Davis Polk & Wardwell

Unsurprisingly for a firm of this calibre, Davis Polk is no stranger to high-profile clients. Recent deal highlights include advising Hertz on a billion-dollar financing deal and assisting ExxonMobil with its nearly $60 billion all-stock acquisition of rival Pioneer Natural Resources. In recent years, the firm has also advised corporate powerhouses such as Delta Airlines and Elon Musk, the latter on the financing for his acquisition of Twitter, now X. Other clients include titans of the banking and finance sector such as Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Citigroup and Bank of America as well as well-known consumer brands from Etsy to Ralph Lauren.

Davis Polk’s London office is small but mighty –– a lean team of 60 or so lawyers focused on M&A and capital markets. However it is growing and headcount is on the rise –– the firm has just launched a London restructuring practice after poaching a pair of top restructuring partners from a US rival.

Unsurprisingly, training at the firm’s London office focuses on the corporate and credit practices, but trainees also have a chance to spend time in a more specialised seat such as tax, financial regulation or antitrust. Information from the Legal Cheek Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey suggests that the training is less structured than in other firms. This is in line with the broader US firm culture where junior lawyers are expected to “learn on the job” rather than being coddled. According to the trainees, this is no bad thing: “Time spent doing actual classroom style formal training is lower than at other firms, but at this stage in my career on the job training is much more beneficial and the notable exposure to more senior lawyers adds further value to this”, one spy explains.

It’s not just the training which suits the Davis Polk rookies, but the quality of work too. As one mole puts it: “Particularly compared to the work my contemporaries are doing at other firms, the nature of work and responsibility that trainees are given is very stimulating”. Complemented with the “great support/guidance” offered by the partners and other senior lawyers at the firm, this clearly makes for a winning combination.

A trainee intake of just six means it is vital for the intake to bond quickly. “Our lean team means that it’s important for everyone to get along on a personal level, and work well together”, one trainee explains, whilst another notes how this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: “In such a small firm, personal relationships become even more significant and this contributes to a supportive atmosphere”.

However, the lack of a wider group of peers can result in quite a serious atmosphere. While supportive of each other, Davis Polk’s rookies are quite focused on their own work. This goes in hand with US law firm culture where expectations of trainees are in line with those for other junior lawyers. But again, this treatment is regarded as no bad thing in the eyes of the trainees because it means that they receive “regular interaction” with partners, who operate a “truly open-door policy”, according to one trainee. Counsel are also described as being “very supportive and always willing to answer questions”. Another bonus noted by the insiders is that “there is no feeling of hierarchy on transactions”.

You’ll work hard at Davis Polk. Those partner profits don’t come from nowhere! Busy days get even busier once the New York office gets going around 4pm UK time. “You do not make plans for a weekday”, says one insider. However, another more buoyant rookie says that “there are notable peaks and troughs, although this is not atypical for transactional work. The good thing is that when there is a trough you are encouraged to enjoy the rest”.

The firm’s “spacious and comfortable” office is located between St Paul’s and Barbican Tube stations, and just a stone’s throw from the Museum of London. It’s your typical grid of stainless steel and glass, and is shared with banks including BNP Paribas and Nordea Bank. Lawyers have shared use of the building’s 18th floor cafe with views across London. Whilst it may not be the snazziest or most-talked about office, as one junior lawyer succinctly puts it, “modern office, good location”. What more could you need?

When it comes to legal tech, the trainees have little to say. Whilst the scores given in this area are on the lower side –– indicating that, like many American firms, trainees are expected to do the hard work and not computers, in order to learn –– one rookie notes that as a whole the “firm works really efficiently”. This suggests that things are just fine in the Davis Polk ship, with or without the latest tech.

The social life at Davis Polk also isn’t a major focus of the firm, with team dinners being the most juniors can expect. One trainee notes that “there are very few social events”, while another adds that post-work drinks are “not really a thing”. . As with many US firms in London, the main perk is the eye-watering salary: NQs at Davis Polk pocket a recently improved £180,000. And this big money is just for NQs –– at the end of 2024 the firm set a London record for trainee salaries, ratcheting pay up to £70,000 for second year rookies.

Another major appeal of the firm is that all trainees have the opportunity to spend six months of their training contract in Davis Polk’s head office in New York, or, as of recently, the brand-new home to its European anti-trust practice in Brussels. The opportunity to work in New York is regularly cited by junior lawyers as one of the best parts of the TC experience: “The 6-month seat as a trainee is a fantastic experience –– trainees are properly integrated into a practice group in our NY head office, and get exposure to substantial US law work (while being able to live in/enjoy central Manhattan)”, one trainee enthuses. Students who fantasised about becoming a lawyer after watching Suits, take note!