Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton

In terms of work, Cleary, in common with some of the other US law firms in London, has a flourishing capital markets practice, where securities such as shares and bonds are issued to raise long-term financing for businesses or governments. Trainees can also choose seats in M&A, finance, dispute resolution, financial regulation, employment, funds, intellectual property and competition law.

It has an impressive roster of clients, from Coca-Cola and Sony to Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, private equity funds and sovereign governments. Recent work includes representing creditors holding around $9 billion worth of Venezuelan debt and advising professional services company Dun & Bradstreet in its sale for $6.9 billion. It also represented financial houses BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole in a successful legal challenge against the European Central Bank.

Sometimes, at these behemoth firms, trainees find themselves stuck with filing and administrative tasks. Not so at Cleary, where there are “very few tedious proof-reading style tasks. Most of the work is research, drafting, coordinating counsel etc”. Another trainee enthuses that “most days are a vigorous yet wonderfully enriching intellectual workout, but some slightly less stimulating days are inevitable”.

Trainees have a good chance (43%) of bagging a client secondment. These tend to be high-quality and are an attractive perk for up and coming lawyers in this field. Typical options include “asset manager, three months”, “six months at FTSE 100 company” and “BNP Paribas for a few months”.

Scarily, the training has been described as “non-existent”, although “big efforts are being made on this front. Capital markets and soft skills training have benefited particularly”. More reassuringly, one trainee explains that “formal training is not as strong as the larger firms but in terms of learning on the job I feel well supported and given interesting and complex tasks that act as training”. Another reports: “Training has improved greatly — a really solid curriculum now and of course top-notch on-the-job training and feedback.”

When the going gets tough you can rely on your fellow trainees to provide moral support. Cleary scores well for peer support in the Legal Cheek Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey. There is a “very supportive environment”, and “our trainee cohort is very close. We often go out together and are always willing to help each other out at work”. Don’t count on the partners to step in, though, as partner approachability “depends on the superior”.

In terms of work-life balance, it’s not great — but what did you expect? This may be because the constantly shifting workload makes it difficult to plan ahead. Trainees report that it “depends on deal flow”, and that “it varies from period to period, and is always unpredictable”. The upside of training at Cleary is the quality of the work. It’s better to be pushed and challenged to develop your skills than struggling to get enough experience, and having this firm’s name on your CV will give your career a turbo-boost. The international nature of the firm makes it highly attractive, while the generous salary (trainees start on £48,000, newly-qualified associates command £120,000 and partners take home an eye-watering $3.16 million (£2.57 million)) will see off your student debts in no time.