The Work
Before starting, associates rank the firm’s offices and practice areas in order of preference. “Generally people choose on the basis of location,” a second-year said – around 70 percent of associates opt for New York and the other 30 percent for London or Hong Kong. “They then choose the practice group. If you want to practice in a foreign office, you’re pretty much handcuffed to one of a few practice areas, like capital markets.” And while any decision’s “ultimately subject to the needs of the firm,” the “vast majority of people” get their first choice, associates said.
There are “pros and cons” of being assigned to a group from the outset, a junior observed. “On the one hand, it allows you to develop your specialization from the beginning, but on the other, there’s very little opportunity to change practice if you make the wrong decision."
The litigation group’s responsible for about a third of the US practice. The group, which is led by 11 partners, specializes in securities, white-collar crime and regulatory litigation, and advises on both US and cross-border litigation. “I’ve been able to draft interview outlines and work on arbitration complaints,” a junior litigator commented. “I’ve also done some doc review, but that’s to be expected as a junior.”
The banking practice continues to gain clout. Launched in 2005, the group has expanded rapidly – it doubled in size between 2009 and 2010 and now has 28 attorneys in New York. The group represents mandated lead arrangers, mezzanine providers, financial sponsors and public and private companies on transactions, including leveraged buyouts, acquisition and infrastructure financings. “We do mainly lender-side transactions, and a lot of our work is international, involving at least one other Linklaters office,” a junior explained. “The work’s pretty substantive – they definitely try to push you from the beginning and I’m always surprised by how much I learn.”
Around one-fifth of first, second and third-years are in the corporate group, which covers the full range of M&A work, including public takeovers, cross-border and multijurisdictional deals, joint ventures and disposals. A further quarter of associates are in capital markets. This practice deals with equity, debt, regulatory, capital and equity-linked bond issues, structured finance transactions and the full range of derivative and securitized products.
Only 63 percent of US corporate juniors and 13 percent of US capital markets juniors work in the New York office. The remaining percentage of associates bring their US qualifications and experience to the London, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Paris or Singapore branches. See our website for more associate feedback.
Training & Development
Linklaters has “a pretty intense training program.” The week before starting, associates attend a global orientation program in London to learn “the nuts and bolts of the practice,” including “how to work your way around the computer system.” In the evenings, there are dinners and drinks aimed at forming a good rapport among associates.
Back in New York, associates attend regular training sessions within their practice groups, and can also usually go to other group training sessions. Every year the various teams travel to a foreign jurisdiction to meet their counterparts in other branches. The idea is that the firm’s cohesive atmosphere can permeate throughout all its offices. “This year we went to Barcelona for the weekend,” a banking associate told us. “Although we did go to some presentations and had tours around the city, the focus was definitely on intermingling.”
Associates usually have their first formal assessment in the winter of their second year. Before then, “it’s informal – every half year you meet one or two partners and they give you feedback, although there’s nothing written.” In preparation for this formal feedback session, associates complete a self-appraisal form and nominate associates and partners to evaluate them. “You then sit down with the partner you work with most and go over where you need to improve – it’s pretty informal really,” one junior commented.
Offices
The New York office is located on Sixth Avenue, in bustling Midtown New York, near a number of subway stops and the Ziegfeld Theater and four blocks from Central Park. You might even recognize the outside of the building from NBC’s 'The Office' and the Adam Sandler comedy 'Don’t Mess with the Zohan.'
Inside, “the office looks like all other Linklaters offices, as they all use the same pink color everywhere.” Despite this basic uniformity, the firm’s four floors are “very different – banking on floor 22 is one of the newer floors and although there’s still magenta it’s mainly in the bathroom.” The office also has a lot of distinctive wall art.
First and second-years share an office. “It’s a remnant of the firm’s British heritage,” an associate explained. “In London everyone, even the partners, shares offices and although here we get our own office in our third year, the idea that people can help each other out when they share is the same.” Another associate added: “At first everyone complains about sharing, but it’s nice to have someone to ask questions to, especially stupid things, like ‘how do I print?’ Then in your second year, you get to feel smart when a first-year asks you the same stuff.”
The only recurring complaint made by associates related to the computer system, which was described as “totally out of date” and inefficient. “If I were in charge I would update some of the technologies and make improvements to the way IT is handled,” an otherwise content second-year junior remarked. But this problem should be fixed soon, as the firm is currently updating the computer system.
Culture
Sources commented that Linklaters New York “has a small to midsize atmosphere, even though it’s expanding,” and that luckily “people like each other.” Another said: “I feel like we’re not just colleagues – we’re friends and we talk to each other about our personal lives.” In December 2010, the firm held its first holiday party since the recession. Associates were impressed: “It was in the Boom Boom Room” – at the top of the Standard Hotel –“which is a pretty exclusive club – I was shocked that they did it there. It didn’t look like they skimped at all.”
Day to day, attorneys are sociable, frequently meeting up for drinks. The only hindrance to socializing may in fact be the physical “segregation of teams across different floors,” according to one junior. But the ever popular, London-born tradition of Friday night drinks unites the firm. “It’s part of the British firm mentality – everyone gathers around on a Friday afternoon for drinks and to wind down,” an associate explained. But don’t let the name deceive you – “it’s actually a table of alcohol that moves from floor to floor.” The firm urges attorneys to attend. “Even if you’re working on a Friday night, partners encourage you to go down for a few minutes and then come back to your desk to work,” an associate commented. “It’s pretty well attended – people go, even if it’s just for 15 minutes,” another said.
Hours & Compensation
The firm has no billable hours requirement. However, there are “very loose targets” that amount to 2,200 billable hours, including 100 pro bono hours and 100 marketing initiative hours. “Partners understand that you can’t do billable work if it’s not there to do.” That said, “if you’re not hitting your billable hours, you should at least make sure you’re hitting your pro bono target.”
Associates said hours “aren’t horrible” and there’s no emphasis on face time. “Although hours vary during the year, we usually have a ten-hour day, five days a week.” Associates have a generous vacation allowance of 22 days, and can roll over a further five days of unused vacation from the previous year.
Compensation is lockstep and in line with other New York law firms. “I’m happy with the compensation system,” one junior commented. “It stops people comparing themselves to others and prevents any secrecy, which creates a nice atmosphere.” Bonuses too are in keeping with market rates.
Pro Bono
The New York office encourages associates to do 100 hours of pro bono work annually, sources said, and all pro bono hours count as billable. Linklaters has a pro bono coordinator, who sends out weekly emails about opportunities as well as organizing training. “I think some groups encourage it more than others,” a junior reported.
Associates interviewed had worked on asylum cases, “lots of immigration work,” foreclosures, consumer debt cases and contracts for a nonprofit organization. The firm “partners with certain clinics” such as the Urban Justice Center. “The firm’s in touch with a number of organizations that it works with continually,” another added.
Diversity
By and large, associates felt that the female to male ratio was “good at associate level, but not so good at partner level, although the firm is definitely making efforts to improve.” As of May 2011, 42 percent of associates and 20 percent of partners were female.
Linklaters is ethnically diverse by New York law firm standards, which may be due to its international reach. “Our 2011 summer class is over 60 percent ethnically diverse, which is up from over 40 percent in the 2010 class,” US hiring partner Josh Berick explains. However, an associate from an ethnic minority background commented: “Although the firm wasn’t as diverse as I expected, you realize when you work here that the people are more culturally diverse and open-minded than at a lot of other firms.”
“Our diversity committee is always thinking about how to expand the pipeline of candidates and so we have started to build closer ties with local student groups, including African-American and Latin American organizations,” Berick says. Legal recruitment manager Jennifer Katz-Hickman adds: “We’re also looking at retention. We’re building our ethnic minority affinity groups and already have a women’s group and an LGBT group.”
Get Hired
Linklaters conducts OCIs in 13 law schools across the USA and a handful of diversity job fairs. In these interviews the firm looks for “people who are well rounded and mature, with strong interpersonal skills,” Josh Berick states. “We want each associate to be someone you’d be happy to leave in a room with a client from day one.” In more colloquial terms, “it’s important that he or she not be a weirdo,” an associate joked. “We do lots of traveling in this job, and you want to know that the person you’re sitting next to on a transatlantic flight is okay.”
In addition, candidates should “show an interest in the commercial, not just the academic world,” Katz-Hickman says, and the firm looks favorably on previous work experience. “We ask qualitative questions in the interview to discern their level of commercial thinking and readiness for commercial practice. We’re looking for thoughtful answers and if you come across as sincere, it’s a step in the right direction.”
Given the firm’s outlook, an interest in international work goes without saying. “This is even true for those who plan to spend their career in New York, since much of the work we do is international,” Berick explains. As the firm tends to attract students that have worked or studied abroad, or speak foreign languages, “we tend to probe a bit and ask questions like, 'What about international work is interesting to you?'” Katz-Hickman adds: “Often people know vaguely that they want to go abroad, but I want to know why, and why they feel they are a good match with the firm.”
Linklaters’ summer program is unusual, as participants can choose to spend half or all of their summer in the London or Hong Kong office. “Typically, a substantial number of summers split their time between offices, spending half their time in New York, and the rest in London or Hong Kong,” Berick says.
Strategy & Future
Aside from upholding its stellar reputation, the firm’s strategy is “twofold,” co-managing partner in New York Nick Rees tells us. “First, we hope to penetrate more deeply and broadly into the firm’s existing European and Asian client base and to do more of their US work. Second, we hope to increasingly do international cross-border work for our US client base. Even now, the pure domestic work that we’re doing for US clients is growing.”