Lex 100 - Speechly Bircham LLP

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Speechly Bircham LLP

6 New Street Square London EC4A 3LX

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The trainee verdict

The lowdown (in their own words...)

Why did you choose this firm over any others? 'Strong private client department'; 'a good range of seats'; 'size of the firm appealed'; 'good quality of work and client contact'; 'a full-service, mid-sized firm with expertise in the private client field'; 'the vacation scheme is very good and from that I had such a positive feeling about the firm'

How does your training compare with peers' at other firms? 'Trainees at smaller firms seem to have more responsibility than me'; 'trainees at larger firms have less responsibility than me'; 'I have been given significantly more client contact than my peers at similar firms'; 'the work/life balance and stress levels are better'

Best thing about the firm? 'Good exposure to clients and difficult work'; 'the work is probably higher quality with less time bundling and more time actually using your brain'; 'the people'; 'everybody is friendly, approachable and very competent'; 'the parties'; 'its ambitions for growth'; 'a sense of dynamism and that the firm is moving forward'

Worst thing about the firm? 'Open-plan working can be a bit distracting although it does mean that you get to know people faster and work together as a team'; 'there is a lack of food supply for the times when we work past the canteen's opening hours'; 'the social events are always over subscribed, last week all the spaces for the St Patrick's day quiz went in minutes'

Best moment? 'Going before a master at the RCJ'; 'attending a meeting with clients and completing the follow-up work so that I was able to see a matter from the beginning to the end'; 'being trusted to handle the incorporation of a charity and subsequent merger with a charitable will trust under the supervision and guidance of a senior associate'

Worst moment? 'Crawling into work the day after a client event (with wine)'; 'a photocopying disaster when 15 sets of bibles were copied in the wrong format'; 'getting stuck in the service lift after a power failure'; 'late night bundle preparation the night before the hearing'; 'having to partially re-draft a client's will while they were sitting upstairs waiting to sign it'

The Lex 100 verdict

The firm

Speechly Bircham continues to support its excellent private client practice with strength in property, construction and mid-level corporate work. It also has impressive technology and media teams, as well as growing financial services and immigration departments. Many of these teams and departments were significantly boosted in 2009 when the firm joined forces with boutique London practice Campbell Hooper. The firm also recently recruited a four-strong projects team from the dissolved Shadbolt LLP.

The star performers

Agriculture and estates; Charities; Commercial litigation; Commercial property; Construction; Contentious trusts and probate; Employment; Family; Heritage property; Immigration; M&A: smaller deals up to £50m; Personal tax, trusts and probate; Planning; Property litigation; Venture capital.

The deals

Represented WPL against SAS in a landmark case about the copyright in computer programming languages; defended World Programming Limited against SAS in a software copyright infringement case which has been referred to the ECJ; advised on the FSA's treatment of carbon credit; advised on the multimillion-pound takeover of Execution Noble by Banco Espirito Santo.

The clients

Albion Ventures; Arbuthnot Securities; Chrysalis Ventures; Ecclesiastical; Elle Macpherson; Iceni Capital; Kreos Capital; Kryso Resources; Touch Press; Zorilla Entertainment Limited.

The money

(from Legal Business magazine)

Turnover in 2010: £58.4m (+27% from 2009) Profits per equity partner: £478,000 (+44%)

The winners

Legal Business Awards 2011

HIghly commended Managing partner of the year, TMT team of the year.

The Verdict

A Lex 100 Winner this year for its 'great' vacation scheme, which showcases how 'friendly' it is and some of the 'valuable experiences' trainees could obtain there, Speechly Bircham seems to be going from strength to strength. With a 'very strong' private client department, the firm also offers a 'good range of seats' and aims to give a significant amount of responsibility to trainees whilst providing an 'appropriate level of support'. Expect to get 'good exposure to clients' and to be handling some fairly 'difficult' work ('we don't just make bundles all day every day'). 'Going before a master at the RCJ', 'being trusted to handle the incorporation of a charity' and 'completing on one of the biggest deals of the firm to date with just one partner' are examples of some of the work highlights experienced by current trainees. The fact that the cafÃ© shuts at 5pm when people generally work until a bit later annoys one trainee and 'social events are very popular so you will have to race to get involved ('all the spaces for the St Patrick's day quiz went in minutes'). The open-plan office can also be 'distracting' but as one trainee points out it is 'a great way get to know people faster and work together as a team'. This medium-sized firm with 'sociable hours of work', a great reputation and a 'sense of dynamism and ambitions for growth' is definitely worth investigating.