How to get into Baker & McKenzie
B&M looks for consistently strong academics, namely a minimum 2:1 degree and AAB at A level. What’s more, the firm will scrutinise the breakdown of your grades. The applications received in 2010 were of a “strong calibre. We were really impressed this year. Students are becoming more aware that they have to sell themselves,” said grad recruitment and development manager Justine Beedle. Readers, take note.
The London vac schemes and the international clerkship programme
At its London office, B&M hosts three three-week vac schemes that run back to back over the course of the summer. Students spend time in two different practice areas – two weeks in one, one week in the other – and there is an element of choice for them. Group activities include mock client pitches and general networking events (eg dinners, performances at The Globe theatre, classes at the Underground Cookery School). Students on the scheme have lunch with the management committee during their visit, as well as with partners, associates and trainees.
Current trainees offer plenty of advice on how to take advantage of the London scheme. “Be really, really enthusiastic. Don’t say no to any social events. If you make an impact on a department, you’ll integrate more with them,” advised one. Another shared the following perspective: “The presumption is that in the City on a vac scheme, they don’t want to push you too hard because it’s your holiday from uni. But if you want to impress them, ask to get involved. Almost treat the current trainee population as target work providers. They provide the most things you can observe and learn from. They’re in a position to delegate relevant work.”
An extended international vacation scheme offers a lucky few the chance to spend up to 12 weeks with the firm, half of it in London and half overseas in, say, Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore or Dallas. Applicants request their preferred destination, none of which have a language requirement. All expenses are covered and accommodation is offered within walking distance of the office. The experience is like a mini overseas secondment: “You get treated like a second-year trainee. I did billable work, which is unusual for a vac schemer.” One source appreciated the bespoke nature of the experience: “Abroad, there was much more of a focus on me because I was the only student out there. It was tailored to the kind of work I wanted to do.” In 2010, 33 London and four overseas placements were offered.
The application crucible
Those applying for a vac scheme or training contract must fill out an application form and write a ‘career motivation’ cover letter. “Fundamentally, we want to know what your motivations towards commercial law and towards Baker & McKenzie are,” says Beedle. Unsuccessful candidates often don’t do enough research about B&M before applying, and don’t provide a solid enough rationale for why they want to get into commercial law.
Those applicants who make the grade take part in one of the firm’s new assessment days. Vac scheme candidates complete theirs in January or February, while training contract candidates are seen in April (non-law grads) and in August and September (law grads). The assessment day is comprised of three parts: a group exercise, an interview with an associate, and an interview with two partners. In the group exercise, students read a set of instructions and information about a commercial problem on their own and then discuss with a group how to achieve the stated objective. The exercise is meant to test candidates’ commercial awareness, practical approach to problems and ability to work in a team. The interview with the associate involves talking about select matters from your application form (eg work experience or extra-curricular activities), as well as what is drawing you to commercial law and to B&M in particular.
The two-partner interview involves a 30-minute discussion about a case study and a 30-minute chat. The first part involves reading a legal case study beforehand (a separate document is used for non-law students) and then discussing the commercial and legal issues with the partners “in a practical fashion with confidence and composure.” The exercise is designed to “identify candidates who show real flair for problem solving and creativity in a legal context.” The rest of the interview will be spent talking about interests indicated on your CV; your interest in commercial law and Baker & McKenzie; and any and all questions you have about the firm.
The recruiters’ advice? “Enjoy the interview and try to project confidence, even if you’re nervous. It’s just as important for you to find out about us as it is for us to learn about you. The partner you’re facing is looking for the best in you. Remember that.” Try not to let nerves get in the way of letting your true potential shine through!
Those who score a vac scheme off the back of an assessment day are guaranteed an interview with a partner at the end of their scheme that could lead to a training contract. This interview will focus on a candidate’s performance on the assessment day, as well as their time on the vac scheme in order to get a sense of how it has “enhanced your view of commercial law in practice, as well as of Baker & McKenzie.”
Only those who are seriously interested in a B&M training contract should bother applying for a vac scheme here. “The reason we put the summer clerks through a training contract style interview is to attract summer clerks who are likely to demonstrate qualities we look for in trainees,” explains Beedle. In 2010, 18 out of 40 new starters came through the vac scheme. Training contract applicants (ie non-vac schemers) who impress at their assessment day will be offered a training contract.
The firm actively targets the following universities: Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, Edinburgh, Kings, Leeds, LSE, Manchester, Nottingham, Oxford, UCL, Warwick and York. The firm “happily accepts” applications from other universities, and a number of current trainees come from outside the target pool. Applicants come from many backgrounds. Some of them speak several languages, while others only know English. The firm is popular with internationally educated candidates, often those from Russia. Non-law undergrads interested in the law should take note: the firm allows those of you in your second year of university to apply for the vac scheme (a year earlier than most firms). Regardless of your background, the firm looks for business acumen, commercial awareness, and leadership and management skills. It’s time to get your Alan Sugar on!
From small beginnings to global giant
This firm was founded in Chicago in 1949 by Russell Baker – who had run his own small law firm for 25 years – and a chap called John McKenzie. It all followed a chance meeting between the two men in a cab. The story goes that Baker described his ambitions to create a global law firm and within a year McKenzie joined him to take charge of Baker’s successful litigation practice, leaving him to build the corporate business. Back in the day, the firm employed a mere four lawyers and one secretary. When McKenzie ran Baker’s litigation caseload, it was already one of the leading practices in Chicago. This sharing of responsibilities permitted Baker to dedicate his time to the development of an international clientele.
Abbott Laboratories, the leading Chicago-based pharmaceuticals company, became Baker’s client in 1933, and with its sights set on international expansion the client added an international dimension to Baker’s law firm for the first time. Abbott is a client to this day and is the ultimate representation of Baker & McKenzie’s strategy of forging deep relationships with its clients. Other decades-old famous clients include Wrigley and Honeywell.
To wrap up the personal stories of these two men, Baker died on 28 September 1979, the same month and day as McKenzie’s death 17 years earlier.
Today the firm has offices around the world in destinations as diverse as Tijuana, Taipei, Bangkok and Baku, and it is interested in continuing to develop relationships with firms in India. As part of its steady and constant expansion, B&M opened its first foreign office in Venezuela in 1956, followed by Brussels in 1957, Zurich in 1958, and London in 1961. The period since then has been marked by rapid growth, with 17 offices opening in one single decade, including eight in Europe. Baker & McKenzie expanded to the Asia-Pacific region through initial operations in Tokyo and Sydney in 1963 and 1964. It opened an office in Hong Kong in 1974. In 1989 it became one of the first international law firms in Moscow. The Soviet government retained the firm to handle what was the largest privatisation in the nation’s history – Volga Automobile Associated Works – which produced approximately 60% of the cars in the Soviet Union. In the USA, beyond Chicago the firm has offices in New York, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Palo Alto, San Diego, Miami, Dallas and Houston. The latest addition was an office in Abu Dhabi in 2009.
This internationalist approach is reflected in the graduates who are recruited to the London – it always has been. Said one recruit: “We have a lot of trainees from overseas… Egyptians, Russians, Malaysians and people from the Far East. There is real diversity here.”
B&M’s culture in London
“It’s not a hierarchical type of place at all,” insisted one source when we asked about the culture in their office. “There’s a driving sense of being collegiate and everyone willing to help. It makes us stand out and it helps us deliver a joined-up service... you know who to go to for certain bits of advice.”
And as for the approach to work: “We have a strong practical and pragmatic approach. Were very commercial.” Naturally the firm’s international footprint influences things. “Being global is a big part of it,” our sources acknowledged. In addition to the overseas slots on the vac scheme and training contract, after qualification, “you can go away to a foreign office for up to two years if you want.” And in any event, “you always meet people from across the firm and this is good in terms of personal development.” “It’s always exciting to do multi-jurisdictional matters; there’s a lot more meat on them and you get the fun aspect of working with lawyers in other offices…‘What! No disclosure in your jurisdiction?’ The work can feel like playing a game of chess. You find out the issues and the rules in all the different areas, then give practical advice.”
“The word fluency encapsulates what we’ve been trying to do from the beginning. A lot of people call us an American firm because the head office is in Chicago, but from its inception the firm was global, and not just a group of correspondent offices. The fluency part of it is the fact that we’re all joined up.”
The culture in London is one in which “you are not hampered by rigid procedures and you have the flexibility to do what you need. You can rely on being supported rather than constrained.” ‘Fair’ was a word used by one source to describe the place, “though you have to make sure you seize opportunities as no one is going to lead you through things. Part of being good a lawyer is being self-starting.”
We sense that B&M does like its committees. “There’s a drive to make sure that corporate social responsibility issues spread throughout the firm, and not just the pro bono that we’ve done forever. There’s a charitable fund-raising committee, a diversity committee, and pure pro bono legal work as well. They all knit together. We want to broaden out our activities as much as possible.”
“There’s also a women’s committee that deals with issues such as maternity arrangements and that sort of thing. Flexible working is a key issue and necessary to make sure mothers stay and be successful. There are a few people who work using that model and the influence filters down.”
Everyone we spoke to had good things to say about the day-to-day vibe. “I’m happy,” announced one trainee; “it’s actually really nice coming to work every day. People here are obviously intelligent and obviously good lawyers… which probably matters more if you’re a client! You always get feedback (though sometimes you have to chase it) and people are quick to say thank you, particularly if you’ve done rubbish hours. Your contribution is appreciated. That’s brilliant.”
It’s easy to make friends here. “You can go into a kitchen and have a chat. You can drift into each other’s office and chat on a personal and a professional level. The London office feels quite cosy and the trainee intake is such that people can remember your name. If you had 80 trainees in the office they wouldn’t. Here, you feel like an individual with the grad recruitment team and among the trainees people do know each other well.”
At partner level, the relationship sounds good too. “They’re great for ad hoc drinks and partners are always willing to put their hands in their pockets, which is nice. One partner has a scary reputation. One partner has a bad reputation. Some partners are hard-working and keep their head down. Some are more open. They all have different personalities, but in the main people are always happy to chat.”