Eastbound 

Having come about through a 2007 merger with City mid-sizer Richards Butler, the London office of US-founded firm Reed Smith is now the largest in a global network of 23, the majority of which (14) are still over in the States, with three more on mainland Europe, two in the Middle East and two in Asia. “The fact that London is the biggest office in the firm is not an accident,” training principal Peter Hardy told us. “It will remain focal and central, and will grow more, as will our presence in China where we've just launched an office in Shanghai.” Indeed, since the Richards Butler merger, more and more lateral hires have been brought into the firm’s home in Broadgate Tower. Although it wasn’t all plain sailing for Reed Smith during the recession, the future's bright as it looks to strengthen in its key market sectors of energy and financial institutions. Firmwide, revenue and profits were up in 2010.

This firm does a bit of almost everything, and Reed Smith trainees appreciate the amount of choice open to them: “You’re really in control of your training contract,” claimed one. Trainees don’t have to take any compulsory seats, but admitted that they might sometimes find themselves in departments they hadn’t chosen as first or second choices during their four rotations. They will get their first preference at least once, however. The popular niche practice areas that Richards Butler was always famous for, such as media, are unofficially reserved for third and fourth-seaters. Newbies may find themselves in the large shipping or real estate departments, and our sources had accepted what they were given with good grace. “I didn’t get any of my choices in my first year,” explained one source, “But with every step up, you are given more priority, and I got my first choice in my third seat. Ultimately I ended up being very happy.” In addition to those already mentioned, other seats include corporate; competition; energy, trade and commodities (ETC); life sciences; employment; commercial disputes; restructuring; tax; and a variety of other finance-related options (including transactional finance, real estate finance, funds, regulatory and restructuring).

Come sail your ships 

The late, great Richards Butler lives on in Reed Smith’s sizeable and distinguished shipping department. “I wanted to work in a department that was renowned,” said one trainee, “and the work is very interesting because it’s easy to see why it’s so important.” Shipping is divided into ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ departments: ‘dry’ typically consisting of contract disputes, delays and cargo damage claims –‘wet’ being problems with actual ships at sea: “It’s technical and hard to get your head around, but it is fascinating,” said one trainee of the latter. ‘Dry’ trainees “have to face up to the reality of bundling,” but – provided they do – will quickly be entrusted with pieces of drafting: claims submissions and witness statements. On top of this, one source enthused they had been present “at arbitrations and a mediation: I’ve had a wealth of courts experience.” The dry seat does, for some, live up to its name – with minimal client contact, the focus is on “what shipping law is.” But “it’s behind-the-scenes work, legal-based research, so you do quickly gain confidence in your legal knowledge.” Clients tend to be ship management companies, P&I clubs (a form of co-operative insurance for shipowners), and independent shipowners. The team recently acted for UK P&I Club in relation to the grounding of the ‘Noble Hawk’ on a reef in Indonesia. Issues arose due to the nature of the cargo on board the ship, and from the difficulty of obtaining evidence from the crew.

The mid-market corporate department is ranked by Chambers UK alongside firms like Bird & Bird, Charles Russell and Field Fisher Waterhouse in London, and acts for Microsoft, L’Oréal and Channel 4, among others. Trainees were pleased to be seeing “really good work, and a lot of it,” acting for “a lot of brand names: toiletries, bras, clothing retailers, and also some big charity projects.” A cross-border M&A team recently worked on the acquisition of BBC Audiobooks by a new company, Audio Bath. The department also acted for World Fuel Services Europe as it acquired Shell Company of Gibraltar, which is Shell’s retail and distribution business on the Rock. This was the firm’s fourth acquisition for WFS. In the media subgroup of the corporate department – a highly sought-after seat – lawyers have advised on the financing of numerous film projects, including the financing of The Woman in Black and Wuthering Heights by the (now sadly defunct) UK Film Council and Coutts & Co’s funding of the recent adaptation Salmon Fishing in the Yemen starring Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor.

Meanwhile, the finance department covers leveraged finance, acquisition finance, corporate and investment grade finance, asset-based lending, real estate finance, media and film finance, ship finance, project finance, trade and commodity finance and debt trading. In short, if you like finance, there’s a lot of it here, and trainees said that the arrival of a number of lateral hires had given the team an “exciting” feel. Additionally, said one source, there is “a lot of client-facing time. I went to client events on my own and even now I’m in a new seat, I still get e-mails asking me to go to dinner or attend meetings.”

Trainees in real estate will “walk into the department and be handed their own files.” It is a seat with “huge amounts of client contact,” and trainees will learn on their feet how to manage their time and their own cases. Typically, they will deal with a lot of Land Registry applications and often work on the real estate aspects of larger deals from other departments. Major clients include Telereal Trillium and Reuben Brothers; the latter was advised on its refinancing with Lloyds TSB of 16 properties. The team also negotiated the new lease for Tiffany & Co's new premises on Cabot Place, and worked on the sale and leaseback of the warehouse of a well-known women’s clothing chain.

Feedback depends “entirely on the supervisor,” but monthly checklists allow trainees to self-monitor progress: “If you’re at month five and there’s a big gap in your knowledge, you can ask if you can get more involved.” Formal appraisals come every three months and give trainees the chance to work out where they are. “You also have the chance to talk to your supervisor about any improvements in their supervision.”

Streetfighters  

Reed Smith’s advertised secondment range is, in the words of one blunt trainee, “a misquote.” That’s a harsh assessment. Yes, the firm currently only offers overseas seats in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Greece, having previously had a much wider selection. But the reduction in secondment options, which were advertised in good faith, is not a trend that’s unique to Reed Smith among law firms, and is an unfortunate consequence of the economic downturn. Nevertheless, the chance of a stint overseas was a selling point upon which many current trainees had applied to the firm, and our sources agreed that it needs to build up its range again. “It’s all about the integration with overseas offices,” clarified training principal Peter Hardy. “We hope to have a Hong Kong placement back on the agenda within the next couple of rotations. We’re working hard to grow the client placement programme too. It’s a balancing act though, because for every secondee who is out with a client, there is one less trainee here.”

Those who do win a place abroad can expect “associate-level work,” due to the heavy workload and smaller teams. One Dubai trainee had “a swimming pool in the apartment,” and was given time off to explore the city and recover from arbitration work ranging from “massive amounts of diligence,” to “exposure to all parties, attending hearings and contributing to strategy discussions.” “We hope that trainees develop street wisdom, fight for themselves and cope with things that they haven’t planned for, things that come in from left field,” said Hardy. As competition for qualifying jobs warms up, however, trainees are increasingly aware that six months away can “put you on the back foot.” Client secondments include postings to Barclays, human rights organisation Liberty, Zodiak Media, Channel 4, the BBC and the Wellcome Trust.

Mr and Mrs Smith 

Trainees enjoy a healthy life outside of work, with most able to leave the office between 7.30 and 8.30pm. “If my supervisor knew I was overloaded,” explained one source, “he wouldn’t give me the work.” Others revealed how trainees help one another through busy patches: “People will say, ‘I’m not that busy, give some of your work to me'.” Our interviewees enthused about the friendly, personable nature of many departments and how “the people, the attitude and the sense of humour bring an Englishness to the place.” Trainees rejected any idea that Reed Smith is merely a London outpost for a US firm. One of the few noticeable aspects is that IT systems are located in Pittsburgh and the default spell-check “constantly changes words to US spelling.” The plus side is that typing can be turned around overnight by support staff in the States, ready for trainees to pick up the following morning. Reed Smith feels “global” rather than American, and everyone is included in strategy meetings. “Whenever someone comes from the US there are presentations,” said one, “and they ask for our input.”

“The only shock at the end of the process is that at the end of the two years it’s another round of interviews in order to stay.” In 2011 a total of 15 out of 16 second-years stayed on after going through the rigorous interview process, which involves trainee presentations for some departments. “We think it helps focus the trainees’ minds towards the process of qualification,” says the firm. “We work hard to ensure a consistent approach to the qualification selection process, as we don’t think it's fair if some could be offered a job off the back of a coffee and some from a two-hour presentation.”

Fortunately, the qualification process “doesn’t get in the way of friendships.” Trainees here, it’s worth mentioning, are very close. “It’s quite telling of the recruitment criteria,” chuckled one source. “We’re seven months in and we still meet for lunch every day and without fail go for drinks.” Reed Smith likes clever but “easy-going” juniors. “We are relatively normal and not Oxbridge-heavy,” said one. “We can all speak our minds, and we work hard, but will be out at the end of the day with a drink,” claimed another. ‘Official’ socials occur frequently, be they client events or departmental drinks. There are numerous sports teams and charity events such as “a netball match where the men dressed up as women.” We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: all lawyers love drag. Speaking of charity, pro bono is such a major part of Reed Smith’s culture that “it would be slightly frowned upon” if trainees didn’t contribute. Several exciting legal opportunities exist: read more here. Trainees can get stuck in as much or little as they desire; some had personally headed up their own projects. As one source said, “it might not necessarily be an area of law you’d be familiar with, so on a CV-polishing level you learn excellent client skills and case management.”

Reed Smith’s mighty Liverpool Street home quite literally cannot be overlooked. Occupying the top third of Broadgate Tower, the “super-modern and swanky” office is “glass all the way round,” and boasts such fantastic views that “people take their other halves up there just for the scenery.” Its location, too, is great for transport links and for eating out, although why anyone would choose to leave the building when the 31st floor canteen offers such panoramas of East London is beyond us.

And finally... 

Five years on from the merger, this firm is a little more corporate and finance-focused than it used to be, but retains the ‘nice place to work’ vibe that it has always possessed.