Following this week's news of tough conditions being imposed on Cobbetts partners by acquiring firm DWF, former Halliwells rookie Marc Piano draws on his experience to predict what lies ahead for the stricken firm's trainees...
Last we heard of the Cobbetts trainees – present and future – they were safely on-board with DWF, the firm which took over the ailing giant upon its administration just over a month ago.
The uncomfortable reality, though, is that the honouring of training contracts from a failed or purchased firm is a business decision. To do otherwise would invite huge amounts of negative publicity. Once the spotlight has moved away from Cobbetts-DWF, no doubt further business decisions will be made. So what lies ahead for ex-Cobbetts trainees?
Some brief background: my training contract chronology was Halliwells for four months, at which point the firm went under and I joined Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (BLG), where I spent 16 months until it was taken over. The final four months of my training contract were spent at the firm which acquired BLG, Clyde & Co.
So I can empathise with the Cobbetts current and future trainees. They're in period of uncertainty and upheaval, which – it is no exaggeration to say – can cause one to question whether their chosen career path is for them. I hope they don’t have to go through yet another firm amalgamation after they settle into DWF: while such upheaval helps you develop resilience, it means you have less time to focus on developing the skills you need to learn as a trainee solicitor.
Whatever happens, the ex-Cobbetts trainees will still have to deal with some interesting power dynamics. Earlier this week it emerged that several former Cobbetts partners are quitting the new firm, while the remainder will not be allowed to immediately join the equity. Significantly, Cobbetts' former managing partner Nick Carr and senior partner Stephen Benson have not been given a seat on DWF's management board.
These developments underline the fact that the Cobbetts trainees are no longer at the firm they joined. Glib as this may sound, it’s important. While the realities of working in a law firm are rarely congruent with graduate recruitment copy or vacation scheme experiences, many future trainees do get a sense of the nature and culture of a firm they’re joining. BLG and certainly Clyde & Co were different firms to Halliwells, and to each other.
Still, both tried. BLG did a great job shortly after taking over Halliwells’ insurance arm – bringing us down to London for training and giving us plenty of opportunity to integrate with the existing intake both professionally and socially. When BLG merged with Clydes, an enormous Christmas party was thrown for the trainees of the newly merged firm at the swanky London office. There was us battle-hardened Halliwells veterans, the BLG trainees – a little wary after the merger – and the Clydes trainees. A mixed group indeed! Personally I spoke to/inflicted myself on as many trainees as I could, and thought they were all sound men and women from the limited interaction I had with them. But after leaving the firm at the end of my training contract, I have no idea how integration subsequently panned out.
The most important question, of course, is whether the ex-Cobbetts trainees will be safe when they qualify. With trainee intakes, law firms try to project resourcing requirements up to two years in advance. And, judging by recent retention rates, they're reasonably good at it. But DWF now has far more trainees than it envisaged when setting intake levels a few years back.
In this respect, there’s lots of stuff to think about. DWF have taken on Cobbetts’ clients and the work-in-process. But how much of it will they hang onto? Will some clients eventually decide to go elsewhere? Will ex-Cobbetts partners leave after their agreed two-year lock-in expires, potentially taking teams, clients and fee-earners with them? Will DWF structure servicing of the work such that non-qualified fee earners are required for the bulk of it, rather than newly qualified solicitors?
For the Manchester trainees at BLG/Clydes, everyone in my intake was offered positions on qualification (I didn’t apply for one as I had decided to leave the law and spend some time travelling). My colleagues in the same intake who went with the commercial arm of Halliwells to Gateleys were all also offered jobs. However, sadly this wasn’t the case with all the trainees above us in the second year, who were in the midst of the qualification process when Halliwells collapsed.
Cobbetts wasn’t the first and won’t be the last firm to fold. While trainees certainly aren’t the ones who suffer the most when this happens, they face a lot of uncertainty – which is exacerbated by a lack of information. Through my experience with Halliwells, I've learned that we can’t control as much of our environment or circumstances as we think. While the experience has held me in good stead, it wasn't an easy time – before, during or after.