Weil Gotshal & Manges

What’s more, the City abode is said to have a “good, collegial atmosphere” which extends across the entire firm. “I think we have a “goldilocks” number of trainees, because it is small enough to know everyone but large enough to have a wide network. I’ve made some great friends” said one new recruit. A relatively small intake of fifteen trainees each year makes for a “pretty social” cohort who “are generally good at managing capacity requests together” and “eat lunch and dinner in the canteen together most days” — wholesome!

Where the trainee experience really stands out is the “headline hitting work at the top of the market”, one source explains. “Expect associate-level work from day one as teams are very lean”, another remarks. In short, if you’re up for a challenge, the work is really something to write home about: “All the deals are generally top-tier and at the forefront of the market in terms of innovative legal solutions we provide and from a commercial perspective in what our clients are aiming to achieve. If you’re up for it, there is super interesting work to get involved in given the generally lean nature of deal teams and small intake size.”

However, the leanness of the team cuts both ways. Because paralegals aren’t given billable work and the firm generally takes on a slimmer amount of admin staff, trainees can “get stuck doing the admin work” in the words of one rookie. Another junior offered this balanced view: “ Trainees are given the opportunity to get involved in more complex tasks – of course, the typical trainee role is a given (i.e. you are responsible for transaction management, coordinating signings/closings, drafting corporate approvals, Companies House filings, etc.), but we are afforded the opportunity to take on higher level tasks, such as drafting more complex and sophisticated transaction documents, running (with limited senior involvement) smaller portfolio company workstreams (i.e. MIP leaver/joiner processes) and there is plenty of direct client contact – this is actively encouraged by supervisors.”

Go-getters typically enjoy the “great practical experience” that Weil offers when it comes to training, with plenty of trainees we spoke to heaping praise on the banking and private equity teams’ training efforts, which are noted as being “more structured than anticipated for a US firm”. Corporate also receives plaudits for having “regular training sessions and a trainee-specific training programme” but otherwise (as you might imagine for a US firm like Weil) the learning style “is very much training on the job”. This can lead to training being slightly more seat-dependent than some might like, but generally Weil’s programme is praised — simply being “very good” and for often being tailored to suit each individual: “There’s lots of training received from the firm pre-training contract and throughout seats. In the core practice areas, there are set training sessions which take place frequently, for example in Banking we had one training session each week throughout the seat and in PE we had training Monday to Thursday for the first 2 weeks of the seat, followed by more formal training throughout the seat. Training is tailored to ensure we get the prerequisite background to understand the context of deals and background and it is very useful for trainees who have had limited exposure to the practice area before starting the training contract.”

Another spy in banking told us, “the banking team training is excellent – working through a uni-tranche comp grid is really useful background to all the deal work, and the partners make an effort to make sure it isn’t pitched too highly.”

It helps that most seniors are said to be “approachable and friendly”, and trainees get lots of direct contact. “My supervisors have been great so far — very happy to answer questions, and seem genuinely interested in my development. The associates are usually very happy to help too, and while some partners are obviously busy, they have all been very friendly when I have spoken to them,” reveals one insider. Weil does have an open-door policy, even if this tends to work more so in the opposite direction — “I have often found that partners came to my office to check in on me and my work/progress, enjoyment of the seat, experience of the team, etc. Partners in the corporate team are specifically very good at recognising trainee involvement and hard work during and at the end of a process.” That being said, our sources say that because of its open door policy “you get used to communicating with more senior associates, counsel and partners relatively quickly” at Weil. There is, furthermore, lots of support offered, from associate buddies all the way through to partner mentors.

The firm provides a good work from home setup, including not one but two monitors, a webcam, headphones, a printer and even a voucher for an office chair. Like with a growing number of its US counterparts in London, Weil’s trainees and lawyers are required to attend the office at least four days a week.

The high pay/little work-life balance trade-off that is common at US firms is exemplified by Weil. One junior offers this assessment: “As expected working at a US law firm, there is largely no ‘work/life balance’ during the working week — you are expected to be available every week night so it is not advisable to make weeknight social plans as, far more often than not, these would need to be cancelled. The culture is generally that people stay in the office fairly late, and as a trainee you are expected to be there and available. Weekend work is fairly regular (I worked almost every weekend in my corporate seat, bar five) — when it’s necessary, it is usually less time-pressured so you can work around the plans you have.” That said, people “are generally grateful for the sacrifice” and are said to be “really understanding if you have any social commitments as long as there is advance warning”. There also isn’t much of a presentee culture, so “no one will expect you to hang around” if it’s quiet.

Another insider gives this experience: “Two of my four seats had very reasonable hours (average leave time of 7pm), the other two were pretty full on. As a US firm, we run a lot of lean deal teams so if you’re coming up against a deadline, it’s all hands-on deck for at least a week or two. While it can be common to stay past 10pm/11pm during peak times, at other times hours are reasonable and I’ve rarely had to work weekends. Perhaps the toughest part is the ‘always available’ culture — you’re expected to answer calls at ungodly hours or on days off — but hey, that’s what they pay you for.” The inside scoop is that banking, private equity and M&A are relatively poor compared to the greater balance found in teams such as restructuring and funds.

Though the hours may seem onerous, expect to be rewarded with some great perks (besides being some of the best paid juniors in the City that is). For starters, working at Weil will get you free entry to a number of London art galleries and museums. “I skip all the queues at the Royal Academy and V&A,” one rookie boasts. There are also regular free tickets to football games, rugby and cricket matches; a free gym; a subsidised canteen as well as free food and taxis home when working late; an in-house masseuse, personal trainer, and nail artist and (how could we forget) your very own “elite” Weil box at the O2 which rookies have used to see star-studded list including names such as Olly Murs, Melanie Martinez, Kylie Minogue, Tate McRae, and Girls Aloud. And if watching superstars from the comfort of your own private box wasn’t enough; a number of trainees report completing a six-month secondment in New York!