Firms

Berwin Leighton Paisner

Web:  www.blplaw.com/trainee 

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

 

Web:  www.blplaw.com/trainee 

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? 

 ''It is a firm with a clear vision that is going places'; 'ambition, friendliness, good clients and work'; 'positive time during work experience'; 'alternative but big-ticket work'; 'great international strategy'; 'range of work offered'; 'promise of quality work (which has been lived up to)'; 'the open-door policy'' 

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

 ''Good structured training'; 'regular training sessions'; 'more responsibility and more support'; 'I am offered significantly better work than friends at US/Magic Circle firms'; 'more client contact'; 'more fun at work'; 'much more responsibility'' 

Best thing about the firm? 

 ''Open-door policy'; 'continual training'; 'good supervision but still given enough responsibility to progress'; 'training and support on offer'; 'good atmosphere'; 'friendliness of colleagues'' 

Worst thing about the firm? 

 ''The unpredictable hours - like all City law firms'; ' a seismic shift towards Magic Circle culture'; 'lack of variety in cafeteria/restaurant'; 'stress levels can get very high'; 'lack of face-to-face client contact'' 

Best moment? 

 ''My client secondment'; 'client completion dinner'; 'the completion of a public takeover'; 'completing the signing of 99 leases in a single session'; 'completing a £74m deal on which I had been closely involved'; 'attending a client meeting on my own'; 'secondment to Tesco'' 

Worst moment?

 ''I have endured my fair share of document review tasks'; 'appearing solo in court'; 'administration work'; 'sitting in a room full of boxes knowing I had to review most of them... at 3am on a Sunday morning'; 'making mistakes''

The Lex 100 verdict

 The Verdict

The firm

Berwin Leighton Paisner sits at the vanguard of the property market and few would dispute its pre-eminence. The practice boasts a comprehensive real estate offering, including expertise in corporate and finance issues, and really shines in construction. The opening of an Abu Dhabi office in 2009 created a raft of new instructions, particularly in the hotel sector. The firm also has a well-established practice in small and mid-cap flotations. 

The star performers

Acquisition finance; Asset finance; Bank lending; Brand management; Charities; Commercial property; Construction; Corporate restructuring and insolvency; Corporate tax; Development; Derivatives; EU and competition; Employment; Environment; Flotations: small and mid-cap; Futures; Health and safety; Hotels; IP; IT and telecoms; Investment; Investment funds; Leisure; Licensing; Local government; M&A; upper mid-market and premium deals, £250m+; Personal tax, trusts and probate; Planning; Private finance initiative (PFI); Property finance; Property litigation; Securitisation; Venture capital.

The deals

Acted for Barclays on its review of over 110 existing business-critical contracts across over 70 suppliers globally; acted for JP Morgan Asset Management on its £557m acquisition of Bishops Square; acted for Sports Direct in relation to its acquisition of 31 stores from JJB; acting for National Grid in a £300m follow-on damages claim in the High Court; represented financier Nathaniel Rothschild in the £707m IPO of his mining investment group Vallar.

The clients

Albion Ventures; Aviva; BGC Partners; Cenkos Securities; Chartis; Expedia; GCP Infrastructure Fund; Ladbrokes; National Grid; Raven Russia; Standard Life; Tesco; Thames Water; Travelex.

The Verdict

The strength of training at BLP is something that its trainees have long recognised, and this year is no different, with a typical comment being that it is 'much more thorough than what most of my friends get at other firms', with 'far more support from supervisors, HR and partner mentors'. Training is well structured, with regular learning sessions in addition to more practical tasks where trainees are given 'quality work, high levels of responsibility and client contact' - as promised from the start. This is illustrated by trainees' top experiences including 'being put in charge of planning and liaising on a corporate restructuring at the end of my first seat' and 'being trusted to attend a five-day employment tribunal on my own'. Exposed to a range of contentious and non-contentious work, they get to work 'directly with partners' who maintain an open-door policy and are 'very receptive to ideas from juniors'. Trainees also feel their hard work is acknowledged, including the long hours sometimes required - which might involve bundling for those in a contentious seat or due diligence on the corporate side. Other complaints are 'the restrictions on seat choices', and some fear they are witnessing a bit of a shift towards 'Magic Circle culture' too. However, BLP makes no secret of the fact that it is an ambitious firm with a 'clear vision', and trainees feel confident that the firm is going places, which is reflected in its success in recent years and 'great international strategy'. The firm is a Lex 100 Winner for confidence of being kept on and, in the words of one current trainee, the employees at this 'upwardly mobile' firm 'radiate positivity'.

A day in the life

A day in the life of.....

Jane Pendry, first-year trainee, Berwin Leighton Paisner 
Departments to date:  Real estate; corporate (employment, pensions and incentives)
University: Edinburgh 
Degree: Law LLB, 2(1) 

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8.00am: I get into the office early as we are due to complete on a big deal that we have been working on with the corporate department. My current seat is real estate and I sit with my supervisor, who is an associate in the team. We are serving a notice to complete as the other side have not indicated that they will be completing on time. The partner I am working with calls me to discuss and tells me that he has never worked on a deal where a notice of this type has been served. It is tense but satisfying when we finally serve! I had a late night with my supervisor last night making sure that we had followed all of the correct provisions in the contract, as we know the other side will go through the document with a fine toothcomb.

10.00am: I attend a meeting in the client suite with the partner I am working on a residential sale with. We are meeting with our client's surveyor to discuss the sale and, following the meeting, I have some complicated land registry enquiries to do to ensure that we are fully aware of the covenants attached to the land our client is selling.

12.00pm: I grab a quick lunch and my suit jacket as I'm off to a client meeting to discuss a large portfolio sale we are working on. This is a really interesting project and I've been in charge of co-ordinating the documentation so I am able to assist with various questions which the client has. After two hours I've filled my notebook but I manage to get the important points and dictate a detailed minute when I get back to the office.

3.00pm: I've had a couple of emails asking whether I have capacity to assist on tasks this afternoon. I speak to my supervisor about the tasks she has asked me to do to establish whether I can assist the other members of the team. We decide together that I have time to complete a Stamp Duty Land Tax form today, but not the Land Registry application, so I send an email to one of the other trainees in my team who has capacity to assist. I'm starting to learn that the best way to assist is to let the fee-earner know what other work you have on and to give a realistic estimate of when you will be able to complete tasks, which allows them to find an alternative option if they need the work done more quickly.

5.00pm: I need to get out my Land Registry forms for the residential sale and I'm cutting it close to the wire to get to the post in time. I head downstairs to the post room and grab a coffee from the canteen on the way back up to power me through the next couple of hours. I review my to-do list and draft a couple of emails; one to the client attaching my note of the meeting from this afternoon and the other to our knowledge development lawyer to submit a piece of research I have completed which may be useful for the team.

7.00pm: I start to draft a licence for alterations on a shopping centre unit which I am working on. One of the advantages of this department is the level of responsibility you get at an early stage; you have direct contact with the client and often do the first draft of the relevant documents. I leave my marked-up version with the document support team overnight which will give me time to review it with a fresh head in the morning.

8.00pm: I head to the local bar where the trainees are meeting for a drink to celebrate two birthdays. There is a big group of us and we all talk shop for a while before moving on to discuss weekend plans.

About the firm

About the firm

Address: Adelaide House, London Bridge EC4R 9HA

Telephone: 020 3400 1000

Fax: 020 3400 1111

Website: www.blplaw.com/trainee

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

Managing partner: Neville Eisenberg

 

Other offices: Abu Dhabi, Brussels, Hong Kong, Moscow, Paris, Singapore. 

Who we are:  BLP is a dynamic full-service City law firm. We have around 730 lawyers, including over 200 partners. We have an open and friendly culture, combined with a strong commitment to career development. Our people are prized for their legal talent and renowned for being personally committed to helping clients succeed. It's a distinct BLP quality.

What we do: We have particular strengths in real estate, corporate, finance and tax, and a strong litigation and dispute resolution capability.

What we are looking for: In addition to talented individuals with brilliant minds and bright attitudes, we are looking for people who can take complex, often pressurised, commercial situations in their stride. The sort of people our clients want on their side and will ask for by name. People they can trust to help them succeed. In other words, people with 'BerwinLeightonPaisnericity'.

What you'll do:  When recruiting trainees, our focus is on quality rather than quantity. As a result, our trainees are rewarded with a high degree of responsibility and involvement, underpinned by an exceptional standard of training and support. BLP has always prided itself on providing the right environment for people to grow.

Perks: Generous flexible benefits package, season ticket loan, ride to work scheme.

Sponsorship: CPE/GDL and LPC+ fees paid and £7,200 maintenance per course.

 

Facts & figures

 Facts and figures

Trainee places available for 2014: 45

Applications received pa: Approx 1,600 

Percentage interviewed: Approx 10% 

Salary

First year: £37,000

Second year: £41,000

Newly qualified: £60,000

 The money

(from Legal Business magazine)

Turnover in 2010: £191m (+9% from 2009) Profits per equity partner: £463,000 (+14%)

Total partners: 213

Other fee-earners: 506

Total trainees: 81

APPLY NOW

Application process

Apply to: Claire England, graduate recruitment and trainee manager.

How: Online application via www.blplaw.com/trainee. 

When to Apply: By 31 January 2012 for vacation schemes (winter, spring, summer). By 31 July 2012 for training contracts. 

What is involved: Online application; telephone interview; assessment centre; vacation scheme (if applied for); final round interview with two partners. 

 

 Vacation schemes

Spring: April (apply by 31 January 2012). 

Summer: June to August (apply by 31 January 2012). 

Winter: December (apply by 31 October 2011).