Magic Circle giant gets itself in a pickle
Magic Circle law firm Freshfields has stressed that it follows “strict guidelines” for allocating overseas secondments, amid claims that two trainees received special treatment in securing roles in New York after their original placements didn’t work out.
The allegations centre around two sisters in the firm’s current trainee cohort, who were reportedly handed sought-after secondments in New York after initially being assigned to the firm’s Amsterdam and Dubai offices.
According to an anonymous source quoted by RollOnFriday, the siblings “complained loudly” about their initial placements, and soon after, two additional spots opened in the firm’s office in the Big Apple. The report also claims that another trainee, originally seconded to Paris, was “forced” to relocate to Amsterdam in response to “business need”.
Freshfields assigns secondments based on appraisal scores, ensuring all trainees have the opportunity to spend time overseas. However, the decision to relocate the sisters reportedly caused “a bit of internal uproar”, with the move becoming even more contentious due to their apparent status as “family friends” of a high-ranking corporate partner at the firm.
The secondment switch prompted trainees and associates to raise concerns with HR, corporate partners and even the firm’s social mobility committee. In response, trainee development partner Craig Montgomery apparently emailed the cohort, explaining that the two New York positions became available later in the process and had they been available from the outset, they would have gone to the sisters.
The report claims that the firm justified the switch on grounds of “personal safety and wellbeing”, though a spokesperson declined to provide further details when approached for comment by Legal Cheek.
However, a firm spokesperson did stress that it follows “strict guidelines” when allocating secondments, which are “merit-based, objective and transparent”.
They went on to add that the firm takes these “guiding principles very seriously” and that it couldn’t “comment on circumstances surrounding particular individuals involved in that process”.
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