Eversheds Sutherland

Eversheds Sutherland’s recent mandates give a sense of just how wide its practice spreads. On the public sector side, the firm advised the Department for Transport on the transfer of Govia Thameslink Railway (operator of Thameslink, Southern, Great Northern and Gatwick Express services) into public ownership. In corporate and finance, it acted for Howdens on its £390 million agreement to acquire DIY Kitchens, Secure Trust Bank on the £458.6 million sale of its Consumer Vehicle Finance business to funds managed by LCM Partners, and Pepco Group on €770 million of new term and revolving credit facilities.

The firm has also been busy on the energy transition front, with a team advising Pulse Clean Energy on a £220 million financing package to support its battery storage portfolio. Elsewhere, ES acted for the joint administrators of the company behind TGI Fridays’ UK restaurants on a rescue sale securing 33 sites and 1,384 jobs. And on the contentious side of things, the firm represented Barclays Bank UK plc in a significant High Court judicial review concerning the Financial Ombudsman Service’s jurisdiction.

The training is “generally very good,” although one rookie grumbles that “there could be more formal training for each seat, particularly the more technical ones.” Training is said to be “very often informal,” meaning the quality of it depends on “how well you are able to push into projects,” according to LC spies. As one trainee puts it, “it’s very much a ‘you get what you put in,’ which would be improved with some proper structure. It’s very difficult to get exposure to actual, more complicated work. You basically have to hope someone likes you and walks you through it at some point.” Others saw it differently. “Overall the training is great, I’m in my 4th seat and 3 of those have been fantastic. I don’t think you are really spoon fed, you do have to go out and seek work and work hard at it by yourself, but there are always people available to give information and assistance,” said one recruit.

We’re also told that the quality of training can depend heavily on the team and supervisor. One insider had this to say. “Some team members have really gone out of their way to make sure that we receive the training we need. There are some standout partners and associates who time and again will ensure that we are getting a great variety of work, client exposure and quality feedback. Equally, there are associates who use trainees for the sole purpose of running redlines, finding documents they have misplaced, or carrying things.”

Newbies can expect decent levels of responsibility, if they’re up for it. “Once you prove yourself, there is scope to take on associate level work,” one former trainee explains. “In FS (funds), I was able to draft key fund documents for the establishment of a new fund. I also took on some substantive pieces of client advice in competition.” On the flip side, insiders warn that you’d better “be prepared for a lot of admin and printing jobs which are anything but stimulating” if you end up in real estate. This is one of Eversheds’ main specialisms, particularly in the regions, but you’ll also find a decent amount of public sector and corporate and M&A work here too. The differing quality of work between departments was a familiar tune to most, with one telling LC that “some matters you are able to run with supervision” whilst “in other teams running your own DocuSign is the most responsibility given.” Another rookie explains, “Sometimes the work is great. Sometimes you get great legal research and other times you spend 10 hours setting up a DocuSign.” Those gripes aside, our sources were still keen to point out that “trainees start work straight away on the biggest clients and will get very involved if they prove themselves,” with another adding that “on the whole people are receptive if you want to be involved with certain types of work.”

Indeed, ES partners are at the more down-to-earth and approachable end of the corporate law firm spectrum. “Regardless of their seniority or experience, people are so generous with their time and their knowledge and are always approachable,” one spy tells us, “the only thing that can make this difficult is how busy everyone is.” There’s even a legendary story of one of Eversheds’ senior partners hiring an ice-cream van several summers ago to give everyone in the office free frozen treats. We’re told that the best partners are “like a big brother/sister with some professionalism thrown in” and that “if it wasn’t for email signatures (and the obvious age giveaway) it would be quite hard to identify who the partners and juniors are.” The open plan office spaces are also said to be conducive to working fairly closely with partners, and “no one is opposed to having a coffee together.”

Eversheds trainees are a fairly busy bunch. “Peaks and troughs, but if you’re in a trough you’ll get called out for your utilisation” is how one describes the work-life balance on offer here. Another shares their experience. “It is generally good as a trainee due to not having chargeable hours targets. People are often respectful of working hours, but when the going gets tough you’re expected to pull your weight and put the hours in. Weekend working is not expected and where necessary it is rewarded and not thankless.” Trainees appreciate that “Eversheds is a global commercial firm, and your workload will reflect this,” but people will check in on you if you’re burning the midnight oil, and trainees are generally “encouraged to log off and not stay late unless ABSOLUTELY essential,” according to one LC source.

Another recruit shares their experience so far. “If you’re in a busy, transactional team with a deal on then obviously this is going to take a hit, but the firm is very good at sending you home at a decent hour to log back in after dinner and from the comfort of your home. The firm will also provide a taxi and dinner budget if you are working late and need to be in the office. Some trainees have, however, been able to leave pretty consistently at 5.30 to 6.30 each night, especially in the smaller advisory seats.”

It helps that you’ll be working alongside “constantly cheerful and upbeat” peers who “all genuinely care about each other.” One rookie gushes, “I feel that my peers all value my contributions and work, and are supportive of wanting me to succeed as a trainee and part of the firm. There really is an atmosphere of being one team, regardless of role type, location or seniority. The people and atmosphere in the firm were the other of the two most significant reasons why I wanted to join.”

The social life is decent, with frequent events held by the social committee that usually get a good turnout, and “monthly office socials with free food and drinks” making up for a lack of more organised fun. There is the annual Christmas party and a few team socials mentioned here and there, but the lack of a trainee social budget was a bugbear for many, and this has led to the social scene being fairly office dependent.

Another major bugbear was the lack of international secondments. The firm does offer two-week long “business trips” for its trainees, with destinations including Munich, Amsterdam and Dusseldorf, but recruits note that these short stints don’t exactly “carry the same appeal as a six month secondment, especially as you’re not even allowed to work while you’re there.” As for client secondments, trainees report stints with the likes of HSBC, Amazon, Aviva and the Department of Transport, though there are a few grumbles that these weren’t offered to trainees up north.

Perks don’t appear to be the perkiest, according to insiders. “It’s ok, market standard, nothing to shout about,” one respondent summarises. Gymflex, private health insurance, free parking at UK offices (“great for weekend city visits,” says one rookie), free breakfast and food are all appreciated, as well as surprise drops to trainees’ desks, like advent calendars at Christmas and Easter eggs at Easter. Hungry trainees be warned, however, as on the food front one trainee tells us that “there was once snacks available in the office, but this has been reduced to a measly few pieces of fruit for 50 people to fight over.”

Birmingham, Manchester and London benefit from a fully subsidised canteen that serves some “excellent hot meals.” However, rookies do note that the prices seem to be on the rise, with one stating “the food is a lot more expensive than it used to be, it is now pretty comparable to going somewhere local for food, when it used to be heavily subsidised.” Another deterioration comes in the form of the coffee machines. Once treated to the creme-de-la-creme of Starbucks’ self-serve, rookies now complain of second-tier coffee from “bad machines.” There were no complaints about the free breakfast though!

On the firm’s tech abilities, one source tells us, “Some really good solutions, however the basic technology systems sometimes let that down.” Echoing this, another says, “I think our external client facing technology is brilliant, but our internal legal tech is often very behind.” That said, the firm has rolled out Microsoft Copilot and set up a new team to get to grips with AI, so watch this space.

With a little regional competition between trainees, office bragging rights are a big deal. But the consensus is that the Real Madrid and Barcelona of Eversheds’ UK offices are the London and Manchester digs. “Win the office lottery and a spectacular view of St Paul’s is your reward. Lose and you’ll soon forget what daylight looks like,” vaunts one London aficionado. It can’t be too bad, as the skyline rooftop at the London HQ was once used to unveil West Ham United’s football kit. Manchester trainees, meanwhile, are thrilled with their digs at Two New Bailey Square. “The Manchester office is beautiful, especially the roof terrace with views out over the city,” says an insider. Many of the other offices are also in the process of being refurbished and have now added eco-friendly features in the form of garden rooftops with beehives. As one insider exclaimed, “We grow vegetables on the roof!” There appears to be just one grumble on the office front. “It still feels dated and a little dark,” one insider says of the Birmingham office. Juniors won’t have too much longer to wait for a change of scene, mind, with the firm having taken the keys of a new Birmingham office at Three Chamberlain Square in the city’s ‘Paradise’ development, ahead of a planned move in summer 2027. For when rookies are working from home, Eversheds provides a screen, webcam, mouse, keyboard and chair, making the transition from office to home “seamless,” according to Legal Cheek sources.