Mishcon de Reya

As you might expect from such a star-studded client list, Mishcon are putting up some impressive numbers, with revenues up 17% to £300 million this year. The firm no longer discloses its profit per equity partner as the metric is “too narrow, short-term and misleading” according to chief financial officer Matt Hotson. Net profit is down 3% to £90 million after several significant investments this year. These include a new office in Riyadh (subject to approval from Saudi authorities), the acquisitions of legal talent provider Flex Legal and group actions management business Somos, as well as the integration of Cambridge-based Taylor Vinters after a merger late last year.

Work-wise, Mishcon’s twin strengths are litigation and private client work, which means you’ll be dealing with a “usual” variety of clientele “ranging from high-net worth individuals to start-ups and multinational corporations” according to the trainees we spoke to. “A lot of the work is the stuff that you might only have once in your career at other firms” added another. There is, inevitably, some variation between seats but even the occasional “admin task” is more than made up for by “more stimulating tasks that definitely help you develop”, in the words of one LC source. “The work is very high quality (particularly in smaller teams or areas like tax) where trainees are encouraged to prove themselves and are given increasingly good work. The matters are really interesting and Mishcon is always encouraging creativity to address and respond to the challenges the work throws up” is the final word from another trainee.

If you want a glimpse into the kind of work Mischon does, a recent example would be leading a seven-strong group claim by London’s biggest taxi companies, including Addison Lee and Brunel Carriage, against Uber for unlawful means conspiracy. Elsewhere, the firm has been advising Hewlett Packard Enterprise on a £225 million deal to build the UK’s most powerful AI supercomputer and acting for the Federal Republic of Nigeria to set aside an $11 billion arbitration award.

Training at the firm begins with an “excellent” induction followed by “intense training in each department at the start of each seat”. One trainee summarises: “training is great on both a technical and a personal level. Supervisors will bring you into matters that they think will be of interest to you as well as providing you with the technical skills you need.” Other rookies warn that whilst the training is “fantastic” it does vary greatly across departments: “In some teams you might be managing your own caseload while in others you are doing much more trainee work such as bundling etc.” said one. As with many firms, this usually depends on “how engaged your supervisor is or if the team has a knowledge lawyer,” spies told Legal Cheek.

Insiders tell us there’s a “very lovely community” being fostered at Mishcon de Reya. “I would say that Mishcon has a very flat structure where there is no ‘hierarchy’ in the way that trainees are expected to approach team members” were the words of one happy camper. Senior members at the firm are said to be generally approachable with some said to “take a real interest in what you want to achieve and actively try to give you work that is interesting and might help you to get to where you want to be.” Others are reported as being less enthusiastic: “mostly great, with the odd scarier partner,” said one recruit, “but the friendly faces far outweigh the more reserved.” If in any doubt, higher-ups in real estate, dispute resolution and employment were found to be more approachable than their private client counterparts.

On the whole, however, it’s an open-door policy and it always helps that trainees tend to look out for each other. “Such an amazing group — we get on really well and are always there to support each other and advise. Zero sense of competitiveness and always feel like there’s someone to go to for help,” gushes one. Another echoes, “My cohort is really close, we regularly have lunch together and will always provide support and advice in the group chat if someone has a question. Some of my fellow trainees have become good friends of mine and I see them outside of work too!”

The firm provides a social budget for trainees as well as hosting firmwide socials bi-weekly. Teams also have regular department outings and there are firmwide drinks in the client bar every so often. Although attendance “somewhat drops off higher up the chain in certain teams”, rookies tell us that “trainees are tightly knit and do socialise” — some even wrote an article for the firm’s internal magazine together!

At Mishcon, you’ll have time for extracurriculars and then some, as our sources tell us that “generally the work-life balance is great”. One offered this personal insight: “Occasionally there will be a seat that demands more work and so then things are a bit out of balance, but this is a rarity. The firm encourages you to have a life outside of work, and it’s not just at the junior level – the more senior fee earners are encouraged to as well. Trainees that I am friends with at other firms have told me horror stories about being on call all the time, taking their work laptops on holiday…These things are not even on my radar at Mishcon. My time really is mine and for the most part you can switch off when you log off.” There are still moments where “life takes a back seat for a late night of work”, one recruit told us, but broadly “the hours are good and private life is protected” (especially in the tax team we’re told!)

Mischon’s newly qualified solicitors earn £90,000 — on the lowside for London — but not bad when you have the ability to stick to evening plans!

On the WFH side, although trainees “have to be in at least 3-4 days per week”, the firm is “really good at ensuring [you] have all the equipment [you] need” with keyboards, screens, chairs and even desks provided.

If you fancy a longer break from the office, you’ll be pleased to learn that Mishcon have started to phase in international secondment opportunities again, with a select number of recruits enjoying six months in the firm’s Hong Kong and Singapore offices. Client secondments are also available, though just as rare, with one trainee spending three months at Blackstone Group this year.

On the lawtech front, investment keeps flowing into boosting Mishcon’s capabilities, including its high-profile start-up incubator — branded ‘MDR LAB’ — where numerous up-and-coming lawtech start-ups are housed. New tech is apparently “eagerly adopted at Mishcon” and one such initiative sees billable targets for some associates cut by 20% to encourage tech-minded lawyers to spend more time on tech and innovation projects. What’s more, the firm now has its own ChatGPT-style AI ‘deReyAI’ (extra credit for the name) which is praised as “fantastic” by current trainees.

Sticking with tech, Mishcon has also introduced an automated time recording system — ‘Time by Ping’ — which, rookies tell us, automatically “captures everything we do” and has “completely revolutionised time recording”. In fact, the only bugbear with the tech on offer at MdR is that the firm is sometimes too eager to get new stuff rolled out before it’s been properly beta tested. But “once the teething problems are sorted out the tech is great” one insider informs us.

The perks are pretty good. They include a subsidised bike purchase scheme, a season ticket loan for the Tube, an in-house doctor, free private health care, a £350 well-being allowance, free yoga classes, “really good summer and Christmas parties” and regular talks from “respected and interesting speakers from inside and outside the law world”. Interesting is probably putting it mildly — the Mishcon Academy (the firm’s “in-house place of learning”) recently hosted a Q&A with former MP Rory Stewart as part of the promotion for his book, Politics on the Edge, as well as having former Spice Girl Mel B on to talk about her recent memoir. There is also free breakfast on Mondays and Fridays, with “emails always going around with tickets to concerts, football games and the theatre”.