Debevoise & Plimpton

And it’s no surprise either with revenues now totalling $1.62 billion (£1.2 billion), after a near 20% increase this year. This impressive leap comes off the back of a fairly flat 2024, where D&P invested heavily into its staff and technology, but now it’s seeing the fruits of its labour with increased demand for these tech offerings, alongside growth in stalwart practices such as private equity and insurance. Profit per equity partner (PEP) shot up an even more impressive 32%, taking the average to an eye-watering $5.3 million (£4 million) — almost double that of some Magic Circle players. Which is only all-the-more impressive when you learn that the firm operates an all-equity partnership. Although the firm doesn’t break down these figures by region, presiding partner Peter Furci said numbers in London were “up meaningfully”, driven by strong client demand.

Recent Debevoise-flavoured transactions in the business pages include advising Morrisons in its latest £500 million notes offering and working with sports entertainment platform DAZN on its $2.2 billion acquisition of Australian subscription television provider Foxtel. The US outfit has also been busy acting as counsel in a landmark UN on reproductive rights and is no stranger to UK Supreme Court cases. Debevoise is one of a number of firms to lend its lawyers to the Domestic Abuse Response Alliance (DARA), a free legal advice service to help survivors of domestic abuse secure protective injunctions.

Human rights and restraining orders don’t represent a typical day at the office, needless to say. Core business in the London office of this American-headquartered firm are the likes of private equity, insurance, M&A, finance and tax. Co-headed by former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith KC and finance heavyweight Alan J. Davies, the 27 partner strong office is the firm’s second largest. A good chunk of the London partners are dual-qualified in both the US and UK, presenting an exciting training opportunity for rookies. The firm has also been known to represent Disney, NBC Universal and CBS Broadcasting in copyright litigation. This is “big money commercial litigation work”, as one Debevoise insider puts it.

As with all megabucks US outfits, you lose in downtime what you gain in eye-watering salaries. While the workload is “seasonal and depends on the team”, the hours of the litigation team can at times be “absolutely brutal”, according to one spy (and this seat is mandatory). “It’s never going to be a 9-6 (or even 7) job”, warns one insider, but you might at least get some flexibility: “The general attitude in my team is super laidback — come in when you want, if you want to do something in the evenings, that’s fine — so long as the work gets done. It does sometimes mean getting to dinner and working afterwards until quite late, but I’d rather that than miss out on all my social commitments.” We’re also told that “people are generally respectful of boundaries and there will be a good reason if you need to work late”. Another rookie provides this advice for Debevoise-hopefuls: “Make sure you stick around supportive friends and family who can help you when you’re working hard.”

For others, the quality of work on offer here is another reason to stick out the long hours. As one rookie tells: “If you want to become an expert in an area of law few people know, care about or understand, then this is the firm and the job. It is truly 10/10 stimulating. The problem — of course — is that your friends and family don’t ‘get it’ when you tell them you’re at the ‘cutting edge of niche law XYZ’ and that’s why you need to log on at the dinner table instead of listening to stories about your cousin’s university woes.” This, however, is a privilege earned, not given, and newbies told LC that before proving you have the ability to take on the more interesting stuff, there’s still a lot of “basic tasks” to pick up in the meantime. This has been exacerbated in transactional teams where a noticeable lack of paralegals means juniors have been left picking up admin-heavy tasks such as redlines, Docusigns and signature packs. That being said, we’re told that “you get a lot of responsibility early on once you’re trusted” and trainees who have made the grade can look forward to “client work for major British and American private equity sponsors”. Owing to the lean deal teams, “everyone must be able to pull their weight on substantive tasks”, which includes getting involved in “market-leading matters”. So, on balance, rookies consider it a good deal.

The move to a new industrial office, ‘The Northcliffe’ on 28 Tudor Street has gone down a treat with the current cohort. The space is said to have “all the bells and whistles” including a gym which is said to be “well functional whilst none of the partners know (or want to) how to access it.” Previously serving as a state-of-the-art print and production facility, the sustainable redevelopment also comes equipped with two landscaped terraces and access to a rooftop garden with commanding views over London. On top of all that, there’s also a “delicious” canteen serving free breakfast — including  a dedicated French toast / pancake day — and sweet treat Wednesdays which one rookie tells us “refreshes my will to live almost without fail”. Other culinary highlights include a flavoured sparkling water which insiders say is “delicious and by breaking every week is keeping some technicians employed”.

Debevoise operates a pretty flexible home-working policy, but the rise in agile working has had the adverse effect of “blurring work/life boundaries” for some. As one trainee remarked: “The culture of the firm requires you to be extremely responsive, and so there are fewer safe evenings and weekends compared to when we were in the office.” Generally, however, the firm’s WFH set-up is said to be “pretty good” and we’re told it recently issued “top of the range laptops, phones and iPads in addition to a very large screen for a work from home set up”. Unfortunately, the firm’s legal tech doesn’t follow suit: “the software the firm uses does leave a lot to be desired”, according to one junior. As another puts it: “we adopted iManage 10 this year. It was released eight years ago. Enough said.”

Unsurprisingly, training at Debevoise adheres to the norms of a US firm: “You learn by doing.” As one rookie explains: “the firm has a very good set of formal training presentations for each department [with] practical advice in addition to teaching about the topic in question, however, the most effective training is done on the job”. Another notes that “if you are willing to be proactive everyone will give you time of day and teach you how to be a fantastic lawyer. However, there is no ‘formal’ training program — if that is what you’re expecting then this isn’t what you’ll get. As is undeniably the US firm norm, you learn by the trial of fire inherent in difficult deals with small teams. It means you become a fantastic lawyer if you survive but it isn’t for everyone.”

Luckily, insiders report that senior colleagues are always available for support: “Debevoise has an open door policy, meaning everyone should feel comfortable walking into other people’s rooms (at an appropriate time) and asking for support. This principle is practised well — I have never felt awkward or uncomfortable approaching my superiors, even the most senior partners.” Knowing when to approach superiors for help is a sentiment mirrored in other trainees’ responses, with another summarising: “provided you find the right time (i.e. not the middle of a closing) and have thought about the question, all team members (including partners) are willing to talk to you about any issues on matters. I also find that your opinion is typically respected as a trainee”. Second year trainees also complete a two-week, mini-MBA at Columbia Business School in New York, which makes a pretty cool addition to any junior lawyer’s CV.

Debevoise “places a big emphasis on hiring trainees who get along”, one new arrival says, and small intakes mean the trainees are tight-knit once they have bonded — “I couldn’t do this job without how incredible my peers are” one insider gushed to Legal Cheek. The firm advises that it “recruits all of its trainees from vacation scheme students”, so trainees are encouraged to apply for that as the firm doesn’t accept direct training contract applications.

Perks include the usual Deliveroo allowances, private healthcare, free iPads and taxis after 9pm as well the aforementioned mini-MBA in New York but  “good pay and a nice bonus for the work we do” is the real perk for at least one rookie.