4Lex 100 winners

An interesting spread of firmshas found its way into thisimportant table this year.Perhaps most strikingly, thereare no fewer than five US firms.

They may not have been offeringtraining contracts for that long in

London, but whatever they’redoing, they seem to be getting it

right from their trainees’ point ofview. The cynical among you may put

this down to the huge salaries they pay,or you could point out that the training is

all pretty new and fresh – so there’s been relatively little time for candidates to feel jaded.

Whatever the reasons, the inclusion of five US firmsin this table is an excellent indication of the strength

of their training and their importance in the Londonmarket. But what about the firm at the very top of the

table? A new entry to the Lex 100 this year, Ipswich firm,Birketts, is clearly doing pretty well as far as trainees are

concerned. It seems that a good balance of commercial andprivate client work, early responsibility, sensible support, and

a friendly atmosphere has made the small group of trainees atBirketts very happy, despite the slightly limited social life. Justbehind Birketts is an interesting mix of firms ranging fromLondon shipping and insurance practice, Clyde & Co, to litigation-focused Kendall Freeman, through US corporate,Skadden Arps, to Newcastle commercial firm, Ward Hadaway,

showing that job satisfaction is a quality certainly not tied to aparticular type of firm.

Job satisfaction

Analysis

Birketts 9.50

Clyde & Co 9.00

Kendall Freeman 9.00

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (UK) LLP 9.00

Ward Hadaway 9.00

Anthony Collins Solicitors LLP 8.83

Covington & Burling 8.80

McCormicks 8.75

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP 8.67

Trowers & Hamlins 8.63

Andrew M Jackson 8.60

Forsters LLP 8.60

Teacher Stern Selby 8.60

Burges Salmon LLP 8.57

Ashfords 8.55

Coffin Mew & Clover 8.50

Kennedys 8.50

Lupton Fawcett LLP 8.50

Reed Smith 8.50

Farrer & Co 8.44

Shearman & Sterling (London) LLP 8.44

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1122 •• TThhee LLeexx 110000

As in the job satisfaction table,US firms have performed verywell in this new Lex 100Winners’ category – firm livingup to expectations. Covington &

Burling tops the list with a veryimpressive score, indicating that

the small number of loyal traineesdid their research properly and have

not been disappointed in their choiceof firm. They are happy to have

‘interested and responsive supervisors’ andfind the firm ‘a relaxed place to work – even

when there are time pressures’. Theinternational work, clients and opportunities have

also lived up to expectations. A wide spread of firmsappears in this table, with regional practices,

particularly those in the West of England, performingwell. Bristol-based Burges Salmon and TLT Solicitors,

Exeter-based Ashfords, and Plymouth-based Foot Anstey allsell a more relaxed lifestyle, alongside good-quality

commercial work, and trainees are clearly happy that thesefirms are living up to brochure promises. Interestingly a

number of medium-sized London firms, offering expertise inniche areas, also feature prominently here: Trowers & Hamlins(with specialisms ranging from public international law to socialhousing); Farrer & Co (strong in media, sport and employment);and Forsters (property expertise) all score highly, due to theirconfident, realistic promises to candidates, with no need to

oversell themselves. Regional firms with strong characters featurehere too – Leeds practice, McCormicks and Liverpool outfit, Brabners

Chaffe Street, are known for their outgoing, no-nonsense approach(as well as their high-profile sporting clients) and, again, trainees at

these firms are pleased that the reality has lived up to the hype.

Firm living up to expectations

Analysis

How far has the firm lived up to your expectations?

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Birketts 9.00


McCormicks 9.00


Ward Hadaway 9.00



Ashfords 8.82

Farrer & Co 8.80

Forsters LLP 8.80

TLT Solicitors 8.75

Browne Jacobson LLP 8.73

Foot Anstey 8.71

Kennedys 8.71



Jones Day 8.66

Brabners Chaffe Street LLP 8.60

TThhee LLeexx 110000 •• 1133

Leading this table is medium-sized London firm, KendallFreeman. A winner in anincredible nine out of ten Lex100 categories, the firm is clearly

getting things right as far astrainees are concerned. The firm’s

practice of involving trainees in realwork from day one (including

meeting clients, taking responsibilityfor files, and even being involved in

marketing and client developmentactivities) has met with much approval. The

interesting spread of practice areas (frominsurance and construction to public

international law) adds to the levels of satisfaction.As one trainee comments: ‘The training here is very

good – with opportunities to do important anddemanding tasks’. Other high scorers include Blackburn

firm, Forbes; Brighton practice, DMH and Crawley-basedasb law, indicating that geography plays no part in the

quality of work entrusted to trainees. London firms Manches(known for family law), Lewis Silkin (strong in media and

employment) and Harbottle & Lewis (niche media firm) alsomake it into the table. So what do all these firms have incommon? The answer appears to be their healthy attitude toinvolving trainees in as much ‘real work’ as possible from dayone. Trainees at these firms do not spend their timephotocopying or going on endless training courses, or being

shielded from clients until they are qualified. They haveresponsibility for their own files, are encouraged to interact with

clients and are provided with an interesting range of work to keepthem motivated while they learn. Many larger, more high-profile

firms could take heed from this winning approach.

Quality of work

Analysis


Forbes 9.00


Ward Hadaway 9.00

Jones Day 8.89


Wragge & Co LLP 8.83


DMH Stallard 8.75

Wedlake Bell 8.75

Farrer & Co 8.70

asb law 8.67

Birketts 8.67

Ashfords 8.63

Forsters LLP 8.60

Lewis Silkin LLP 8.50

Manches LLP 8.50

TLT Solicitors 8.50

Shoosmiths 8.47

Harbottle & Lewis LLP 8.40


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Not one of our highest scoringcategories, the amount (or lackof) client contact does appearto be something of an issue fortrainees at many firms. For some

reason, partners seem reluctantto unleash the newest members of

their firms on loyal and unsuspecting clients. While we can

understand you wouldn’t want a first-seat trainee handling your

make-or-break case, surely there must beroom for carefully supervised trainees to at

least attend client meetings (even if they’re justtaking notes rather than offering profound

advice). So our congratulations to the firms thatmade it into this table, indicating a realistic awareness

that trainees have to start somewhere, as far as clientcontact is concerned, and better to do it while you’re still

training rather than leaving it until the day you qualify.Interestingly, the top three scorers in the table are all

regional firms based in the South East of England. asb lawhas offices in Kent, Surrey, Sussex and south London and one

trainee comments: ‘client contact and responsibility exceedsthat in many larger firms’. B P Collins is based in Gerrards Crossin Buckinghamshire and, again, trainees compare theirexperiences favourably with those at larger firms: ‘we getresponsibility and client contact from day one’. Blake LapthornLinnell has offices in the Thames Valley and on the South coast,

and similarly, is not afraid to introduce trainees to clients at a veryearly stage, helping them to feel more involved and gain a fuller

picture on deals and cases. Equal third in the table is Londoncommercial and private client firm, Charles Russell, which has around

30 trainees, who clearly find the client contact one of the mostrewarding aspects of their training: ‘in client meetings you see the reality

and “emotiveness” of the legal issues and the impact on a client’s entire life’.The rest of the firms in the table range from large US practices through

medium-sized London firms to smaller regional outfits. Those firms which fail tomake the table are larger London commercial practices with high numbers of trainees.

Client contact

Analysis

How would you rate your amount of client contact?

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asb law 8.67

B P Collins 8.67

Blake Lapthorn Linnell 8.62

Charles Russell LLP 8.62

Russell-Cooke 8.57

Jones Day 8.50

Penningtons Solicitors LLP 8.50


Farrer & Co 8.40

Forbes 8.40

Weil, Gotshal & Manges 8.40

Ashfords 8.36

Irwin Mitchell 8.20


Boyes Turner 8.17


Shoosmiths 8.10

Bird & Bird 8.08

Fox Williams 8.00

Howes Percival 8.00


Kennedys 8.00

Teacher Stern Selby 8.00

Ward Hadaway 8.00


Lex 100 winners

Unfortunately, in the legalworld, a bit of stress comeswith the territory. But whichfirms manage to keep a lid onthe boiling pot, while others let

fly with the steam? Well funnilyenough, you won’t find any Magic

Circle firms in this table, nor manybig commercial firms, whether

London, regional or US. So well doneto Kirkpatrick & Lockhart and Covington

& Burling who buck the trend and showthat top-level commercial work doesn’t

always have to equal high-level stress. AsCovington & Burling trainees comment, it is the

approachable and supportive staff who make thefirm ‘a relaxed place to work even when there are

time pressures’. While at Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, it is thesensible approach to working hours which keeps the

stress levels down: ‘other firms may pay a bit more buthere you get a reasonable work culture’, and when asked

the best thing about the firm, many K&L trainees summed upwith ‘the people and the hours’. Of the other London firms in

the table, it is generally the smaller outfits with specialist practice areas which do well here: private client firm, PayneHicks Beach; IP/IT specialist Bird & Bird; and Farrer & Co (withstrengths in defamation, family and employment). And overall,there are notably more regional firms in this table than Londonones, adding fuel to the notion that working in the City does

bring with it higher stress levels than the (generally shorter) daysspent outside the Big Smoke. So particular congratulations to top

scorer, Kendall Freeman, which manages to combine its Fetter Lanelocation (near to Chancery Lane and the High Courts – but outside the

City Square Mile) and its commercial litigation focus, with a limitedamount of stress. Trainees put this down to the approachability of every-

one and the good work/life balance. Outside London, Birmingham firm,Anthony Collins; Ipswich firm, Prettys; and Buckinghamshire practice, B P

Collins fare especially well.

Stress levels

Analysis



Prettys 7.67

Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP 7.50

B P Collins 7.33

Payne Hicks Beach 7.33

Bird & Bird 7.31

Farrer & Co 7.30




Ashfords 7.00

Birketts 7.00


DMH Stallard 7.00

Harbottle & Lewis LLP 7.00

Henmans LLP 7.00


McCormicks 7.00

Shoosmiths 6.87

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The good news for current andwould-be trainees is thatwork/life balance has producedsome very high scores this year,showing that you don’t

necessarily have to sell your soulto ‘The Firm’, as long as you

choose wisely. Once again, youwon’t find any Magic Circle or big

City firms in this table, and regionalfirms outperform (by some distance

here) larger London practices. As for thefirm at the top of the table, it can bask in the

glory of having received a perfect top scorefrom all its respondent trainees. Granted there are

not that many of them, (generally 12 at any onetime), but Birmingham firm, Anthony Collins, is a

shining example of the attitude that there is more to lifethan work. Interestingly though, the trainees here praise

the work they do as much as the fact that they are notchained to their desks. The firm excels in social housing,

charities and community regeneration projects and whatappears to make the trainees very happy with their lives is that

they ‘are making a difference, not just making money’. It seemsto be contentment with their work, as much as their reasonablehours, which makes these trainees feel they have a perfectwork/life balance. In equal second place are two very differentfirms: London private client and property practice, Payne HicksBeach; and full-service Ipswich firm, Prettys. Despite their obvious

differences, these firms do have a number of things in common:firstly, a longstanding reputation in their niche areas of excellence;

and secondly, the confidence in their skills to allow their lawyers tohave time for their own lives and interests, while still serving their loyal

clients to the best of their abilities. Of the other winners, it is notable thatleading regional players such as Manchester-based Cobbetts and Bristol

firm Burges Salmon, find their way into this table. This is good news forcandidates who want top-level commercial work outside the City, and are looking

for a good work/life balance into the bargain. It also shows that Burges Salmon’s high-profile ad campaign depicting rush hour on the tube in the City, comparing the life of a

squashed ‘sardine’ with that of a relaxed Bristol ‘salmon’, might reflect reality.

Work/life balance

Analysis

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Payne Hicks Beach 9.33

Prettys 9.33

Kennedys 9.29

Ashfords 9.18


Cobbetts 9.10

Bircham Dyson Bell 9.00


Farrer & Co 9.00Henmans LLP 9.00


Cripps Harries Hall LLP 8.90


Foot Anstey 8.79


Clarke Willmott 8.78

Bates Wells & Braithwaite 8.75

DMH Stallard 8.75

Birketts 8.67

Boyes Turner 8.67


Reed Smith 8.67


Lex 100 winners

We are happy to report that‘friendliness of the firm’ wasthe highest scoring Lex 100category for the second yearrunning. There is a good mix of

London and regional firms here,and, once again, US practices

performed well, with four entries inthe table. Tied at the top of the pile

are three regional firms whosetrainees clearly have much to shout

about as far as friendliness is concerned –amazingly every respondent trainee from

Anthony Collins, Lupton Fawcett andMcCormicks credited their firm with a perfect

ten. Birmingham firm, Anthony Collins, also scoredten in the work/life balance table and clearly has a

very happy bunch of trainees. The friendly atmosphere iskey to the trainees’ contentment and they find their

fellow lawyers ‘genuinely nice people’, ‘with a passion fortheir work’. ‘The friendliest firm in Leeds’, according to its

own trainees, Lupton Fawcett is a solid, full-service firmwhere ‘everybody gets on well with each other and has

respect for one another’. The renowned friendliness is evidentboth ‘in terms of socialising and during working hours whenhelp is required’. Another Yorkshire firm laying claim to the‘friendliest firm in Leeds’ crown, is the high-profile McCormicks(with strengths in media, sport and crime). Trainees here aresimilarly full of praise for the ‘friendliness of the people and the

fact that everyone is treated with respect’. They are also happythat ‘everyone has a sense of humour – they take their work

seriously, but not themselves’. Generally, it is worth noting that mostfirms in this table have a relatively small trainee intake, suggesting

that it is easier to have a friendly atmosphere with a smaller group ofpeople to get to know. However, overall scores are extremely high in this

category and many large firms which don’t appear in this list also scoredvery well for friendliness. For example, Wragges, with a trainee total of around

50, probably has the largest intake in the list, and with a score of 9.17 only makesit into the table at number 20. The good news is – it may be hard work out there – but it

also seems that most law firms are pretty friendly places.

Friendliness of the firm

Analysis



McCormicks 10.00


TLT Solicitors 9.75

Farrer & Co 9.70




Ward Hadaway 9.50

Ashfords 9.45


Birketts 9.33

Reed Smith 9.33

Charles Russell LLP 9.31

Cobbetts 9.29

DMH Stallard 9.25

Jones Day 9.24

Forsters LLP 9.20


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Not only is it ‘the friendliestfirm in Leeds’, according to itsown trainees, but LuptonFawcett also appears to have thebest social life. Trainees and their

colleagues enjoy a very sociableworking environment, which

extends into a ‘happening’ sociallife when they hit the bars, pubs and

clubs of Leeds. ‘We all socialisetogether and knowing everyone’s name

from early on is a big bonus!’, commentsone sociable trainee. Manchester-based

Pannone is well-known for its leading personalinjury and private client departments and for its

expanding commercial focus. It is also well-knownfor its diverse programme of extra-curricular activities

and fantastically well-organised social life, hence its highscore here. Trainees get involved in all manner of events,

from quizzes to pool tournaments to trips abroad, as wellas the normal partying. There is also a ‘regular provision of

cream cakes’ and days off for Christmas shopping. When itcomes to perks and social life, it’s pretty hard to beat

Pannone. Birmingham-based Wragge & Co has a good trythough, with another high score here. Trainees are a ‘great

bunch’ who are very happy socialising together, whether it’sorganised by the firm, or whether they just get on with it in thepub themselves. It sounds like the ‘Mars Bar cake’ might rival thecream cakes too! International firm, Jones Day, also knows how togive its trainees a good time. In addition to the people who are a

‘laugh’ and the London social life which is ‘messy’, trainees here geta ‘bonding’ trip to Washington at the start of the contract and this

has proved to be a ‘memorable highlight’. It is good to see a widecross-section of firms in this table (from international giant, Baker &

McKenzie, through Liverpool-based Brabners Chaffe Street, to Ipswichstalwart, Prettys), indicating that a less than glamorous location is no

excuse for a poor social life.


Social life

Analysis

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Pannone LLP 9.05


Jones Day 9.03



McCormicks 8.75


Browne Jacobson LLP 8.67

Walker Morris 8.63


Denton Wilde Sapte 8.60


Cobbetts 8.48

Farrer & Co 8.40

Forsters LLP 8.40

Baker & McKenzie LLP 8.09

Nabarro Nathanson 8.00

Prettys 8.00


TLT Solicitors 8.00

Lex 100 winners

Vacation schemes are becomingincreasingly important for bothlaw firms and candidates. Firmsuse them to cherry-pick the bestcandidates and must sell

themselves well if they want thecream of the crop to choose them

for their training contract. Theconversion rate of vacation scheme

students to trainees is a big deal formany firms, with practices like Nabarro

Nathanson proud to advertise a 90%conversion rate (ie 90% of current trainees

did a vacation scheme with the firm, wereoffered a job, and most importantly, chose to stay).

Vac schemes are also key for candidates to gain aninsight into different types of practice, and provide a

helpful two weeks to make a good impression. Amazinglythe five firms at the top of this table scored a perfect ten in

this category, and the good news for candidates is that thegeneral quality of vacation schemes is getting better all the

time. At full-service Hull firm, Andrew M Jackson, ‘everyone onthe vacation scheme was friendly’; at US practice, Covington &

Burling, there were no mundane photocopying tasks to be done;while at London commercial litigation-focused Kendall Freeman, ‘Iwas given interesting work to do even as a mere vacation student’.At Kennedys (London defendant insurance practice), vacationstudents were enticed by the hands-on experience and fascinatingreal-life work, such as the Hatfield Rail disaster litigation; and at

Leeds firm, McCormicks, they were pleased to get a real sense of thehard-working, but very friendly atmosphere and an insight into the

high-profile clients and interesting work. It is good to see this tablecontains a wide spread of firms from large London practices like

Simmons & Simmons and SJ Berwin, to smaller regional firms like CoffinMew & Clover and Forbes – showing you don’t always need to have swish

offices and flash support systems to offer a good, varied vacation scheme.What candidates seem to appreciate most is being kept busy (nobody wants to sit

around feeling like a spare part) in a friendly atmosphere, with the opportunity toexperience a range of interesting work. See our article on Vacation Schemes on page 399

for further information.

Vacation schemes

Analysis




Kennedys 10.00

McCormicks 10.00

Reed Smith 9.50

Wedlake Bell 9.50

Cobbetts 9.29Nabarro Nathanson 9.29

Farrer & Co 9.25


Burges Salmon LLP 9.21Ashfords 9.20

Jones Day 9.17

Baker & McKenzie LLP 9.00



Forbes 9.00

Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP 9.00

Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP 9.00

SJ Berwin LLP 9.00

Simmons & Simmons 9.00


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The million dollar question:will there be a job for you atthe end of your two years’ hardslog? There are, of course, noguarantees when it comes to

securing a permanent job onqualification, but it is interesting

to note that scores in this categoryvary dramatically between firms. It

is, traditionally, an area fraught withcontroversy and we received many

complaints about the ‘uncertainty’ and‘lack of transparency’ surrounding the quali-

fication process. Not to mention the problemof the firms being unable to accommodate every-

one in their first choice of department. For somelucky trainees, however, there doesn’t seem to be too

much to worry about. The confidence factor (shown inspades by trainees at the above firms) boils down to a

number of issues: the firm’s past record on retention; theprevailing economic climate; how well your firm has per-

formed over the past year; indications to individuals given inappraisals; and, of course, an optimistic, self-assured attitude

(which seems to be a common characteristic shared bytrainees at some of the powerful firms mentioned in this table).Four out of the five Magic Circle firms feature here: Slaughterand May; Linklaters; Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy; as wellas a number of US firms and other top-performers such asWragge & Co, Burges Salmon and Macfarlanes. This suggests to

us that ‘confidence of being kept on’ has as much to do with therobust, self-confident attitude associated with these firms (and

their trainees) as it has to do with the reality of retention rates.Good luck to them all!

Confident of being kept on?

Analysis

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White & Case 8.89

Thomas Eggar 8.80

Slaughter and May 8.74

Watson, Farley & Williams LLP 8.74

asb law 8.67

Foot Anstey 8.64


Linklaters 8.33

Clifford Chance 8.31

Macfarlanes 8.31


Jones Day 8.28

Lovells 8.26

Allen & Overy LLP 8.22

Forbes 8.20


Lex 100 winners

Documents

4Lex 100 winners