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160 Queen Victoria Street London EC4V 4QQ 
Favoured by 5 users
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The lowdown (in their own words...)Why did you choose this firm over any others? 'Small trainee intake'; 'six seats'; 'international work'; 'range of practice areas'; 'I would be able to gain experience in a wider variety of practice areas'; 'I really enjoyed my vac scheme'; 'opportunities to do seats in the US'; 'LPC allowance' How does your training compare with peers' at other firms? 'I get good responsibility and lots of contact with partners'; 'quite well - there are plenty of training sessions, external speakers, etc'; 'slightly longer hours but nicer people here'; 'the work is generally qualified-level stuff'; 'better working atmosphere than most'; 'you are asked for your input and your work is acknowledged' Best thing about the firm? 'Approachability of people and relatively small office means everyone knows who you are'; 'relatively small, so the trainees are tight-knit'; 'the socials are great and new recruits are always made to feel very welcome'; 'there is always somebody to ask if you are unsure'; 'its dress- down policy and relaxed culture'; 'interesting work' Worst thing about the firm? 'Uncertainty about the likelihood of there being a job at the end of the training contract'; 'the long hours'; 'Americans hold the purse strings, and seem completely detached from the issues of the London office'; 'the stigma amongst peers associated with leaving before 6.30pm'; 'lack of additional benefits, such as in-house gym and canteen' Best moment? 'The Christmas party'; 'attending a trial following involvement in defending a claim from the early stages'; 'secondment to international office'; 'daily singing sessions with my first supervisor'; 'writing an additional submission to the Charity Commission that convinced them to register a pro bono client as a charity'; 'judicial secondment to RCJ to sit with High Court judge for four months' Worst moment? 'Getting an earful for a mistake that wasn't my fault'; 'particularly long hours in some seats'; 'waiting for a taxi home at 6:30am on a Friday having worked late all week, knowing that I was going to have to come in at 9am the next morning'; 'working several weekends in a row' The firmDechert has over 900 lawyers working from 21 different offices across the US and Europe. The London office remains one of the largest and best-established of any US law firm. It continues to excel in its core practice areas, including corporate, real estate, finance (especially investment funds) and litigation, with a large focus on big-ticket, cross-border work. It also has an interesting niche in defamation work. Clients say the firm's 'level of service, personal interest and depth of understanding is difficult to replicate'. The star performersCorporate tax; Defamation and privacy; Employment; Financial services; Flotations; IP; Investment funds; Property litigation. The dealsAdvising the Bank of New York Mellon on its £235m acquisition of Insight Investment from Lloyds Banking Group; assisted Pitney Bowes with breach of confidence claim; advising Pamplona on a joint venture platform; advised Aviva Life & Pensions UK on its mixed-use development at Trinity Square, Nottingham; advising The Crown Estate on the Luton Town urban extension. The clientsACPI; Bhs; Blackfriars Investments; BlueBay; Disney; ING; Lombard Odier; Marks and Spencer plc; News International; Weather Investments . The VerdictWith its six-seat training system, popular vacation scheme and friendly staff, Dechert trainees feel that they have a 'better working atmosphere than most'. The solid corporate-focused, 21-office firm only takes on a small number of trainees each year offering them the chance to do a secondment in its Brussels office and with a client, which prove to be very popular. There is also the opportunity to do a seat in a US office. Trainees get a 'good level of responsibility and lots of contact with partners' and find that 'staff seem far more friendly and knowledgeable about who you are' than at other firms, however they do feel that they work slightly longer hours than some of their peers. They continue to praise the level of training that the firm provides and like the fact that 'there is always somebody to ask if you are unsure' about something. There is plenty of challenging work to get your teeth into, including for one trainee, 'writing an additional submission to the Charity Commission convincing them to register a pro bono client as a charity'. 'Working several weekends in a row' and the 'uncertainty about the likelihood of there being a job at the end of the training contract' are complaints, as well as feeling that the London office can sometimes seem quite 'detached' from its US counterparts, but the Christmas party and trainee nights out are big hits. If you are looking for a tight-knit group of trainees and an efficient, no-nonsense firm with plenty of international opportunities then Dechert is a good choice. A day in the life of.....Amy Grammer , Second-year trainee solicitor, Dechert LLP
Departments to date: Employment, corporate and securities, financial services
University: University College London
Degree: Classics, 1st 9.00am: I meet my supervisor at a client's offices. The agenda is to discuss the warranties that our client (who is selling an interest in an oil field) will make to the other side under a sale and purchase agreement. We consider each warranty in detail and whether there is anything our client should disclose to the other side in relation to that warranty. Suspecting that I may have to draft the disclosure letter, I take careful notes. 11.00am: The second task for this morning is to do some research into the filing obligations and registration requirements for an overseas company looking to establish a presence in the UK. After a quick check online, I decide it would be most efficient to call Companies House to confirm the position. I do so, and draft an email to the associate explaining my findings. 12.30pm: Over sandwiches and fruit, our head of department and another partner lead an interactive training session on negotiating a sale and purchase agreement. It is reassuring to have a go in an environment where the worst that can happen is mild embarrassment! During the training, I receive an email asking me to help this afternoon with some ongoing due diligence. 2.00pm: I stop by the associate's office to receive instructions. A company our client is keen to purchase has provided us with some key information about its business. The associate asks me to review the share option contracts and summarise the provisions of each. On closer examination this does not prove to be too difficult because, although there are over 25 contracts, they are all in a similar form. I decide that a table would be the most appropriate format. 4.00pm: I am interrupted by a telephone call from the CEO of a charity that is hoping to take a medical device it has been developing to clinical trials. The organisation is a pro bono client of ours and it has prepared a draft investment memorandum to send to potential investors in the device. I sent our client draft verification notes yesterday and the CEO wants to confirm her understanding of the process. 5.00pm: I do a final check of a sale and purchase agreement that my supervisor and I were working on yesterday for any typos and formatting errors before we send it to the client. Although not necessarily the most exciting part of the job, it is an essential part of it and I am learning a lot from working on the transaction overall. It's particularly interesting because the business our client is purchasing is located in many jurisdictions and so we are not only advising on English law but also co-ordinating with other offices and law firms on legal issues in those jurisdictions. This means that we need to be very organised and I have been helping an associate keep track of the issues and progress in each jurisdiction on a status chart. 6.30pm: On my way to a get a cup of tea, I bump into our graduate recruitment manager. She asks whether I would be available to run a negotiation exercise for the vacation scheme students arriving in a few weeks. Trainees are heavily involved in graduate recruitment and I am happy to help - it's usually good fun. 7.30pm: I start winding up for the day. I send the table of share option contracts to the associate and set out a few points to note in my covering email. I am spending the rest of the evening packing as most of the trainees are going to visit the trainee on secondment to our Brussels office this weekend. I can't wait! About the firmAddress: 160 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 4QQ Telephone: 020 7184 7000 Fax: 020 7184 7001 Website: www.dechert.com Email:
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Other offices: Austin, Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Charlotte, Dublin, Hartford, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Luxembourg, Moscow, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, Philadelphia, Princeton, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Washington Who we are: Dechert LLP is a dynamic international law firm with a relaxed culture, strong core values, a collaborative way of working and a determination to provide the highest quality professional services. What we do: Investment funds (hedge funds and private equity), corporate, real estate, employment, IP, litigation (regulatory investigations and arbitration) and tax. Most of our work has an international dimension and we are renowned for our pro bono contribution. What we are looking for: A solid record of academic success in any discipline, a genuine interest and understanding of business, the commitment to sharing in our ambitions and a team-player personality. What you'll do: A broad range of corporate and commercial work through a highly personalised six-seat rotation system in which trainees have input on their route around the firm. Opportunity for secondments overseas and to clients. Perks: In first year: life insurance, an employee assistance programme, an interest-free season ticket loan and a subsidised gym membership. In second year: private medical insurance and access to the firm's pension scheme. Sponsorship: Tuition fees for the LPC together with a £10,000 maintenance grant. Application processApply to: Victoria Widdows, graduate recruitment manager. How: Online application at: http://careers.dechert.com When to Apply: Training contracts for 2014 by 31 July 2012. What is involved: Half day at office, including two panel interviews, two written tests and a trainee tour or an assessment day, including written tests and group exercises. Facts and figures Trainee places available for 2014: 10 Applications received pa: 1,000 Percentage interviewed: 6% SalaryFirst year: £40,000 Second year: £45,000 Newly qualified: £65,000 Vacation schemesSpring: Apply by 31 January 2012. Summer: Apply by 31 January 2012.
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