Macfarlanes

Some of the work — which is largely high-end M&A — can be slightly “admin-heavy”. Litigation also catches some flack for sometimes making you “feel like a cog only responsible for a siloed workstream”. That being said, at least one recruit appreciates their routine rookie duties: “It is easy to see how these tasks fit into the ‘bigger picture’ and the teams I have worked with have made it clear that they appreciate me doing the less interesting work. They make an effort to include me in the interesting parts like client meetings, court hearings etc. so I can see the product of what I do.” Overall, the consensus is that “if you show initiative and are consistent in your work quality, you are given more substantive tasks” and “ultimately by the end of your seat you’re doing NQ work,” according to our sources.

It helps that you’ll be working for some of the biggest household names across a breadth of industries. Goldman Sachs, Reebok, Paramount and Ministry of Sound are just some of the names on the clientele list, and some other very recent deals to come out of London include the global restructuring of fashion brand Superdry and an intriguing IP case concerning the software developers of Bitcoin.

“Inevitably hard work, but that’s City law — what do you expect?” was one sage rookie’s take on the work/life balance on offer at Macfarlanes. “Pretty good as far as City law goes. You can usually make plans in the evening and, in some departments, people even go to the gym in the middle of the day — it’s all about communicating, managing your own time and being sensible when you have deadlines,” were the wise words of another trainee.

On the whole, Macs trainees recognised that they have it pretty good compared to some of their City counterparts — “I have never had to cancel plans and when I have plans people are very happy to work around them,” said one socialite. There is no expectation for you to be in the office if you don’t need to be and weekend work is rare (though not strictly off the menu). Larger teams like litigation and M&A can expect to regularly burn the midnight oil, whilst one rookie in real estate claims the balance there is “generally good”. As expected, transactional seats “tend to have a more up and down work life balance” whereas advisory and contentious seats are “steadier”. And an average leave time of around 8pm is not too shabby at all for high-end corporate law.

Trainees also get to spend one day a week working from home and our insiders tell us that “everything works seamlessly and is just as easy as working in the office in terms of accessing systems etc”.

Macs fosters a “very collegiate atmosphere” between new recruits. “There is no sense of cutthroat competition or cliques, and everyone is always willing to help out (and plan trainee getaways together!)” one source told LC. “That’s not to say there aren’t rogue trainees who would happily use you as cannon fodder if it got them even a millimetre ahead, but on the whole everyone is super lovely, collaborative and smart. 10/10 great bunch.” Firmwide organised fun usually comes in the form of annual summer and Christmas parties but more casual trainee trips to the pub and other team events are said to be more common, with some form of social on every week during the summer.

The firm’s open door policy cultivates good vibes across the legal food chain and we’re told “all seniors and partners are largely open to stupid questions and a pint down the pub!” The “majority are lovely and very easy to talk to”, said one of their superiors, “although it’s still a pretty hierarchical firm so there’s limits to that.” Several spies confessed that there are some superiors that are “a little intimidating” but, on the whole, we’re assured that everyone is “lovely”, “very supportive” and “encouraging”.

What you won’t get with a training programme at Macfarlanes is an international or client secondment, with the firm typically waiting until associate level before it sends lawyers abroad to a host of independent law firms with which it has close ties and/or client organisations. The firm’s thinking is that six months away from the heart of the action at too early a stage undermines its training scheme.

There are, however, occasional opportunities to travel on particular pieces of business, with destinations including Jersey and the firm’s office in Brussels. Unfortunately for jet-setters, the more ESG-minded side of the firm “is actively exploring and encouraging partners and associates to use less flights, so everyone is encouraged to consider the events they are invited to and be more selective if it involves international travel (or explore non-flying options)”.

The perks are decent; the private health insurance is appreciated, as are the free dinners after 7pm, the free gym equipped with personal trainers, the subsidised canteen, and the Christmas gift cards. Free barista coffee from the Department of Coffee and Social Affairs is also (unsurprisingly) a big hit amongst Macfarlanes lawyers — “never before has my caffeine dependency been so cheap” boasted one. The consensus is that the “firm is very generous with perks without being unnecessary with it”. As this money-wise trainee put it, “swanky freebies and extra days off are nice but I’d take that money in my bank account every month any day.”

The tech on offer at Macfarlanes has seen recent improvement, with the roll-out of AI software Harvey and new Surface Pros going down well with trainees, even if there are still some bugbears with iManage. The firm has also recently announced its participation in the commercial preview of LexisNexis’ generative AI solution Lexis+ AI so we’ll be on the lookout for further movement there. One experienced junior said “people complain about it, but it’s as good as any of the other six City firms I’ve worked in. Macs is very big on AI and incorporating tech into your working patterns to make your life easier.” The Lawtech team are also said to be great at providing task and team specific tools and the firm also runs a separate LawTech graduate programme for all you computer whizz’s out there.

Macs moved offices in 2018 to 98 Fetter Lane (but kept its client-facing operations round the corner at 20 Cursitor Street). It has since overspilled into a handful of offices, making its working space “more like a campus”. Whilst some “rate the campus vibe” others feel slightly “fragmented” with grumbles that “it would be a lot easier if we were all in one together” coming from our moles. New “shiny co-working spaces with big sofas” have gone down a treat, but these come into stark contrast with other parts of the office-space, where taps and showers are said to be “out of action for weeks at a time” and it’s not unheard of to find your fellow trainees stuck in broken down lifts somewhere!

The “sporadically great, generally average” on-site canteen brings the office score up slightly, with most appreciating the “fairly cheap” and “mostly high quality” subsidised food on offer. Free dinner is also available after a certain hour and we’re told “the cakes are always excellent!”