White & Case retains 16 of 19 autumn NQ lawyers
Start on £140k
White & Case has posted a score of 84% for the autumn 2022 retention season.
From a qualifying cohort of 19, the New York headquartered player confirmed 16 final seat trainees were offered and accepted newly qualified (NQ) roles. All are on permanent deals.
The new recruits qualify into practices areas including capital markets, commercial litigation, debt finance, international arbitration, mergers & acquisitions, project development and finance, tax and white collar.
Two trainees are joining the firm’s offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, “reflecting the global importance of English law at White & Case”.
Those qualifying into London will start on a salary of £140,000, up from a year two trainee rate of £57,000. The Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2022 shows the firm offers around 50 training contracts each year.
“London trainees at White & Case receive high quality training and gain unique experience through our comprehensive trainee programme, international seats and exposure to complex cross-border matters,” said White & Case partner Inigo Esteve, who heads the trainee solicitor programme in London. “Combined with our highly competitive salary and benefits package this makes White & Case an attractive destination for intelligent and ambitious trainee lawyers.”
Earlier this year the firm recorded a spring retention rate of 83% (19 out of 23).
For all the latest commercial awareness info, news and careers advice:
Sign up to the Legal Cheek Newsletter
18 Comments
Impressed
For the number of trainees they have, their NQ salary is extremely impressive
(Not to mention they throw money at their trainees and future trainees)
Insider
NQ salary is good
Toxic and unbearable culture in some teams + constantly yelling psychopath partners is not good
Go Latham instead (if you can)
Anon
W&C must be doing great financially to be able to pay a much bigger intake than their competitors such high salaries
What you talking about Willis
“Two trainees are joining the firm’s offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, “reflecting the global importance of English law at White & Case”. ”
Eh?
Laws
They’re UK qualified lawyers working in foreign jurisdictions – but doing UK law. Not sure what’s not to get
Anon
No such thing as UK law, it’s English law. Scots law for example is completely different.
Butt
Even the case law on governing clauses recognises what everyone knows, the “UK law” means English law.
No
English and Welsh
So
Working in Dubai or anywhere in the UAE is a CV disaster. It screams “not good enough for London”.
Anon
Who cares about CV when you’re making over £12k net a month as an NQ doing less challenging work and driving a Porsche to work instead of the sweaty tube? Most people only stay in law for a few years at best, may as well make bank while you’re at it.
US Junior
£12k net? Oh for world of smaller taxes and no student loan to pay off…
STB associate
STB pays £173k NQ fyi.
Anonymous
White and case only serves cheese on Wednesdays
Interested TC Holder
Heard whispers of trainee salaries being increased to £55,000-£60,000 and NQ salary being bumped up to approx. £165,000-170,000…
Thoughts?
NQ
Any word on White & Case increasing NQ salaries in the near future?
NQ pay has jumped £35,000 to £140,000 from 2020 levels when it was £105,000.
Would be a true mark of elite status if NQ salary headed up to the £170,000 level.
Reality check
W&C is not an elite US firm, though.
It’s very solid, and has a strong London practice, but it’s in a totally different league to Latham/Skadden/STB etc.
US NQ
Not sure what the OP meant, but I think W&C is trying get away from selective elitism. They have instead positioned themselves, I think, as a progressive and leading global firm.
Having worked across from their lawyers, I can say that they are very bright, diligent and actually a pleasure to work with, which is more than I can say for some of the other firms above.
Would be pleased to lateral there, if salary is right, and happily take on Latham or Skadden.
US associate
Unless you are interested in arbitration or project finance, you would be insane to choose W&C over the likes of STB.
Comments are closed.