The Legal Cheek View
“Cool, techy stuff is the norm” at Morrison & Foerster, where trainees work from their cutting-edge office in the Scalpel, an imposing sky scraper on Lime Street. The shiny abode, which has floor to ceiling windows, also vaunts sound-proof rooms kitted out with standing desks, “fantastic” views of Tower Bridge and even “an active art committee”, who display a rotating curation of work for the handful of lucky MoFo trainees.
With its headquarters in Silicon Valley, MoFo’s roster includes some pretty big names in the tech space, including Apple, Uber, Nvidia and GitLab. Japan is another strong-hold and MoFo now lays claim to being the largest international firm in the country, having recently advised the board of Toshiba in a $15 billion take-private transaction — the largest domestic deal of its kind. Trainees in London can certainly expect to be involved in some cross-border work with one of MoFo’s biggest clients in the region — investment company SoftBank — whom the firm advised on a $1 billion Series C investment round into British self-driving car startup Wayve last year, as well as its buyout of British AI company Graphcore.
Outside of Silicon Valley and Tokyo, the firm has 16 more offices across the US, Asia and Europe. International secondments are on the cards with around one-quarter of survey respondents this year reporting a stint in either Singapore or Brussels, but with the firm recently launching a new hub in Amsterdam, don’t be surprised to see this list growing soon.
Strong demand in commercial and IP litigation has driven some serious growth for MoFo this year, with revenues up 5% to $1.41 billion (£1 billion), from $1.34 billion (£981 million) the year before. Profits per equity partner (PEP) is up an even greater 11% to $3 million (£2.23 million), following a slight contraction of the firm’s equity tier this year.
MoFo rookies are known to cut their teeth on “great work” for some of the biggest companies in the world. “You are given responsibility as soon as you can handle it, which means the tasks quickly become more exciting,” according to one insider. “MoFo’s client base are all household names and the matters genuinely are questions of highest company importance and sensitivity”, adds another. Although the relatively smaller cohort size means that mundane “grunt” work is still on the cards, it also means more responsibility, with some trainees reportedly taking on “NQ-level/junior associate levels of work in their first seat”. Some of the current highlights coming out of the London office include supporting Rivian’s on their $5 billion joint venture with Volkswagen and advising Eagle Football on the sale of its stake in Crystal Palace Football Club.
Accordingly, the firm’s training is “good” whilst being on the more hands-on end of the spectrum. Large teams such as corporate and litigation are said to have more formal training throughout the year but “for the most part, you will be expected to learn on the go and use your initiative to ask questions and follow-up for feedback.” Another spy shares their view: “If there is more billable work then the departments are less concerned with providing high level training. However, that’s not to say that people are not invested in trainee development, and it goes without saying that even highly busy departments are grateful and aware when they should be attending to the needs and health of trainees”.
The small intake of around seven new trainees each year “means no sharp elbows” and “no internal politics”. Rookies rank their peers highly, as one LC spy revealed, “we’re all very open with each other” and “try and get together for trainee socials as regularly as possible”. Trainees also tell us they have their own group chat where they “send each other queries about tasks or things we might not know.”
As you might imagine, these positive vibes spill over into a pretty decent social life, and the MoFo Social Committee is said to “always have various activities and drinks planned.” One source tells of “baristas in the office, quizzes, easter hunts and more” whilst others praise the “MoFo Mingle” scheme, which sees trainees handed £85 each quarter to use for socialising with colleagues.
MoFo also seems unusually friendly and non-hierarchical for a highly profitable US firm. “The firm is very friendly, and it is a standout feature of the firm” boasts one trainee. Our sources also lauded MoFo’s “very flat hierarchy” with another adding that their superiors are “incredibly approachable” and always available to answer questions, have a chat, and even duet classic ABBA tracks during firm karaoke sessions.
But it isn’t all Super Trouper and Dancing Queen. Though it might be as good as it can get at a US firm, trainees can expect to work hard. Weekends and holidays are generally respected, and the hours are not that different to what you might get at a Magic Circle firm, but “it’s not worth making plans on weekdays unless you’re quiet”. Another current insider gave this insight into the work-life balance on offer here: “There is far more predictability in contentious/specialist teams such as litigation or employment. Individuals in these teams are also generally more considerate of weekends. There is less of this in transactional teams and when it’s busy or there is a last minute request, you will be expected to put in the hours. This can mean working weekends or very late on a weekday. But people in the team are always very appreciative of this and hard work doesn’t go unnoticed.”
For this, however, you’ll be handsomely rewarded. Pay sits at £60k and £65k for first and second-year trainees respectively, with a big jump to $225,000 (roughly £165,000) plus bonuses on qualification — a top-notch NQ salary for those who can make the grade.
Trainees can also work from home occasionally and are provided with a basic package of “monitor, keyboard and mouse” to do so — though some would appreciate a desk or chair being thrown into this mix! In the office, tech receives pretty decent reviews with a new AI Chat-GPT style assistance tool said to be a “lifesaver” for rookies burning the midnight oil.
To sweeten the deal, there’s also a standard perk package which covers gym subscription benefits as well as the usual private health and dental cover. Although there’s no office canteen, there are communal kitchens and the firm supplies plenty of a “range of healthy and less healthy snacks”.