Ropes & Gray

Ropes & Gray has been operating from its stylish London office in Ludgate Hill since 2010, and over the past 15 years, the firm has grown rapidly, generating approximately £112 million in revenue according to the latest publicly available financial data. Nowadays, the firm offers around fifteen training contracts each year to a select number of recruits in the capital, including a London-Tokyo TC. The office has built a reputation for its private capital work, but that is not all that’s on offer – in recent years, the UK hub has grown its asset management practice and added life sciences and health care to its practice portfolio. There’s also a litigation and enforcement team, which specialists in financial crime and global regulation, as well as a pre-eminent privacy, data protection and cybersecurity team, which counts new London managing partner Rohan Massey amongst its ranks.

Like other American outfits, the firm’s pitch revolves around big money and high-quality work (in return for lots of responsibility and long hours). Ropes is an enthusiastic player in the ever-escalating salary race. NQs start on a hefty £165,000 plus bonus, while trainees earn £60,000, rising to £65,000 in the second year.

All that’s required in return is you work very, very hard. It is a US firm, after all. Unsurprisingly, Legal Cheek’s insiders tell us work-life balance isn’t great. “Don’t make me laugh. I haven’t seen sunlight in three months,” one rookie jokes (sort of). Others, who perhaps have been remembering to supplement with Vitamin D, were more positive. “There are busy weeks but when you’ve got a quiet day, people don’t expect you to stay and my supervisor encourages me to leave early,” one said. “I can’t make plans Monday-Wednesday. Thursdays I can sometimes make it out. I haven’t had to work more than a couple of hours in total on the weekend. Some weeks are better than others for sure, but for a US firm it’s pretty manageable.” Another commented, “It is all about managing your expectations, I never expected to come to Ropes and be logging off at 5:30pm.”

Other insiders report that the balance can depend on the department “The working hours of transactional departments can be a little more volatile — you will work late nights to get a deal done and then you will have downtime where you are leaving early for a while. Advisory seats are more stable in hours. Ropes really respects people’s weekends and understands the importance of having a break so weekends and holidays are protected.”

Despite department-wide training on rotation and the occasional firmwide trainee session, Ropes is quintessentially US when it comes to the emphasis it places on ‘on the job’ learning. Trainees say you need to be prepared to hit the ground running but will be supported, “the best training I’ve received has actually been directly from the partners — in the team I am in they are so passionate about teaching and do it so instinctively that you leave every catch-up feeling like you’ve learned something new” praised one.

For a snapshot of trainee life, how about this description? “From day one, you are treated somewhat like an NQ and are given immense amounts of responsibility and trust. It makes trainees incredibly adaptable, competent, and proactive. With that said, you are not left without support. A network of paralegals, associates, and partners are generally available to answer questions and guide you. However, our training emphasises independence and you will become more trusted the more you show you can take the initiative and act without requiring direction.”

Newbies will be given a fair amount of stimulating work, although of course, “ultimately when things are busy you do have to pick up a lot of administrative tasks which is understandable”. Nevertheless, variety is the spice of life at Ropes. “As the trainee intake is so small, you take on a lot of responsibility and are truly able to get stuck into the workload. The work we do is really interesting, and I like how we get to interact with different teams across both London and US offices on certain transactions.” Another source adds that “partners and associates are also really receptive to letting you try things if you ask!”

One junior lawyer offered this insight: “Private equity work is incredibly varied and no two deals are identical. The fast pace also ensures that you obtain a breadth of experience early in your seat. Being able to complete important tasks with minimal guidance is also a very rewarding process to go through.” Rookies have also enjoyed working on “some of the most exciting deal work for top tier clients like Bain, Liberty Global, Google” with recent work in London including bond offerings with Virgin Media O2 and Warner Bros share acquisitions. Client secondments to multinationals such as Liberty Global are also on the cards.

The small and personable nature of the London office means recruits often report getting a fair bit of direct contact with the partners and senior associates. “Some departments are better than others at training, with seniors putting in real effort to explain concepts and terminology,” says one trainee. And despite some departmental discrepancies, most rookies rank their superiors highly for approachability: “There is no hierarchy at Ropes. Everyone you work with and interact with are very approachable and happy to engage with you, whether this be someone 1 PQE or partner level,” remarked one. Another added that, “In certain departments I’ve worked in it’s like we’re all one big happy family and I could go to the partners for anything, or just a chat. Some departments, the partners are not like that at all, very traditional authority vibes. But there is at least one partner who I’d say pretends to be the former but deep down is the latter, which is a bit uncomfortable.” Former trainees report “an open-door policy” with London partners said to be “highly approachable and down to earth normal people”.

It’s your peers you need to watch out for, according to one rookie: “You get the odd few who are maybe a little more calculating and competitive than others but thankfully these are few and far between.” Another remarked that “the people at the firm are lovely and will always offer to cover if you are away”. Trainees are said to be “very supportive” and junior associates are “excellent sources of advice and support”. So, in summary, Ropes & Gray peers are “generally on the very supportive side which outweighs any outliers to this.”

Socials are team-dependent with trainee events said to be “few and far between” but there is the occasional get-together for a drinks reception or internal event. Trainees put the lack of a party atmosphere down to spending enough time together in the office as the firm encourages its lawyers to be in Monday to Thursday. Friday is a flexible day for those wanting to work elsewhere and for this, employees are equipped with a “hefty technology allowance” of about £800 and enjoy a 24/7 IT support line, which is reportedly “excellent and highly responsive”. There are also a few “WFH weeks” scattered across the year where everyone spends a week out of office.

Ropes’ workplace itself inspires mixed reviews. Despite being at the Fleet Street edge of the City in a building boasting a stunning rooftop terrace and contemporary artwork plastering its walls, current recruits feel the hub is “a bit grey” and “could do with a few ferns” (Ropes & Greens just doesn’t have the same ring to it). Others were more optimistic about the “spacious open-plan” digs and free lunches on Wednesdays which are “always delicious”. Though there are grumbles that there seems to be less “mini-croissant platters” floating around and the firm has done away with its weekly in-house barista.

Other perks, apart from astronomical financial remuneration, include free breakfast once a month, £32 Deliveroo allowance after 7pm and free taxis after 9pm. And to top it all off, we’re told that the firm also provides a concierge service to support life admin: “the concierge service is so helpful, holidays, present buying, apartment hunting it takes the burden off hugely.”