Best Recruiter – National/Large Regional Firm
Osborne Clarke LLP
The firm prides itself on its friendly and approachable culture and this is very much in evidence during the recruitment stage.
‘Going into battle’, ‘coming under fire’ – descriptions of legal life may be riddled with martial metaphors but few would go so far as to draw real parallels between the life of a lawyer and that of a soldier. Yet for trainee William Pullan – formerly of 4th Battalion, the Rifles– there are several significant crossovers. “My working environment here is dry and warm,” he jokes. “Quite different to the Brecon Beacons in January! But it’s good to know that you can take the skills and communications you have learnt in a previous career and apply them here.”
Osborne Clarke is very open, very collegiate, a high-support culture – this makes us attractive to people from non-traditional backgrounds
‘Here’ is Osborne Clarke, which has just snagged its second consecutive LCN Award for Best Recruiter – National/Large Regional firm. And while William’s CV might make him stand out at some firms, he is by no means unusual at Osborne Clarke for having enjoyed a previous career.
Training principal Catherine Wolfenden explains that the firm actively seeks out candidates who have thought hard about why commercial law is for them and are not simply following the well-trodden path of: law at A level, law degree, straight onto an LPC. “Obviously, we do find exceptional candidates who have taken this route,” she says. “But it’s actually quite unusual to have thought hard about what it is you want to do and to be that certain from such an early age. While we’re looking for evidence that candidates will have the intellectual agility and capability to be a lawyer – the law is after all an academic profession – we don’t find it by looking at what university or LPC provider a candidate went to. We’re looking for proof that they’ve challenged themselves intellectually; that they have the ability to think in a way that is more than just providing legal advice – the opportunity to explore commercial experience including through work placements.”
Zoe Reid, senior recruitment advisor, backs this up: “Osborne Clarke is very open, very collegiate, a high-support culture – this makes us attractive to people from non-traditional backgrounds.” Certainly, William found that his army career was no barrier to settling in. “There are people from all sorts of background in my intake – those who’ve studied law and those who’ve had other careers first. It’s nice to have that mix.” In particular, he was impressed with the tailored nature of the support he received – after he accepted Osborne Clarke’s offer of a training contract, Zoe put him in touch with an ex-RAF pilot also at the firm. “It was really good to talk to him about how he’d made that transition,” he recalls. “I remember thinking – they’ve gone beyond what’s necessary here.”
I believe that a firm with the size and stature of Osborne Clarke should be committed to growing and enhancing the legal profession as a whole
The firm’s outreach efforts start with Zoe and the graduate recruitment team – they tend to visit between 10 and 15 universities from October to December, covering not only all the big law fairs, but also striking out alone by putting together their own presentation evenings in an effort to attract attention from those who might not otherwise consider a career in law. The team is also working to develop links with student law societies, an increasingly important part of its recruitment strategy. “Every legal discipline is different,” Catherine argues, explaining Osborne Clarke’s willingness to think outside the box and to recruit so widely. “So we need to have a broad cross-section of candidates. We are after a diverse mix, which will grow the firm in different legal areas. A brilliant tax lawyer has different skills and character traits to those which make for a fantastic IP litigator.” She is under no illusions that this sort of diversity can happen without help. “Despite our best efforts, there will always be unconscious bias involved,” she points out. “A danger that we might recruit in our own image. For that reason, we look carefully at the make-up of our recruiters and ensure that we have a wide variety of people involved at all different levels. Three members of the trainee leadership group read through applications after the first sift – initially we get hundreds – and we all talk through our choices and argue them to each other. At the assessment centre we have people involved from partners to associates. Osborne Clarke makes no secret of the fact that it is looking not just for academic excellence, but also commercial awareness and skills development. “In the application form, we want to see that a candidate can articulate themselves clearly and succinctly in the 250-300 word space,” Zoe explains. “That’s crucial.” However, applicants need not panic. “We’re not looking for the finished article – we are looking for evidence of raw talent, intellectual ability, the ability to strike up a rapport with new people, and the confidence to make themselves heard during group exercises. We want to see people pick up a business issue and run with it. As well as that, we want to see evidence of “soft skills” – that they’re articulate and confident individuals.” William went to a number of assessment centres and interviews – leaving the army and embarking on a career in law was not a decision he took lightly – but Osborne Clarke stood out for being a place he felt comfortable. “Even though there was the pressure that this was my number one choice, I always felt they put me at ease by the way they approached the process,” he recalls. “And it works both ways – if you’re at ease, people perform better. It was challenging – I was very aware that other people there are extremely high achieving – but the atmosphere was friendly and I came out feeling very happy with myself. Other assessment centres were not as pleasant.”
As should be apparent by now, the resources needed to provide a good training contract – let alone an outstanding one – are significant. Catherine confides that she is often asked why Osborne Clarke doesn’t simply recruit from the market, awarding jobs to qualified lawyers rather than training them in-house. “I believe that a firm with the size and stature of Osborne Clarke should be committed to growing and enhancing the legal profession as a whole,” she argues. “One of the most significant ways we can do that is by investing in a high-quality training programme. We treat our trainees as trainees, not as paralegals – they’re here to learn. We stress test whether each and every individual would benefit from doing a training contract with us – for this we have buy-in from the Executive Board down. Our trainees are the partners of the future – we need people who will build this firm.”
This fighting talk is borne out by William’s experience of his training contract so far and the quality of work he receives. At the time of writing he was in his second seat – banking – his first was in planning. “They’re poles apart!” he admits cheerfully. “Planning was very advisory with a lot of research; I was working closely with clients, coming up with hundreds of notices for big infrastructure projects. Banking is a lot more transactional. While it’s also client based, you see a lot more of other solicitors and there is masses of negotiation. I sit next to my supervisor – there’s always someone to speak to, for quick questions. It’s nice to have that safety net – you know you’re doing the best for your client.”
“In my opinion it’s the best they could hope for in a training contract,” Catherine asserts, when asked about the level of appraisal and support within the training contract. “The two years is more than trainees gaining their hands on technical experience, it’s about learning to become part of the Osborne Clarke family.” Trainees can expect to receive a mid-seat and end-of-seat review; they themselves set objectives at the start of the seat and then take another look at these mid-seat, updating them as necessary. “For instance, at the start of this seat I wanted to improve my drafting,” William recalls, “as there wasn’t much of it in planning. Now I’m getting into bigger matters, the churn of documents between parties, the ins and outs – I really feel that I’m fulfilling that objective.” In addition to these formal appraisals, all trainees have weekly meetings with their supervisor to check on workload and general progress.
Such investment is not indulgence; rather, it is an accurate reflection of the expectations placed on trainees and newly qualified lawyers – by both firms and clients. “They need to demonstrate commercial drive and business focus and to know what they want,” Zoe maintains. “From our side, we’re seeing a greater interest in a career as a lawyer – we now receive more applications than ever before. It’s a highly desirable career.”
Given this, it’s perhaps little surprise that Osborne Clarke makes such efforts to set itself apart – fortunately, its main selling point appears to come naturally. “We are what we say we are,” Zoe laughs. “From all our marketing literature to every single one of our interactions, we are a high-support, high-challenge environment. We are selling what we are – it’s not a false dream. We are true and honest, and that resonates with people.”
“Mark Wesker, the Bristol training principal, talked to us at our induction about when he was a trainee and the trepidation he felt,” William muses. “And he remembered being told: if you make a mistake, we will make it right again. It’s reassuring to hear that from the higher echelons of the firm – to know that if you give your all, they’ve got your back. For instance, if I send an email to a client, my supervisor might follow it up, just to supplement the background. Mistakes will happen – it’s not a total catastrophe.”
And while William enjoys the fact that he is considerably more comfortable in Osborne Clarke than in his previous army career, he’s even happier to discover that the best aspects of military life can be found in a law firm too. “It’s the teamwork,” he says simply. “There, I was a platoon commander with the infantry; I was working with serjeants, corporals, riflemen and company commanders. Here, I’m in a department with two partners, associate directors and associates – everyone has a level, everyone’s working together and there’s that same sense of camaraderie.”
Best Recruiter – National/Large Regional Firm
The firm prides itself on its friendly and approachable culture and this is very much in evidence during the recruitment stage.
Best Trainer – US Firm in the City
Morrison & Foerster (UK) LLP
I am genuinely astounded by the level of support that I have received. The client contact has been far more than I was expecting and the partners always insist on getting you involved where possible.
No profile of Morrison & Foerster would be complete without mentioning what is possibly the best nickname in the entire legal profession – MoFo. The firm’s website explains how it came about: “In the 1970s, when teletype was used to send overseas cables, the firm purposely chose ‘mofo’ as our teletype address. The nickname stuck, and we later decided to use it as our web address. In many ways, the MoFo nickname is an affectionate reminder that while we are very serious about our clients’ work, we don’t take ourselves too seriously.”
We regularly find that trainees and associates operate at a level well above their peers at much larger firms
That encapsulation of the firm’s culture feeds into what is also affectionately known as the ‘Mofo mojo’, as Jeremy Jennings-Mares, capital markets partner and training principal, explains: “We do focus a great deal on the ethos of the firm – the MoFo feel – and so the people that we tend to recruit fit in with that.”
MoFo has more than 1,000 lawyers in 16 offices around the world and has had a London presence for over 35 years. However, the firm keeps its trainee intake deliberately small – one of its many selling points and a crucial reason that it is this year’s winner of the LCN Award for Best Trainer – US Firm in the City. Lynnsey McCall is head of legal talent and recruitment (Europe); her view is that an annual intake of around five is beneficial for all, particularly the trainees themselves. “It ensures that they get a lot of responsibility and the opportunity to progress quickly,” she maintains. “We regularly find that trainees and associates operate at a level well above their peers at much larger firms. They love having the chance to demonstrate what they can do and being rewarded quickly for their contributions. They are playing a valuable role; they can see that what they’re doing directly impacts the case, deal or matter.”
Eliska Macnerova, second-year trainee, cites diversity – of both people and work – as one of the main things that attracted her to the firm. “I came across MoFo when I was studying at King’s College,” she explains. “I researched them in advance of the law fair and liked that their tech sector and corporate law expertise aligned neatly with my master’s subjects and my dissertation. However, what truly set MoFo apart from other firms at the law fair was their diversity, both in terms of their trainee intake, with trainees recruited from different countries, backgrounds and age groups, and also in terms of work and clients – I spoke to one of their trainees about advising big corporations as well as small start-ups. Everything I’d read about them was confirmed when I spoke to them in person.”
Eliska had the chance to gain an even deeper understanding while on MoFo’s two-week vacation scheme – a prerequisite for being awarded a trainee contract. “I spent my time in the employment and corporate departments, and was given a variety of real work to do, including drafting, research, analysis and taking part in business development events,” she recalls. “At the end, I had an informal chat with grad rec about my experiences. I found the entire process very transparent – we were told who would be giving feedback on us, the timeline and how we would be assessed, which was very refreshing. Overall, the firm left a very good impression on me; they were welcoming and supportive throughout, and there was an emphasis on it being a two-way process, in that both parties had to be confident that it was a good fit.”
Jeremy explains why the vacation scheme plays such a central role in the recruitment process. “During that time, we’re not only assessing the candidates, but they’re assessing us on whether this is a place that they can imagine working and fitting in,” he points out. “From our point of view, we’re that much more certain than we would be if it were based solely on a couple of interviews that the person will contribute to the culture that we have created. In terms of settling in as trainees, it helps that they have all come through the vacation scheme, so will have worked for us for a couple of weeks and know each other already.” This process is further eased by the efforts that MoFo takes to keep in touch with its future joiners between being hired and before joining. “We were invited to all the Christmas and summer parties,” Eliska recollects. “And the firm facilitated an in-house internship for me at one of their clients, prior to me starting the legal practice course (LPC). So they kept in touch both socially and professionally! They also managed to match my experience on the internship with my first seat in the technology and transactions group, which was a good transition.”
Our trainees and associates have a voice and we listen to what they are looking for in terms of training and seek regular feedback about training that has been provided to ensure that we’re meeting their needs
Part of Lynnsey’s role over the last 18 months has involved revamping the training process, with a specific emphasis on induction training. “When I joined the firm, I worked closely with our professional support lawyer and the marketing and business development team, and solicited feedback from the partners and associates to look at what the trainees really needed for successful on-boarding,” she recalls. “We wanted to give them both the technical knowledge and practical skills to enable them to transition into their roles swiftly. As a result, we made some significant changes to our trainee orientation programme. We now work with some excellent external providers to deliver training on client care, time management and effective communication. These are three areas that are key to giving people a smooth start. We have been delighted with the feedback from the sessions and how quickly the trainees in the September 2016 intake were able to make an impact.” Eliska confirms that she felt “much more prepared after those two weeks, and it really smoothed the transition from LPC to a professional environment”.
Not content to arm trainees with an arsenal of useful skills, Lynnsey and the firm recognised the importance of supplementing that with training specifically designed for MoFo’s associates. Lynnsey says: “We offered them training on how to supervise and delegate, so that the skills the trainees were developing in respect of delivering high-quality work was mirrored by what the associates were learning about how to delegate effectively, give constructive feedback and engage trainees on the work they were given.” This all feeds into a strong emphasis on aligning training with the firm’s core values: “All of the training we offer fits in with MoFo’s strategy and key priorities, and overall vision for the firm. For example, one strategic priority is about capitalising on MoFo’s reputation and expertise, so the technical training fits into that. Another relates to building strong networks internally and externally, and the client care modules fit within that priority.”
Jeremy summarises the importance of building trainees’ key skills early: “We are extremely focused on them developing the practical skills which they will need on a day-to-day basis in relation to the clients that we have and the type of transactions that they will be involved with. Sometimes we bring external speakers and trainers in to help, including barristers and experts from the tech world, so it’s a good mix with our own people.” Early training leads to a confidence that encourages greater responsibility. “There is a high level of responsibility in terms of tasks; I have found myself writing articles on developments in the tech sphere, drafting commercial contracts, speaking directly with clients and supporting the department with research,” Eliska reports. “In corporate, there has been a lot more transactional work, including drafting due diligence reports, coordinating input from different departments, and working on mergers and acquisitions.” She is also benefitting from an expanding practice: “When I was on the vacation scheme, the funds and derivatives departments did not even exist in the London office. And now, I will be doing a split seat in these two departments! I’ve already been involved with helping to set up some funds and met a variety of clients, so I’ve already had some great experience with the funds department.”
Trainees are given a liaison mentor, who is there for them throughout the training contract and is distinct from their seat supervisor, serving more of a mentoring role. Encouraging senior people at the firm to get involved with recruitment and training has never been hard, comments Jeremy: “I get the feeling that all the lawyers in the London office are heavily invested in our trainee programme – partly because they see the beneficial effects of it on their particular practice area and client work. That starts from the outset, when we’re making recruitment decisions about who will be our next group of trainees – there is a high level of office-wide input into this, including feedback on the vacation scheme students. We like our prospective trainees to have contact with as many different people in the office as possible.”
That is also central to the famous MoFo feel. “The culture here is inclusive and compared to other firms, our structure is relatively flat, trainees seek and receive feedback directly from partners, and work with them closely,” maintains Lynnsey. “Our trainees and associates have a voice and we listen to what they are looking for in terms of training and seek regular feedback about training that has been provided to ensure that we’re meeting associates and trainees’ needs. We try hard to achieve the right balance between formal learning opportunities and the chance to work in teams on exceptional deals and cases, all of which helps to accelerate our trainees and associates’ development.”
Jeremy agrees: “Our culture is very important to us – that is more than just lip service. Equally, our culture is generally regarded as very attractive by recruits; there is more and more recognition in the market about how we operate as firm, so trainees do know what they’re getting. The focus on culture is something that we take very seriously.”
Reflecting back, in her first seat alone Eliska had the chance to use her language skills, working with colleagues, local counsel and clients in Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, the United States and Asia, building up her business development skills, and flying the flag for the firm overseas. “My most memorable experience was a trip to Cyprus,” she enthuses. ”Just the client from Hong Kong and me travelled there to carry out due diligence interviews. A lot of trust was placed in me to represent the firm on my own but I truly enjoyed it!” Her expectations of what life as a trainee at MoFo would be like have been surpassed: “On the vacation scheme, I felt that I could really be myself, the firm appreciated my set of skills and brought up my strengths. Everyone was very open to sharing their experiences, and was interested in me as an individual and my development. This support and culture has become even more apparent during my training contract and now I am excited about sharing my experiences and helping our new trainees.” MoFo shows no sign of losing its mojo any time soon.
Best Trainer – US Firm in the City
I am genuinely astounded by the level of support that I have received. The client contact has been far more than I was expecting and the partners always insist on getting you involved where possible.
Best Recruiter – US Firm in the City
Vinson & Elkins RLLP
The recruitment process is geared towards creating a long-term fit, from both the firm’s and the candidate’s point of view.
It’s hard to know what to believe these days. Claims of ‘fake news’ echo around the corridors of power, opinion polls offer misleading projections and spurious financial statements even decorate the sides of buses. TV stars and pop singers aren’t to be trusted with their tax returns and apparently some adverts don’t always tell the whole truth; it’s even been mooted that there are members of the legal profession who can (and sometimes do) apply the facts in rather creative ways (perish the thought).
We really wanted to create a training contract that would allow trainees to feel they were not actually trainees but junior lawyers from day one
It’s refreshing, therefore, to discover that one of the overarching principles of the recruitment process at Vinson & Elkins (V&E) is to provide potential future lawyers with a full and honest impression of what life would be like should they be offered a place at the firm. While the vacation placement gives participants the chance to get stuck in to real work and impress from day one, the training contract is specifically designed to allow trainees to see cases and transactions through to completion.
“We really wanted to create a training contract that would allow trainees to feel they were not actually trainees but junior lawyers from day one – to have that feeling of responsibility and really being part of the team,” explains Mark Beeley, who was the firm’s first London trainee, the architect of the current training programme and V&E’s current training principal. “A pretty integral part of that was the idea of keeping them on a case or deal from the day they arrived through to that case or deal concluding.”
This is achieved through an unusual, non-rotational training contract. Although trainees will sit in several different practice areas during their two years, they are encouraged to accept work from any number of the firm’s departments. Crucially they do not leave matters they are working on behind when they move; this allows them to see those matters develop and, in the process, gain an understanding of the way more senior lawyers handle complex issues.
“When I first started at V&E, I was sitting in energy transactions and projects and got involved in a particular matter,” recalls Lucy Preston, a second-year trainee. “I’m still working on it now, more than 18 months later and it’s been very interesting. When you work on a case long-term, for example, you see partners make decisions and often you wonder at the time why those decisions were made. It’s only later, when you see the full picture as the case develops that you come to understand their reasons. It’s difficult to understand things in a vacuum. The more experience you have of working through the whole process, the more you understand the decisions that are made, you can react more quickly and engage with matters more. It’s been really beneficial, in fact, invaluable for me.”
Of course, the process doesn’t only favour the trainees, it also helps the firm to ensure it gets the maximum return for its efforts – especially given the relatively small size of this century-old US firm’s London office. “We don’t take many trainees on and we really invest in those that do come here,” claims Sarah Stockley, previously a V&E trainee and senior associate, and now a member of the graduate recruitment team. “That is not just financially, but in all aspects of their training. The ideal result is for them to remain with the firm: to become associates and then make partner. We want to start that process very early on – so, we say: ‘this is what we’re like, warts and all, either you like it or you don’t.’ I think it is far better for us to be honest from the start than for someone to come here and realise that it’s not quite what they thought it was going to be.”
The preferred method for recruitment is via the vacation placement scheme, which – as mentioned above – is also designed to offer an authentic taste of the V&E life and find those who savour it. To obtain a place on the scheme, the first stage is the now ubiquitous online application form. While everyone knows that most applicants apply to multiple firms, Lucy stresses how important it is to avoid generic answers.
We have a very flat hierarchy here so on a daily basis our trainees interact with partners, senior associates, associates, other trainees and support staff
“It is very obvious in an application if you have copied and pasted answers,” she points out. “Conversely, it’s also obvious when you have put a lot of effort into an application. What I found helpful was to sit down and ask myself what I was really looking for in a firm using the Training Contract and Pupillage Handbook, LawCareers.Net and other similar resources. By the time I had that shortlist it was clear that only four or five firms would fit the bill. So I wrote totally bespoke applications for each of them. By the time I did the one for V&E, which was my preferred choice, I was well practised.”
The myriad application forms are whittled down to between 50 and 60 candidates who get invited to attend an interview, conducted by Mark, Sarah and another member of the graduate recruitment team, Emilie Stewart, who is also an associate in the firm’s finance department. At interview, it is helpful to demonstrate that you know the sort of work the firm does and how that fits into the relevant industry markets and the wider business world.
“You don’t need to reach the most polished business conclusions,” suggests Lucy, “but if you can create a starting point for a conversation, it really stays with interviewers. It stands out when we meet the people on open days and vacation schemes that have done their research and have something to say. It’s as if they’re engaging with what you do not just talking about what they want, which is always good.”
The need for engagement is echoed by both Sarah and Mark. “Before the actual interview, candidates are given a problem question and time to prepare an answer, which then forms the beginning of the interview itself,” explains Sarah. “It’s not always getting the answer right that is important, it is how they present it. How they come across when they are talking to us, whether they make eye contact, what they do with their hands, those sorts of things. Obviously, you will get slightly different answers from people who are lawyers and non-lawyers, so we take that into account. If law students have had some experience of contract law, for example, then we will be looking for them to pick up on any relevant points in that area. It’s about them showing their strengths, whatever those strengths may be.”
While Mark agrees, his criteria are often much more related to how he sees the candidate operating as part of a team. “At interview we are looking for a combination of things,” he points out. “Like everyone else we want exceptional academics, but also some evidence of real-world experience. It’s very difficult in half an hour to make an assessment of the person, but – as we all work really long hours, in very close quarters – one of the tests in my head is that if I have to sit next to you on a long haul flight for 14 hours, am I going to want to reach out and strangle you at the end of it? It may be a tough test, but it’s the reality of the process. We can work cases locked in a hotel with a team for two weeks on end – I have to be sure that we are going to function and gel.”
The vacation scheme itself is once again designed to be as much like working for V&E as possible. The work allocation system is the same as that used on the training contract – meaning that work can come from three or four different departments. This gives candidates a sense of what it’s like to juggle different demands and be involved on different things at the same time. Mark is also clear that although there is a social side to the vacation placement, the firm doesn’t overdo things – once again, honesty prevails.
“We don’t do what some US firms in the City do and take them out to the ballet or sports every evening,” he explains. “We just don’t think it’s representative of what real life is like here and we want people to understand that. We feel that, as much as we are testing the candidates, they are also testing us. With a programme of just four trainees every year we can’t afford to get the wrong people and that works both ways – they have to be as comfortable with us as we are with them.
“The vacation scheme is also about making sure that the sense I wasn’t going to hate sharing an office with them after our first half-hour meeting was correct and that they can get on well with a range of people. We have a very flat hierarchy here so on a daily basis our trainees interact with partners, senior associates, associates, other trainees and support staff. We want to make sure that not only are they not going to go to pieces the first time a senior partner talks to them, but also that they are not rude and dismissive to their secretary, and really are going to be a good fit.”
It seems that honesty really is the best policy. Not only has Vinson & Elkins won the LCN Award for Best Recruiter in its category, but for the last few years the firm has also been able to offer all of its trainee solicitors a position at the firm – something of which Lucy is justifiably proud.
“Personally, I love working at V&E. I love the people and I love the work,” she exclaims. “I’ve been offered and have accepted a job at the firm and start in the disputes department in September. In fact, everybody in my year has been offered a role at the firm. They take on the number of trainees they think they can accommodate and the point is that you are training to be an associate at V&E, that is the aim throughout the entire recruitment process: the interview, the vacation scheme, the training contract – they are all quite rigorous processes and those that make it through them are pretty much V&E to the bone.”
Best Recruiter – US Firm in the City
The recruitment process is geared towards creating a long-term fit, from both the firm's and the candidate's point of view.
Best Trainer – Medium City Firm:
Kingsley Napley LLP
I have found that my supervisors and senior staff are willing to take the time to answer questions and explain instructions clearly. I have been given client contact throughout my training, including having my own clients. While enjoying this responsibility, I also felt well supervised, rather than being thrown in at the deep end.
Best Trainer – Medium City Firm:
Best Recruiter – Medium City Firm
BDB Pitmans LLP
The firm provided thoughtful recruitment and selection activities, which were different to those I had expected.
A firm with a long history, but a modern edge, Bircham Dyson Bell (BDB) is the worthy winner of this year’s Best Recruiter – Medium-Sized Firm award. With its main office at the heart of Westminster (and another in Cambridge), the firm’s government and infrastructure team carries out some of the most interesting work in this practice area – something that drew trainee Rahil Haq to the firm: “The location of the firm was a big thing for me; , although the firm is involved with projects throughout the country, it’s based in the heart of the capital, near Parliament and various government departments involved in the kind of projects the firm advises on.”
With a month’s paralegalling at the firm under his belt, Rahil’s decision to apply for a training contract there was a no-brainer, although he still had to undergo the same two-stage interview as the other candidates. “I took part in several role plays,” he recalls, reflecting on some of the key features of the process. “One involved having to offer advice to the interviewing partner who was pretending to be a client. None of the exercises required you to have any legal knowledge; instead they were designed to assess how well you think on your feet.”
We want the best candidates to choose us and feel comfortable with that decision, especially as it’s a long-term commitment on both sides
Nicola Jacobs, BDB’s HR manager, explains that the interview process is designed to test a range of skills. “We are assessing candidates in a number of different areas,” she points out. “It’s not just an ordinary interview. But we only ask them to do things that we would expect a trainee to be able to do; there’s nothing too abstract! The exercises are designed to showcase what the candidate would do in a particular scenario; we still want them to be themselves. We try to make it as real as possible. Not everyone is good at a straight interview, so the practical aspects of the process are important.”
On top of this Mark Challis, a partner in the government and infrastructure team and the firm’s graduate recruitment partner, maintains that the process is also determinedly balanced in its approach: “The idea is to give everyone the chance to shine, but in different situations. If they don’t do particularly well in one part, they have the chance to redeem themselves later on.” The recruitment process reflects our high standards, but is about doing our best to find the right people, not trying to catch people out. We place a lot of emphasis on giving everyone a fair opportunity to impress.”
Feeding into the idea of fair play is the space the firm’s vacation scheme occupies in the overall process – important, but by no means the only way to get a training contract. “There’s no separate assessment process for the vacation scheme, other than shortlisting the applications, so whether they’re then invited to a training contract interview depends largely on supervisor feedback from the two-week scheme,” explains Nicola. “We don’t offer training contracts to a specific percentage of vac scheme students, but those who have done the scheme are at an advantage of knowing more about the firm and having experiences that they can then talk about at interview.”
Mark agrees: “The vacation scheme is helpful in that it gives a participant the chance to learn about the firm from the inside and to have a good understanding of what it’s like to work here, but it doesn’t mean that person will be chosen over someone who hasn’t done the vac scheme.”
Not content to rest on their laurels, the graduate recruitment team and the interviewing panel – made up of around 12 partners and senior associates – reviews what has worked well and makes improvements every year. “At the end of the annual cycle, we all sit down and discuss our thoughts on how things have gone,” says Nicola. “We also informally ask candidates what they thought of it.
Partly as a response to that, we’ve amended the assessment format to ensure that candidates have a better idea of what we as firm do and where they might see themselves within BDB, rather than it just being us assessing whether the firm should take them on – it is very much a two-way process. That includes hosting a lunch with trainees and the managing or senior partner that is completely separate from, and forms no part of, the assessment process. It also helps candidates see that we take this seriously. We want the best candidates to choose us and feel comfortable with that decision, especially as it’s a long-term commitment on both sides.”
Having been involved with the firm’s graduate selection process for some time, Mark adds his thoughts on why BDB has changed the process quite substantially over the years. “We’ve made it more competency based, but also introduced a much more structured, two-stage process. One core element is that now we ask everyone the same questions; before it tended to be more free form in parts, but that meant it was much harder to judge people as every candidate had been asked different things. Although it’s more rigid now, it is fairer and better, including for the interviewing team, who have set questions to put instead of having to think what to ask next.”
The variety of work that we offer as a firm is wide, with some very distinctive seats
Part of the effectiveness of the process is ensuring buy-in from the entire firm. “The engagement and commitment from the recruitment panel is very nice to see. People like taking part, as it’s a change from their legal work and we all recognise the importance of selecting the right people in the firm’s long-term interest,” Mark explains. “We are conscious that strong candidates may well have more than one offer, so we need to explain why it would be best for them to train here as opposed to elsewhere. We always try to give open and honest answers, and welcome them asking whatever is on their minds about what a career at the firm would be like.” Nicola adds: “When I ask people to get involved, they seem to genuinely like being a part of the process. Someone recently came back from maternity leave and she was very keen to help. I feel very well supported – Mark and Sarah Clark, our training principal, a partner in the firm with overall responsibility for our trainee programme, are both great.”
The firm-wide commitment begins with assessing the application forms – a lengthy process for both applicants and reviewers, as Mark notes: “Going through the forms is a time-consuming job and I’m always impressed by how willing people in the firm are to do the job properly. We are very conscious that it takes a long time to complete these applications, so it is right that we take the time to read them carefully.”
Rahil’s experience of the entire recruitment process ended happily and having accepted his training contract offer, he spent a further year paralegalling at the firm and then a few months off before he was due to start. In fact, his reintroduction was via the summer party, “which was a great way to get back into life at the firm!”. Being invited to social events is just one way that Nicola stays in touch with her future joiners. “One of our soon-to-be trainees was part of the rowing team that took part in a regatta the other week! We’re keen for them to socialise ahead of joining so that they feel comfortable and part of things when they start. I also send out a quarterly newsletter, and the level of contact ramps up closer to the time when they’re due to start.”
Having officially joined, the first week of induction and Professional Skills Course is designed to bond the small cohort of five trainees and ease the transition between study and life as a working lawyer. “When trainees join us, it can be challenging time for them,” Mark explains. “We offer help and guidance. There is an understanding that it can be daunting; people here appreciate that.”
“The first week in the office, you are with all the new trainees for your induction and training,” Rahil recalls. “It’s a good opportunity to get to know your fellow trainees. At the end of that week, you meet your first seat supervisor, go through the handover with the departing trainee, and are introduced to the people in your new department. The firm is open plan so it is easy to speak to anyone; you sit within your departmental group, so asking questions is easy. You’re also given a buddy, who has recently qualified.”
Having fully settled in and now in his second seat, Rahil notes some of the best parts of a traineeship at BDB: “I feel that I have been given a lot of responsibility and have been entrusted with interesting work. I certainly have the chance now to do a lot more on my own, as I’ve become more experienced. Talking to friends at other firms – both smaller and bigger – I think that I receive excellent levels of responsibility, but also have a really good work/life balance.”
Nicola has her own view on why this is a great firm at which to launch a legal career. “We are an approachable firm,” she maintains. “Those who get involved with our recruitment are really passionate about the trainees, many have trained here themselves, so they are very engaged with the training process and understand how important it is – as well as remembering what it was like! The variety of work that we offer as a firm is wide, with some very distinctive seats. Also, because there are only five trainees, you get fully involved with the work – you are not on the periphery at all. Our trainees have a real understanding of where they sit within the process and the firm.”
“We recruit with the future in mind, so we’re looking for people who can make a good long-term contribution to the firm,” Mark explains. “That doesn’t necessarily mean becoming partner, but we do recruit on the basis that we want to retain all our trainees and for them to progress here, making a fulfilling contribution to the firm.”
With a final thumbs-up for their award-winning recruitment process, Nicola points out that the feedback from candidates affirms that the firm is projecting the right message. “They often say that they have enjoyed the process in a weird sort of way! They mention the friendly and welcoming people, and that they don’t feel that they’re trying to be caught out. And we do try to make it as relaxed as possible, of course bearing in mind that it is still a formal process. I definitely think it’s one of the things that sets us apart!”
Best Recruiter – Medium City Firm
The firm provided thoughtful recruitment and selection activities, which were different to those I had expected.
Best Trainer – Large City Firm
Taylor Wessing
The firm provides excellent training. All the partners and associates are on the same page in terms of ensuring that trainees are provided with a broad spectrum of work, which enables a holistic understanding of the particular seat. They also actively encourage learning and their doors are always open.
Best Trainer – Large City Firm
Best Recruiter – Large City Firm
Hogan Lovells
The recruitment team at the firm is exceptional – they are friendly, approachable and professional in their dealings with future joiners and trainees.
With its global reach and a reputation for technical excellence, Hogan Lovells stands apart from all but a few elite peers. One of the global elite, the firm is the product of an unprecedented transatlantic merger in 2010 that brought together two law firms with extensive, global connections and credentials.
Since 2010 the firm has gone from strength to strength – today it offers the full suite of commercial legal services from 49 offices in 25 countries. Its success is underpinned by world-class – and now LCN Award-winning – recruitment and training to help ensure that the next generation of Hogan Lovells solicitors maintain and develop the firm’s global status. This excellent recruitment programme is seen as a key part of the firm’s activities, as Louise Lamb, partner in the financial services disputes team and current graduate recruitment partner, explains: “We are fortunate to have a large number of people who are enthusiastic about devoting time to our graduate recruitment activities, from campus visits to assessment days and interviews. From partners to trainees, they give a lot of their time to help with a very busy recruitment calendar.”
If you are a prospective trainee looking for a combination of really extensive global reach, breadth of practice, a supportive and collaborative culture, and a first-class legal brand in the eyes of clients, then come to Hogan Lovells
However, getting to know candidates in some depth by having plenty of dedicated people involved in the process only gets you half way to a genuinely exemplary recruitment programme. David Moss, training principal and partner, explains how Hogan Lovells ensures that fairness and consistency are paramount, even across such a large number of interviewers and assessors. “All partners on the graduate recruitment panel have had training in the firm’s preferred approach to interviewing to ensure that the process is consistent for each candidate,” he maintains. “As well as motivation to join the legal profession and to join us specifically, we are looking to assess whether a candidate can think on the spot and articulate thoughts coherently. We also look for some commercial awareness – not of the type that you would expect of a veteran investment banker or economist, but basic business-related common sense.”
The style in which the assessment process is conducted is also important – the firm eschews the combative approach popularised in the public imagination by TV programmes such as “The Apprentice”. “The process – including the interview stage – is not about making candidates feel uncomfortable or trying to trip them up,” Louise explains. “Our approach is twofold; we want to test candidates’ abilities and strengths, and to take them outside of their comfort zones to see how they think on their feet. This means that we ask fairly probing questions about the topics we cover in interviews, but we do this in a way which is supportive and which encourages the candidate to shine. In our experience, candidates tend to enjoy being stretched and challenged, as long as this is done in the right way.”
Adeela Khan is a current trainee in the litigation team, whose memories of the assessment process are still relatively fresh. She first encountered Hogan Lovells while studying for her Graduate Diploma in Law in 2014. “It was perhaps quite an unusual connection,” she recalls. “I was still undecided about where I wanted to train and was volunteering at the National Pro Bono Centre in London at the time, where I was working with the Access to Justice Foundation. I got involved in a campaign called ‘It’s Not Just Peanuts’ – the initiative was all about encouraging firms to donate unclaimed client account money to access to justice causes. When I asked about how the campaign originated, I learned it was the brainchild of Hogan Lovells’ pro bono team. Everyone at the centre knew that I was interested in career opportunities at corporate firms and encouraged me to apply. After that, everything seemed to fall into place – Hogan Lovells was the first corporate firm that I applied to for a training contract and was also the first to invite me to an interview.” The firm has always taken its social responsibility seriously. It was the first firm to hire a dedicated pro-bono manager – 20 years ago.
As well as motivation to join the legal profession and to join us specifically, we are looking to assess whether a candidate can think on the spot and articulate thoughts coherently
The process which Adeela experienced remains the same today, both for applicants to the firm’s vacation schemes and those who apply directly for training contracts. Her initial application was reviewed, before she was invited to the next stage – a telephone interview and an online version of the Watson Glaser Test, which examines candidates’ critical thinking skills (skills highly relevant to the role of a lawyer). Following this she was selected as one of the six to eight candidates invited to a full day assessment day in the firm’s London office. “Although I – and probably many of the other interviewees – was nervous at the start, everyone we met was welcoming, and I got the feeling that the process was about getting to know us, rather than looking for faults. This made me feel calmer and able to show my skills and personality at their best. The assessment day began with a welcome from the graduate recruitment partner at the time, Tom Astle, who put us at ease and gave an introductory talk about the firm’s work and clients.”
A pen-and-paper variant of the Watson Glaser Test came next, followed by a group discussion on a business-related topic that also looked at how candidates would work in a team and group situation. Interviews took up the bulk of the afternoon, the first with two partners. “I remember the experience very clearly and I regularly say hi – and ‘thanks again!’ – to the partners from the competition team who interviewed me,” laughs Adeela. “I was asked the kinds of question that you would expect, such as ‘why law’ and ‘why Hogan Lovells’, but overall they were mainly interested in hearing a bit more about me and my experiences up to that point, as well as what departments I would be interested in sitting in as a trainee. It was an engaging, stimulating conversation, not an inquisition.”
The penultimate part of the day was a situational interview with two senior associates, who asked Adeela how she would respond in certain day-to-day situations she might encounter as a trainee, all of which were lifted from real life examples that trainees at Hogan Lovells have encountered. “I think that the questions were designed to draw out realistic responses – I didn’t feel that I was expected to present myself as someone who would live in the office and abandon any life outside work.”
Adeela did not have to wait long for feedback. “I got my offer just a few hours after the assessment day ended,” she explains. “I was called by one of the partners while I was at the gym to tell me the good news – it was a really nice touch that he called me himself, so soon after the interview.”
All future trainees complete the seven and a half-month accelerated Legal Practice Course (LPC) together at BPP Law School. The first part of this teaches the core requirements found on any LPC programme, while the optional electives which comprise the second part serve to prepare people for life at Hogan Lovells. “We require future joiners to complete electives in corporate transactions, debt finance and equity finance,” David explains. “They are really demanding electives and we update them continuously. Underpinning this is a desire to get people as prepared as possible for work at the firm, where they will be required to complete at least one seat in each of the corporate, finance and dispute resolution departments. By the time trainees join, they have undergone a pretty rigorous vocational course which sets up them up for work in a transactional, finance and litigation practice.”
The firm keeps in close touch with all soon-to-be trainees; in Adeela’s case it also kept in special contact to ensure that her visa requirements went through without a hitch. “I first moved to the United Kingdom from Pakistan as an international student and now I’m an international worker,” she explains. “It was reassuring that Hogan Lovells regularly checked in with me and provided support throughout the process of securing a work visa.”
Reflecting on her journey so far, Adeela enthuses that “the recruitment process and my experience since joining have definitely exceeded expectations. Before starting, I knew I was going to be working with high-quality, household name clients and that the work itself would be challenging, but I didn’t know just how good the reality of working at the firm would be – everyone is approachable and inclusive, so there is a real sense of shared goals and teamwork. As an international worker, I was daunted at the prospect of working in England because I didn’t know what the atmosphere would be like, but Hogan Lovells is very inclusive and diverse, and there is an international outlook – we are constantly working with our colleagues in other offices all over the world on transactions which often have little to do with London other than the fact that they are governed by English law.”
To sum up the appeal of the firm to an aspiring lawyer, Louise draws on her own experience. “If you are a prospective trainee looking for a combination of really extensive global reach, breadth of practice, a supportive and collaborative culture, and a first-class legal brand in the eyes of clients, then come to Hogan Lovells,” she says. “I would be hard pressed to name any other firm which offers quite that combination. If you asked me why I’m here, it is because I simply couldn’t do better quality work anywhere else in the City in such a supportive environment. For me, that’s a winning combination.”
Best Recruiter – Large City Firm
The recruitment team at the firm is exceptional – they are friendly, approachable and professional in their dealings with future joiners and trainees.