Unless within eyeshot of a client
Lawyers at Travers Smith will now be able to take a less formal approach to office attire following an overhaul of the City outfit’s dress code.
The firm has told its lawyers, trainees and support staff that they can now wear “business casual” clothing when not in meetings with clients or conducting work on client floors (those marble-clad areas with excellent biscuits).
Travers’ decision to ditch the ties in favour of a more Mark Zuckerberg-esque style comes after a group of associates floated the idea to the firm’s partnership board. David Patient, managing partner at Travers, told Legal Cheek:
We consulted with groups across the firm, because changes to policies like dress codes are always controversial. We still expect that an appropriate standard of dress is maintained when in the office or representing the firm; however, the new policy allows our lawyers and other staff members to be a bit more relaxed about their attire when on office floors or in internal meetings.
Today’s fashion policy update follows a similar move by international giant CMS. The firm — formed by a three-way combination between CMS Cameron McKenna, Nabarro and Olswang — unveiled a new casual dress code to help its lawyers integrate.
Pre-merger, corporate all-rounder CMS Cameron McKenna expected its lawyers to dress smartly. However, Olswang’s lot — handling more sexy areas of law such as technology and media — could take a more casual approach. Keen to avoid a ‘them and us’ situation, CMS introduced a less formal clothing policy.
Returning to Travers, the firm — which offers around 25 training contracts a year — recently unveiled a series of modest pay increases for its trainees and junior lawyers. Legal Cheek’s Most List shows that year one trainee pay now sits at £43,500, rising to £49,000 in year two. Newly qualified lawyers at the City outfit earn £75,000.
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