Lovells got a hold on my Hartson
One year on from the marriage of City colossus Lovells to US firm Hogan & Hartson, we called to find the honeymoon still in full swing. Put it down to the couple’s highly compatible cultures. “We did a lot of due diligence to find the right partner,” explained training principal Ailbhe Edgar. “We didn’t want to ruin it by getting into bed with someone we didn’t mix with. The cultural fit has been excellent, and we’ve dovetailed very well.” Aside from the memo asking all British lawyers to Americani(s/z)e spellings, trainees report “very little impact” on everyday life. Some had seen an increase in US-originating work; others had yet to experience it but, “overall, the work won outweighs work lost due to conflicts of interest.” Most sources agreed that there is genuine “synergy” between the two parts of the new business.
Where is the firm positioned now? Lovells was always one of those firms hanging about at the fringes of the magic circle and it was already pretty international. What this merger does is boost its credentials in America considerably. “It can really offer nearly everything that a company would want a law firm to do,” one trainee opined, going on to speculate: “I think they’ll grow the finance practice – they’re looking for a bigger volume of high-end deals.” Ailbhe Edgar says: “We’ve got to work very hard to keep momentum going from the combination... We’ve always said that we want to build on our existing capabilities in corporate and finance in London and New York. Those will be the areas for further growth, whether that’s through lateral hires or internal promotions.”
And in the longer term? “The only question that remains is: what jurisdiction is next? Obviously, we’re very interested in being a leading global firm in Australia, South America and Africa. We have clients who are active in those jurisdictions. But we’re not in flag-planting mode just yet,” Edgar continued. Of course, Hog-Lov already has offices pretty much everywhere else and acts on numerous transactions with a ‘global’ label. Recently, the firm advised Ford on its divestiture of Volvo to Chinese company Zhejiang Geely for $1.8bn, and Citi Infrastructure on its acquisition of a majority stake in DP World’s Australian shipping terminal operator business for US$1.5bn – not to mention luxury goods group Labelux's acquisition of Jimmy Choo.
Planning for Lovells
New trainees at Hogan Lovells make a ‘seat plan’ when they arrive, factoring in a compulsory stint in either finance or corporate. The former department has seats in banking; capital markets; project finance; infrastructure and project finance; and restructuring/insolvency. It also holds a whispered reputation for a “macho working ethos and fictionalising normal working hours.” One trainee in investment funds “got put onto a really big case in my first week: I helped with all the drafting and ended up attending court. It was quite a learning experience.” Another spent time on “fairly tedious things like inputting stuff into a table,” but also on “drafting interesting documents.” Aside from advising on headline disputes including those involving the Lehman Brothers collapse and the Madoff fraud trial, the firm has a client base including many of the big beasts of finance, such as Barclays, Lloyds, Morgan Stanley and Prudential. Hogan Lovells also represented Northern Rock’s former deputy CEO in the FSA’s investigation into the misreporting of mortgage arrears figures.
There are a variety of subsections within corporate. One source in the regulatory seat gave a glowing review: “I loved it. I was given a huge amount of responsibility from the get-go. I was co-ordinating multi-jurisdictional advice for a client, liaising with offices all over the globe and co-ordinating it into a single advice note. It’s great feeling like you’re very much part of the junior resource.”
Real estate also has a reputation for giving trainees a good amount of responsibility. “It’s a massive learning curve,” said one. Sources appreciated the fact that real estate is “transactional by nature but there’s still some law involved.” There are important matters that trainees can help with small aspects of, or run things on their own, “such as drafting a licence for a lease that’s already in place.” This year, the corporate real estate team acted on several big-ticket deals, including the largest office deal in the West End for three years, a project to supply sustainable space heating to the £2bn Kings Cross Central development. The team was also instructed by the US Olympic Committee to help provide accommodation for its athletes at the 2012 games – a matter complicated by the fact that star athletes need space for security protection and several require space for personal chefs.
A bundle of laughs
Litigators are split into numerous smaller subteams, including a strong international arbitration practice. Trainees get to be part of some fascinating matters: one helped with “an investment dispute regarding a joint venture company: a Turkish telecoms business and Russian investment fund who had a joint share in one of the biggest telecoms businesses in Turkey. It’s been going on since 2006 and had been to Privy Council and back.” Another worked on “a big series of pieces of litigation to do with a foreign bank getting defrauded.” The downside of working on claims this huge is that “there is a lot of stuff that flows downhill. Each time there is a fresh set of bundles. They say keep your eye on the big picture,” whispered one trainee, “but especially late at night, it’s hardly thrilling.”
International arbitration is interesting "because it is so massive.” One source had worked on a “very high-value oil and gas dispute. Because of the nature of this sort of work, there were significant political considerations and motivations.” But? Those we spoke to had mainly bundled throughout the seat, often into the wee small hours. “It can be frustrating,” said one. “It’s paper management,” agreed another. “People need to know that they won’t be acting as a lawyer from day one. The matters are by nature so big that you won’t be the person who picks up the phone to the other side, or goes into court.”
Trainees in other contentious seats – such as insurance litigation or construction disputes – reported better levels of responsibility and more agreeable working hours. The popular pensions seat has a “friendly and approachable” team, and work that consists of research and writing client notes “rather than admin – you just don’t get it here.” For a small department, pensions holds some industry clout, this year working on the case of the Pilots’ National Pension Fund, which made it into The Lawyer’s ‘top ten cases of 2010’.
The Only Way is Essex
Secondments to Hogan Lovells’ many overseas offices are an extremely popular choice, particularly Hong Kong and Dubai. Stints in Brussels, Frankfurt, Paris and Singapore are also on offer. Trainees rank their preferences for placements but do run the risk of being sent on a domestic client secondment if they don’t make the cut to go abroad. “Choosing to do capital markets in Hong Kong is a bit different to being placed in Dagenham or a regional bank,” said a source. True enough, but placements at the likes of Barclays, John Lewis, the Prudential, Lloyds TSB and Save the Children, as well as that Ford plant in Essex, have their merits too. “It’s good CV exposure,” said one trainee who’d been seconded to a client, adding: “The contacts I made should be useful after qualification.” Those who had been overseas raved about the increased responsibility they enjoyed. Plus, those who initially “weren’t keen on the choice given to them” returned after six months “really happy.” We should add that the HR team tries “very honestly and hard to make the system fair.”
Many trainees enthused about the training provided at the start of seats, although standards can vary between supervisors. Informal feedback varies too, but formal appraisals are thorough – and crucial when it comes to the qualification decision and the allocation of secondments.
(Dress down) Friday, I’m in Love(lls)
With the large trainee intake HL has, it's inevitable that “there will be people who you rarely see after the first week,” one trainee found, and others were confident that there are “no prats” among their number. “You really can tell people are very clever, but they are friendly with it. Everyone is really switched on and we have really interesting conversations.” We always hit on plenty of Oxbridge grads in our random selection of trainees, while other Russell Group universities are also well represented. If most trainees are “middle class,” this is not atypical for the City. As for other diversity stats, the firm provides information on its website. As of August 2011, 56% of trainees were female; 11% from an ethnic minority; 4% over the age of 30; and 6% declared themselves LGBT.
Though overall contentment reigns supreme, there was "uncertainty" surrounding the issue of qualification. Some qualifiers had bitten the bullet and accepted positions with other firms before Hogan Lovells released its list of NQ positions. A gamble, if they – like the ones we chatted to – loved the firm and wanted to stay. Those who remained admitted that “when the jobs list was announced, it actually looked quite good.” The final result for 2011 was that 44 out of 69 qualifiers took up jobs with the firm.
“Friday night drinks are a big deal and lots of us still sit together at lunch,” trainees said. Otherwise we heard mixed comments about the social scene, with some saying that the firm is a 'make your own fun' kind of place while others talked about quizzes, sports teams and “drinks throughout the week.” Additionally, the Americans have imported “dress down Fridays.” Where Hogan Lovells really excels is in CSR and pro bono. Trainees can get heavily involved – one, for example, “represented a woman who wanted to get an injunction against her partner because of domestic violence.”
And finally...
The reputation of 'lovely Lovells' is slightly misleading, so don't apply looking for an easier life than you might find at the magic circle. Remember this is a top City firm with all the demands that entails and you won't go far wrong.