Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton

It is unusual among law firms in that it does not divide its workforce into specialised departments. Consequently, its hundred or so London-based lawyers are expected to work across the firm’s practice areas, including: international finance and corporate work, tax (both US and UK), antitrust, financial regulation, litigation and arbitration, and intellectual property. According to Cleary, this reflects “the firm’s overall commitment to creating a seamlessly interwoven legal practice”. The advantage this has for trainees is that it exposes them to a broad range of work, although the usual four-seat training structure remains in place. Trainees can also choose seats in M&A, finance, dispute resolution, financial regulation, employment, funds, intellectual property, and competition law.

“Once you train at Cleary you can thrive anywhere” — the words of one proud informant. “A lot of the learning is ‘on the job’,” remarks a second, though others laud the many training sessions and points of contact provided to help trainees navigate their way through the work undertaken by the firm’s flourishing capital markets practice that newbies are likely to come across in some shape or form. One spy tells us that “a lot of trust in put in trainees”, giving them significant amounts of exposure — while a lack of formalised training might be felt more in some practice areas, we are told that the firm is making an effort to improve this.

Scores are variable with respect to the approachability of superiors, although the majority of survey responses rate this fairly highly. We are told this is a result of busy and unavailable superiors at peak times, although outside of this “associates and even partners are very approachable and very happy to chat with you about work or otherwise”.

Another thing that is impressive about Cleary is its roster of clients that include Coca-Cola, Sony, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, private equity funds, and sovereign governments. Billion-dollar deals are the norm for the firm. Recent credits to the firm’s name include securing a win for Google against the Italian Communications Regulatory Authority before the CJEU and representing Accor in its partnership with LVMH for the development of the Orient Express brand. This is alongside its role in advising Citi on a $2.5 billion offering and representing the Republic of Senegal in a $750 million international sovereign bond offering.

And it’s certainly not like trainees are far from the action: “I’ve been on real matters and client calls since the first couple of weeks, the exposure is amazing.” Another recounts: “I was able to immediately jump into ongoing matters and feel like my days are very full and interesting”. Whilst this high degree of responsibility can come with a side order of stress, we’re assured this is more than compensated for by the typically “stimulating” work. The competition team stands out as a particularly strong contender of high-quality work, with the firm engaged “in the most important competition matters worldwide” with trainees given the opportunity to take ownership over their work.

Even Cleary, however, cannot escape the ever-present grumbles of trainee grunt work. One rookie confesses they “are given the work of a paralegal as well as of a 2PQE lawyer. This leads to many administrative and highly time-consuming tasks at the same time as more intricate or higher responsibility ones.” Fortunately, whilst the tech isn’t considered to be cutting edge, it is said to be “good” and IT support is “great”, which helps trainees handle the more mundane tasks.

As already mentioned, this is not the place for the more laidback, with the trade-off for such great exposure and pay being “high stress and long hours”. This spy explains: “Long hours are expected and are often not praised enough. Trainees are ranked based on their billable hours to supervisors every week.” But it may not be all that bad, with others stressing that the work/life balance is “actually much better than expected”. How much can a new rookie really expect when they’re bringing home one of the biggest pay packets the City has to offer?

One merrier newbie reports: “it is practice group specific (forget it if you are in cap markets) but in my current seat I can leave at 6pm and, if necessary, log back in at home. I have also been travelling on weekends much to my surprise.” Another details that they “have very little time during the week to do much beyond work, but weekends have been respected for the most part.” For those putting in the late nights, a £30 Deliveroo allowance and taxis post-8 pm might offer some consolation, while those hungry after a busy morning can expect “great quality, good vegetarian options and an affordable lunch” in the firm’s canteen.

The firm’s social life is said to be fairly flexible, with “a good number of socials” although without the pressure to attend too many such events, if socialising with your co-workers isn’t quite your thing. While last-minute drop outs due to work pressures do inevitably occur, the socials are usually “moderately well-attended”.

Those who are big fans of flexible working, expect to be disappointed; we are told Cleary makes all its recruits come into the office for the first three months of their training contract. After that, however, you get to relish the benefits of “good tech equipment” provided by the firm, which includes a monitor, web cam, keyboard and mouse, though some wish there was a budget for a desk and chair. The firm allows up to two WFH days per week.

When the going gets tough, however, 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. “The trainee cohort is very close”, one source explains, thanks in part to the firm’s relatively small intake of only around 16 each year. “We often go out together and are always willing to help each other out at work,” another adds with all being “incredibly supportive, and the firm doesn’t do much to create unhealthy competition between us”.