Lex 100 - Fox Williams LLP

Main Menu

User Login

Fox Williams LLP

10 Dominion Street London EC2M 2EE

Favoured by 0 users (Register to add this entry to your favourites)

The trainee verdict

The lowdown (in their own words...)

Why did you choose this firm over any others? 'The size'; 'wanted to work at a firm that offers high-quality work'; 'close-knit working environment'; 'City quality of work'; 'more unique practices such as fashion and ebusiness'; ', reputation as growing, client-focused firm'; 'I wanted to be exposed to as much quality work as possible'

How does your training compare with peers' at other firms? 'More hands on work'; 'more partner contact'; 'exposure to partners'; 'I have not yet been required to eat my dinner at my desk!'; 'I work more closely with partners'; 'I receive constructive, comprehensive feedback on substantive pieces of work'

Best thing about the firm? 'The â€œcommunityâ€ culture at the firm'; 'you get to work with big-name clients and are involved in a lot of quality work'; 'range of work'; 'its entrepreneurial spirit'; 'friendly and positive atmosphere'; 'good social interaction'; 'exposure to partners results in higher-quality work'; 'better all-round training experience'

Worst thing about the firm? 'The lack of a communal seating area for lunch'; 'sometimes there are not enough people to spread the work across so you can end up doing a long trainee task all by yourself'; 'couple of occasions where I have felt that the firm is understaffed'; 'no canteen'

Best moment? 'Attendance at an application hearing at court'; 'reading media coverage on a transaction that I had been involved with'; 'working on employment litigation from beginning to end and being really involved in the case'; 'being a valued member of the team and liaising directly with client and counsel'

Worst moment? 'Three days of IT training on joining the firm'; 'realising at 1.30am that the bundle I had spent over two hours on had been paginated incorrectly'; ' work on a due diligence report'; 'admin work'

The Lex 100 verdict

The firm

City firm Fox Williams is well-regarded for its niche departments including fashion and ebusiness as well as advising on the more traditional areas such as real estate, employment and corporate. The firm advises a variety of clients from high-net-worth individuals to public companies. In 2010 it worked on 30 M&A deals worth a total of £80m.

The star performers

Commercial property; Employment; Immigration; M&A: smaller deals up to £50m; Partnership.

The deals

Advised SuperGroup on worldwide franchise agreements for the Superdry and SuperdryStore brands; advised on the first trial of an unfair prejudice petition brought in respect of an LLP; advises Northland Capital Partners Limited on reverse takeover of Nokia Branded operator branded messaging business; acted on the acquisition of AdvanSA B.V.

The clients

Cenkos Securities plc; Clydesdale Bank; Comme des GarÃ§ons; Earthscan; FinnCap; Jonas Software; Rapid Action Packaging Limited; SuperGroup plc.

The Verdict

If you are looking to work at a City firm which 'offers high-quality work in a friendly and close-knit working environment' then Fox Williams could be the firm for you. Offering several niche practice areas (fashion and agency law being two examples), it also covers the more conventional ones that you would expect in the City. Trainees like the fact that due to the small intake here they will sometimes be the only trainee in a department so they are exposed to 'a wide range of tasks and challenges'. The training is described as 'innovative' and 'better all round' than peers' at other firms and the friendly atmosphere means that the occasional late nights are 'made far more pleasurable by the fact that you are working with people you get to know very well'. You may be thrown in at the deep end 'helping on a matter about to go to an eight-day trial' or 'giving an hour-long talk on a technical aspect of practice to the whole corporate department' but trainees enjoy the challenge. The three-day IT induction is a source of irritation as well as the lack of communal eating area and on occasion trainees can feel that the firm is a little understaffed. There will also be those inevitable due diligence reports to write and the odd mad dash to Companies House. However, if you like the sound of a City firm with a strong entrepreneurial spirit Fox Williams is a great choice.