Dentons

Each year, around 14 trainees pass through the revolving doors of Dentons’ London office which, though well located with a lovely view of the Old Bailey’s Lady of Justice sculpture, apparently “needs a facelift.” Three TCs are offered in Milton Keynes, whilst the eight who earn a place in Scotland spend time in both Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The “tired” office in the capital continues to be a bugbear among the junior ranks. “At least one of the elevators breaks on a monthly basis,” notes one. But luckily the firm is packing up and moving to new digs in One Liverpool Street in 2027, a move which “cannot come soon enough” according to one. Chief among rookies’ priorities for their new home is more showers; apparently there are currently only four in the whole building. As one recruit reports: “Surprised that it has taken them this long to think about putting new showers in when you add up the cost of the several partners who I see there every morning queuing.” Elsewhere, the Milton Keynes office has recently been refurbished, and we are told “most things are now modern with good tech options and meeting rooms.” The firm’s Edinburgh outpost in Haymarket Square is described as a “modern, bright and open space,” whilst the Glasgow office is said to be “a bit more dated,” although thankfully it too is “currently undergoing refurbishment.”

Practice area-wise, Dentons’ London office has a history of expertise in the slightly unlikely combination of banking & finance and media law (thanks to an earlier merger). These strengths endure, but part of the deal of being a global megafirm is that you have lawyers for everything, and this looks very much like the direction of travel for Dentons.

Juniors report that the training experience is “excellent,” highlighting that they are “supervised efficiently throughout.” Senior staff are viewed as “generally supportive and willing to provide feedback,” although inevitably “some supervisors are more engaged than others.” Trainees also value the level of responsibility they are given, with opportunities to take on a “substantial and leading role where capability allows.”

“The training is rigorous and the firm emphasises continuous learning,” reports one rookie, who explains “on top of the high level of responsibility you can obtain in your day-to-day work, Dentons provides fantastic weekly training sessions geared towards trainees across all areas of law.” This high level of responsibility came in the form of “lead role[s] in several multi-million-pound High Court claims” for one rookie, with the appropriate level of support from “more senior lawyers,” of course.

In other categories, the firm is a solid performer. Work involves “excellent top tier clients” and, although sometimes “admin-heavy,” is described as “largely stimulating.” One trainee reported that “each department makes a conscious effort to provide you with a breadth of work.” Although seat-dependent, there are “opportunities to get involved in very interesting matters as you progress.”

Trainees are apparently “really supportive and willing to help each other out.” Everyone is described as being “really friendly,” and the lack of a competitive vibe certainly helps given gripes about a “pretty unnecessarily intense NQ process.” Complementing this, rookies also rate the approachability of their superiors highly. One reports on having “hands-on supervision from partners in every team” and always feeling able to ask questions; everyone is “equally approachable.” The overall office culture is “supportive and friendly,” although supervisors can be “hard to get a hold of” occasionally. Of course, there is the occasional “harsh” partner, but this is the exception rather than the rule in a generally “helpful and welcoming” environment.

On the social side, it is reported that there are a “number of events that trainees are encouraged to attend within the firm, and some opportunities to attend external client events also.” “Pub in the Hub,” which is essentially an in-office bar that stays open until 8pm for free drinks and snacks, remains a firm favourite among our insiders. The Milton Keynes lot also paint a lively picture, with multiple socials each month and football, padel and running clubs for sporty trainees. The “new renovated balcony space” is also said to be perfect for hosting office drinks, with non-sporting socials taking place “roughly once a month.”

Other perks are fairly numerous and include a concierge service, free breakfasts on Monday before 8:30am in the “highly subsidised” firm canteen, free drinks and snacks on Thursdays, cut-price cinema tickets, discounted flights, and sporting events like touch rugby, with a budget afterwards for food and drinks. These come alongside the more standard private healthcare and gym subsidies (£20 only, a grumble amongst some). On the whole, rookies seem satisfied with their perk package, which we think deserves a little higher praise than “average.”

Perks aside, a massive plus is the work-life balance. One trainee gives high praise on this front, hailing Dentons as “pretty much an ideal firm for work-life balance.” They continued, “As a trainee, it is exceptionally rare to have to so much as crack open your computer on a weekend,” and another claimed that they “usually log off before 6pm.” Be warned, however, this “massively depends on the seat you are in.” As one spy told Legal Cheek, “In my first contentious seat, I worked very long hours, whereas in other departments, I have worked much less. I have found that during busy periods and longer hours I’m not alone, and there is usually someone else in the team in the office or online when I am.”

Generally, the biggest gripe has been the lack of international secondment opportunities, which is perhaps surprising for such an international firm. Although two trainees reported jetting to Hong Kong and Toulouse for six months, the general view is that “there aren’t many international secondment opportunities.” There’s better news for those wishing to undertake client secondments though, with around a third of juniors doing one. Destinations include Airbus, Sainsbury’s, TUI Group and NatWest. One trainee reports on issues with transparency in the firm’s secondment allocation process, and the seat rotation process more generally, a possible source of discontentment among rookies.

Luckily, Dentons is pretty flexible on the WFH front, as one trainee reports: “The firm has a ‘Your Choice’ policy. This means there are no mandated days people have to come in, although trainees are encouraged to work from the office when they can and feel comfortable to.” Different teams have also chosen “team days” on which they encourage people to come into the office: “It’s really great for socialising and team meetings. Personally, as a trainee, I am in most days of the week, but Mondays and Fridays are pretty quiet in the office,” was the review from one. Another applauds the flexible working policy, which is said to be “exceptionally good,” especially for “parents, carers and those with neurodiversity needs.” The £250 budget for WFH equipment, on the other hand, receives mixed reviews, with some finding it helpful whilst others thought it was a little on the slim side and “doesn’t go very far.”

Another hot area for Dentons is tech. FleetAI, the firm’s ChatGPT equivalent, is said to be “incredibly powerful and efficient,” “reducing the time spent doing a large variety of tasks.” Yet some trainees can’t help but feel that “the tech does not go far beyond” this, with one suggesting that the firm could do with trying out “more impressive AI models such as Claude or Harvey” if it is to lead the pack in this area. That being said, our sources do tell us that they “receive considerable IT and AI training,” with one adding that Dentons “is the first to offer a modernised training programme where we take part in a legal innovation project for each of our four seats.”

The firm also scores highly on the environmental front, with a “responsible business section who lead on environmental and sustainability objectives,” according to one trainee. In recent years, the firm has also made headlines for cutting carbon emissions equivalent to charging 14,500 smartphones by trialling a low-carbon working model that saw its lawyers work from home and swear off using their printers.