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Pinsent Masons LLP 
30 Aylesbury Street London EC1R 0ER
Lex 100 winner
Favoured by 4 users (Register to add this entry to your favourites)

The trainee verdict

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The lowdown (in their own words...)


Why did you choose this firm over any others? 'Reputation as an expanding, forward-thinking firm'; 'international but retains its strong regional base'; 'friendly, down-to-earth office culture, wide spread of practice areas'; 'did vac scheme and loved every minute'; 'commitment to growth in Scotland'; 'high-quality work but small teams so you can get stuck in'

How does your training compare with peers' at other firms? 'Better than most'; 'more hands-on and friendly'; 'slightly less stressful'; 'greater variety of work'; 'a great deal of time and money is spent on training'; 'better work/life balance but perhaps less challenged'; 'more relaxed'; 'broadly similar to friends at equivalent firms'; 'better - I am happier'

Best thing about the firm? 'The work hard, play hard approach'; 'the people and the culture'; 'reputation and clients'; 'the firm treats trainees as the partners of tomorrow'; 'openness and approachability of senior lawyers'; 'prospects for growth'; 'the people are amazing'; 'to be able to feel proud of our reputation' 

Worst thing about the firm? 'Could have more secondments available to regional/international offices'; 'split offices in London'; 'honestly cannot think of anything!'; 'the soups from the vending machine'; 'sometimes long hours'; 'underestimated by some commentators'; 'pay/benefits not as good as rivals'

Best moment? 'Being involved in ground-breaking litigation and having exceptionally positive feedback on my performance'; 'assisting with world's largest PFI project'; 'drinking champagne as dawn was breaking after a hectic completion week'; 'working on the float of a company on the LSE'; 'sitting in on a meditation with clients and seeing our senior partner in action'; 'winning the qualifying tournament at the Law Society Sevens!'

Worst moment? 'Working six weekends in a row'; '78-hour week'; 'being publicly reprimanded for billing to the wrong file number'; 'missing my Dad's birthday for a completion'; 'being the last person in the office at 2am on Sunday morning'; 'my supervisor in my first seat embarrassing me to make a point'



The Lex 100 verdict

The firm

Pinsent Masons continues to grow nationally and internationally. It has offices in London, Birmingham and Leeds and heads the field in the construction market. It also has impressive M&A, technology, employment, pensions and property litigation practices and recently launched a strategic alliance with international law firm Salans.


The star performers

Top-ranking departments according to The Legal 500*Banking and finance; Commercial litigation; Construction; Corporate tax; Corporate and commercial; Education; Employment; Health and safety; Information technology; Intellectual property; Pensions; Private Finance Initiative; Professional negligence; Property litigation; Public sector.

The deals

Advised Shore Capital on the $110m private placing and flotation of Da Vinci Capital Management's CIS Private Sector Growth Fund on the Specialist Fund Market; advising the management of Angel Trains on its £3.6bn sale; advised Firebuy on its procurement of fire and rescue services; advised the management on Montague Private Equity's £1.7bn Biffa buyout; advising the Railway Procurement Agency on the $3bn Dublin Metro.

The clients

Cabinet Office; China Petroleum; Grant Thornton; Home Office; MoD; Petronas; Pipeline Bureau; Royal Mail; St Helen's Capital; SVS Securities; Shell.

The money

(from Legal Business magazine)

Turnover in 2008: £213m (+11% from 2007) Profits per equity partner: £500,000 (-2%)


The Lex 100 verdict

Pinsent Masons has a 'reputation as an expanding, forward-thinking firm which is pushing internationally, while retaining strong regional/national bases' is a typical comment from a current trainee when asked why they chose this firm for their training. Another remarks - 'I did four vacation schemes at different firms and Pinsent Masons stood out for its friendliness, professionalism and ambition'. Others comment on the 'culture of friendly people, coupled with technical excellence and commercial focus', 'good range of seats and quality of work' and the 'real air of togetherness'. Trainees remark on the 'quietly ambitious nature of their firm', comparing it with the more cut-throat approach of other City practices - they also compare favourably their methodical training, work/life balance and opportunities to get involved in real work. Pinsent Masons is a Lex 100 Winner in the 'firm living up to expectations' and 'social life' categories, with trainees content that the firm was sold positively and accurately to them at interview and happy with their friendly colleagues who 'work well and play well' together. On the downside trainees in London would still like to be in one office, there are some murmurs about lack of say over seat moves and trainees would like to see their firm raise its profile and get recognition for the good work it does. Some trainees feel the hours can be quite long compared with the pay and benefits and there's a bit too much internal PR branding - with the 'values, goals and strategies confusing at times'. In general though, as we said last year, trainees are pretty happy with Pinsent Masons. It offers a broad and thorough training contract (including expertise in specialist areas such as construction) and a chance to be 'part of a journey from a national outfit to a firm of truly global operations'.

A day in the life of.....

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About the firm

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