Taylor Wessing also records drop

Herbert Smith Freehills has published its latest set of financial results, recording a 10% drop in partner profits.

The global player posted revenues of £989.9 million, up 2.5% on the previous financial year. Profit per equity partner (PEP), however, is down 9.7% to £857,000 from £949,000, as is profit — £283.2 million from £306.7 million, a cut of 7.7%.

“It is encouraging that we achieved another year of revenue growth, underlying the core strength of our business,” commented Justin D’Agostino, who took over as chief executive officer in May. “While profitability fell from last year, it reflects our second highest year of profitability performance.”

D’Agostino said revenue growth would have been stronger but for the onset of COVID-19, which saw the firm reduce partner profit distributions, suspend salary reviews and delay the start dates of its future trainee solicitors.

D’Agostino continued:

“While the Covid crisis has required significant adjustments across the firm to how we work, I am delighted to say that our performance through the challenges it has brought has so far exceeded all our expectations.”

Elsewhere, international law firm Taylor Wessing revealed a 7.6% uplift in global revenues to £365.6 million. But PEP dropped 6.5% to £612,640, while UK profits fell by almost 8% to £57.6 million.

Shane Gleghorn, UK managing partner, said: “This year, we’ve invested significantly in our business. While the final quarter was made difficult by the crisis, we have seen the benefit of our investment in tech and people, even more so in recent months. Our tech investment has supported agile working for our people, and has deepened our client relationships.”

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Pinsent Masons, Simmons & Simmons, Clyde & Co, RPC and HFW among those to post 2020 results

A host of top law firms have published their 2019/20 financial results as the City continues to assess the damage caused by the pandemic.

Pinsent Masons posted a 12% drop in its profit per equity partner (PEP) to £546,000, while revenue hit £495.9 million — a modest uptick of 4% on last year’s £482 million result. Gross profit also fell slightly by 1.3%, according to the latest financial results published by the firm.

“You do see a decline in PEP where basically you’re investing in the business for the longer term, and this has been a year of inward investment,” Pinsents’ managing partner John Cleland said. “I would see it as being a bit of a transitory period in which investment in the business has been a core focus.”

Simmons & Simmons, meanwhile, recorded a 7% uplift in PEP to £756,000, while revenue rose by 4% to £390 million. Net profit increased to £126 million, a lift of 6%.

Simmons managing partner Jeremy Hoyland commented: “We have seen another year of growth and our financial and market performance continues to be strong. All our regions have achieved good increases in both profit and revenue as we continue to invest in the future of the firm, with continental Europe and Asia having particularly pleasing years. These results give us a strong foundation to weather the crisis and will help us navigate through the difficult times that no doubt lie ahead.”

Clyde & Co saw revenue slump 5% to £143 million for the financial year ending April, while PEP also fell — 4% from £690,000 to £665,000. Revenue increased slightly (3%) to reach £627 million.

Clydes’ senior partner Peter Hirst said he was pleased with the “solid” revenue growth achieved by the firm this financial year, revealing the new leadership team had “focused primarily on consolidation, investment and integration after many years of rapid growth and acquisition”.

He continued: “Even before COVID-19, we had been operating in an increasingly competitive market for legal services and faced significant economic and political headwinds, which is why our ability to post sustained levels of organic growth is especially pleasing and demonstrates the trust our clients continue to place in us around the world.”

Elsewhere, RPC revealed a slight boost in revenue (1.3%) to £110.1 million but a 2.2% drop in PEP — £424,383 from £433,340. Total profit shrank from £32.6 million to £31.7 million.

“We finished the financial year very much on the front foot, and revenue generation levels have remained high during lockdown,” RPC managing partner James Miller commented. “Looking ahead, we have started the new financial year as positively as we ended the last one and I remain very optimistic that the future — despite considerable economic and political uncertainties and the challenges faced from COVID-19 — will bring exciting new opportunities with existing clients as well as new.”

By contrast, HFW trumpeted a 11% rise in PEP to £526,000 and a 9% boost in revenues to £195.2 million. Net profit came in at £47.3 million. Richard Crump, the firm’s global senior partner, said: “We are very pleased to see our sector-focused strategy and sustained international expansion continue to drive growth across the business.”

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Recognised for creating workplace environments inclusive of women

The legal profession has taken a total of nine spots in this year’s gender equality employer list.

The 2020 ‘Top 50 Employers for Women’ was unveiled today by charity Business in the Community (BITC) in partnership with The Times. The list is not ranked, and among the law firms, features top employers from the worlds of banking, consultancy, insurance, the military and the arts.

The City law firms recognised for creating workplace environments inclusive of women are, in alphabetical order, Allen & Overy, CMS, DWF, Eversheds Sutherland, Hogan Lovells, Irwin Mitchell, Linklaters, Pinsent Masons and Simmons & Simmons.

Our Firms Most List shows they all have partnerships made up of over 20% women.

This is the second year running seven of the firms have featured in the top 50 list, which is now in its tenth year. DWF and IM were out in place of Addleshaw Goddard and Norton Rose Fulbright in last year’s list, which also featured nine City firms.

“This year marks ten years of the awards, and the bar was especially high,” said Charlotte Woodworth, BITC gender equality campaign director, continuing:

“A decade of expertise and experience underpins Business In the Community’s assessment, which sees organisations reviewed across a wide range of areas including transparency around pay practices, family friendly policies and to what extent the gender equality agenda is embedded into wider strategy.”

Two magic circle firms make the cut, A&O and Links, with the former this year announcing 45% new female partner promotions, up from 24% in 2019. Thirteen of A&O’s 29 new partners are female. Meanwhile, Links announced 27% new female partner promotions earlier this year, down from 33% in 2019. Eight of the firm’s 30 new parters are female.

Big Four accountancy giants, Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC, all feature on this year’s list, alongside other big names, including Barclays, British Army, Financial Conduct Authority, GlaxoSmithKline, ITV, Lloyds, Marks & Spencer, Ofcom, PepsiCo, Royal Mail, Shell, Sky and Vodafone.

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Total fee doesn’t include prep course costs

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has today revealed the total cost of the new solicitor super-exam, and extended transitional arrangements in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) will cost £3,980, the regulator has said. The two-part national assessment is due to come into force from 1 September 2021 — subject to approval from the Legal Services Board (LSB).

It’s worth noting that the total fee is for the exam itself and does not include training costs, which will vary depending on a candidate’s choice of preparation course. These, as of yet, remain unknown.

SQE1 will cost £1,558 and tests candidates’ functioning legal knowledge, i.e. black letter law, in two exams consisting of 180 multiple-choice questions each.

SQE2 will cost £2,422 and focuses on examining practical legal skills and knowledge through 15 to 18 tasks (or “stations”). SQE2 stations will, for the most part, be written assessments, i.e. research, writing, drafting or case analysis exercises, with the exception of advocacy and client interviewing, which will be assessed orally.

Ethics and professional conduct will be examined across SQE1 and SQE2.

The idea is that students who fail SQE1 will not go on to study the more expensive second part.

The SRA has said the costs are in line with the £3,000-£4,500 figure it set out in its original 2018 fee estimates.

Paul Philip, SRA chief executive, said:

“Our priority is creating a single rigorous assessment that gives everyone confidence that aspiring solicitors meet high, consistent standards at the point of entry into the profession. We also need to make sure the SQE is value for money and we are today confirming competitive assessment fees well within the original estimates.”

He continued: “In the current system, many people are put off by the high up-front costs of the Legal Practice Course — up to almost £17,000 – with no guarantee of a training contract. The SQE should give people more training options and more affordable ways to qualify, including earn-as-you-learn routes such as apprenticeships.”

The SRA has also extended transitional arrangements for students taking Qualifying Law Degrees (QLDs) and Common Professional Examination courses (CPEs) starting in autumn 2021, in light of COVID-19.

The update means that students who have accepted an offer for a QLD or CPE on or before 31 August 2021, and who go on to start their course on or before 31 December 2021, will now have a choice. They can qualify under the old system until 2032, or through the SQE, offering greater flexibility to training providers and students planning on starting a law degree — or law conversion — in 2021.

This comes after some universities told the SRA that they would welcome a longer period running these courses as they prepare their new SQE programmes, given the significant challenges managing the impacts of COVID-19.

Philip added: “It will be some time before the longer-term implications of the COVID-19 pandemic are properly understood but we want to give some extra time to prepare for SQE for those who need it. Our changes to the transition arrangements provide more flexibility for both students and universities, as we introduce SQE in 2021.”

Last month the regulator revealed the final design of the SQE. It will be set and examined centrally, with Kaplan tasked with delivering the SQE.

The SRA will be submitting its application to the LSB shortly. If approved, the first SQE1 sitting will be in November 2021 and the first SQE2 sitting in April 2022.

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Tribunal finds rookie was not dishonest

A trainee solicitor who billed clients for work she had not done has been cleared of wrongdoing.

Michelle Louise Craven, who was working at Cheshire outfit MLP Law Limited at the time, was accused of dishonesty and a lack of integrity by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

She admitted claiming time for work she had not done — £2,991.50 for 20.2 hours during the final seat of her training contract in 2018 — but denied dishonesty and any breach of regulator’s rules.

The young rookie, representing herself, told the tribunal she had been suffering from anxiety due to the “unrealistic deadlines” and “excessive working hours”, the Law Society Gazette reports, further claiming colleagues within her department were “oppressive and unapproachable”. She also claimed the firm had a culture of anticipatory billing.

“They should have known the stress they were putting me under by offloading their work on me,” Craven reportedly told the tribunal.

For the SRA, Andrew Bullock argued “if that culture did exist, and we do not accept that it did, then she should simply have declined to join in”.

The tribunal found Craven was not dishonest and had not breached any SRA rules. She was, however, instructed to pay fixed costs of £3,000, with the SRA told to cover the rest of the bill.

Legal Cheek reported earlier this week how a newly qualified lawyer was struck off for trying to cover up a £3,000 costs order against her client. Katherine Gilroy, who suffered from work-related anxiety and depression, had demonstrated “a very serious lack of integrity”, according to the tribunal.

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PEP now ‘approximately £1 million’, says silver circle player

Travers Smith has revealed its latest set of financial results, with profit per equity partner (PEP) dropping sharply by 20% to “approximately £1 million” for the year ending 30 June 2020.

The silver circle player posted revenues of £160.9 million, a dip of 1%, while net profit (a figure it does not announce) fell 11%. The results are in stark contrast to its financial performance for the previous year, which saw revenue jump almost 11% to £162.5 million.

The firm said in a statement that the fresh figures reflect the the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and the uncertainty around Brexit over the course of the last year. It also cited “significant investment” in the firm’s people, systems and processes, which it say has enabled it to continue to operate effectively during the lockdown.

“The last few months have seen trading conditions unlike any that we have previously experienced but, despite that, the way we have reacted to the COVID-19 crisis has exceeded all of our expectations,” Travers Smith managing partner David Patient said. “Inevitably, the lockdown, which coincided with the crucial last quarter of our financial year, has had an impact on our provisional year end results, with turnover falling by approximately 1% compared with last year.”

He continued:

“However, this year’s results come after an uninterrupted 10 years of consecutive growth. The previous two years, in particular, were stellar for the firm, with turnover increasing, year on year, by around 17% and 11% respectively, and profits up significantly in the same period.”

Fellow silver circle firm Herbert Smith Freehills this week reported a 2.5% rise on revenue to hit £989.9 million but a drop by almost 10% in PEP to £857,000.

Meanwhile, Ashurst revealed last week that PEP had fallen 7% to £903,000 following what the firm described as a “year of consolidation”. Its revenue slightly increased by 0.5% to £644 million.

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Ex-Cripps rookie jailed last year

A former trainee solicitor who was jailed for raping a woman and attempting to rape another has been barred from working in the legal profession.

Wilfred Mandizvidza Marodza, who was employed by London outfit Cripps Pemberton Greenish, pleaded guilty in September 2019 to four counts of rape, one count of kidnap and one count of committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence.

In a decision published last week, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) said that it has found it undesirable for Marodza to be involved in a legal practice. He was made the subject of a section 43 order, which prevents him from working in a law firm without prior permission from the SRA.

Legal Cheek previously reported how Marodza attacked two young women in separate incidents in the early hours of 20 July 2019. He was eventually tracked down by police after they discovered his law firm ID inside a rucksack he left in a bag at the bar he’d been to earlier.

Earlier this year, the Kent Uni law grad had his 14-year jail term increased to 16 years with a five-year extended licence period after the Court of Appeal found the original sentence to have been “unduly lenient”.

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Silver circle player’s partner profits up 10% to £1.91 million

Macfarlanes is set reduce the salaries of its newly qualified (NQ) lawyers by £5,000 as it confirmed 22 of its 25 final-seat trainees have accepted permanent roles at the firm.

The silver circle player confirmed new associates will receive a “provisional” base salary of £80,000, a cut of £5,000 (or 6%) from £85,000, pending a salary review to be conducted this autumn. Individual and firm-wide bonuses will be paid out as usual.

Separately, Macfarlanes announced an autumn retention score of 88% (22 out of 25). None are being retained on fixed-term contracts.

“We have not changed our policy due to the coronavirus situation and we are pleased to have been able to maintain our consistently high retention rates for our trainees qualifying this September,” Seán Lavin, head of graduate recruitment at Macfarlanes, commented. “We see our trainees as the next generation of partners and we recruit, train and retain them with an eye to the firm’s long-term future.”

Legal Cheek reported in June that the single-office-outfit will now be offering 33 TC spots a year, up from a previous figure of 31, in response to the growth of the firm.

News of the salary cut and latest retention result coincides with the release of the firm’s 2019-20 financial results. It recorded a 10% uplift in its profit per equity partner (PEP) figure to £1.91 million, while turnover rose 9.5% to £237.7 million. Operating profit grew 13.8% to £126 million.

In a statement the firm said:

“This was a team result and we would like to thank our excellent people for being so adaptable throughout the year, but particularly at the back end, during COVID. Their hard work produced a good outcome overall. We are predicting a tricky year ahead but we face the future alongside our clients with confidence.”

Last month fellow silver circle member Ashurst revealed PEP had fallen 7% to £903,000 following what the firm described as a “year of consolidation”, while Herbert Smith Freehills reported last week that partner profits had tumbled by almost 10% to £857,000. Travers Smith, meanwhile, recorded a 20% drop in PEP to “approximately £1 million” for the year ending 30 June 2020.

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London offices of Jones Day and Covington & Burling keep all qualifying trainees

The London offices of US law firms Jones Day and Covington & Burling have announced autumn retention scores of 100%.

Jones Day made 20 offers to the 20 final-seat trainees due to qualify next month all of which were accepted. It is not known whether they have been retained on permanent or fixed-term contracts.

The new associates can expect to earn £100,000 after Jones Day cut London NQ pay by £5,000 last month. That’s still a healthy 69% uplift on year two pay which stands at £59,000. First years at the firm earn £52,000.

Meanwhile, Covington & Burling will keep all eight of its autumn qualifying trainees. They are understood to all be on permanent deals. NQs at C&B earn £120,000, according to our Firms Most List.

A number of law firms have announced their autumn trainee retention results in the past two months.

So far fellow US firms Ropes & Gray and Sidley Austin are the only other City outfits to post pandemic-proof scores of 100%, though, admittedly, they do have much smaller cohorts. Ropes will retain all five of its soon-to-be associates, while Sidley will keep all 11 qualifying trainees. One Sidley NQ is being kept on a six-month fixed-term contract.

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Magic circle player will also provide financial support and additional paid leave

Linklaters has introduced a new policy and package of support measures for staff living with domestic abuse, in what is believed to be a first for the legal industry.

The new scheme will provide three nights of emergency hotel accommodation, a daily living expenses allowance, ten days paid leave, and a one-off payment of up to £5,000 to support an individual in becoming financially and physically independent from their abuser. There will be no requirement to repay the firm.

The programme comes in response to the reported spike in cases of domestic abuse across the UK during lockdown.

Staff will have access to advice from Surviving Economic Abuse, a UK charity dedicated to raising awareness of economic abuse and transforming responses to it.

David Martin, global diversity and inclusion partner at Linklaters, said:

“The future of how and where we work remains uncertain. For now, our homes are now our workplaces and it is clearer than ever that domestic abuse is a workplace issue. The true scale of domestic abuse is unknown, but we know that there are no shields — it is something that impacts people of all ages, income brackets, education levels and backgrounds.”

The magic circle player has also teamed up with experts from SafeLives, a charity dedicated to ending domestic abuse, to provide training for its HR team on how to spot the signs of domestic abuse.

Martin continued: “We have introduced this comprehensive package of support because we want to send a clear message to any of our people living with abuse that they are not alone, we care, and the help they need is available to them.”

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Available to listen now

How can you make the most of your time as a junior lawyer?

In the latest episode of The Legal Cheek Podcast, City lawyer Eloise Skinner talks about the skills you can cultivate during the early stages of your legal career — whether you’re a newly qualified (NQ) solicitor fresh from a retention round, a training contract holder or even an aspiring lawyer.

To prepare you for law firm life, Skinner breaks her advice down into three sections: the importance of staying curious, ways of upskilling, and building your personal brand.

You can listen to the podcast in full via the embed above, or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.

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LawWorks Deloitte

Access to justice charity LawWorks has teamed up with the legal arm of Big Four accountancy firm Deloitte to launch a new pro bono advice platform.

Free Legal Answers, a website created by LawWorks and supported by Deloitte Legal, will connect volunteer lawyers with members of the public who cannot afford legal advice but do not qualify for legal aid.

Using the virtual service, individuals can ask a specific question about their legal issue, which volunteer lawyers can then preview and respond to at any time and from any location. They can also contact the person asking the question if further information is needed.

The online platform, which is already established in the US, is still being piloted across England and Wales. According to LawWorks, 90 lawyers have signed-up already, and the charity is calling for more lawyers to volunteer, particularly those with experience in housing, family and employment law.

The website aims to offer initial legal advice to individuals unable to physically attend existing pro bono centres, for example due to mobility issues, health issues or COVID-19 restrictions.

The initiative also comes in response to the growing gaps in legal aid funding. Since the 2012 Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO), drastic cut-backs have seen ‘legal aid deserts’ emerge across the country where members of the public that can’t afford access to legal advice are forced to represent themselves.

Martin Barnes, CEO of LawWorks, said:

“Pro bono is not and should not be seen as an alternative to legal aid, but it can help enable people to access the timely advice they need and which they cannot afford to pay for. We are excited about the potential for Free Legal Answers to provide new pro bono opportunities for lawyers willing to give their time and expertise for free.”

Deloitte Legal isn’t the first Big Four member to offer pro bono services. As previously reported by Legal Cheek, PwC lawyers partnered with King’s College London (KCL) to provide free weekly sessions to help members of the public and small businesses.

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38 out of 43

International law firm Eversheds Sutherland has today announced a UK autumn retention score of 88%.

Of the 43 UK final-seat trainees due to qualify next month, 38 will be staying put. A spokesperson confirmed that none of the new associates will be on fixed-term contracts.

Seventeen join the firm’s corporate commercial practice group, 14 will start lawyer life in litigation and disputes management, while a further five will qualify into its human resources division. The final two UK rookies join its real estate team.

There are a further four newly qualified (NQ) lawyers currently without a role and Eversheds says it is working to secure a place for them within the firm “where possible”. One rookie did not apply for a position as they have secured a role with one of the firm’s clients.

Eversheds confirmed its also retaining five of its six NQs who completed their TCs in Hong Kong — four joining corporate commercial and one starting in litigation and disputes management. A further NQ in the Middle East is also without a role, handing the firm a global retention result of 86%.

Lorraine Kilborn, HR director (international) at Eversheds, said: “We are delighted to be welcoming a large majority of our newly-qualified group as associates in September and would like to congratulate them all on securing permanent roles within the firm.”

She continued:

“The climb to 86% is a clear message to other trainees and the wider legal market that we are still investing in the growth of the firm despite the challenges that COVID-19 has presented, as we secure the long-term future of the firm by continuing to commit to a strong pool of junior talent.”

Legal Cheek‘s Firms Most List shows the firm’s London recruits start on salary of £75,500, while their regional counterparts earn £45,000.

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It just seems so arbitrary

In the latest instalment in our Career Conundrums series, one aspiring solicitor wants to know why some City law firms prefer second year law students and final year non-law students above others.

“I’ve just graduated in law with a first class honours from a university in London. I now feel as if I’m ready to pursue a career in law as a solicitor but I’m conscious that the training contract recruitment process might be tougher this year in light of the coronavirus crisis.

In addition, I found out this week that my dream firm, Clifford Chance, is targeting penultimate year law students and final year non-law students for 2023 London training contract entry. Candidates that fall outside these two groups can still apply and potentially secure training contracts, but their applications won’t be ‘prioritised’ (the firm’s words). I have never come across this before.

Why do City law firms target second year law students? It just seems so arbitrary. I get that they want to poach fresh talent early and that they typically recruit two years in advance so this allows for no gaps in the order of things (GDL, LPC etc.) but it’s tough for some students to prove they’d make a good commercial lawyer so early on in their career. I have matured immensely from when I first started my degree to now, with the help of work experience placements I completed in the summers in-between. Surely law firms should value that extra bit of life experience I now have?”

If you have a career conundrum, email us at team@legalcheek.com.

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His wife, a fellow lawyer and anti-corruption expert, also faces corruption charges

An international lawyer who worked in the City and at the headquarters of the Commonwealth has been charged with fraud.

Joshua Brien, 47, a former special counsel for US outfit Cooley, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 4 August to face three counts of “fraud by abuse of position”.

His wife and fellow lawyer, anti-corruption expert Melissa Khemani, also faces corruption allegations.

Both used to work for the Commonwealth, an international club originally for ex-British colonies, at its London headquarters.

Brien, an expert on the law of the sea, worked for the organisation between 2010 and 2016, according to the Times. He joined Cooley as a special counsel in 2016 and is listed as a “rising star” in public international law in the Legal 500 rankings.

As well as fraud by abuse of position, the Australian lawyer faces allegations of acquiring criminal property, fraudulent misrepresentation and “possession of an article for use in the course of or in connection with fraud”. The Metropolitan Police said that all the charges “relate to offences alleged to have taken place between 23 December 2014 and 29 October 2019 whilst he was employed as a legal advisor or special counsel”.

Specifically, Brien is accused of stealing over £150,000 from the Commonwealth and lying about being sacked for gross misconduct in a 2017 job application, the Times reports.

Melissa Khemani, 40, a Canadian lawyer married to Brien, is charged with two counts of acquiring/using/possessing criminal property. The King’s College London graduate has worked in the compliance department of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and as a legal adviser on anti-corruption at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Before that, Khemani worked at Commonwealth HQ, helping members to implement the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

Brien was bailed to appear at Southwark Crown Court on 1 September, while Khemani is back in the mags on 22 October, police said in a statement.

The Commonwealth is led by Patricia Scotland QC, a former family lawyer who became the first female Attorney General under the last Labour government. She has previously been criticised over governance failings at the organisation, with the UK government suspending some of its membership payments earlier this year after auditors flagged concerns about procurement and financial controls.

Comments on this article are closed for legal reasons.

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Training contract numbers at the firm increase

Clyde & Co has cut the salaries of its junior lawyers by £2,000 in London and the regions, and confirmed an autumn retention score of 90%.

Newly qualified (NQ) associates in London will earn £68,000, down £2,000 on the previous £70,000 sum. Their counterparts in Manchester earn between £37,000 and £40,000.

Trainee solicitors at the firm will also see a reduction to pay. First years in London will earn £38,000 (down from £40,000), with second years receiving £40,000 (down from £42,000). Rookie rates have also dropped in the firm’s Manchester office, with first years earning £24,500 (down from £26,500) and £26,500 (down from £28,500) in their second year.

Clyde & Co previously deferred salary reviews and promotions in April for six months.

Commenting on the cuts, a firm spokesperson said: “We made a number of decisions in April to build up our financial resilience to the short-term challenges and volatility we faced as a result of COVID-19. This included deferring our salary review and promotions processes that typically take place between April and June, to October. As such and in line with other firms, we have made the decision to adjust the salary bands for our trainees and NQs.”

Clyde & Co has also announced it will keep 36 out of 40 autumn 2020 qualifying trainees, with one NQ retained on a fixed-term contract. This hands the firm an autumn score of 90%, or 88%, depending on how you interpret the figures.

Twenty-nine new associates join the firm’s London office, with four in Manchester, two in Guildford and one in Newcastle.

James Major, training principal at Clyde & Co, said:

“We are delighted that such a significant proportion of our trainees will be staying with the firm. Our home-grown talent is vital to the long-term health of the firm, especially at such an uncertain time in the wider business market. We are excited that we will have such a talented group of newly qualified solicitors and look forward to supporting them to develop a career here and reach their full potential.”

Further, the firm confirmed it is now offering between 40-50 training contracts across its UK offices in London, Manchester, Newcastle and Scotland. This marks an increase on its previous offering of 35 TC spots.

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One on fixed-term deal

Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has recorded an autumn retention rate of 69%, keeping 22 out of 32 qualifying trainees.

The silver circle firm said it received 29 applications and made 22 offers all of which were accepted. They are being retained on permanent deals, except for one rookie who is on a fixed-term contract in Moscow.

New associates can expect to earn up to £105,000 (inclusive of bonus) upon qualification after the firm took the decision in June not to cut NQ pay in spite of the uncertain financial climate brought about by COVID-19. Legal Cheek estimates that HSF’s base rate sits at around £93,000.

“In light of the unprecedented uncertainty caused by COVID-19, we have offered fewer NQ positions this September than usual,” a firm spokesperson said. “This has been a very difficult decision made in very specific circumstances. Retaining our trainee talent remains a key priority for the firm.”

Earlier this year the firm chalked up a spring score of 84%, keeping 27 out of 32 trainees. In the last autumn round it retained 71%, holding on to 27 out of 38 new qualifiers.

Today’s news means that three out of five of the silver circle have so far released their retention scores. Macfarlanes announced this week that it will keep 22 out of 25, or 88%, of its final-seat trainees, while Travers Smith said in June it will retain 17 out of 19, or 89%, of qualifying trainees. Ashurst and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner are yet to reveal their results.

In other HSF-related news, the firm took the decision in June to delay the start dates of its incoming trainees by six months in response to the pandemic, and in exchange for £8,000.

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McDermott Will & Emery in hot water over breach of judge’s order

A leading firm of solicitors has reported itself and two of its London-based partners to the regulator after a live feed of a high-profile libel trial was beamed around the world in breach of the judge’s express orders.

US-headquartered giant McDermott Will & Emery was representing a Russian businessman who’s suing ex-MI6 man Christopher Steele over an explosive dossier about Donald Trump’s alleged links to Russia.

A Zoom link to the trial, which took place last month, ended up being sent to the client’s family and several others despite Mr Justice Warby ordering that it not be live streamed.

A disciplinary judgment from the High Court accused the firm of falling “well below the standards to be expected of senior and experienced legal professionals”.

The case itself goes back to January 2017, when the BuzzFeed website published a dossier of allegations against Trump that Steele had put together. This was the document that said that the Russians could have “kompromat” (compromising material) about the President-elect, including a supposed “golden shower” romp in a Moscow hotel room.

The BuzzFeed article created what media lawyers call a “shitstorm” and several people named in the dossier sued in the US and UK courts. Last month, Steele’s company was ordered to pay £18,000 each to two Russian billionaires for misuse of their personal data.

The most recent case is a more traditional libel action by another Russian businessman, Aleksej Gubarev, who’s suing Steele with the help of MWE. The trial took place in July 2020 before Mr Justice Warby and a decision is pending.

MWE’s conduct during the trial has come in for some serious scrutiny in the meantime. A furious Warby referred the firm for a “Hamid” disciplinary hearing before two other senior judges, who gave judgment yesterday.

The problems centred around social distancing arrangements. The firm got Warby’s back up from the off: an associate solicitor at MWE emailed court officials making demands about the arrangements like “we require a 2nd courtroom to be reserved for the press and public”.

After some grumbling about the “inappropriate” tone, the judge granted an order for an overflow courtroom where people could watch the trial by video link. But he stipulated that “there shall be no transmission of any live audio or video recording… to any location other than the second courtroom”.

That’s not how it turned out. Several of MWE’s clients abroad ended up with the Zoom link to the live feed that was intended only for the second courtroom and were able to watch the proceedings remotely. This came to light on day three of the trial.

When Warby demanded an explanation, an apologetic QC reported that an MWE partner had “a slight memory fade on Monday, when she told some of my clients that it was all right to use the Zoom feed”.

The partner later sent Warby’s clerk an email admitting that she had mistakenly told people that they could Zoom in using the link that had been circulated. She said that seven people on her side had received the link, including Gubarev’s wife and daughter in Cyprus.

It seems to have been circulated more widely: an American journalist managed to listen in as well.

To be fair, the trial was open to the public and the media — it’s not like the proceedings were private. It was the breach of Warby’s express order that was the problem.

Within days, MWE had reported itself and two partners to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and the disciplinary hearing had been convened in front of Dame Victoria Sharp and Mrs Justice Andrews.

The duo said that Warby’s order “could not have been clearer” and that the solicitors’ explanations were “difficult to comprehend and lack coherence”.

Sharp and Andrews added:

“Even if the explanations are to be taken at face value however, the picture that they paint is an unhappy one, demonstrating a casual attitude towards orders of the Court which falls well below the standards to be expected of senior and experienced legal professionals, and a lack of appropriate guidance and supervision of more junior staff, in a matter of importance. Furthermore, until the judge made plain how seriously he viewed what had happened, there appeared to be a lack of focus on and engagement with the seriousness of the breaches.”

The judges left the question of punishment up to the SRA, but directed that a copy of the judgment be sent to the regulator “so that this Court’s views of the seriousness of the breaches in this case can be made known to it”.

It would have been worse: the judgment also records that Warby “actively contemplated” asking the Attorney General to consider contempt of court proceedings.

A spokesperson for MWE told Legal Cheek: “We respect the judgment of the Court and regret our error in this matter. We note that the Court did not find these actions to be deliberate and recognized our self-reporting to the SRA. We continue to act with the rigor and precision on which our firm was founded”.

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A score of 82%

Baker McKenzie has revealed its autumn 2020 trainee retention score, confirming 14 of its 17 soon-to-be associates are staying put post-qualification.

The international firm said it made 14 offers, all of which were accepted. None are fixed term deals. The three unsuccessful trainees applied to join oversubscribed teams, the firm said.

Five are corporate bound, three join employment, while EU/competition & trade (one team) and banking take two apiece. Tax and disputes also take one newly qualified (NQ) lawyer each.

Arron Slocombe, Baker McKenzie’s training principal, said:

“We are delighted to welcome another strong group of trainees into permanent roles as qualified lawyers across both our transactional and advisory departments. This autumn’s retention rate remains high at 82% and represents our ongoing commitment in attracting and retaining the very best talent to help grow our business in the future. We wish them every success in what, we hope, will be a long and fulfilling career.”

Legal Cheek‘s Firms Most List shows its new recruits will start on a revised base salary of £87,500, after the firm took the decision in July to cut NQ pay in response to the pandemic. Other City players have taken similar steps.

This time last year the global player retained 16 of its 18 NQs — or 89%.

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38 out of 41

Slaughter and May has become the fourth magic circle firm to reveal its autumn 2020 trainee retention score.

From a September qualifying cohort of 41, Slaughters made 38 permanent offers — all of which were accepted. A firm spokesperson said: “This strong showing bodes well for the long-term future of the firm.”

Its newly qualified (NQ) lawyers will start on a salary of £87,000 after the firm opted to reduce pay in May to negate the financial impact of COVID-19. Pre cut, Legal Cheek‘s Firms Most List showed NQ base rates sat at roughly £92,000, with performance bonuses bumping earnings to in excess of £100,000.

Last month fellow magic circle players Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy posted results of 78% (36 out of 46, plus two on fixed-term deals) and 93% (38 out of 41) respectively. Freshfields, meanwhile, chalked up a score of 84% (32 out of 38) but declined to say whether any of its new associates were on fixed-term deals. Linklaters is yet to reveal its autumn figures.

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