HFW

And with great expansion, comes great revenues. The firm is now in its third-year of consecutive growth, with the topline up 8% from £251 million to £271 million this year, following a strong showing across the board. Profit per equity partner is down slightly, falling 3% to £828,000 from £855,000 the year before. But this is, in part, a consequence of the firm’s recent approach to lateral hiring at partner level — 39 hires have been made in the past two years, equating to almost 20% of the existing partnership. Still, PEP is up 24% since HFW began its accelerated growth strategy almost three years ago and juniors have actually recently seen their pay packet increase — NQs at the firm now net £103,500 on qualification.

As always, London performed well for the firm and domestic revenues are up by more than one-third in the past three years. The training in the capital isn’t bad either, with insiders telling LC: “Hands-on training at HFW is great and you learn a lot by being the only junior associate or trainee on a matter, often working directly for the partner, with good client contact. The firm puts on a lot of useful training sessions to assist trainees and NQs with their development.” Trainees also report receiving “regular training from both internal fee earners and external specialists” with superiors said to “regularly take the time to sit down, talk through the background of a dispute or deal and ensure you understand the how/why something is happening.” The level of support does apparently vary between supervisors and departments, but on the whole most juniors seem happy. “We are treated like lawyers and given a good level of responsibility that properly prepares us for qualification,” one recruit told LC.

At its best, the work is hands-on with lots of client exposure. “I have written a memo to a blue chip client which was sent off largely unedited, done my fair share of original drafting, and been heavily involved in intense contract negotiations lasting well into the night,” says one spy. “I am often given the opportunity of having the first drafts of letter/emails to clients, opposing firms or arbitration tribunals. The research tasks are often quite niche, given the work at HFW, which makes them more complex and interesting” another noted. Because the work is sector-focused, rookies report developing legal knowledge as well as practical experience with each seat rotation. That being said, there are grumbles of paralegals hoarding all the juicy stuff in certain departments and there is still plenty of admin like bundling, document production and document review. So it is a balance between the “very stimulating” and the “mind-dumbing document-based tasks”.

One recruit shared this experience, “As a first seat trainee, you are expected to find your feet and the work will often reflect that. But three months in I have seen a substantial uplift in the work I have been given which has ranged from drafting parts of witness statements, to drafting instructions for experts to research notes where the senior associate is asking for my opinion on how it would apply to our case.”

Budding lawyers keen to spread their wings are in for a treat, as international secondments are built into the training programme. Newbies have recently jetted off to destinations such as Athens, Paris, Piraeus, Monaco, Hong Kong, Geneva, Melbourne, Dubai and Singapore. Virtual client secondments are also on the cards.

Back in Blighty, recruits are well settled into their “very very nice new offices” at 8 Bishopsgate in the City. Dubbed “London’s most sustainable tall office tower”, HFW occupies three floors of the 50-storey skyscraper, with lawyers and staff able to access their own private roof terrace offering uninterrupted views across the capital. “The office is amazing. It has its own private terrace with a view of St. Pauls. It has lovely meeting rooms and a client lounge for internal and external events. The desks are adjustable for standing, and the open plan office works well. We have lots of break out rooms if you need to concentrate or take a call in private,” one trainee told Legal Cheek. In fact, the only critique insiders have of the space is the “lack of canteen services and the subpar vending machine” — we think someone isn’t making the most of the free yoghurts, pastries and beer taps!

The open-plan office design has also created an “egalitarian” vibe in HFW’s working space according to one, with another recruit adding, “due to the new open-plan office, it is far easier to approach superiors and there is less of a closed door policy”. Another newbie offered this on partner approachability: “My experience in the firm is that everyone is willing to help — approaching them is the hardest thing. You often feel like you might be bothering partners, but usually they will be happy to talk through things if they have the time. You have to pick your moments of course, but that also comes with experience, and you can always ask a more senior associate in the first instance.” Friendliness can vary between teams — like at many firms — but shipping partners get a good rep for ensuring trainees are warmly welcomed aboard and, overall, rookies report feeling “comfortable approaching partners to ask questions and talk next steps/strategies through”.

The 30 or so trainees are also a close-knit bunch with nothing bad to say about one another. “Your intake and the other juniors around you are extremely supportive and a vital support network when starting out your career,” one happy rookie reports. “The firm is known as being friendly and everyone is normally very willing to help — obviously some people will have their bad days though!” Meanwhile, another proclaims: “I love all the trainees!” A fairly small cohort size ensures that you “know all your peers and create a close-knit group,” according to our sources. “I cannot fault my fellow trainees and junior lawyers (NQs and associates) — they are an incredibly supportive bunch,” added one happy newbie.

Generally great vibes spill outside the office, with a bi-annual budget for trainee socials making trainee drinks a “regular” occurrence. As one source put it “We are all good friends. Leadenhall is next door so if we do not use the building’s 26th floor for drinks, we will always find a place to go a few feet away!” Some teams are even said to offer “annual retreats or away days”. The firm’s trainee-run Instagram account gives a flavour of the sesh, as well as some seriously envy-inducing snaps from those exotic overseas postings. Another multilingual rookie gives the firm’s “Spanish and French classes” a big thumbs-up.

Perks-wise, our sources flag the usual City sweeteners such as medical insurance, subsidised gym, travel card loan and solid pension. “A large Hotel Chocolat hamper at Christmas plus a Christmas bonus for all staff was very much appreciated,” says one source.

By far-and-away the best perk, however, is the work life balance on offer at HFW — “one of the key benefits at this firm”. “My hours are very reasonable, I would actually like to be given more work” is a genuine quote from one of our sources at HFW — something never before uttered and probably never uttered again in City law. Other unthinkable lines include “I am yet to cancel plans due to work commitments” and “it is not unusual to see people leaving the office around 6/6:30pm”. In part, this balance is down to the firm’s resource management function which aims to allocate resources across teams and departments according to capacity but it’s the people at HFW who make it — “everyone is respectful of work / life balance”. Even the odd late night is “always acknowledged” by higher-ups. Rookies recognise that the trade-off for this is a lower salary than their City counterparts but ultimately most think it’s a pretty good deal: “As a general rule the work/life balance is absurdly good for the salary,” one source notes.

In-house legal tech is said to be improving with at least one recruit assuring us that “the recent investment into legal tech is working out”. Copilot AI, eDisclosure and your other standard bundling software is commonplace but at least one cynical trainee still felt that “we might as well be using carrier pigeon”.

Fortunately, the firm’s remote-working support prompted a wave of more positive responses. “Very good” says one, “We get a nice monitor, mouse and keyboard. The firm is pretty flexible on when you come to the office, however, this is dependent on the department.” Most report working two days a week from home and three in the office. The only other complaint from some trainees was the lack of budget for a nice plushy ergonomic chair — you can’t have everything, but you almost can at HFW.