Squire Patton Boggs

Comments from the rookies who LC spoke with suggest a happy UK ship (trainees are spread across London, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds) where the training experience seems to be very much in the old Hammonds’ mould of a steady and trusted big corporate law firm. There’s a three-week induction at the beginning, followed by a six seat rotation, rather than the usual four. Trainees also attend department training sessions throughout their seats with all the other trainees who are doing the same seat nationally. Tech and database specific training is also provided and “supervisors and associates in departments also provide excellent ad hoc ‘on the job’ training throughout” to plug any last gaps, one junior explains.

The odd “unengaged supervisor” aside, by and large newbies are more likely to provide feedback along the lines of this: “Great variety of training. I have been integrated into each team I have sat with and given tasks that are reflective of a task an associate would do. I have had a good amount of client-facing work and partners try to involve you as much as possible.” It’s more common to work directly with partners in smaller departments such as competition, and IP & tech but, in larger departments like corporate, there’s the advantage of having more junior associates to fire questions at throughout the day. It helps that all of the firm’s supervisors are required to go through formal training on how to develop rookies and that SPB is said to involve its new recruits in conversations about firm strategy as part of its ‘one firm’ culture.

Partner approachability is a particular strong point. One trainee describes them as “proper down to earth” and “always happy to help”, with the firm’s well-followed open-door policy making it “incredibly easy” to approach partners and associates alike. “Most partners are relaxed and down to earth. It doesn’t feel hierarchical at all here, and in some teams you will regularly go for drinks with senior associates and partners,” reveals one rookie. “There is no one in the firm I would not feel comfortable approaching” summarised another.

In part, this stems from the level of responsibility trainees are entrusted with at the firm, with one reporting that “seniors get you involved in drafting the ancillaries and you get a lot of responsibility in terms of project managing on deals and transactions”. Across the board, recruits gave feedback along the lines of this: “There is a large variety of clients with some very niche but interesting work alongside the regular work. Some very big clients that are household names which is always nice to do work on.” Burberry, BMW and RBS are just some of these household names you might find yourself working with at RBS, and the good stuff isn’t just found in London – lawyers in the firm’s Manchester office have recently been advising on a cross-jurisdictional investment into the UK’s first all-electric, intercity bus service. Sporty students may also be keen to join SPB’s rated Sports & Entertainment team, who have advised on the purchases and sales of football clubs such as Manchester City and Aston Villa.

For at least one trainee, some of the most stimulating work has come in the form of non-billable “business development or pro bono” work: “Off the back of a blog I wrote on the four day working week for the employment team, I helped set up a Webinar which had over 100 attendees. I also carried out pro bono work for a charity which I previously volunteered at. Generally the firm encourages trainees to get started on BD and it’s a useful way of learning more about the strategies of the various practice areas and the higher relevance of the work you’ve been doing.”

It helps that the firm’s technology gets the job done. OK, you’re not exactly getting to grips with cutting-edge AI or even the latest time recording software, but the actual IT equipment is said to be fairly decent with the latest iPhones and the new Lenovo Thinkpads provided for lawyers. The tech support is also provides around the clock support: “If you ring after around 3pm you’ll get the US IT support”, while “being able to do things like email our Sydney office research team at 1am when you’re doing an Australia deal.”

The trainees themselves are said to be “extremely supportive”, “super friendly” and always on hand to help out. Another source offers this more detailed insight: “Throughout each seat you remain in contact with the trainee who previously was in that seat and they will provide a lot of support about the work the team does, how to perform certain tasks and who to ask in a team for specific inquiries. I have found my contact with trainees who have done the same seats as me incredibly helpful as a way to filter what questions I should be asking of my supervisor and what I can work out for myself (or with other trainees’ help). There is not a competitive environment in the firm at all and we are always very open with each other about which seats we want to go to next and where we may be interested in qualifying. The openness is very helpful as it enables you to speak to current trainees in a seat about what it is like to help inform your opinion about where you want to go.” What’s more, insiders tell us that they’re often shipped off to spend some time in other offices which allows trainees to build a community firmwide. “I have formed connections for life” was the short-but-sweet summary from one recruit.

The friendly vibe spills over into an active social scene outside the office. Apparently “there’s drinks events pretty much every single week, on top of extracurricular activities like the footy team or the charity committee pro-bono events.” This year’s intake even enjoyed a European city break to celebrate qualification together! A firmwide social committee is dedicated to bringing trainees across the country together for the regular fete and rookies also appreciate SPB’s ‘Grow Your Network’ initiative, which holds events for junior lawyers to network across industries. For those keen to display their budding leadership skills, there’s a ‘head trainee’ position available at each UK office to act as liaison with HR, which trainees are interviewed for.

Another major plus of the six-seat rotation is that one of the seats will likely be an international or client secondment. On the client side, recruits report spending time at an eclectic array of companies, including football administrator City Football Group, events promoter Live Nation and Pets at Home. SPB is also said to be “supportive of you doing international secondments” with legacy Hammonds’ offices in Milan, Paris, Dublin, Madrid and Brussels the more frequented hotspots. But Legal Cheek understands that a few future rookies have made it to Sydney in recent years, working as paralegals before starting their TC proper, and one lucky newbie even made it as far as Dubai for four months.

Despite being slow off the mark, SPB now offers its London NQs £100k starting salaries, whilst NQs in the regions take home £65,000. There is a broad understanding that work/life balance is reasonable for corporate law; most people reported being out the door (or away from the kitchen table) by 7 or even 6pm. Within this average though hours can vary quite widely. One insider describes it like this: “I think the balance is great — let’s face the facts, we are training in one of the biggest law firms in the world, so it is rarely going to be a seven-hour day. However, the very late nights are remarkably few and far between, as it is extremely common for work to be divided well between team members (for instance, if someone is more quiet than others, they can be allocated some of the busier individual’s workload to balance the burden!). Generally, I’m able to socialise in the evenings with colleagues (which is encouraged), with clients (which is encouraged), with family (which is encouraged) and with friends (which is encouraged!), as well as maintain my interests in non-work related activities”.

The firm doesn’t score particularly highly for perks, which are said to be “bog standard”. Among other things there is free private healthcare, subsidised gym membership and free food after 7pm. Nothing to turn your nose up at, but “could be improved in comparison to other US firms of our size”. There’s also some envy from the regions that the London office gets the bonus perk of free snacks.

SPB has been generous with its working from home set-up, providing new recruits with monitors, keyboards, and even chairs and desks upon request: “I’ve kitted out my home office with free furniture Squires sent me. Much better quality than John Lewis — thanks Squires!” The WFH policy appears pretty flexible with everyone said to be “pretty used to working from home a couple of days a week”. Squires does have an ‘all-in Thursdays’ scheme which means lawyers are meant to be in three days a week but we’re told that the reality is much more relaxed.

As far as the office spaces go, most rookies are highly impressed with their digs. SPB’s new “swish and secure” London abode at 60 London Wall has been very warmly received with many comparing it to a 5 star hotel: “New offices are excellent. The view of the City from the 8th floor is pretty impressive. The shower facilities are what you might expect in a decent hotel. Huge bike storage area, complete with tools and repair station,” one trainee raves. The Leeds office is also said to be “very nice” with an SPB members-only mini-golf area on its roof, and those in Manchester seem happy with their “very fancy” lodgings in the “prime area of the city’s financial district”. Birmingham is sadly lagging behind the pack with a “rather dated and quite poor” working space which doesn’t quite match the standards of its companions, but rookies are still optimistic for a move that will put Brummie rookies back in the running.

One thing that Birmingham does have, however, is a subsidised canteen with “nice veggie options”. In fact, all SPB offices have canteens “which serve fairly nice food for very reasonable prices” except for London, where trainees have to make do with the free fruit, crips and canned drinks on offer. The food is said to be “easily comparable with the stuff one can get at Planet Organic or similar lunch spots, except that it’s a third of the price” and if you can’t be bothered to leave your desk, “cold foods and snacks are brought round the offices on a trolley twice a day”.