11 outfits take steps, including adjusting application processes, to support future trainees left in limbo
A group of leading US and City law firms are stepping in to support future trainees whose training contracts with Weil will no longer go ahead following the firm’s decision to wind down its operations.
Many of those affected are already partway through their studies, including the SQE, and now face the daunting prospect of having to secure a training contract elsewhere, despite having already successfully navigated the competitive recruitment process.
According to Financial News (£), 11 law firms have so far offered their support, citing a person familiar with the matter. They are Akin, Baker McKenzie, Debevoise, Jones Day, Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Macfarlanes, Paul, Weiss, Skadden, Sullivan & Cromwell and Willkie.
The support on offer varies between firms but includes streamlining training contract applications by removing certain stages and allowing affected candidates to submit their CVs directly. More are expected to follow suit in the coming weeks as Weil’s graduate recruitment team continues discussions with other outfits, the report adds.
The Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2027 shows that Weil recruits approximately 15 trainees each year, offering a starting salary of £60,000 and covering the costs of students’ law conversion courses and SQE preparation.
Weil announced last week that its management committee had recommended an “orderly wind-down“, bringing months of senior departures, unsuccessful merger discussions and leadership uncertainty to a head. The New York-founded firm has around 1,200 lawyers globally and has been in business for more than 90 years.
The proposal is expected to go before partners for a vote in the coming days, with the firm saying it would continue supporting staff during the closure process.
Reminds me of the KWM days!
So the support is, for your sins we will make our overly protracted recruitment processes, slightly less protracted for you. That’s grand.
Genuinely honking offer of help
This whole ‘save the lawyers’ thing irks me. Yes it sucks to lose your job but so what if the world loses some aspiring corporate lawyers. Not like they’re top brain surgeons is it…
And the fact that those who are picked up get to bypass other firm’s notoriously selective recruitment processes annoys me. What if they dont gel with your culture or dont actually like your key areas (admittedly a lot of similarity)?
Whole thing is overblown