Firms

Travers Smith

Web:  www.traverssmith.com 

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Web:  www.traverssmith.com 

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Survey results

Survey results

 

The lowdown (in their own words...)

Why did you choose this firm over any others? 

 ''A small intake'; 'vacation scheme was a great insight into the people at the firm'; 'reputation in the marketplace'; 'enough high-end work to go around'; 'high retention rate'; 'one of the best training programmes in the City'; 'the high standard of the work being done'; 'the work being done was engaging';' 

How does your training compare with peers' at other firms? 

 ''Great quality of work'; 'Magic Circle level work'; 'small environment'; 'you are properly trained'; 'not a massive 'factory' firm'; 'early responsibility'; 'collegiate culture'; 'partner-led practice'; 'friendly environment'; 'genuine responsibility'' 

Best thing about the firm? 

 ''Good work/life balance'; 'a day in the life of a Travers Smith trainee does not entail standing all day by a photocopier'; 'partners are far more approachable'; 'much more client contact'; 'more responsibility'; 'not treated like a trainee, I am more like a junior associate'; 'I sit with a partner and an associate (which is an excellent way to learn) and I am paid slightly better than most'' 

Worst thing about the firm? 

 ''Sandwiches at lunchtime'; 'training could be better'; 'hours'; 'at times being over stretched'; 'the work/life balance'; 'old fashioned'; 'the after-hours support systems'; 'general IT facilities'; 'lack of free gym membership'; 'the cafe'; 'the obsession with karaoke'; 'very few international secondment opportunities'' 

Best moment? 

 ''Completing my first deal'; 'seeing matters that you have been working on in the FT'; 'completing the largest UK property transaction ever'; 'going to first client meeting'; 'being sent to Paris to do a settlement meeting'; 'working on the launch of Metro Bank'; 'being part of a very small team completing a £100m deal'' 

Worst moment?

 ''Finding out that an application that should have been filed at court, hadn't been received'; 'stress when the timetable is tight'; 'realising that I couldn't sing when on a trainee night out at the karaoke bar opposite the firm'; 'weeks spent bundling in preparation for trial'; 'working weekends'; 'some late nights'; 'worrying about documents''

The Lex 100 verdict

 The Verdict

The firm

City stalwart Travers Smith continues to excel in M&A and private equity and is highly rated for non-contentious/regulatory financial services. Travers Smith offers clients 'consistently well-informed and pragmatic advice'. 

The star performers

Acquisition finance; Banking litigation; Commercial contracts; Commercial litigation; Commercial property; Corporate tax; Financial services; Flotations; Franchising; Investment funds; M&A: upper mid-market and premium deals, £250m+; Pensions; Private equity.

The deals

Advised Bridgepoint on a number of notable deals including its acquisition of Pets at Home; acting for Kroll Cayman as liquidators of the Peloton hedge fund; advised Elysian Capital on its £130m debut buyout fund; acted for Metric Property Investments plc on its £190m placing and LSE listing and conversion to a REIT; advised Candover Partners Ltd on its spinout from Candover Investments plc via the formation of Arle Capital Partners.

The clients

Firstsource Solutions; Metro Bank; Peel Group; Sebastian Holdings Inc.

The winners

Legal Business Awards 2011

Highly commended Private Equity team of the year; Dispute Resolution team of the year, Law firm of the year 

The Verdict

A Lex 100 Winner this year for social life, vacation scheme and confidence in being kept on, the employees at Travers Smith seem to know how to have a good time. As one trainee puts it, the vacation scheme gives a 'great insight into the people at the firm: ferociously talented but without ego'. The firm has a 'great' reputation in the market, particularly in the corporate and private equity fields where it deals with some 'very high quality work'. It has a 'collegiate culture' and avoids being a 'factory firm' by providing a good level of training and making sure that plenty of responsibility is given to trainees early on. Highlights for current trainees include 'seeing matters that you have been working on in the FT' or 'completing the largest UK property transaction ever'. As one puts it 'a day in the life of a Travers Smith trainee does not entail standing all day by a photocopier'! The firm's desire to be competitive can sometimes have a 'tendency to impact on those at the bottom' and it can also at times seem a little 'old fashioned'. However, there is a 'genuine sense of community' here and even though a couple of trainees bemoan the firm's 'obsession with karaoke' it sounds like a fun place to work, which offers its trainees a really solid introduction to the legal world.

A day in the life

A day in the life of.....

Jake Levy, first-year trainee, Travers Smith LLP 
Departments to date:  Commercial, corporate
University: Lincoln College, Oxford 
Degree: Politics, Philosophy & Economics 2(1) 

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8.45am: I arrive at my desk having grabbed a bite to eat from the canteen. I check my emails and any voicemails to see if anything important has come in overnight. I am currently midway through my second seat which is in the corporate department. This means there will often be queries to deal with in the build up to a deal or while dealing with post-completion matters.

This morning, I have an email from a client checking on some new companies I had been setting up the previous day for a private equity deal that I am working on. I had to meet the client at his offices the previous day to get forms signed and he is checking that everything has gone through. Happily, all the forms have been filed and I can provide a positive response.

11.20am: A partner asks me to do some research on a prospective target company, a large media company, for a private equity house. This is in preparation for a client meeting this afternoon to discuss the matter. After some initial online research, I head down to the Information Centre (our incumbent expert researchers, among other things), who are incredibly helpful and supportive, to see if they can assist me with finding information from alternative sources.

12.20pm: I return to my desk to find my room in the midst of a heated room frisbee match. Participation is compulsory and so a ten-minute frisbee match ensues. I share a room with two associates of different experience levels and a partner. Sharing a room with people with varying experience means I get an insight into how things work at all levels, whilst also always having the appropriate person on hand whenever I have a question.

12.45pm: Lunchtime training seminars are held a couple of times a week, but today my schedule is free, so I pop down to the canteen to catch up with a few friends in other departments. Trainee intakes are relatively small (25 per year) and mix well, plus there is always plenty of socialising across the firm, be it Friday night drinks, room lunches, wine tasting or sports matches.

1.30pm: Back at my desk, I mark up a confidentiality agreement in relation to a business in which a client might be interested, and, once done, must be first agreed with the solicitors on the other side. I get an email from Tom, the solicitor representing the prospective sellers, agreeing to some, but not all, of my points on the agreement. He suggests we speak to discuss the more contentious points. A pre-call glance at the Law Society's website reveals Tom is four years qualified but, though potentially daunting, such situations always prove to be the best way to learn and there is always an associate on hand should I need anything.

Ultimately, the discussion is productive and is a real learning curve as it tests my knowledge of the points I am discussing and some basic experience of negotiating contractual points - and I certainly feel more confident in my abilities than I did half an hour ago!

4.00pm: I attend the meeting with our client in relation to the research that morning. It is great experience as it gives me some understanding of the process involved in a deal and more context to the work we do. It also feels exciting to be included in such high-level, sensitive discussions.

6.30pm: I receive some documents from the solicitors working on the other side on a deal that is nearing completion. Luckily, there are only a few comments on my drafts and so I make the amendments. A number of 'all trainee' emails have been flying about for the last half hour or so suggesting a drink at the local pub. So, having drawn up a to-do list for the following morning, I head down for a relaxing drink.

About the firm

About the firm

Address: 10 Snow Hill, London EC1A 2AL

Telephone: 020 7295 3000

Website: www.traverssmith.com

Email:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Senior partner: Chris Carroll

Managing partner: Andrew Lilley

 

Other offices: Paris. 

Who we are:  A medium-sized City firm with a major corporate and commercial practice.

What we do: The main areas of our practice are corporate law, commercial law, litigation, financial services and markets, corporate recovery/insolvency, EU/competition, tax, employment, pensions, banking and real estate.

What we are looking for: Applicants who combine academic excellence with common sense. Determined and articulate people who think on their feet, are self-motivated and who take their work but not themselves seriously.

What you'll do:  Trainees sit in four different departments. They share an office with partners and associates receiving an individual and extensive training which provides client contact and responsibility from day one.

Perks: Private health insurance, permanent health insurance, life assurance, corporate health club membership, subsidised bistro, season ticket loan.

Sponsorship: Payment of GDL and LPC fees plus maintenance of £6,500 (£7,000 for those studying in London).

 

Facts & figures

 Facts and figures

Trainee places available for 2014: 25

Applications received pa: 2,000 

Percentage interviewed: 15% 

Salary

First year: £38,000

Second year: £42,000

Newly qualified: £60,000

 The money

(from Legal Business magazine)

Turnover in 2010: £72m (+12% from 2009) Profits per equity partner: £705,000 (+50%)

Total partners: 64

Other fee-earners: 169

Total trainees: 46

APPLY NOW

Application process

Apply to: Germaine VanGeyzel, Graduate Recruitment Manager.

How: CV and covering letter online via cvMail 

When to Apply: By 31 July 2012 for training contracts commencing in September 2014. 

What is involved: Two interviews for training contracts. One interview for a vacation scheme place. 

 

 Vacation schemes

Summer: 25 June-6 July 2012; 9-20 July 2012 (apply by 31 January 2012). 

Winter: 5-16 December 2011.