Latham & Watkins llp | training contract | vacation scheme

• Latham & Watkins

  Latham & Watkins was established in the US in 1934, by Dana Latham and Paul Watkins, with a focus on tax and labour law. Dana Latham also served as the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under the administration of Dwight Eisenhower. The firm gradually diversified its practice to become a full-service, international law firm, which was voted as the ‘Law Firm of the Decade’ by Legal Business in 2007.

  The first office was established in Los Angeles; thereafter offices in Orange County, Washington, San Diego, Chicago and New York followed. International expansion began in 1990 with the opening of an office in London, followed by offices in Brussels, Barcelona, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Rome, Madrid, Moscow, Munich, Paris and Milan.

  The Asian market was covered with an office in Hong Kong in 1994, followed by offices in Tokyo, Shanghai and Singapore and in 2008 the firm opened two offices in the Middle East, in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

  At present, the final count stands at 30 offices with over 2,000 lawyers and a unique ‘one-firm’ culture which has no fixed headquarters with associate lawyers having a representation in the Executive Committee and taking a lead role in recruitment and training activities.

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  Latham & Watkins offers future trainee solicitors a wide range of practice areas to choose from,with around 50 recognised/reputed departments within litigation, corporate, tax, finance and environment groups.

  Performance reviews and appraisals are 360°; supervisors are also appraised for their performance of supervisory duties, training and mentoring is a continuous process and trainees have the opportunity to work in departments handling the Swedish practice (managed from London) and part of the Italian practice in Rome and Milan.

  Another benefit of working at Latham & Watkins is that solicitors can expect to be promoted to ‘counsel’ and ‘partner’ roles after eight years of post-qualification experience, provided performance criteria are achieved.

  The practice is divided into five core departments: Corporate; Finance; Litigation; Tax; and Environment, Land and Resources. Within each of these departments is a long list of services (from A-Z) which identify the transactional, contentious and advisory support provided by the firm. The London office is staffed with 180 lawyers and clients include corporate, governments, investment banks, financial institutions, etc..

  The London practice specialises in the following areas:

  M and A, and Private Equity; Restructuring and Insolvency; Capital Markets; Investment and Capital Funds; Finance: Project, Structured, Banking and Leveraged; EU and Competition; Litigation; International Arbitration, Dispute Resolution and Public Law; Technology and Outsourcing; Intellectual Property; Environmental Law; Real Estate; Employment; Tax.

  The firm hires candidates from all disciplines provided they have earned AAB grades at A-Levels or equivalent education and a 2:1 degree (earned or predicted). Other qualities include strong communication skills, teamwork, commercial awareness and high levels of intellectual and analytical ability.

  The firm inducts about 15 trainee solicitors on a yearly basis for the two-year training contract, which is split into four seats of six-months each.

  Seats are allocated within the corporate, tax, litigation and finance groups and may include a final seat placement in one of the overseas offices. All trainees are paired with a mentor for the full duration of the training period and in each seat they work with a senior lawyer or partner supervising their daily activity.

  Formal training is provided through Latham & Watkins Academies which are held in the first, third and fifth years post qualification. This is in addition to the practice-based internal training sessions and the PSC during the training contract.

  In London, the firm conducts two vacation placement programmes over the Easter and summer holidays. Each programme lasts for two weeks, with interns spending a week each in two different departments.

  Interns can also select practice areas which interest them and get a basic foundation of how these areas work over the course of the two weeks.

  Forty places are on offer each year; the Easter programme is held in April and the summer programme in June-July. The Easter scheme is open to final year non-law students and those who have graduated. The summer scheme is aimed at penultimate law students.

  The firm provides full sponsorship of the GDL/LPC fees and a maintenance grant of £8,000 for each year of study. For trainees who have already completed their studies, all fees are reimbursed in full.

  Interns in the vacation placement schemes receive a weekly payment of £350 or a total of £700 for the two-week programmes.

  Trainee solicitor salaries start at £41,000 and go up to £96,970 on qualification. Benefits provided include a pension scheme, life assurance and medical and dental insurance.

  Applications should be submitted through the online system at apply4law.com/lathamwatkins. Easter vacation placement applications must be submitted by 31st December, for the summer scheme by 31st January and for training contracts by 31st July.

  Selected candidates will be invited to attend a half day assessment day, comprised of three 30-minute interviews, each conducted by a partner and an associate. There is also a presentation on Latham and what you can expect during the training contract, followed by lunch with current trainees.

  All correspondence relating to graduate recruitment should be addresses to Graduate Recruitment at london.trainees[at]lw.com or by telephone at 0207 710 1000.

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