The firm’s name could be about to get even longer

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang is eyeing up US outfit Hunton & Williams if the latest merger gossip is to be believed.

Earlier this month CMS Cameron McKenna revealed it had struck a deal with City duo Nabarro and Olswang to create a new global mega firm. With lawyers from all three sides still thrashing out the finer details, reports this morning suggest the newly-formed outfit is already sizing up its next potential tie-up. And this time it’s in the US.

According to The Lawyer (£), CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang (or CMS for short) is in “late-stage merger talks” with Virginia-headquartered outfit Hunton & Williams.

The US firm — which has around 19 offices across the globe — covers a plethora of practice areas and is currently headed up by the superbly named Wally Martinez, who is the firm’s managing partner. Hunton & Williams does have a small London outpost which is situated within the iconic Gherkin building.

With details still thin on the ground, the report suggests the deal with Nabarro and Olswang — which will not be finalised until 1 May 2017 — was a “precursor” to a potential transatlantic tie-up.

A source close to the merger discussions claims that one of the current sticking points is the name. Hunton & Williams are keen to see theirs remain how it is, without the addition of CMS. This is a shame really, because CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang Hutton & Williams has a nice ring to it.

The post CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang eyes US merger appeared first on Legal Cheek.

The battle for the best wannabe lawyers intensifies

Clifford Chance is trialling a new video game psychometric test that monitors students’ approach to various things they’re not fully cognisant about being tested on.

The game allows the magic circle firm to gain an insight into candidates based on their approach to certain choices they are asked to make, such as whether they read the rules first or just hit ‘Play Now’. Another area of assessment surrounds how persistent the students are.

Legal Cheek understands that the substantive content of the game — which hasn’t been disclosed as yet but is presumably standard video game fare — is very much secondary in the assessment process.

But it it is worth noting that the Clifford Chance vac schemers who’ve been put through their paces so far have been told in advance that the game is part of a personality assessment. The series of challenges, which have been created by a separate company that also works with several big banks and accountancy firms, has been validated according to the psychometric standards of the British Psychological Society.

We spoke to Clifford Chance this morning and the firm emphasised that the game is still in trial mode and not currently being used to assess candidates. A spokesperson commented:

There have been no changes to way we recruit our trainees. We are fully focused on finding the best quality candidates and there are many tools on the market to assist firms to do this. We are asking for feedback on a psychometric test in the form of a game, which could offer unique insight into candidates’ decision making abilities — it is not part of our current recruitment process therefore the results of the tests are for feedback purposes only and will have no impact on whether a candidate is successful.

News about the test comes less than 24 hours after Legal Cheek revealed that Clifford Chance is offering training contracts to exceptional 18-year-olds as it extends its graduate recruitment to first year law students.

Certainly, the City law graduate recruitment market is hot right now. What’s interesting is that the battle to secure the elite performing students seems to be becoming more important than bagging a high volume of solid new recruits. Indeed, last month it emerged that Clifford Chance had slashed its training contract numbers from 100 to 80.

The post Do they read the rules, or just hit ‘Play Now’? Clifford Chance trials psychometric test video game appeared first on Legal Cheek.

Blogosphere report says London office of US firm is charging out its vac schemers

The London office of elite US megafirm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton is not responding to requests for comment about claims that it has been charging clients for work done by work experience students.

The allegations were published this morning on legal blog RollOnFriday, which reported that “vac schemers at [Cleary’s] London office are expected to produce a certain number of hours of chargeable work during their stay”, continuing:

The actual billing target is not known, but one vac schemer confirmed it was firm policy and understood that research they had been charged out [sic].

This morning Legal Cheek reached out to Cleary for comment and, after various attempts to make contact, was told that the firm had received our email request but was still considering whether or not to respond. A deadline which we agreed for Cleary to make up its mind passed without further communication.

Cleary’s website states that its London work experience schemes “aim to provide potential training contract applicants with a practical insight into life as a Cleary lawyer”, adding:

Our objective throughout is to involve participants directly in client work.

The firm — where newly qualified solicitors earn a whopping £105,000 — pays work experience students £500 per week. It takes on up to 48 of them each year.

The post Cleary Gottlieb silent over claims it bills clients for students’ work appeared first on Legal Cheek.

It’s a similar story for trainees too

An in-depth survey of 100 top UK law firms has revealed that junior lawyers are struggling to meet their billing targets.

The statistics — published as part of PwC’s 25th annual “Law Firms Survey” — revealed that newly qualified (NQ) lawyers across the UK’s top ten law firms have an average annual billing target of 1,596 hours.

However, the report claims the 2016 NQ billing average — which is the number of hours a lawyer is expected to clock-up on client-related work over a given year — was just 1,445, more than 150 hours short of their goal. According to the number-bods at PwC, this marks a 6% drop on last year’s billing average which stood at 1,541.

It’s a similar story for those lawyers further up the greasy pole.

The report states that solicitors — again across the UK top ten — with between one and two years post-qualification experience (PQE) have an average billing target of 1,600 hours. Falling far short of this figure, the report reveals the average lawyer in this bracket is billing just 1,471 hours, almost 130 hours less.

Some firms even set targets for trainees, and once again the stats reveal these are not being met.

PwC claims the average trainee is expected to bill around 1,405 hours a year, but is only managing to muster 1,161. This figure marks a whopping 10% drop on the 2015 result, when the average trainee was producing roughly 1,286 chargeable hours of work a year.

Billable hours to one side, the report also claims that profit margins are being squeezed across top 100 UK firms. With a decline in productivity, coupled with law firms continuing to chuck more and more cash at junior lawyer talent, the stats reveal 75% of firms reported revenue growth this year, compared to 82% in 2015.

David Snell, partner and leader of PwC’s law firms advisory group, said the market is “turning out to be more challenging than expected”. Citing increased competition from top US firms, Snell also pointed the finger at the recent referendum result. He said:

This situation is likely to be exacerbated following the EU referendum vote in favour of Brexit.

The post Junior lawyers are failing to hit billing targets appeared first on Legal Cheek.

Northern powerhouse “deferred” pay increases back in August

Addleshaw Goddard has finally got round to lifting a post-referendum pay freeze it had imposed on all its lawyers earlier this summer.

The so-called ‘Northern Powerhouse’ — appearing to suffer from a case of the Brexit jitters — suspended lawyer pay reviews back in August, citing the “impact on activity levels” following the vote to leave the European Union. At the time a spokesperson for the firm suggested the suspension would be lifted around “early autumn”.

Addleshaws — which offers around 30 training contracts annually — has now confirmed it has restarted its pay review process, with meetings between lawyers and senior staff scheduled for the back end of November. Communicating the good news to staff last Friday, the firm revealed that any pay increases will take effect from December and will be backdated to 1 September.

A spokesperson for the firm told Legal Cheek:

We said we’d have another look at this around the half-year mark when we had a fuller picture and as a result of improving levels of activity we are sufficiently confident to press ahead.

Today’s news follows international law firm Gowling WLG’s decision to thaw its pay freeze. Having originally suspended pay reviews at the same time as Addleshaws, the firm’s CEO, David Fennel, confirmed late last month that discussions regarding lawyer remuneration were now back on the table.

Meanwhile City outfit Trowers & Hamlins — which also slapped its lawyers with a pay suspension back in August — kept things a little more vague, revealing that it would be conducting pay reviews “this year”.

Finally, Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) — the first firm to impose pay freezes in the wake of a shock referendum result — confirmed that it was still preparing to review pay in November, some four months later than originally scheduled.

The post Addleshaw Goddard thaws post-Brexit vote pay freeze appeared first on Legal Cheek.

An in-depth look at the hot practice area of Brexit Britain

With Britain gearing up for a wave of infrastructure investment under Theresa May, Legal Cheek Careers teamed with Burges Salmon to host a discussion for students interested in pursuing a career in this area.

On the panel was partner Nick Churchward, who specialises in energy and waste, Marcus Walters, who specialises in infrastructure projects, projects expert Rupert Lugg, rail specialist Richard Hughes, and energy and environment solicitor Sarah Raby. Legal Cheek publisher Alex Aldridge chaired the discussion (which can be viewed in full in the video above).

Topics covered include the opportunities that are likely to present themselves to young lawyers working in this area, the branches of projects law that look set to be the hottest, the different methods of financing projects, and the effect of Brexit on the wider sector. The lawyers also give their advice to students hoping to follow in their footsteps.

Afterwards, during the drinks and networking session at Burges Salmon’s stunning Bristol office, we caught up with some of the 90+ student attendees to hear about what they made of the session.

Further reading

Always looking out for the next big thing: my life as a projects lawyer [Legal Cheek Careers]

The post Video: How to become a projects lawyer appeared first on Legal Cheek.

Some great reasons to become a lawyer

Forget the quality of the practice, admire the perkiness of the perks. It’s all about status (symbols).

Following Legal Cheek’s survey of over 1,500 trainees and junior corporate lawyers, we are in the happy position to reveal, in no particular order, the ten best law firm perks:

1. Pro sushi chef — Freshfields

Wonderfully, the firm brings in a professional sushi chef on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, easing the pain of Freshfields’ average 8:57pm leave the office time.

Other Freshies highlights include top parties (memorable recent extravaganzas include the Rio Olympics-themed lunch party, the corporate team’s summer party in Temple Gardens and the dispute resolution group’s summer party in the Mondrian Hotel), a month-long ‘casual August’ (a perfect opportunity for Freshfields’ rookies to familiarise themselves with the genre of sports casual) and subsidised ski trips (for those who are still not tired of their colleagues after spending 70 hour weeks in the office with them).

Read Freshfields’ full Legal Cheek survey scorecard here.

2. Money — Kirkland & Ellis

At the time of writing, Kirkland‘s dollar-tied London newly qualified rate was a gobsmacking £147,000.

You can buy your own perks with that.

Read Kirkland’s full Legal Cheek survey scorecard here.

3. Steak to your desk — Clifford Chance

As one Clifford Chance insider told us: “If you’re working late, they will literally bring food to you on a platter.” This includes “steak at your desk if you’re working late” and “freshly made cookies on demand”. Such treats are apparently a godsend “during those long, late night conference calls”.

And top perks don’t stop there at CC (see number five)…

Read Clifford Chance’s full Legal Cheek survey scorecard here.

4. Free apartment and language lessons — Herbert Smith Freehills

HSF offers some of the best international secondment perks in the business, including free flats(!), language lessons, and “very generous per diem allowances” in some locations.

With more than a third of HSF trainees spending time abroad with the firm, you’ve got a decent chance of such luxuries.

Read Herbert Smith Freehills’ full Legal Cheek survey scorecard here.

5. Swimming pool — Clifford Chance

No biggie but CC has a 20 x 8 metre office swimming pool (pictured), with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over Canary Wharf.

Let them eat steak and swim it off in the pool!

6. £30 dinner allowance — Shearman & Sterling

The £30 dinner allowance (for meals eaten in the office past 8pm) is understood to be the highest in the City, and is a neat way to make up for Shearman & Sterling’s lack of an office canteen.

It’s also apparently “essential”, reports one insider, “given that I have to work past 8pm on most days.”

Read Shearman & Sterling’s full Legal Cheek survey scorecard here.

7. Motorised adjustable desks — Various

The adjustable desks craze is big right now in corporate law, with standing while you are working all the rage among trainee solicitors.

Our survey data tells us that Linklaters is an adjustable desk pioneer, with the firm also providing lumbar support equipment, ergonomic keyboards and mouse, dual screens and deluxe stationary.

Read Linklaters’ full Legal Cheek survey scorecard here.

8. Free tickets to glamorous events — Taylor Wessing

Yes folks, Taylor Wessing actually lets its sickeningly happy trainees attend the range of glamorous events that it supports. So hold that photocopying and grab a cab to the National Portrait Gallery Photographic Prize, instead.

Read Taylor Wessing’s full Legal Cheek survey scorecard here.

9. In-house fitness centre and gym — the magic circle

It seems that one of the unofficial criteria to belong to the ‘magic circle’ is an office gym. But would you really want to work out in front of your colleagues?

Linklaters goes one better than the others with a full “fitness centre”, which comes complete with fluffy towels, upmarket shampoo and even hair straighteners.

10. Anti-illness injections — Allen & Overy

On top of its legendary annual flu jabs, delivered by the in-house doctor no less, A&O ensures that its youngsters stay sharp with free eye tests. Oh, and there’s also an A&O physiotherapist on hand to resolve any niggles that the firm GP misses.

Read Allen & Overy’s full Legal Cheek survey scorecard here.

Honorable mentions

The sheer strength of this category is illustrated by some of the perks that didn’t make the highlights above. Gowling WLG’s ‘legendary Mars bar cakes’; White & Case’s ‘corporate massages’; Watson Farley’s ‘French chef’; Clyde & Co’s ‘Pastry Chef’ and DAC Beachcroft’s ‘free Zoo membership’. That gives you just an inkling as to how competitive the game of perks and recreation has become.

You can access all of our law firm profiles through the Legal Cheek Most List.

The post The best corporate law firm perks in London appeared first on Legal Cheek.

Accenture consultant turned LexisNexis director Nigel Rea has high hopes for the next generation of digital natives

More often than not, the technology environment that you see in a law firm is like going back in time. Sometimes it would be easier for lawyers to manage their working lives using the tools and apps they have to manage their day to day outside of the office. On top of that there is an underinvestment in tools to help lawyers, such as document review, drafting and data analysis. No doubt there is room for improvement.

At the same time, there are some good reasons for law firms being behind the curve. They are, necessarily, tightly managed environments that handle a high proportion of confidential information such as client data. And this responsibility has quite understandably bred a conservatism which is useful in the sense that it protects clients and guards against potentially costly mistakes. Another factor is that lawyers are very time poor. How can you change the way you work when everyone is trying to deliver 1,500 billable hours a year? Certainly, there’s very little slack in the legal profession to introduce and adopt new technology, processes and ways of working.

But for the law firms that can somehow find time and space to step back and consider more efficient ways of working there are considerable opportunities. A useful comparison is global professional services organisations such as Accenture, where I spent a number of years before moving into the legal sector. They are similar to law firms in the sense that they are full of clever people solving complex problems. But on the whole they have a much more advanced approach to innovation and intrapreneurship.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why this is, but one factor may be that they tend to be called upon by clients not only when there is a problem or an event, as is the case with a law firm, but when there is a broader conversation to be had about, say, the strategic challenges facing an organisation over the next year and a half. This seems to have fostered a different culture that is more open to innovation.

What the big professional services firms do very well is use technology to free people up so they can focus on adding value, while avoiding systemising processes that require creative problem solving. This is easier said than done. At its heart, it boils down to putting yourself in the associate’s shoes, thinking about the technology that will help them, day to day.

So even where tech can achieve amazing things, how much of that is part of the way that a law firm operates? It needs to fit naturally. Then you can make progress without it feeling like snakes and ladders. In my particular area, drafting, one partner described one of our tools that corrects and proofreads documents as allowing him and his team to “trade up to a better class of problem”. That’s what innovation should be all about.

For law students preparing to enter the legal profession, technology, in my view, presents far more opportunities than threats. OK, so some work that used to be done by trainees is being systemised to be completed by people without legal training or even to some extent assisted by “artificial intelligence” systems. But this will, to quote the aforementioned partner, allow lawyers to “trade up”. Perhaps more importantly, though, it’s the mindset of tomorrow’s lawyers that will hold them in good stead.

Coming into law firms fresh, these digital natives have no set ideas about the way things should be done and will be more willing to challenge what is already there. Sure, getting your voice heard as a junior member of a firm can be difficult, but look around and there is always someone more senior who is agitating for change. Find those people, network with them and support the ideas they are driving.

If I were a trainee lawyer right now, I’d be hungry to receive as much tech-based training as possible, and also be curious about how tech applies to other industries. In this respect, client secondments would be particularly valuable, as would a wide variety of work experience at the student stage. I’d say that those in my peer group that have had continued success are those that have taken the time to think beyond their current industry, learnt new concepts and applied these to their current roles. To me, the legal profession seems ripe for these sort of people to make their mark.

Nigel Rea is director of precedents, drafting and forms at LexisNexis. He will be speaking on Thursday at FinTech, AI and online justice: what technology means for the next generation of lawyers.

The post Why open-minded law students will re-shape the legal profession appeared first on Legal Cheek.

His legal career now hangs in the balance

A 26-year-old newly qualified (NQ) solicitor has been handed a suspended prison sentence for changing the date on a parking permit with a felt tip pen.

Steven Barker appeared before Portsmouth Crown Court yesterday facing four counts of obtaining services by deception, fraud, and making an article for use in fraud.

The court heard how Barker had used a felt tip pen to — somewhat crudely — add an extra year onto his parking permit, changing the five in ‘13 July 2015’ to a six.

According to the Mail Online, Barker would leave his vehicle in a carpark in Southsea and travel — via hovercraft — to a firm based on the Isle of Wight, where he was completing his training contract.

The young solicitor — who has since lost his job as an in-house lawyer at insurance outfit Ageas — was caught using the doctored permit (pictured below) on four occasions between October and November last year.

Though Barker admitted the four counts back in September, his counsel, William Mousley QC of London’s 2KBW, claimed he had been suffering from poor health and financial difficulties at the time of the offences. Continuing, he said:

He is ashamed. This was either a gross error of judgement or an act of complete stupidity and he now has a high price to pay and this will remain with him for a significant period.

Sentencing Barker to six months in prison, suspended for two years, Judge Ian Pearson said:

Effectively you are ruined as far as being a solicitor is concerned. It’s highly unlikely you will retain that position. The public expect a higher standard of honesty and integrity from members of the profession and this matter means that you plainly fail to achieve the high standard expected.

Barker — who only qualified in February and is currently unemployed — was also slapped with 150 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £986 prosecution costs.

The post Suspended prison sentence for cash-strapped NQ solicitor who altered parking permit with a felt tip pen appeared first on Legal Cheek.

International giant will take on its first trainees next September

Baker & McKenzie has confirmed it will offer training contracts at its Belfast support hub from next year.

The firm — which currently offers around 30 London-based training contracts annually — revealed that it will initially provide up to two training positions exclusively to paralegals who already work within its Belfast office. These new trainees will start in September 2017.

Though details are still thin on the ground, Legal Cheek understands the Belfast-based training contract — which will see the trainees qualify as solicitors in Northern Ireland — will include a secondment to the firm’s London office.

According to Legal Cheek’s 2016/17 Most List, Bakers currently pays its London trainees £45,000 in year one, rising to £49,000 in year two. While it’s still unclear what the firm’s new Belfast cohort will receive in terms of remuneration, Legal Cheek expects it to be less than their London counterparts, due in part to the difference in the cost of living.

The firm’s Northern Ireland outpost — which opened in August 2014 — currently has 60 legal support staff.

The post Baker & McKenzie gives Belfast-based training contracts the green light appeared first on Legal Cheek.

Brexit and technological change set to be the big challenges

One of the City’s most renowned competition lawyers, Martin Coleman, has highlighted “agility” and “robustness” as the key traits that future members of the legal profession will need in order to thrive.

Speaking at Legal Cheek Careers’ recent event, ‘How global law firms deal with political uncertainty’, Coleman — Global Head of Antitrust and Competition at Norton Rose Fulbright — highlighted Brexit and the rapidly evolving developments in the field of technology as central themes that make it “even harder to predict what the next generation of lawyers will be doing ten years from now, than perhaps it was to make that prediction 20 years ago”.

In this context, Coleman suggested that “the agility to learn new ways of doing things, and not only in relation to technology” would be crucial. He added that “the robustness to stand up to significant changes in the external environment and in the way in which a business operates” would be similarly important, continuing:

There are two kinds of people — some who are scared by that and some who are excited by it.

Earlier on in the hour-long Question Time style session hosted at Norton Rose Fulbright’s London headquarters, Coleman described advising clients on Brexit as “quite a dramatic example of what we do all the time” which is to “work with clients in order to minimise uncertainty and provide protections.”

He continued:

As students who are thinking of going into law this risk management may be an aspect of our business that you are not as aware of as other aspects, but increasingly in the modern world just providing legal advice is not sufficient. Where we really add value is using our knowledge and experience in order to apply it to the client’s commercial circumstances – that’s the risk element. Risks arise in a whole range of different directions.

Also speaking at the event were associates Jamie Cooke and Tessa Svennevik. They shared a junior lawyer’s perspective on the uncertainty generated by the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union while sharing their experience of practice to date, including recent international secondments to Perth and Singapore respectively.

There was a networking session following the talk and Legal Cheek Careers caught up with several of the students who attended to hear their thoughts. You can listen to their reflections below.

The post Top Norton Rose Fulbright competition partner calls on lawyers of the future to be agile and robust appeared first on Legal Cheek.

NQs cash in as pound plummets

Akin Gump’s London-based newly qualified (NQ) lawyers have seen salaries swell to an astonishing £146,800 after the firm revealed it was pegging salaries against the dollar.

Earlier this summer, the firm — which offers just four London training contracts annually — handed its fresh-faced associates a pay rise of 25%, taking base salaries to a whopping £127,000.

But the good times are set to continue for Akin Gump’s young freshly-minted lawyers.

Having conducted a pay review of its UK associates and counsel, the firm has revealed it will now base lawyer remuneration according to moving exchange rates, which will be reviewed every quarter. Akin Gump confirmed that lawyers will continue to be paid monthly despite reports to the contrary yesterday.

So what does this all mean for the firm’s London lawyers? In simple terms — thanks to the plummeting value of the pound following the vote to leave the European Union — they are set to earn a shedload of cash.

Having crunched the numbers based on the current exchange rate, an NQ at the firm — who could be as young as 24 — will trouser an almost obscene £146,800.

To provide some context, that’s over double what their counterparts at Slaughter and May earn (£71,500) and — somewhat unbelievably — £26,000 more than a Clifford Chance lawyer (£120,500) with three years post-qualification experience (PQE) under his or her belt.

Akin Gump’s London senior partner, James Roome, told Legal Cheek:

We aim to pay our London associates at the same rate as our associates in the United States. Rather than try to guess what the sterling/dollar exchange rate will be from time to time, we will follow the prevailing exchange rates in converting the US dollar pay scales into sterling.

It’s not just Akin Gump lawyers cashing in on the Brexit vote. Earlier this month it emerged that Kirkland & Ellis’ NQ salaries had rocketed to £140,000, thanks again to the collapsing pound. Junior lawyers — who earned around £124,000 in June — saw pay packets balloon to £140,000, an increase of 13%.

The post Akin Gump’s London-based junior lawyers pocket nearly £150,000 thanks to dollar-pegged salaries appeared first on Legal Cheek.

Are they really worth it?

Law firm perks are all the rage in the City right now.

Students can’t move for complimentary pens, notepads, water bottles and phone chargers at university law fairs, but just because you’ve graduated doesn’t mean firms will stop giving you free stuff.

Sushi chefs, vaccinations, iPhones — these are just some of the freebies being offered to trainees and solicitors in some of the United Kingdom’s best corporate outfits.

In the week Legal Cheek revealed the top ten best law firm perks in London, journalists Katie King and Thomas Connelly debate whether these handouts are worthy of praise or just lame gimmicks.

The post Legal Cheek talks… corporate law firm perks appeared first on Legal Cheek.

He’s Bristol’s answer to Gordon Gekko

A fresh-faced trainee lawyer at a small West Country-based law firm has revealed his Wall Street-esque lifestyle in an amazing online diary.

Shaun White — who is a trainee at Bristol “boutique” outfit Cook & Co — has lifted the lid on what a “typical” working day consists of, thanks to a new journal-style entry published on the firm’s website earlier this month.

With magic circle lawyers still tucked up in bed, White kicks his day off at 5:45am. Having received his morning motivational quote from his supervisor — courtesy of 1980s blockbuster Wall Street — the young trainee has already submitted the first draft of an “asset sale” by 5:46am.

The clock strikes 5:50am and it’s time for a hit of caffeine while White checks “what’s on tap for the day”.

White reveals to readers he is currently part of an important research study being undertaken by boffins at the University of Bristol. Measuring his physical activity on his commute to work, it’s now 6:45am and White — pedometer attached — heads into Cook & Co headquarters.

Arriving at his desk at 7:15am, the young trainee has another “brew” while he peruses the Financial Times, brushing up on his commercial awareness.

It’s not even 8:00am and the young lawyer is getting stuck in to some proper legal work. On today’s agenda, a spot of insider trading the acquisition of a construction firm.

Morning rush over, White’s supervisor treats him to lunch at one of Bristol’s fine eateries. The trainee — who studied law at the University of Bristol — has a “sirloin steak” cooked “blue” while checking out his “brand new company iPhone”.

After an afternoon working on big money deals, it’s now 4:45pm and time for White to rub shoulders with the West Country’s great and good. It’s a top networking event with local coffee shop Bakesmiths providing the catering.

At 7:45pm White gives his office desk a quick tidy before leaving. Oh, but there’s just enough time for one last Wall Street inspired motivational quote from his supervisor.

The post Trainee solicitor lifts the lid on his fast-paced ‘Wall Street’ lifestyle at West Country high street firm appeared first on Legal Cheek.

I won’t fit in if the legal profession is that superficial

In the latest instalment in our Career Conundrums series, one law graduate wants to find out if the rumours are true.

I’ve recently graduated from law school and am seeking a training contract. I’ve been told that appearance goes a long way in the City. Commercial firms like employing attractive young ladies who clients will want to spend time with. I’m the kind of girl who will choose comfort over fashion and eat everything in the fridge. Should I take a page out of Kim Kardashian’s book and enhance my erotic capital to advance my career? Or are the rumours about the profession being shallow just rumours after all?

If you have a career conundrum, email us with it to careers@legalcheek.com.

The post Do I stand a better chance of getting a training contract if I look like Kim Kardashian? appeared first on Legal Cheek.

Ex-Penningtons Manches lawyer accepted his independence had become compromised

A top private client lawyer who used his position as the sole executor of a will to increase the amount of inheritance received by an associate he was having an affair with has been booted out of the profession.

Until August 2012, Anthony Reese Whitwell — who was a partner at the Surrey office of Penningtons Manches at the time — was in a “confidential personal relationship” with another lawyer at the firm, referred to only as “Ms F”.

According to a Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) judgment published earlier this week, Ms F introduced her mother’s friend, “Mrs JDB”, to Penningtons in 2010, so the firm could help her get her will in order.

In January 2011, Whitwell — who qualified as a solicitor in 1983 — was asked by Ms F to advise Mrs JDB in connection with a review of her will. The SDT report reveals Whitwell did not disclose to Mrs JDB that he was having an affair with Ms F.

Fast forward to October 2011, Mrs JDB passed away and Whitwell — who was still in a relationship with Ms F — drafted a deed that allowed him to act as the sole executor of the will. He then proceeded to hand over a £550,000 chunk of Mrs JDB’s estate, made up of cash, jewellery and other possessions, to his lover. Ms F should — in accordance with the will — have only received a £50,000 slice of the estate.

The judgment states Whitwell ended his relationship with Ms F in August 2012 and subsequently told his wife about the affair. Ms F left Penningtons soon after.

Whitwell’s actions came back to haunt him in December 2012 when a compliance officer at the firm — suspecting something wasn’t quite right — reported the matter to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

Fortunately, Penningtons was able to correct Whitwell’s actions. After Ms F agreed “to execute a deed of variation to return the funds to the estate”, another firm was instructed to re-distribute Mrs JDB’s possessions and cash as she had intended.

Whitwell accepted that he had acted dishonestly and had failed to act with integrity. The lawyer’s admissions meant that a full disciplinary hearing was not required. Scott Allen of 4 New Square, representing Whitwell, told the tribunal:

[His] focus now was on preserving his improved mental state and rebuilding his relationship with his wife. He no longer wished to practise as a solicitor and had no desire to face a contested hearing which raked over these issues which had already caused him and his family much pain. He wished to put the chapter of his life to which this these allegations related, and about which he was ashamed, behind him.

The SDT said because of the serious nature of Whitwell’s misconduct, striking him off the roll was “clearly appropriate”. He also agreed to pay costs of £56,500.

The post Top law firm partner who handed associate lover £550,000 chunk of client’s estate struck off appeared first on Legal Cheek.

A look at the turbulence shaking the international giant

Rumours regarding King & Wood Mallesons’ (KWM) financial status continue to make front-page legal news, as yet more of the firm’s top lawyers head for the exit.

Late last week it was reported that KWM partners were in the process of holding “crisis” talks over the firm’s debts, which (depending on who you believe) range from £25 to £35 million, when four of the firm’s biggest billers decided to resign, including former managing partner Rob Day and finance partner Andrew Wingfield.

At the time, a spokesperson for the firm — keen to stress the resignations would not affect other employees — said:

King & Wood Mallesons can confirm the resignations of London partners Michael Halford, Jonathan Pittal and Andrew Wingfield. Rob Day has also indicated his intention to resign. These resignations do not impact our employees.

As a result KWM placed its recapitalisation programme — which in simple terms means asking its partners to inject some of their own cash into the firm — on hold, while it assessed other options. The statement said:

In light of these resignations, the firm has paused its recapitalisation programme in Europe and the Middle East (EUME) — having received commitments for the requested amount of capital — whilst it assesses the financial impact. We anticipate this process will be complete within four weeks.

But it would appear that some lawyers aren’t sticking around for the process to be completed.

Yesterday, Legal Business revealed five lawyers from KWM’s Frankfurt-based banking team have signed deals to join global outfit Taylor Wessing. This followed news earlier this summer that KWM had lost its head of German operations, Sonya Pauls, to the Munich office of magic circle outfit Clifford Chance.

Legal Cheek understands that KWM has now lost over 50 partners in the last year, with the firm making up just 25 new ones through lateral hires.

Despite the recent uncertainty, KWM’s trainee recruitment has remained steady. Over the past year or so the firm — which is the amalgamation of three recent mergers between top City of London player SJ Berwin, Chinese market leader King & Wood and Australian giant Mallesons — has taken on around 30 wannabe lawyers annually.

Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the outfit’s retention rates. Earlier this spring KWM — which pays its newly qualified lawyers (NQs) a recently improved salary of £70,000 — hung on to 14 out of its 20 of its trainees (70%). This figure took a sharp drop to just eight out of 14 — or 57% — back in August, when the firm unveiled its autumn result.

With speculation regarding KWM’s finances set to continue, there’s a new head-honcho tasked with getting the firm back on track.

Last month, KWM unveiled Frankfurt lawyer Michael Cziesla as its new senior partner for the UK, Europe and Middle East. Cziesla — who was elected to the top spot after Stephen Kon opted to step down halfway into a three-year term — is the firm’s first senior partner to be based outside London. Hopefully he’s the right man to steady the KWM ship.

The post King & Wood Mallesons departures continue as rumours regarding firm’s financial status persist appeared first on Legal Cheek.

But does the hot law firm trend really help stressed out lawyers?

Baker & McKenzie has confirmed it will implement agile working policies across all 76 of its offices, including London.

Chicago-headquartered international heavyweight Bakers revealed its lawyers and support staff will be able to take advantage of a number of new policies that will allow them to work away from the office and operate on flexible hours.

The firm’s London base has operated an informal agile working policy for quite some time now, and it’s understood this has formed the template for the new global policy. Speaking to The Lawyer (£), Baker & McKenzie’s chief talent officer, Peter May, said:

Some of [the offices] had formal policies in place, some of them did not. This is really an attempt to get all the offices up to the same level. You will see increased productivity, because we are adapting the workplace to our people. There will be reduced absenteeism, and improved employee moral and responsiveness.

The firm — which scored a respectable B grade for work/life balance in Legal Cheek’s 2016/17 annual law firm survey — is one of a number of City firms to trumpet their flexi-working initiatives in recent months.

Earlier this summer, Macfarlanes, Freshfields and White & Case unveiled policies allowing their lawyers to work from the comfort of their own homes. This followed similar moves by the likes of Shearman & Sterling, Herbert Smith Freehills, Berwin Leighton Paisner, Dentons, Mishcon de Reya and Nabarro.

But despite the major push by City firms, some lawyers are still sceptical about the stress-busting tactics. Speaking to Legal Cheek back in May, one corporate lawyer — who didn’t want to be named — said:

Two of our solicitors work out of office and it’s a f*cking nightmare. Getting correspondence to them, dealing with calls, dealing with an absolute sh*tstorm if they decide to turn their phones off.

The post Baker & McKenzie becomes latest City outfit to embrace flexi-working movement appeared first on Legal Cheek.

Fletchers eyes North West talent

One of the country’s biggest medical negligence law firms is preparing to expand its graduate recruitment programme as it opens a new office in Manchester.

Fletchers will embark on the hiring spree from February next year as it takes over the 15th floor of St James’ Tower in the heart of the city.

Currently the firm offers six training contracts and runs an apprentice programme and month-long vacation scheme out of its base in Southport, where a total of 340 people are employed across its clinical negligence and serious personal injury teams.

This is one of the few formalised graduate recruitment programmes outside of the corporate legal sector. So the news that Fletchers is expanding in Manchester will be music to the ears to the many students law students turned off by the prospect of advising banks and big companies.

For now, details remain rather thin on the ground, with a spokesperson for the firm telling Legal Cheek:

We will definitely be doing a lot of graduate and junior role recruitment around Manchester as a result of this new office. There will be trainee and paralegal opportunities as an alternative to corporate law, but with a city location.

Fletchers’ credentials as one to watch were underlined this year when it became one of just eight law firms to make the Sunday Times ‘Best Companies to Work For’ list, joining Stephens Scown, Mishcon de Reya, Kingsley Napley, Withy King, Withers, Mills & Reeve and Lewis Silkin in the rankings.

Bucking the Brexit gloom, the firm, whose Patient Claim Line brand sponsors Judge Rinder, has seen revenue rise 37% this year and profit before tax jump by a whopping 50%.

Fletchers CEO Ed Fletcher said:

Manchester was the logical choice for our second location, with the city firmly established as the capital of UK clinical negligence practice. We will be aiming to add the brightest and best lawyers to our already successful team. The growth, which has led us to opening the Manchester office, is a positive step towards achieving our goal of becoming a Top 100 law firm by 2018.

The post Med neg giant gears up to offer more training contracts as it opens new Manchester office appeared first on Legal Cheek.

Never judge a book by its cover

A defendant who tweeted he was going to jail because his lawyer has a face tattoo has revealed he walked away from court a free man.

Just over a year ago to the day, New York designer Lambo Keem — appearing at a US court on unknown charges — tweeted a photograph of his new legal representative, who was called in after his original lawyer fell sick.

The unidentified public defender, the US equivalent of a legal aid lawyer, has a somewhat unusual look for a member of the profession: she’s sporting a tattoo below her right eye.

Quick to judge (no pun intended), Keem tweeted — alongside the secret snaps of his lawyer — he’s “GOIN [sic] TO JAIL”.

MY LAWYER CALLED OUT SICK N HER REPLACEMENT HAS A TAT' ON HER FACE LIKE GUCCI… IM GOIN TO JAIL. pic.twitter.com/z58dCknbd0

— KEEM (@LamboKeem) October 30, 2015

Incredibly, Keem’s post — which compares the public defender to rapper and fellow face tattoo fan Gucci Mane — went viral, receiving almost 70,000 retweets.

Now a year on, Keem has thanked his lawyer for all her hard work, revealing to his social media following that “she got me off”. Just goes to show you should never judge a book by its cover, or its awesome face tattoo.

A year later. 50k RTs. She got me off tho, face tat' and all. Shouts to her. https://t.co/bJ2Ef8ker5

— KEEM (@LamboKeem) October 31, 2016

Hopefully the bold look will catch on in the United Kingdom.

The post Defendant who went viral for questioning face tattoo lawyer’s skills reveals ‘she got me off’ appeared first on Legal Cheek.