Their plush, gleaming offices and rigorous application criteria might give the impression that all City law firms are largely the same, but the briefest look into their unique cultures and clientele reveals just how apart from each other they really are. Perhaps the greatest contrast in approach is that between the US firms established in London and their UK-headquartered counterparts, and one of the most prestigious among the former is Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, which as one would expect, runs its award-winning training contract along different principles to its magic circle competitors.

“There is a clear divide between the programmes at larger UK firms and the style of training at a US firm such as Akin Gump, where the intake is smaller and the training contract involves more responsibility from day one,” explains Vance Chapman, training principal. “We supervise and look after our trainees, but they are treated almost as associates from an early stage. People who adapt to that ethos well are those who are self-starting, driven, and won’t feel too nervous about being thrown in at the deep end.”

The firm’s entrepreneurial philosophy dates from its founding in Dallas, Texas in 1945 by Robert Strauss and Richard Gump. Strauss, the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany, rose from humble beginnings to serve as an FBI agent during the Second World War, and went on to become an eminent lawyer and political figure, working directly with presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush. The firm’s rise mirrors its founder’s trajectory, maintaining its Texan roots but having long since established its headquarters in Washington DC, where it is well known for having influence on Capitol Hill. And like Strauss’ former presidential bosses, it does not limit itself to achievements in domestic affairs – internationally, Akin Gump is adviser to the governments of Japan, South Korea and Nicaragua.

We are more streamlined than some other firms and have a smaller trainee intake, so we offer a very different training experience.

With over 900 lawyers across 20 offices dotting the globe, the firm is an international giant. However, its vast reach does not equate to a sprawling London office hiring dozens of trainees a year. “One of our key differentiators from other US firms in the City is size,” explains Vicky Widdows, director of international legal recruiting and development. “We are more streamlined than some other firms and have a smaller trainee intake, so we offer a very different training experience. The advantage of having a growing but relatively small training programme is that there is a lot of flexibility. One of the things that people who have come through our programme have always appreciated is that there is an ongoing conversation about the future, as well as their experiences in each seat. We foster a culture in which people are valued as individuals and our flexibility, combined with a wide variety of practice areas to choose from, means that trainees usually secure their first-choice seats.”

The London office’s training programme launched in 2014 following a merger with Bingham McCutchen, in which the latter’s well-established training was carried over into the combined firm. This means that while training contracts are a relatively recent development for Akin Gump, they are underpinned by years of experience and knowledge. “The programme has grown alongside the business, from a standing start of a single trainee to an annual intake of five or six, currently,” explains Vance, who joined Akin Gump as part of the merger and was key in bringing training expertise across from Bingham. “We are a US firm, so in the early stages UK colleagues led the way in educating the wider partnership about the training process on this side of the Atlantic and they quickly saw the value of the programme – I actually think that some of the US partners are a little jealous of the way we do things here, compared to the States!”

Training is structured around the involvement of both partners and recruitment specialists. “As training principal, I work closely with Vicky, who heads a team of three who deal with all aspects of recruitment and trainee development,” Vance continues. “We are joined by two other partners for our regular training committee meetings, where we discuss ideas and strategy for the team to implement. I also report to the managing partner and get the firm’s hierarchy involved in the recruitment of candidates – many of our lawyers give presentations to vacation schemers and trainees.”

You are treated as an individual and the training experience is tailored to your needs.

The firm’s vacation scheme is an important part of the process, enabling candidates to gain a taste of what trainee life is like and weigh up whether the culture is a good fit for them. For second-seat trainee Lucy Jordan, the experience confirmed that the direction she had chosen was the right one. “I knew that I wanted to do something financial and corporate, and I had an interest in the energy sector,” she explains. “And because I studied Russian at university, I was keen to join a firm with a Moscow presence. As a truly international firm, Akin Gump leapt out at me during my research, so I applied for a place on the vacation scheme and was interviewed by Vicky and Vance. The reality of the job was among the things discussed – the self-starting nature of being a trainee at the firm was emphasised, as well as the opportunities for early responsibility and flexibility. I really enjoyed my experience on the scheme, which was split between the corporate and litigation departments. I was exposed to a wide variety of work which more than lived up to what I was looking for.”

Lucy secured her training contract following the vacation scheme and then studied for her GDL and LPC. “I was in regular contact with the legal recruitment and development team and the Christmas before I joined, they arranged a social for my intake to meet the current trainees and catch up with the recruiters,” she recalls. “This meant that I already knew lots of people at the firm before I started. I felt well prepared for my first day – I knew which seat I was going to be in and who my supervisor was already.”

Now a second-seat trainee in the oil and gas team (her first was in litigation), Lucy is enjoying the benefits of flexible, personalised training. “I’m going to Moscow for three months from September,” she enthuses. “I speak Russian and expressed an interest in doing this from the beginning, and the firm was able to give me the opportunity despite it not being a fixed secondment that happens more regularly like our Hong Kong secondment. The training contract has really enabled me to pursue the interests that made me initially want to apply to Akin Gump – even in litigation, many of the cases I worked on were in the energy sector.”

Individualising each trainee’s experience is key. “We listen to our trainees and don’t just treat them as commodities,” Vicky explains. “Trainees are given both responsibility and support, so there is a healthy mix of learning by doing and being shown the ropes by more experienced lawyers.”

Lucy agrees: “It is very personalised, which is something that I felt throughout the recruitment process too – you are treated as an individual and the training experience is tailored to your needs. I have monthly catch-ups with Vicky to discuss how I’m getting on, what is happening going forward and any concerns that I might have, and I think that ethos is quite unique.”

We listen to our trainees and don’t just treat them as commodities.

Alongside tailoring the programme to trainees’ individual needs, early responsibility is the other pillar of the firm’s training approach. “I think I definitely enjoy more responsibility than trainees I know at other firms and have been fully involved in all the deals I’ve worked on,” Lucy continues. “During my litigation seat my tasks included drafting letters, conducting legal research and helping out with witness statements. I was also lucky enough to work on two trials during the seat, which enabled me to gain great court exposure. I have gained a lot of drafting experience during my corporate seat, including board minutes and resolutions, letters to clients and other parties, and various types of agreements. I also have regular partner contact because our teams are quite small. For example, for the matter I’m working on right now, I am in a team of three alongside an associate and a partner. Partners will also regularly come up to me directly to ask me to help them with different pieces of work.”

The model is quite different to that of many of the firm’s competitors. “Teams are streamlined in comparison to those at many UK firms,” observes Vance. “We tend not to have large groupings consisting of a senior partner, junior partner, counsel, senior associate, junior associate and a couple of trainees. At Akin Gump, a team is far more likely to comprise a partner, one or two associates and a trainee. This is the best way to serve our client base – our teams are built to handle a lot of cross-practice work, which involves lawyers from the firm’s different departments working closely together.”

This also means that lawyers experience a wide variety of work from trainee level up. “One of the distinguishing aspects of our practice is the high proportion of cradle-to-grave fund work that we handle,” continues Vance. “For example, as a corporate partner I do different types of transactions for fund clients, which involves all kinds of M&A and capital markets work –  financial restructurings alongside our market leading restructuring practice, joint ventures, acquisitions, sales and so on. This means that while most of our corporate work comes from a certain type of client, the transactions themselves vary widely, so lawyers are not siloed into one area as they are at some other firms. The same is true in our other practice groups, including our large emerging markets practice and energy specialism within London.”

For Lucy, the tailored, flexible training and early responsibility have made for a “thoroughly enjoyable” experience so far, not least because diving in at the deep end actually takes place within a highly supportive environment: “It’s very friendly – there is a lovely culture at the firm. Everyone is willing to take the time to explain tasks and how they fit into wider projects, and also to give you the necessary time to read up on things, which is particularly important when you are a first-seat trainee.” Vicky agrees: “The firm itself is very collegiate, with no comparable hierarchy to what you would find at many UK firms, and this creates a flexible, meritocratic environment.”

Few other firms can offer the tailored training that results from a small intake while also boasting size, influence and global reach. “If you are looking for a stimulating, exciting legal career that will keep your mind busy with complex problems and creative solutions, Akin Gump offers the perfect environment in which you can develop, by experiencing work that is interesting and will provide a sense of achievement,” sums up Vance. “If you are a self-starter who is happy with responsibility, we can help you to build a great career with us.”

By Josh Richman

BDB is an innovative and growing firm with traditional roots. Our range of practice areas means we have a real variety of interesting and high profile work for clients, from household name companies to public sector bodies, not-for-profit organisations and high net worth individuals.

We are a top 100 firm operating from offices in London and Cambridge but servicing a UK and international client base. Many of our solicitors are leaders in their field and we are proud to have more Roll A parliamentary agents than any other firm. The firm culture is friendly, inclusive and supportive and our trainees really do contribute to the work we do across the firm and are appreciated for it.

With 77 offices in 47 countries, and a presence in all leading financial centres, Baker McKenzie is the world’s leading global law firm. Our strategy is to provide the best combination of local legal and commercial knowledge, international expertise and resources. Our trainee solicitors are a vital

part of that strategy, exposed to the international scope of the firm from the moment they start. There is also the possibility of an overseas secondment, recent secondees have spent time in Hong Kong, San Francisco, Sydney, Singapore, Johannesburg and Hong Kong

“Every trainee at Osborne Clarke is treated as an individual”, says Osborne Clarke’s Training Principal Catherine Wolfenden when asked about the secret of the firm’s graduate recruitment success. And what a success it has been – a three-time consecutive winner of LCN’s award for best recruiter, national large/regional firm, Osborne Clarke is lightyears ahead in its ability to not only catch, but retain, the best talent in the industry.

This achievement is in no small part down to the firm’s ability to make its recruits feel valued. “Everyone’s career is different and everyone’s needs vary”, Catherine continues. “We approach our recruitment knowing that diversity is vital and, when trainees then join us, it’s about working with them to identify how best they can succeed in their career with Osborne Clarke.”

This focus on embracing individuality is echoed across all levels of Osborne Clarke, and was key for current trainee Busayo Yusuff, who is undertaking the third seat of his training contract with the firm. “I felt like the people I interacted with throughout the recruitment process made the effort to find out about me,” he explains. “If you’re able to get to the interview stage, they already know you meet the academic and intellectual requirements. The question comes down to whether you feel comfortable here and if it is an environment in which you can learn and thrive.” As is standard practice at Osborne Clarke, Busayo first attended a two-week vacation scheme, through which he had the opportunity to get under the skin of the firm, gaining first-hand experience in its offices.

We approach our recruitment knowing that diversity is vital and, when trainees then join us, it’s about working with them to identify how best they can succeed in their career with Osborne Clarke.

Vacation schemes are an important aspect of the firm’s recruitment strategy, according to Graduate Recruitment Manager Zoe Reid: “We try to see as many people in person as we can, so we can get to know them and they can get to know us. We recruit heavily through our vacation schemes, so if candidates are successful at our assessment centre it normally progresses through to a vacation scheme offer. It’s a two-way process – applicants get to see if we’re the right firm for them and we get to see them in our working environment.”

The view of recruitment as a process of give and take is an indicator of the importance the firm places on its trainees, and as Busayo soon found, people around the firm are always happy to talk through Osborne Clarke’s approach with potential new recruits. “I spoke to one of the current trainees at the firm to get the inside scoop on the direction the firm was going in, which was positive – the firm has gone through numerous years of back-to-back growth and opening offices in international locations,” he explains. This growth, as Zoe elaborates, makes the firm a very attractive proposition to anyone looking to enter commercial legal practice: “The firm is doing really well financially, is fantastically managed and has grown significantly over recent years, so there’s lots of really good opportunities for trainees to get involved in cross-border work. But it’s self-perpetuating – you put better people in and better opportunities come out.”

It is clear, then, that Osborne Clarke understands that its trainees are one of its most valuable assets, and that if the firm looks after its emerging talent, both parties will reap the long-term rewards. As Catherine suggests, “we are recruiting our lawyers of the future – they are the lifeblood of the firm, so we take their recruitment very seriously.”

We are recruiting our lawyers of the future – they are the lifeblood of the firm, so we take their recruitment very seriously.

So what does Osborne Clarke look for in a potential trainee? According to Catherine, the first thing is simple: “We’re looking for people with potential. We also want people who have a genuine interest in business and the legal profession. It’s really important to us to find candidates who are interested enough to have spent time thinking about the type of firm they want to go into; and who know what’s going on in the sectors in which we work.” Last but not least, Catherine reveals, the firm is looking for applicants who really run with the opportunity they have been given: “We look for people who are genuine self-starters and who take ownership of their careers with us – they really stand out.”

A testament to the success of the firm’s recruitment strategy, Busayo has these qualities in abundance. Providing some insight into his experience thus far, he begins with what first attracted him to Osborne Clarke: “My initial attraction was to the firm’s presence in corporate digital business. Two transactions in particular stood out – the first was when the firm acted for Beats on its acquisition by Apple and the second was when it acted for KPMG on a venture agreement with McLaren Formula One.”

The quality of work did not disappoint once he started: “One of my friends started her training contract at the same time as me at a different firm and we have mirrored seats – although she works on higher-value deals, the responsibility that I have is greater. I get better quality work and more client contact.” Osborne Clarke clearly fosters this hunger in its trainees, and therefore gets the best out of them.

But of course, it is not just about what recruits can give to the firm, but what the firm can give to them, that makes Osborne Clarke such a successful recruiter. The support that the firm offers at every stage of their journey to becoming a lawyer demonstrates its commitment to helping to build each of its trainees’ careers. At first glance, the firm’s recruitment process is relatively traditional, as Catherine explains: “For graduate recruitment we follow the traditional cycle of working with our team and the trainee leadership group”.

Zoe expands on the process that applicants can expect to go through: “The first step is an online application form and verbal reasoning test, and then I review all the applications – we look at every application from start to finish and we don’t screen out on the basis of academics.” Zoe then narrows down the pool and sends the applications through to a partner group, who decide who makes it through to the assessment centre. The assessment involves a group presentation, a written assignment and a psychometric test. As daunting as assessment days may be, “if I had needed any additional support it would have been given to me,” assures Busayo, and it is this nurturing culture that sets Osborne Clarke apart from its competitors. “I felt fundamentally comfortable, which is what it came down to,” he says. “It was important to me to be in an environment during my training contract where I could not only learn, but where I could be myself.”

One of my friends started her training contract at the same time as me at a different firm and we have mirrored seats – although she works on higher-value deals, the responsibility that I have is greater. I get better quality work and more client contact.

Osborne Clarke’s top-down commitment to recruitment excellence is evident. “The partners are very much involved in the whole process. This means that the candidates get that extra exposure to the partner group – they’re visible through the entire recruitment process,” observes Zoe, illustrating the open-door ethos of the firm. This approach is mirrored by the open-plan offices, still a relatively rare phenomenon in the legal world. “A lot of candidates will comment that they really enjoy the open-plan environment and find that very different to other law firms. This collegiate environment is definitely something that really helps us to differentiate ourselves.”

Both Catherine and Zoe, who have been involved with graduate recruitment at Osborne Clarke for five and 11 years respectively, attest to the firm’s supportive culture as unprecedented in the industry. Others in the profession often don’t believe it until they see it, as Catherine divulges: “Osborne Clarke is presented on the fact that the culture is supportive, collegiate and not ‘eat what you kill’. Some laterally hired partners first take this with a pinch of salt because it just wasn’t like that at their previous firms, but they soon find that it’s true! People are supportive and it’s about working together, rather than a partner model which becomes very competitive – we are genuinely not like that.”

However, it is not just Osborne Clarke’s treatment of those to make it through its ranks that stands out. It is also the proactive nature with which the firm constantly looks to improve, with social mobility and diversity at the forefront of its recruitment strategy. “For us it’s not a tick-box exercise of making sure we have a certain number of people who will fit into a particular mould,” Zoe explains. “We’re looking for lots of different people with different skillsets and different backgrounds.” And these aren’t just empty words – putting its money where its mouth is, last December the firm signed up to the Rare Contextualised Recruitment Process.

“Rare layers over our recruitment process and helps us to identify candidates who might otherwise fall through the net,” Catherine explains. “The contextualised recruitment system allows people to input data when they apply to us. It will flag up a candidate who has identifying characteristics. If there’s someone who didn’t have stellar A-level grades, the contextual data tells us more about that person. We’re using Rare as one of our tools to drive the firm’s diversity and social mobility agenda – obviously we want to have a diverse workforce and we want to give opportunities to everyone who has the potential to be a fantastic lawyer.”

It is clear why Osborne Clarke’s approach to recruitment has been so successful, but this is something that has been hard-earned over the last decade. Now, with several awards under its belt, it feels like the firm has really hit its stride. “We’ve found that over the last couple of years our current process really works,” enthuses Zoe. “The teams are really happy with the trainees that are coming through, which shows that the work we’re doing on recruitment is paying off.” With the firm’s adoption of Rare’s practices, it seems that its future can only get brighter.

By Ellen Heaney