A&O Shearman

In fact, the firm offers so many perks that rookies find it hard to keep track. “I keep discovering new ones!” beamed one AOS trainee (whose perk “personal highlights” include memberships of Chatham House and a range of art galleries). Other culture vultures among A&O Shearman’s junior ranks praised the “free access to exhibitions at the RA and early access to national theatre tickets” that the firm offers. You didn’t think that was everything did you? A&O Shearman’s eclectic perk list also includes a free on-site gym equipped with physio and nutritionist, a sauna, beautician, nail bar, in-house doctors, hairdressers, a massage therapist, a pick & mix shop, music rooms, a dance hall and…drum roll please…“not just the jewel in A&O Shearman’s crown but one of the best perks for any firm in the City”: two stunning rooftop terraces with “fab views” over the City equipped with bars and barbeques for the summer. (Is that it?) Legacy firm Allen & Overy had previously announced a move to a smaller, more “sustainable” premises at 2 Broadgate by early 2027. But now they’ve taken in a few more lawyers, we’ll wait and see how that pans out…

When working from home, AOS rookies can expect to receive all the comforts of the office — well, apart from the masseuse, sauna and nutritionist of course — as the firm provides exactly the same equipment as you have in-office, including two monitors, an ergonomic keyboard, mouse, headset and an allowance for a chair or desk. “There isn’t anything extra I wish I had”, commented one satisfied trainee.

In the office, the two in house bars and roof terrace means lots of great firm socials with the merged firm said to have had “a number of summer drinks parties and departmental events, including an arts exhibition, sports gatherings for football fans and an event with guest speaker Gok Wan, who spoke to the firm about the importance of belonging in the corporate world.” There’s also a healthy dose of social clubs and gym classes for junior lawyers to get involved in and team drinks on a Thursday night are said to be a regular occurrence. That’s not to mention the more formal firmwide Christmas and summer parties which are hosted each year, alongside a sprinkling of spontaneous events such as theatre productions and DEI socials which are thrown in here and there. On top of all that, those that stay on to qualify at the firm can expect a base salary of £150,000, with the potential for bonuses on top.

However, as one might expect, the demanding work hours at A&O Shearman mean life at the firm is far from an all-out party. We heard from insiders that social life is “very department dependent” and, as summarised by one trainee in a busier department, “We don’t have much time for socialising but events are generally very nice when they happen.” Billing targets at this legal powerhouse are set at 1,750 hours annually which can put a bit of dent in your work/life balance. One groaned they had “no life in the week (but what plans can you really have when you get home at 9pm and don’t want to be completely knackered)”, but went on to say that “weekends are generally protected, as are Friday evenings.” Another echoed this and added “I’ve felt able to switch off totally when on vacation.” But trainees don’t enter a global Magic Circle firm unaware of the workload: “It’s what is expected of a Magic Circle / Elite Global firm! The highs are high but after intense deal closings and lead ups to signing, you generally have a slump and recovery time; it ebbs and flows which makes it more manageable and sustainable.” There’s also said to be “no facetime culture” and “no all nighters” (at least in this trainee’s experience).

We heard that work/life balance can vary between seats with banking and corporate dishing out a heavy workload while a better balance can generally be found in the tax, real estate, employment and litigation teams. This has been the experience of one busy insider who grumbled, “in this current team, I’ve barely had time to exercise or see friends.”

Another AOS insider offered this well-rounded response: “Work life balance can really fluctuate — depending on who your trainer is or how busy your department is you can go through exceptionally busy periods but also eerily quiet patches as well. This is particularly the case in transactional seats — overall the balance equals out. My experience has generally been that better work/life balance is found in corporate compared to banking where there is more pressure (even if not explicitly) to be available to the client or your team at all times.”

The good news is that those seeking a break from the London grind have a good chance of bagging an international secondment in their final seat. The merger has opened up a smorgasbord of travel destinations for recruits including Dubai, Tokyo, New York, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Frankfurt, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Brussels and Hong Kong. Blue-chip client secondments are also on the plate, with clients like UBS and AI lab Google Deepmind on the list. Trainees even have the opportunity to second to A&O Shearman’s own legal tech start-up incubator ‘Fuse’ which has been performing some very exciting work alongside international tech providers such as Hunit — which turns agreements into self-executing smart contracts.

Working with top-end clientele is just part of the day-to-day at any level of business in A&O Shearman — whether that’s a £3 billion loan refinancing for Asda or an unprecedented dollar debt restructuring under UAE bankruptcy law in the Middle East, big name deals are synonymous with AOS. Lawyers at the firm often get the opportunity to write legal history: as one trainee gushed, “You work on some of the largest and most famous cases in the legal world. For example, I am now working on a huge landmark case that I studied at university and was used as a case study for our whole module.” The firm’s high-profile work even extends into the political arena, having struck a pro bono deal with President Donald Trump to avoid being targeted by punitive executive orders.

The quality of work translates all the way down to rookie level, where junior lawyers praise the tasks on offer: “The work often entails first-of-their kind transactions in various parts of the world, so there is always something new to learn about. Supervisors encourage trainees to be proactive, taking the first shot at drafting the key documents and then coaching juniors through their work product. The work is also rewarding when you are working on projects in remote areas of the world such as a solar power project, which then pumps electricity to schools and hospitals or where you are working on a large public deals with high profile clients,” one source explains. Another recruit added that the work is “specifically interesting in banking where trainees are working with the biggest banks / PE funds” — this is illustrated by the firm’s recent work advising Santander on its 100% acquisition of TSB Banking Group in a deal which will have wide-reaching impacts on the UK banking sector.

We heard that the level of responsibility offered to trainees can vary significantly depending on your supervisor — some trainees “get lucky with a supervisor who is willing to delegate” while others stay stuck on “repetitive trainee tasks.” Additionally, being part of such a big firm with legions of partners and associates working together on matters can mean “you very much are made to feel like the juniormost person” and “interesting work can pass you by if you’re not super proactive about it.” The inside tip one source shared is that “if you show interest (and prove ability by earning trust and doing the small things well) you are given more stimulating work and allowed to be more proactive and independent with your workstreams all while still being supported appropriately”.

White-shoe US firms and Magic Circle firms are often said to adopt starkly different approaches to training juniors, with US firms generally expecting rookies to learn on the job while MC members rely more on formalised training sessions. From what we picked up speaking to rookies at this transatlantic amalgamation, a more regimented Magic-Circle-style training seems to have won out. While this is reassuring for some juniors, others seem to be hankering after the higher levels of responsibility offered to US trainees. One insider put it like this: “The firm offers a lot of formal training courses and presentations but I found that, probably as a consequence, associates tend to be less willing to explain the context of your task and just expect you to dig through the firm’s precedent forms and deliver what you have been asked for.” However, the dedicated training came as a great relief to another source who describes training sessions as “very helpful and made everyone immediately feel less lost.” This is echoed by another source who particularly appreciates the “wealth of knowledge resources and past precedents” provided by the firm while one particularly confident rookie revealed “I feel I have a high standard of knowledge compared to peers at other firms.”

A&O Shearman enjoys a reputation as one of the City’s most innovative firms, so expect some slick legal tech. “It’s fair to say that we are the leading firm globally for legal tech” noted one humble trainee, while another summed up the firm’s tech offering quite simply: “the best”. And it’s not just AOS trainees who think this way — the firm was recently named the world’s most innovative law firm by the Financial Times.

A&O Shearman’s roll-out of ChatGPT-style software ‘Harvey’, designed to save lawyers from the tedious tasks of contract analysis and due diligence, made them the first firm with a firmwide licence to use legal AI. And trainees cannot get enough of it: “Love. Love. Love. Love Harvey. It helps every time I need to learn about a topic I have never had to learn about and helps provide first drafts of short paragraphs… it’s just great.” Although one environmentally-conscious rookie noted, “with the emphasis on AI and legal tech, the firm could do more to consider its environmental impact”, by and large, AOS trainees are thrilled by the firm’s “massive investment” into these “fantastic” tools and most describe using them multiple times a day. As well as Harvey, insiders speak highly of programmes like Avokka, Legatics and ContractExpress which “have been game changers and have made trainee work so much more efficient,” according to one happy member. Trainees are said to be “actively encouraged to look at deploying legal tech on matters and to trial new solutions” and only wish that clients would let them use more of it! In 2025 the firm once again pushed ahead of its peers, announcing a roll-out of legal AI agents that can complete legal research and engage in multi-step reasoning.

Fans of TV legal drama could be forgiven for expecting to find cutthroat ambition and outsized egos in the trainee cohort of this top-flight firm. However, we heard that there is “a culture of openness and friendliness” at A&O Shearman which leaves juniors feeling supported by their peers rather than in competition with them. “With very few exceptions, my cohort is very friendly and outgoing. It feels like people support one another rather than trying to gain an edge or out-network each other,” one trainee said. This sentiment was echoed by another insider who told us, “We’re very lucky to not have a ‘swimming with sharks’ culture — peers in my team and across all trainee cohorts look out for me and each other, and we actively look for opportunities to support each other.” Another echoed this, saying, “There is not a competitive atmosphere, even amongst people who wish to qualify in the same department for limited spaces”, although LC did receive some reports that the “sharp elbows come out” around qualification time.

Additionally, as a recently merged firm, A&O Shearman has made an effort to integrate its trainee cohort seamlessly. “Since the merger, the legacy A&O trainees and legacy S&S trainees have got coffee together and been buddied up with members of their new teams,” says one sociable rookie. All in all it seems that life-long friendships have been forged in the AOS junior ranks — one trainee in particular revealed “my cohort eat together daily and have even been on holiday together!” Rookies also have a trainee mental health and wellbeing committee for support so, in the words of one recruit, “you always have someone to complain to”.

In addition to supportive peers, recruits at A&O Shearman can rely on solid support from their higher-ups. Despite its imposing position in the legal market, insiders say that, “The firm is quite relaxed and the people are chatty and keen to share stories with each other.” One happy rookie gushed, “All my trainers have been excellent. Very knowledgeable, considerate and kind. I have been very fortunate and would recommend them all!”. Another told us, “I’ve been surprised by how incredibly approachable the associates are” — although we heard that partners can be a bit more of a mixed bag. In the words of one trainee, “Some partners are very friendly and outgoing, some very haughty and don’t really think of trainees existing.” On the whole, despite a few “frosty characters mixed in”, trainees rate their superiors well — and, if in doubt, the corporate team are said to be a particularly friendly bunch!

In summary, long hours, good remuneration, excellent perks, and leading legal work: it’s a Magic Circle law firm with a twist.