The firm
From its impressive offices overlooking Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, Norton Rose's strategic focus remains on five core areas: transport; financial services; technology; energy and corporate finance. It has strength in asset and Islamic finance with an office in Saudi Arabia and a licence to work in Abu Dhabi. Peter Martyr was named managing partner of the year at the 2009 Legal Business awards.
The star performers
Top-ranking departments according to The Legal 500*Asset finance and leasing; Aviation; Commercial litigation; Corporate tax; Electricity, nuclear and renewables; Financial services; Flotations; Insurance; Islamic finance; Mergers and acquisitions; Planning; Private finance initiative (PFI); Project finance; Rail.
The deals
Advising Carlsberg on its £10bn consortium bid for Scottish & Newcastle; advising Citigroup Global markets as arranger of the $20bn Oasis Certificate programme; advising Travelers on the disposal of its insurance business to Enstar; advising JBIC on a $760m drillship project financing, as well as acting on the establishment of Nautilus Holdings Limited, a joint venture investment vehicle.
The clients
Alitalia; Barclays; BNP Paribas (Suisse); Carlsberg; HSBC Rail; KLM; Lukoil; Nestlé; RBS; Standard Bank; Teknik; Trinity Mirror.
The money
(from Legal Business magazine)
Turnover in 2008: £323m (+17% from 2007) Profits per equity partner: £625,000 (+21%)
Highly commended teams: Corporate; Insurance and Structured finance/debt capital markets and law firm of the year.Winner: Management partner of the year (Peter Martyr).
The Lex 100 verdict
'The people, the people, the people'. Time and again this was the answer to both 'why did you choose this firm?' and 'what is the best thing about your firm?' 'The people here are nicer than anywhere else', 'friendly people', 'brilliant people', 'clever but not arrogant people' - clearly if you're a people person and great colleagues are important to you, then you've found the right place. There is much praise for other aspects of the firm too - 'good international network and opportunities', 'variety of work and six-seat system', 'commitment to pro bono work', 'good sports and social life' and 'reasonable working hours' to name just a few. Trainees also praise the flexibility of the firm, commenting that 'it does its utmost to accommodate employees' needs and opinions'. There are good support systems in place and generally a very good working atmosphere, combining friendliness with professionalism. It is a shame that experiences of the canteen do not live up to the quality of the people and the rest of the firm - according to some 'the standard of food has gone down', the choice is not great and the prices are still too high. And though the new building is impressive, with good views, it's not exactly a shopper's paradise. None of this should affect your work though and it's heartening that there were no real complaints about the standard of work or training (although some would like more client contact and others would like their firm to promote itself better). Norton Rose is, however, a Lex 100 Winner in the 'confident of being kept on' category, indicating good levels of optimism among trainees. Still a great place to choose for a top quality training contract, especially if you're looking for an international dimension.