Milbank

Milbank makes its buck in London through a mix of capital markets, leveraged finance, restructuring and energy and infrastructure work. Some recent highlights coming out of the City hub include supporting Apollo on Concord’s $1.76 billion music securitisation, advising J.P. Morgan on a landmark non-recourse project financing and even helping with the divestment of the Icelandic ministry of finance and economics affairs shareholding. Top end stuff indeed. In fact, the London office is so finance-focused that it now offers a leveraged finance-only training pathway. Wannabe LevFin lawyers can undertake the majority of their TC in this department, experiencing one other seat within the firm, before qualifying into the LevFin group.

In terms of the quality of work on offer, our spies told us that “a lot of the work that we do is ground-breaking, and first of a kind. Building wind farms in Egypt, or power plants in Brazil, it is cool stuff!” Insiders do note that “sometimes you have to slog it out to get onto the interesting deals” — but this is not unique to Milbank. Another junior gave this insight: “I am leading on key work streams of transactions and often projects. This comes with responsibility (which in turn is sometimes stressful), but great learning experience through work. Support is typically on hand if needed. Having trained at a comparable Magic Circle firm, the work at Milbank for someone at my level is undoubtedly of greater quality.” Whilst there are the less glamorous trainee tasks like signature pages, our sources tell us associates and partners “do try hard to give you exposure to more challenging work, such as first drafts of finance documents or drafting legal advice for clients”.

The level of training varies between practice groups. The ‘on the job’ method characteristic of US law firms seems to apply to Milbank’s solicitors-to-be but rookies report that certain practice groups, such as leveraged finance, are good at formal training, often holding multiple sessions each week on a range of topics. Other groups adopt a more independent approach, but “people are always happy to answer questions and review work if prompted”, according to the trainees we spoke with.

As you might expect at this level of work and salary, Milbank lawyers are expected to put in the hours — 10 or 12-hour days seem to be the low side of the norm, and you may be working 16 when deals are to be done. One lawyer responding to the Legal Cheek Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey noted that “work in pure finance/transaction seats comes and goes, but is brutal when it comes”. While occasional all-nighters might be necessary, it might be comforting to know that there is no face-time culture, so leaving the office at 2pm after a busy period is understandable. Another rookie comments that while “working hard (usually into the evenings and occasionally on weekends) is the expectation”, colleagues generally support the prioritisation of important non-work events as long as this is communicated in advance.

Luckily, the firm’s “spectacular” glass-clad office at 100 Liverpool Street continues to woo trainees and juniors burning the midnight oil. We’re told that its “lovely roof terrace and 20-foot chandelier,” give the place more of a 5-star hotel feel than a typical corporate space and such real estate grandeur cannot fail to impress. As one lawyer puts it, “It’s a nice touch to have our names etched onto the glass doors!” With rumours that the firm is looking to move home early next year, we just hope the new digs impress as much!

As for perks, they are “amazing” — healthcare, travel insurance and barista-style coffee (“a crowd favourite,” according one spy) makes up the basic package and Milbank lawyers can also enjoy a free breakfast with “literally every option possible”, “decent” lunch options and free dinner after 6:30pm. Several juniors we spoke to highlighted the “top of the market” salary as the best perk, although there were some complaints about the pension contribution. Social life at the firm might fall short of the mark, with the long days, as one rookie reports that “most social stuff is organised with colleagues ad hoc”.

Peers-wise, trainees and junior lawyers are generally positive on the level of support they receive from their colleagues. Peers-wise, trainees and junior lawyers generally feel positive about the level of support they receive from their colleagues. One rookie mentioned that this supportive environment is a major selling point of Milbank, and it genuinely holds true. As for superiors, while “the odd person is more approachable than others”, a trainee notes “never having been on a deal where [they] couldn’t ask anyone, even the partner, for help”. Another junior corroborates this, finding that partners are open to looking over trainees’ work and sitting down to explain things.

Lawyers at the firm are expected to complete at least 25 hours of pro bono work each year, and Milbank was among several top US firms that struck a pro bono deal with President Donald Trump to head off a potentially harmful executive order. Regarding agile working, trainees are expected to come in at least three days a week, although “most teams are quite flexible”. There are also currently no international secondments on offer, despite Milbank having 11 hubs spanning financial epicentres such as New York, Frankfurt and Singapore — though the firm does reportedly send many of its associates to these destinations post-qualification. Unfortunately, Beijing is no longer on the cards, as the firm has shuttered operations there, following the decision of many US firms pulling operations in mainland China. There is however, a bi-annual firm retreat, with past destinations including Cannes!