News follows firm’s involvement in KWM trainee rescue mission
Goodwin Procter is to start offering training contract positions on an annual basis within its London office.
The firm, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, first gained a foothold in the United Kingdom back in 2008. Following the collapse of fellow US outfit Heller Ehrman, Goodwin snapped up a number of the defunct outfit’s London lawyers, kick-starting its presence within the City.
Now, some nine years on, Goodwin is set to launch its first round of UK training contracts. The firm — which has around 70 London lawyers — will take on three trainees this September.
Commenting on the offering, Goodwin’s London co-chair, Samantha Lake Coghlan, told Legal Week (£):
We’re at a different size now — both in headcount and breadth of practice. We can give people the right experience and it made us realise now is the right time to be looking at expanding our trainee offering.
The training contract offer follows Goodwin’s decision to rescue five of King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) stranded trainees. The firm’s European and Middle Eastern arm collapsed back in January leaving around 60 KWM trainees in limbo. At the time, Legal Cheek revealed a secret plan that would eventually see a host of firms, including Goodwin, step in to help out.
Goodwin is yet to disclose how much its new London recruits will be paid. However, Legal Cheek’s Most List shows that US outfits pay their Londoners top whack. The likes of Kirkland & Ellis, Cleary Gottlieb, Sullivan & Cromwell and Davis Polk pay first year trainees around £48,000, rising to roughly £50,000 in year two. It’s also worth noting that Goodwin’s year one US associates — that’s newly-qualified (NQ) lawyers this side of the pond — trouser a whopping $180,000 (£142,000).
So whatever the pay cheque, expect it to be big.
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