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5 Old Broad Street London EC2N 1DW 
Favoured by 3 users
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The lowdown (in their own words...)Why did you choose this firm over any others? 'International work. Diverse and friendly colleagues'; 'the people and the quality of work. The salary helped too!'; 'guaranteed seat abroad'; 'global reach, high-quality reputation, overseas seat, smaller intake compared to other big city firms'; 'opportunity to tailor career'; 'the down-to-earth approach and honesty of the partner and associates at interview' How does your training compare with peers' at other firms? 'About the same, though Magic Circle firms perhaps get more formal seminars etc'; 'bigger deals to work on, better variety of work, nicer environment'; 'I have had better quality work and more client contact'; 'more focus on finance'; 'one-on-one contact with the supervisor'; 'greater versatility'; 'much the same'; 'more personal'; 'hours worse, exposure better' Best thing about the firm? 'Diverse office. Friendly and encouraging partners'; 'overseas seat'; 'lack of stuffiness'; 'truly global'; 'expertise in emerging markets'; 'the chocolate biscuits'; 'the people and pay'; 'the mentoring mentality, plus the calibre of clients'; 'international opportunities and means to manage your own training and seats'; 'individuality' Worst thing about the firm? 'Management could be better organised'; 'hours can be unpredictable and long'; 'food in the canteen. Seat allocation process should be better'; 'credit crunch affecting biscuits'; 'heavy focus on finance'; 'market conditions causing anxiety so my group seems very stressed' Best moment? 'Working on a complex cross-border deal from start to finish'; 'football World Cup in Budapest'; 'closing a deal after a sleepless night and celebrating afterwards'; 'Hong Kong for six months'; 'coming up with the answer'; 'karaoke sessions'; 'my seat abroad'; 'working on House of Lords case' Worst moment? 'Preparation of bibles for transactions I didn't work on'; '120-hour week'; 'lack of work during the downturn'; 'not knowing what time I would leave in the evening for a month'; 'sitting in the office until 4am waiting for documents'; 'being admonished by a supervising partner' The firmWhite & Case has been in the UK for over 30 years and there are now more than 350 international lawyers working from the London office. Specialist practice areas include banking, capital markets and commercial litigation. The firm is also renowned for its expertise in projects and power, particularly mining and minerals and oil and gas. It is also increasing its reach with new recognition in areas such as employment. The star performersAcquisition finance; Arbitration; Asset finance/leasing; Bank lending; Commercial litigation; Corporate tax; Electricity, nuclear and renewables; Emerging markets; Employment; Equity capital markets (UK capability); Islamic finance; Private equity; Project finance The dealsAdvised Japan Bank and commercial lenders on the massive $20bn Sakhalin II oil and gas project; advice to the underwriters on both Imperial Energy's £300m rights issue, and the $1.9bn IPO of Turk Telekomunikasyon; advising Visa International on the employee benefits aspects of its global restructuring and subsequent IPO. The clientsABN Amro; BNP Paribas; Citigroup; Deutsche Bank; Goldman Sachs; HBO Central Europe; Morgan Stanley; Starwood Capital. The money(from Legal Business magazine) Turnover in 2008: $1,373m (+16% from 2007) Profits per equity partner: $1,582,000 (+10%) Highly commended for dispute resolution and employment, pensions and benefits teams of the year. The Lex 100 verdict'A truly global, diverse firm with friendly and encouraging partners who respect your opinion'. Not a bad description of White & Case from one contented current trainee and there is much more praise for this high-flying US firm - there are 'relaxed but brilliant people', a 'complete lack of stuffiness', a 'focus on individuality' and 'great chocolate biscuits'. The training is perhaps less formal than at Magic Circle firms, but there is a lot of hands-on learning and good one-on-one contact with your supervisor. Travel opportunities and seats abroad are also plentiful, so an international outlook is essential if you want a job here. It would also make sense to have a finance bias if you're thinking of applying to White & Case, because there is a heavy focus on banking and finance, and clients in those industries. The hours seem pretty similar to comparable firms, but trainees believe the rewards in terms of remuneration, quality of work, involvement in deals and greater diversity regarding deal jurisdictions, are far superior. They acknowledge there is not a huge variety in the type of seats they can do - but feel they are getting specialist experience which enables them to undertake a high level of work on qualification. On the downside, the canteen food 'isn't great', the hours 'can be tough' and 'the team sizes can feel stretched at times'. Current market conditions have also caused extra stress lately, although the firm is once again a Lex 100 Winner in the 'confident of being kept on' category, so things can't be too bad. As we said last year, White & Case appears to offer the right candidates a high-level, international and meritocratic training experience, where hard work is recognised and future opportunities are good. A day in the life of..... Tamara Kilner third-seat trainee solicitor, White & Case LLP University: Trinity College, Oxford Departments to date: Energy, infrastructure, project and asset finance; corporate; capital markets; Hong Kong for overseas seat. Degree and class: Law, 2(1) 8.50am: I'm in early this morning to help prepare for a creditors' meeting being held at the White & Case office. We are currently involved in restructuring two of the largest banks in Kazakhstan; one example of the diverse work the firm does. Today's meeting is highly confidential so my first task is to meet and greet the attending representatives and ensure no 'extras' manage to slip in. It's then my responsibility to take notes of the meeting; it's a great buzz to be part of the front line on this sort of legal work. 10.50am: Head back to my desk to transcribe the question and answer session from the meeting; an important task as the document needs to accurately represent what was stated during the meeting. Thank goodness my handwriting was legible! 12.00pm: Grab my sports kit and dash off for a lunchtime netball training session. White & Case has a huge array of extra curricular activities which all employees are encouraged to get involved with. There's even the opportunity to travel, with numerous skiing, sailing and football trips on offer throughout the year. 12.50pm: Have a quick bite to eat at my desk while I check my emails. One of the associates has asked me to have a go at drafting the facility agreement amendment letters for a deal I'm working on involving the change of corporate domicile of one of White & Case's longstanding clients. Throughout my traineeship I've been actively encouraged to get stuck into drafting, a critical part of lawyers' work. 3.50pm: My supervisor receives a question from the Moscow office concerning indemnity provisions in English law trust deeds. He asks me to take a look at it and respond to the partner in Moscow. Liaising with the foreign offices is a daily occurrence at the White & Case office; the firm is hugely international and it's rare for the deals we work on to be solely based in the UK. 5.15pm: I've been asked to write a practice note on state guaranteed bonds so I head down to the library to do some research. All the trainees at White & Case are expected to get involved with the legal 'know-how' work in their respective departments; this is a great way to get to grips with some of the more challenging points of law that we come across. 6.30pm: Pop round to the kitchen for the capital markets wine and crisps evening - never ones to turn down a free drink, the trainees are the first to arrive. These evenings happen once a month and enable all the members of the department to get together for an informal drink. It's a good opportunity to meet colleagues away from our desks and attendance is usually very high. 8.05pm: Back to my office to collect my coat and check my diary for tomorrow before heading home. About the firm Address: 5 Old Broad Street London EC2N 1DW Telephone: 020 7532 1000 Fax: 020 7532 1001 Email:
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Total partners: 69
Other fee-earners:273
Total trainees :56
Other offices: Abu Dhabi, Almaty, Ankara, Beijing, Berlin, Bratislava, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hamburg, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Moscow, Munich, New York, Palo Alto, Paris, Prague, Riyadh, São Paulo, Singapore, Shanghai, Stockholm, Tokyo, Warsaw, Washington DC. Who we are: White & Case is a global law firm that provides the full range of legal services of the highest quality in virtually every major commercial centre and emerging market. What we do: We work with international businesses, financial institutions and governments on corporate and financial transactions and dispute resolution proceedings. Our clients range from some of the world's longest established and most respected names to many start-up visionaries. What we are looking for: Enthusiastic trainees with a strong academic record who are commercially minded and are keen to be involved in multijurisdictional work. What you will do: Trainees undertake four six-month seats with one seat guaranteed to be spent overseas. Trainees take early responsibility and get practical hands-on training, together with plenty of support and feedback. Perks: The firm operates a flexible benefits scheme, through which you can select the benefits you wish to receive. Currently, the benefits include such things as private medical insurance, dental insurance, group income protection, life assurance, pension, critical illness insurance, travel insurance, retail vouchers and gym membership. Sponsorship: Course fees paid for LPC and GDL. Maintenance grant for each full-time law school year. Application processApply to: Jemma Stritch, Graduate Resourcing Co-ordinator. How to apply: Apply online at www.whitecasetrainee.com. When to Apply: For training contracts, apply by 31 July 2010. (We would encourage final year non-law graduates to apply by the end of March 2010 for early consideration of their application.) What is involved: Candidates successful at the application stage will be invited to come to our office. They will be taken on a tour of the office by a trainee and will then have two interviews, the first with two associates and a member of the graduate resourcing team, and the second with two partners. This completes the selection process. Facts and figuresTrainee places available for 2012 25-30 Applications received pa 1,700 approx Percentage interviewed 5% SalaryFirst year £41,000 (first seat); £42,000 (second seat) Second year £43,000 (third seat); £44,000 (fourth seat) Newly qualified £72,000 Placement schemesSpring: March/April (apply by 31 January 2010). Summer: June, July and August (apply by 31 January 2010). |
