Withers

Headcount has remained fairly steady in the firm’s two UK offices. Cambridge is a smaller hub, which focuses on life sciences and hosts only a handful of lawyers. London, meanwhile, has around 600 lawyers and support staff, taking on around thirteen new trainees each year. Overseas it’s a different story. The firm has recently spread its roots to Jakarta, through an alliance with Indonesian boutique Karna and, across the pond, a new family law practice in New York alongside an upsize in Boston shows exactly why the firm has branded itself ‘Withersworldwide’.

For London recruits, this means a decent chance at an international secondment with around one-fifth of trainees enjoying a six month stint in the Milan office each year. Although, with 17 offices across eight countries, some are hoping that more far-flung destinations might be on the cards at some point.

Back at base, trainees report “plenty of stimulating work” mixed in with a fair amount of the more “routine” stuff. Some seats offer “lots of responsibility and client facing work” whilst others “can be more repetitive”, according to our insiders. “It’s vaguely annoying how often partners ask trainees (rather than secretaries/admins) to do stuff like managing their diaries, and how much of your time you spend looking for documents on the systems and opening Russian doll layers of emails attached to emails because some partners don’t save attachments to files” groaned one rookie. That being said, other practice areas apparently let trainees have a first crack at drafting substantive documents. Litigation is said to be particularly juicy, with “frontline” tasks including “drafting documents and attending trial”, but beware of “the more boring tasks like bundling”. One rookie notes that “if you want to, and demonstrate you are able, partners will let you take on responsibility and therefore do more stimulating work”.

The firm’s large family law practice — think million-pound divorces, some featuring celebs and lots of media coverage — is “paper-heavy” but often very stimulating. Withers also boasts a built-up intellectual property offering following its 2018 merger with Cambridge tech boutique JAG Shaw Baker. Not that all of the work assigned to trainees is riveting. Newcomers inevitably end up with some “less exciting” and “less stimulating” admin work, although superiors “tend to be apologetic” for dishing it out and “even if it’s the dullest task, the calibre of clients that work is completed for keep things interesting”.

Once qualified, admin work does apparently reduce. One junior lawyer says: “As an NQ, I work on a combination of smaller matters, where you are expected to lead, and larger matters, where you have a team of associates. It is quite a good opportunity to learn.”

Training is fairly structured, with partner or senior associate-led sessions at the start of each seat specific to a department, and “team-wide training” offered to keep trainees in tune with the latest legal updates. One recruit summarised that “training is always informative with handouts included to cut down on note taking, associates/partners giving the training are always open to questions”. “Decent levels of responsibility and strong client engagement” accompanied by “regular catch-ups to check how trainees are progressing” and “clear feedback” is another junior’s review. Some feel that supervisors can be “a little hands off” with the firm occasionally treating “training related stuff as expendable” but otherwise Withers’ newbies rate the training here as excellent. “I think the training is really great overall,” one rookie reports. “I have been given just the right balance of early responsibility and support to enable my development.”

Recruits rate their superiors as being “very approachable in terms of being friendly and kind”, even if the top brass are usually too busy to lend a helping hand. If you can catch them on a good day, partners — nearly half of whom, remarkably for the legal profession, are female — are said to be “happy to grab a coffee and chat through any questions, ambitions or concerns”.

A former trainee told Legal Cheek: “I have never been worried about asking anyone a question, even partners that have been at the firm for longer than I have been alive! Everyone is so friendly and I think this is something that really sets Withers apart from other firms.” The firm’s non-hierarchical vibe is felt through its hot desking system, which (in normal times) sees rookies often sat with various partners and associates throughout the week — allowing trainees to “get to know departments as a whole”.

Trainees also share good relationships with their peers. One gushes: “The two current trainee cohorts are supportive and close knit, I couldn’t ask for better colleagues. The junior associates likewise are always there for questions and conversations around work. Some teams chat more than others in the open plan, but generally, the firm has a sociable and friendly atmosphere across all teams”. Aside from “a few game players” trainees say their cohort is “non-competitive, where everyone is actually friends” — a rarity for a City law firm.

When not discussing law related matters, the trainee group chat gets used to set up socials, many of which happen at the downstairs bar in 20 Old Bailey. Some teams are more social than others, with many preferring to take advantage of the work/life balance on offer to head home at a reasonable time, but the firm is said to make an effort at hosting.

The newly qualified salary straddles the private client/City divide, standing at £95,000. First year trainees take home £47,000, rising to £52,000 in year two. For this, you’ll pay with a similarly fluctuating work/life balance: “Longer hours than the firm likes to project externally but still far better than many firms” is the verdict from one. Another tells us they are “very happy with my work/life balance. Some late nights but get out by 7:30pm/8pm normally. Have worked weekends a few times, but it is strongly discouraged by supervisors.” The consensus is that hours are team-dependent, with corporate being the most unpredictable and arbitration apparently being “infamous for long hours, with many very late nights (3am or later) and often weekend work too”. That being said, most of the trainees we spoke to report being out of the office by 7pm and there is “generally not a culture of having to show ‘facetime’”.

One trainee summarises it like so: “with the meatiest work comes the difficulty of some long hours. This is an entirely personal choice, and if you want the work, it is there to be completed, but equally, you can opt for an easier ride and decline to push yourself, depending on the team you’re in”. Another reports on “rarely work[ing] late, often finishing before 7/7.30 pm”, with supervisors being “appreciative” and “clarifying the urgency of the task, to make sure that when you do stay late, it’s necessary”.

The culture is definitely still City law — which is reflected in the firm’s choice of headquarters, located on the edge of London’s financial district in a “swanky” glass and steel construction at 20 Old Bailey (opposite the infamous ‘Old Bailey’ aka Central Criminal Court). “Looks a bit like a hotel”, quips one trainee, but “there are comfy booths to work from with lots of agile working spaces”, and early birds who manage to bag a window seat can expect “an amazing view of the Old Bailey”, explains another. The “almost paperless” open-plan office also houses a modern client lounge which, we’re told, regularly receives praise from passers-by. You may even recognise the office building from BBC’s political-thriller Bodyguard, which according to one fan “is always great to drop into conversation”.

Themed meals for different holidays are actually a thing in Withers’ “great subsidised canteen”. Trainees also delight in the “special meals for Eid al-Fitr and 4 July” which are “fun and impressive”. We hear the canteen cookies are “excellent” and one thrifty trainee praises the “Great porridge/granola bar in morning for only £2.50 — fruit, compote, peanut butters, yoghurts, different granola types, nuts, seeds. It’s self-serve so you can have really generous portions!!” Rookies can also dine at the panini bar, weigh & pay salad station or pick from a wide variety of hot and cold meals “including healthy and not so healthy options”.

As for perks, Withers’ lawyers enjoy flexible working, a free barista coffee every day, discounts on Shop+Save, cycle-to-work scheme, a gym subsidy, access to an interest free loan for travel cards, private healthcare, monthly theatre ticket draws, the occasional free health check and/or massage, as well as paid-for dinners and taxi rides home beyond a certain time if you’re still in the office. The firm also gifts a £150 John Lewis gift voucher for any of its employees who tie-the-knot (we’re yet to confirm if a workplace romance gets you double). It appears, however, that trainees seeking better benefits must root out hidden gems. “We do have access to a number of discounts, but I don’t think they are well-utilised, and a lot of people don’t know about them, although they are probably quite good if you do go looking,” reveals one respondent.

Trainees and new joiners also get a £250 WFH allowance to “kit out their spaces, and generally, people are flexible with the approach you take to splitting your time between home and office”. Trainees are generally expected in-office three days a week but, again, this varies depending on the team.

Junior employees received special priority in receiving a second desktop screen and other IT equipment, we’re told, which “made a big difference”. That said, trainees aren’t given work phones, “and although this would seem like a benefit, when working from home it can make things more difficult”, complains another novice. And while Withers’ IT systems held up during the lockdown, they’re apparently “very old and slow” — especially its e-bundling software — and “could do with an upgrade”. Rookies dismiss the tech as “could be better” or, if diplomatically minded, “legal tech develops very quickly, so there is always room for improvement”.