notes” during the work placement and asking for help if you need it. Her bonus tip is to go easy on the alcohol: “This is not a night out with your friends”, she says of vac scheme social events.
McGing’s video, which you can watch in full below, focuses on her “phenomenal” week-long winter vac scheme at Allen & Overy, during which she sat in the firm’s competition department. She has also completed work experience placements at the likes of Berwin Leighton Paisner (now Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner) and Handelsbanken.
McGing is far from the first YouTubeing lawyer.
Chrissie Wolfe, a solicitor at Irwin Mitchell, runs a vlogging channel called Law and Broader which is “aimed at law students or anyone trying to break into the legal profession who is interested in improving their employability”. Wolfe’s ten-minute clips cover everything from law fairs to effective time management.
Also YouTubeing is University of York law student Ludo Lugnani, whose daily videos give viewers a quick-fire commercial awareness update. Lugnani is seeking a training contract, and says making the videos helps him keep on top of current affairs.
But who says lawyers have to vlog about law?
Katherine Baker, a law student at Durham University, runs a YouTube channel called BeuatyByKat08, which covers topics such as fitness and life advice. Baker, whose channel has almost 30,000 subscribers, will be commencing a training contract at Fried Frank in 2019.
Reduced levels of pay blamed for lower morale and standards, finds report
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Two-thirds of judges believe the quality of advocacy in criminal courts has DECLINED over time, a report published this week has found.
Though the overall quality was found to be “very good”, there was much judicial “concern” over standards in two areas in particular: first, advocates’ case preparation and, second, their ability to ask focused questions of the witnesses and defendants.
Not surprisingly, the Judicial Perceptions Report highlighted that more than half of the interviewees believe that declining levels of pay in criminal advocacy, and “associated” lowering of morale, have a “negative impact” on the quality of advocacy. Specifically, judges are worried that the best lawyers quit criminal work and move onto civil cases to improve their chances of earning a decent living.
For those brave enough to pursue the criminal bar, the report gives an excellent analysis of what makes a “good advocate” (at least according to the former-advocates-now-judges interviewed).
The skills needed appear to be: communication, focus and presentation. Or as one judge put it: “Your starting point is not really when people open their mouths in court; it’s what goes on before getting into court”.
Another said:
“The first thing is know your brief, whatever the case is about; second, marshal thoughts and the third is presentation.”
The report, jointly commissioned by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and the Bar Standards Board (BSB), was put together by the Institute for Criminal Policy Research of Birkbeck, University of London and involved in-depth interviews with 50 high court and circuit judges.
Explaining why the report was commissioned and why good advocates are so important, the regulators’ state: “Through their professional knowledge, courtroom skills and experience, advocates not only directly support the individuals they represent, but also ensure the continuing effective operation of the legal system and ongoing public confidence in the rule of law and the courts system.”
This is particularly the case in the light of the Government’s recent round of changes in the justice system which is likely to involve 2,500 fewer court staff.
It’s corporate law firm financial results season — and the early signs for the year are very positive.
Of the 12 major corporate law firms to have released their results so far, all have posted a rise in revenue while those that released profit per equity partner (PEP) figures have reported increases too.
Leading the way in the revenue rise table is CMS, with a whopping 31% increase to £1.3 billion, followed by Fieldfisher, which is up 24% to £207 million, and Dentons UKMEA, up by 22% to £203.1 million. While these turnover boosts have been significantly aided by mergers — CMS with Nabarro and Olswang, Fieldfisher with Hill Hofstetter, and Dentons with Maclay Murray & Spens — the performance of other firms suggests the increases are about more than that.
The strongest performers for PEP increases so far have been Dentons, with a 36% jump to £651,000, Taylor Wessing, which rocketed by 20% to £579,000. There were impressive increases, too, at CMS (19%), Fieldfisher (17%), Eversheds Sutherland (12%) and Ashurst (11%).
The figures reflect the wave of growth that swept across the globe during 2017, and which the President Trump tax cuts at the beginning of this year may extend — if the accompanying protectionist policies being pursued by the US don’t negate their effect.
But the improvement of law firms’ overall fortunes come at a time of uncertainty for students seeking to enter the legal profession. Legal Cheek reported in the autumn that training contracts at the leading corporate law firms fell by 5% last year, while the latest Law Society Annual Statistical Report showed training contract numbers across the profession as a whole to have fallen back slightly. On the rise have been law firm investment in technology, and a growing reluctance among clients to pay for trainees’ time.
Still, with 5,719 students beginning training contracts last year — down from a 2008 high of 6,303 but up from a financial crisis low of 4,784 — the legal profession remains a pretty healthy place for graduates.
