Yeah… that’s basically all we can do – hope for a better tomorrow that’s not going to come for months. I was a career changer into law in my late 20s, transferring from the energy sector which is a sector my firm has a practice group in. Graduate recruitment is dominated by it. Or you’ll be left doing mindless, repetitive tasks that don’t build meaningful skills. Most of the people that end up in real estate are there as a safe and easy option because they didn’t get what they wanted or they found that what they thought they wanted was crap (corporate/PE). To be honest I wouldn’t even make such a sacrifice at a US firm, where at least they provide an (arguably) justifiable salary in exchange for the terrible and bizarre lifestyle on offer. You’re right about US firms and anyone selling their soul for less is a fool. This sense of inclusion is no doubt enhanced by the fact that offices are open-plan with break-out pods and excellent canteens, although the survey did uncover some gripes about the “old buildings” in the Scottish offices, despite recent refurbishments to the interior (for balance, another respondent praised the “beautiful view of Edinburgh Castle”). December 22, 2020. This is especially true of the partners, often I found myself working directly with the partners on transactions.” Overall, survey respondents’ comments are scattered with words such as “friendly”, “sociable” and “easy going”. You get involved in really interesting and niche work, attend high-profile cases and events and you are trusted to run your own matters/ files quite often.”. Josh Gorman. The only people who clock off at 6/7 are the folk in Planning, Pensions and other similarly small teams. According to another rookie, “You don’t feel like a trainee and your role isn’t particularly admin heavy. Regardless of your background, if you’re motivated by the prospect of joining Addleshaw Goddard, we look forward to your application. You really need to be strict about what you’re willing to give in order to climb that career ladder and think hard whether it’s ever worth it. With Addleshaw Goddard, Ashurst, CMS, Hogan Lovells, Eversheds, Irwin Mitchell, Linklaters, Pinsent Masons, Shoosmiths and more. that’s very sad jaded by law – are you sure you cannot change specialism at all? Contact Details Chambers and Partners No.3 Waterhouse Square 138 Holborn London, United Kingdom EC1N 2SW View in maps Contact Us Please note that due to COVID-19 secondment probabilities are lower than in usual years. Commercial firm Addleshaw Goddard seems a happy ship, rating highly for supportive peers in the 2020-21 Legal Cheek Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey. Feels like lately, the legal profession is becoming a short-term career for law graduates. I think a lot of firms have used the pandemic as an excuse to get rid of people but as you say – did they really give those people a chance to succeed? It works out in the end though. But honestly, I think people seriously forget that big company names do not equal good practices or good knowledge. Paid Partnership Trainee solicitor Michael Kennedy reveals why Addleshaw Goddard Graduates is upfront about the limitations of artificial intelligence My first seat was in a department I had no interest in. The multidisciplinary Addleshaw Goddard practice combines lawyers and senior compliance professionals to provide legal, compliance, conduct, risk and governance support. There is so much luck involved in a legal career – right trainee seats, right mentors, firm performing well at times you need it to, partnership prospects and rivals appearing/disappearing at the right points, health (mental and physical) holding out throughout the process of working your way up. Terrible hours, below par pay, no soul, declining mental health. By this point, I was fuming inside because I couldn’t change anything and I fully understood that all these seats will not give me the kind of future and practice I imagined. Trainees may be given further specific training, and will also attend any training session the department holds. Many of the world's most recognised and respected businesses – including 43 FTSE100 clients in the last two years – come to Addleshaw Goddard to deliver just that kind of simple answer. Just as an example, in my previous firm, the commercial litigation partners used to say I’m a natural litigator and should’ve gone with litigation rather than the area I was in. That obviously didn’t help. Anna has been in the Addleshaw Goddard Restructuring team for over 12 years, starting her career in the Leeds office. No amount of money is worth constantly cancelling on friends for work, losing those friends and finding new friends in the office evening canteen staff. Eversheds Sutherland – 50. He mentioned when he was going through the process it was absolutely imperative to have a fair bit of faith in the firm you accepted a TC offer from, as that was the firm you’d likely be with through thick and thin all the way to retirement. Do they think you’re a winner or a sucker? There’s a popular term in the investment banking world – “exit opportunities”. Our Innovation and Legal Technology Team was formed three years ago and blends technology and legal expertise and is fully integrated into our business. I think another thing to factor in is that firms still definitely treat their trainees as if they’re interns who should be overjoyed to work there, even if they’re spending most of their time photocopying after a degree, a masters and the LPC. I tried transferring my TC to another firm, looked at every possible way to get out – apparently TC transfers are a big taboo in this profession – why? Legal Cheek is going round the country for its final series of student commercial awareness events of 2019. When COVID-19 struck, the firm’s enthusiasm for technology paid dividends. I haven’t seen many metrics out there that review the exit opportunities based on specific firms. After qualifying, I left the firm as I couldn’t bear the thought of making them money whilst they’ve lied to me for 2 years straight and basically tried to make me into their little puppet. Yeah, I was thinking the same – why so many thumbs down? Social media is amazing, especially when these same firms that destroyed the lives and careers of their juniors brag about growth and increased partner remunerations… You may get into bother if you lie on your CV to get a job, but it’s ok for these firms to lie about the kind of roles and prospects they’re offering you. Following a nine month secondment in 2011 to a clearing bank Anna moved to the London Restructuring team in 2011. Start Time: 13:50. Associate (Finance) at Addleshaw Goddard LLP Greater Leeds Area. End Time: 17:00. People practise in the provinces because they are not good enough to be in London. Greater Denver Area. Would be nice to see the partners take responsibility rather than blaming Brexit. Confirming the cuts today, a firm spokesperson said: “We can confirm that 19 individuals have been made redundant and three colleagues have redeployed into other teams. The Legal 500 UK. Kafeel Azher Associate (Employment) at Addleshaw Goddard London. I would be further along in my career now had I never done the TC at all. Shortlisted firms: Addleshaw Goddard Graduates, Allen & Overy UK Graduate Recruitment, Bird & Bird Graduates UK, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner Graduates, CMS … Legal Cheek Scottish Law Fair. One trainee reveals they had “great ‘hands on’ responsibility from the get go – I was drafting and negotiating pretty lengthy & complex deeds of release in my first three weeks of my first seat in Finance with a Silver Circle firm on the other side. “Peaks and troughs…some people have a worse time of it than others,” said one. Agree completely. Giles is a Corporate Finance partner based in London. 1:18. So now I’m stuck with a profession that’s stressful, gives me no joy and there’s little I can do to change that. Kafeel Azher. Overburning and complete physical and mental exhaustion is a real issue in this profession and a real threat if you end up with the wrong employer. Surely, if you manage to graduate, get those degrees, pass your TC, it should be accepted that we can go into a new field (not having had a seat in it during TC) and learn it on the way just as well? I know the exit wasn’t chosen by those made redundant in this article, but as LC has a large grad rec focus I’m surprised they haven’t talked about this more already. Anna recently returned to the team having spent 10 months on secondment to a clearing bank's restructuring team. Feel free to DM me on LinkedIn do you want to discuss confidentially, Thanks Chris. As recruitment became more competitive and the time barrier to partnership grew and grew, as well as a diminished appetite to offer equity share (there was no “salary partners” in the firm when he got upped), it became standard to think “well this firm will give me a really good start but I probably won’t stay here forever”. At the same time, let’s face it, often the reality doesn’t match our expectations and fantasies about what it would be like working in one particular area or another (saw that ever so briefly in the corporate department). You have literally just described exactly what happened to me. Granting of leases and renewals and sales and acquisitions have dropped off in commercial real estate for obvious reasons. 3:47. I have a friend who was “lucky enough” to get his TC in an MC firm. It’s very depressing really. Addleshaws launched a redundancy consultation in September, with 22 real estate lawyers told their jobs were at risk. My second seat was a choice between 2 departments I had absolutely no interest in. Yes, he has a big MC name in his CV, but from what I’ve heard he’s now so overburned and exhausted he doesn’t think he’ll continue with the profession. The open-plan layout means you are always learning from your surroundings, and get to know senior members of the team fairly quickly.”, Prior to each seat, trainees are given at least a day of training to bring them up to speed with the basic concepts involved. They were so amazed they took me of a few months before their usual trainee intake would start. Follow us for insights, updates, and news from the AG Graduate Recruitment team! I really feel like the last 2 years were a complete and utterly waste of time through no fault of my own. I didn’t get the seats I wanted and was lumped into banking and you realise that your fate is beyond your control. wouldn’t expect less from such a sub par firm. You get into a firm that promises you the world and an amazing career, you get in and see it was a complete lie, and the first opportunity they get – you’re out. Yes, he has all the newest tech and can afford some impressive suits to impress all kinds of clients and ladies around, but he has no time for personal relationships and has aged beyond imagination. @MC Partner – I’d much rather work decent hours for competitive pay at AG than sacrifice my life/soul/mental health/relationships for below market pay in the Magic Circle. 20 Jan 17. Before I started the TC – I was working in the industry I wanted, why did I leave to do this TC? First year trainees in Leeds and Manchester receive £27,500, while second years earn £29,500 and newly qualified (NQ) solicitors are paid £45,000. © Copyright 2021 Legal Cheek Ltd. All Rights Reserved. For all the latest commercial awareness info, and advance notification of Legal Cheek's careers events: Out of interest, what would have actually dropped-off in the real estate world to necessitate this? I reckon it’s the latter so I left. Addleshaw Goddard has become the latest big legal player to up the salaries of its newly qualified … They rely on our lawyers around the world to find imaginative solutions to … Event Date: 08/10/2020. AG were hiring loads just before the pandemic. Mind you, I’m no spring chicken, I came to that firm in my late 20s already, so I wasn’t as young and impressionable as some other trainees that they normally deal with. Speaking at the time, John Joyce, managing partner, said: “[O]ur real estate team has grown over the last five years to match demand which has now reduced in some areas and after much thought we now recognise that we need to make changes given the limited prospects of imminent recovery.”. Part of this strategy involves its "Client Development Centre (CDC)," an innovative idea and set of services launched by Dr. Jim Hever who holds a … Ummmmmmmm hate to break it to you but you’ll find nothing of the sort at AG. Graham is recommended in the Legal 500 for Mid-market M&A where he has been described as being "insightful, creative and hardworking" and is noted for his client service and dedication. Legal PA at Addleshaw Goddard. The partners and their clients are the winners – how do you think they perceive trainees and associates responding to emails until 3am every night? Re advising not to go into law: depending on the outcomes of any real market research into the exit opportunities that I queried, perhaps a TC at a MC/SC/US/other big brand City firm may be the perfect thing to recommend to students with little to no interest in private practice law… first couple years are going to be photocopying, creating powerpoint slides and checking signature blocks no matter where you wind up. I know that this is what honest every retreat will say, but I also know people who have done so recently up to 3-4 yrs pqe – including myself. I wanted one practice area, I would happily do my other seats in whatever random shite they wanted me to do so long as I got that one seat. Now we waste 2 years of our lives doing meaningless stuff for a firm that doesn’t care about you and get stuck with whatever presets they chose for us… Where’s the logic in this? The sad part is that no firm ever thinks about its juniors as human beings, it’s so easy for them to just get rid of everyone rather than redistribute people to other departments. AG have just lost a significant client and are on the brink of losing others. This was a time when there was significantly less competition for TCs and you were automatically offered partnership at 5PQE unless you were consistently negligent. On Thursday 29 November Legal Cheek is partnering with Addleshaw Goddard for an evening of commercial awareness discussion and networking with its lawyers and graduate recruitment team at the firm’s Manchester office. This is a really good point. Amy Winchester Wilderness and somatically-oriented psychotherapist. Students/trainees should therefore have real data that could help guide their ambitions. The post Addleshaw Goddard keeps 33 out of 37 autumn qualifying trainees appeared first on Legal Cheek. I like the idea of wage slaving for a few millionaires being “winning”. The regulatory team is known for expertise in retail financial services and payments work and is increasingly active in wholesale banking, wealth and asset management. It shouldn’t be acceptable that trainees who are largely in their mid to late twenties, and really don’t have time to waste, could find themselves in practice areas they have no interest in because the firm ordained it and then with little ability to pivot to something new because the majority of a biglaw training contract is admin work or at best very trivial legal work. Event Date: 20/10/2020. An insider tells us: “The hierarchy is fairly flat at AG. Silver and Magic circle are all vanity. You’re not a loser just because people far older and more experienced are earning more than you on a deal. Of course, there’s always that slight chance that at some point somewhere firms will get so desperate that they will take in retrains. Unfortunately, there aren’t many firms that truly look after their own people. We know that this has been a very difficult and uncertain period for many of the team and these decisions have been reached only after the most careful and thorough consideration.”. Related Videos. Addleshaw Goddard Graduates. The firm’s partners are pretty friendly. MC kids will mock an AG lawyer for earning less but they’ll be laughing from the office/their bedroom on zoom. Whether or not this is a good thing, it is a real trend. I expect those affected do this type of work. On the evening of Tuesday 26 November lawyers from the Leeds office of global law firm Addleshaw Goddard will gather at Legal Cheek’s latest student event to consider what we can expect from the Northern Powerhouse economy of the 2020s – and to mull the … Part of this strategy involves its "Client Development Centre (CDC)," an innovative idea and set of services launched by Dr. Jim Hever who holds a … City player will now recruit 50 trainees annually. The legal profession is going to die if this doesn’t change, yes there will always be law students, but who wants to stay in a profession that takes your life and your mental health away for a wage that’s pyrrhic? There is this assumption that its fine that a trainee really doesn’t build up a whole lot of knowledge during their TC because the firm expects you will stay in the firm forever and you can learn it later. The outfit confirmed it … One trainee said they “haven’t come across a single partner that I wouldn’t walk up to for a chat or to ask questions”. Alternatively, you can use your email address to get started. Guess what – 3 weeks from him starting his TC we stopped meeting up, another month later he wouldn’t even have the time or energy to tell me if he was alive. Addleshaw Goddard is a premium international business law firm. However, secondments with clients are fairly common, and were taken with Drax Group, BP, Castle Water, Aberdeen Standard Investments and a FTSE 100 retail company. All of those types were miserable bast*rds that hated their own life and took their frustration out on everyone else each day. I was promised that everyone got to do their first choice at least once and instead I’ve been put in areas not even remotely related to what I wanted. This includes the people who did not do a seat in the area they qualified into. Very refreshing. Dentons, meanwhile, announced its own redundancy consolation last month, which could affect up to 24 lawyers across its UK offices. The next time I (and his own family) actually saw the guy was for a couple of days when he came back to celebrate qualifying. Go to the MC where you can get all of that for slightly more!! Honestly from where I am now, I would not advise a young person to go into law for exactly the reasons you’ve described – you simply don’t know what you’re getting and it may prove to be extremely difficult to get out into something good. He’s been with that firm for 4 years now, yes he gets a fair whack of money each year but he gives half of it in tax. Nevertheless, many feel they have further to go, with one person highlighting that the takeaway food comes in a polystyrene box and the salads come in plastic tubs, and another noting that, despite the firm’s policy that domestic air travel should only be done with permission, “all Scottish trainees were straight away given the option of flying down to London for the trainee conference”. The firm has a strong interest in tech, and offers trainees a six-month lawtech seat working alongside lawyers and technologists to develop products in its innovation and legal technology group. The focus of the session will be on how technology is … Point is – these big names, big firms, they may pay you a wage that you think is amazing (probably only because you’ve never earned that much before), but once you get to see the real life and the real practice, you soon realise no amount of money is worth what’s being taken away from you. Which IB firm will provide the best exit opportunity. My 4th seat was basically a repeat of my 1st seat…. By contrast if you’re in prop lit this is not likely to be a quiet time for you. A lot of what juniors do in mid-market firm RE teams is asset management churn – has the marquee acquisition/development pipeline stalled? There is relatively little opportunity to work internationally, although two lawyers spent six months abroad, one in Qatar and the other in Hong Kong. This again brings me to my previous point about locking ourselves into one particular area of law which makes it very difficult for people to tweak their careers. In reality, I think trainees need to be given far more say over their own careers and the quality of training needs to be improved. Is this the future of law recruitment? My point is if firms get a trainee who has interests and knows (or think they know) what area they want to specialise in – give them the chance to see that in practice. The outfit confirmed it had made 19 redundancies within its real estate team, with a further three team members “redeployed” into other practice areas. They were consistently late and unorganised with moving you on to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th seat. Many talk about using TCs at big name firms as a springboard to roles in fintech/lawtech, traditional banking or management consultancy. 272 likes. This is the interesting bit though, we, in the UK tend to pick one field to specialise in, whilst in Europe, it is widely accepted that a legal professional can pick any area he wants to work in – very much how barristers work. Thx for the comment fresher. Addleshaw lets trainees get stuck in on proper lawyer work rather than boring tasks. Start Time: 14:00. Addleshaw Goddard Graduates associate Nicholas Parkin reveals why he's not worried about the impact of tech on the junior end of the legal profession. Everyone finds their level. Of course, Covid was an easy way to get rid of those underperformers, but firms should ask themselves – have you done enough to ensure your juniors had an opportunity to shine? In my experience, law firms have a tendency to decide very early who is good or bad – they say its fine to make mistakes, but those will be held over you and future opportunities for good work assignments will be held back from you. Addleshaw Goddard’s London office Addleshaw Goddardhas cut 19 lawyer roles across its UK offices following a redundancy consultation. It would be interesting to know a) which firms have the most successful exit opportunities at NQ, Junior Associate and Senior Associate levels, b) what those exit opportunities are, and c) how many of those exit opportunities offer better pay, better work/life balance or both. I could go on listing things how this firm is destroying him and his life, but why would I? Another trainee comments: “AG on the whole is incredibly approachable and supportive. 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