Magic circle giant resurrects policy of attending top US recruitment fairs
In a slightly worrying sign for law students at UK universities, Slaughter and May has resurrected an old policy of targeting Ivy League institutions to fill positions in its London office.
The magic circle giant is now, after a ten-year absence, once again attending the Columbia Law School and New York University (NYU) recruitment fairs, where top law students from all over the US congregate in a bid to land entry-level positions at leading law firms.
S&M — which is taking on 80 London trainees this year — joins Allen & Overy, Linklaters and CMS Cameron McKenna as the fourth firm at the fairs seeking to fill London office roles.
Slaughters’ graduate recruitment partner Robert Byk said that one of the reasons for his firm’s presence at the fairs was to attract UK candidates who because of increased British university fees had decided to study in the US. In a statement, Byk explained:
“We want to make sure we are aware of the levels of talent coming out of the US.”
At the US fairs this month, Slaughter and May “speed interviewed” around 30 candidates, with 10-15 of those being encouraged to apply to the firm for training contracts and newly-qualified associate positions. Selected hopefuls will then be invited to London for interviews and assessments later this year.
The firm has said that where its London candidates are not British, it wants them to have a UK connection, such as an Erasmus year spent in Britain or time spent here at undergraduate level.
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5 out of 42 of Slaughter and May’s qualifying trainees leave firm [Legal Cheek]