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WHO WE ARE. ................. Page 3
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WHAT WE DO................... Page 7
WHY TRAIN WITH US....
Page 17
WHAT TO DO NEXT.......
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Thank you for your interest in
Latham & Watkins. We very much
hope that you find the information on
the following pages useful and that
you will consider starting your legal
career with us here in London.
We believe Latham is different from
other law firms. We are one of the
few law firms with a truly global
platform, with strength not only
across North America but also in
Europe, the Middle East and Asia,
including in the world’s major financial
centres. What we have in London is
a fully committed and growing fullservice platform, where we provide
all of the specialist knowledge and
expertise that our clients need.
We
can handle international cross-border
transactions without the need to
outsource any of the work, and that’s
what we do, every day of the week.
In London we offer trainees the
opportunity to work in an office
where, despite our considerable
size, our teams are smaller than
those you will encounter in many
of the large English law firms. You
really will get to contribute and you
will be treated as an important team
member from day one.
In many ways, we offer you the best
of both worlds: the opportunity to
handle transactions of a profile and
complexity that equals those being
carried out at any other law firm, in
an environment where you can stand
out from the crowd and be valued as
an individual.
This office is at an exciting point
in its history, well-established and
respected in the UK market, but
still with ambitious growth plans.
The firm’s Executive Committee
is committed to expanding the
firm, including the London office
in a way that meets the needs of
the leading financial institutions
and multinational corporations
that we serve, and that means
we need to continue to grow in
London. Our London office already
has 220 lawyers and offers great
opportunities for talented lawyers
to make their mark here.
Finally, a few words on what really
makes Latham different, and that’s
our “one firm” culture.
This firm is
managed by consensus, across the
board. Almost all of the committees
responsible for running our business
are staffed by associates as well
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as partners, with a strong and genuine
focus on making sure that everyone
feels like stakeholders in the business.
Our Associates Committee, about which
you will find more details on page 5,
is unique, bringing together lawyers of
all levels from each of our 31 offices
to make decisions that really matter,
including the selection of new partners.
The following information is intended to
give you a sense of what life is like as
a trainee and a lawyer here at Latham.
We encourage you to contact us with
any questions, and look forward to
hearing from you.
NICK CLINE
London Office Managing Partner
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Latham & Watkins is one of
the largest global law firms,
practising in 31 offices worldwide.
We have no head office and
no dominant practice. We have
built internationally recognised
practices across a wide spectrum of
transactional, contentious, corporate
and regulatory areas.
Latham is governed by an open,
inclusive and consensus-driven
management style. Our Executive
Committee members, practice
leaders and global committee chairs
are based across the US, Europe,
the Middle East and Asia, and our
“one firm” culture means that firm
decisions are made by consensus,
taking into consideration a broad
range of opinions.
With our geographic and practice
area diversity we are genuinely
global and our lawyers frequently
work across offices to provide
clients with the best international
expertise. Very few firms can match
our worldwide resources or our truly
international outlook.
In London, we are a full-service
operation with experts in all of the
firm’s core practice areas.
We now
have more than 220 lawyers, and
that number is growing all the time.
We represent investment banks,
financial institutions, private equity
houses, corporates, governments
and other organisations, and we
handle some of the largest and most
complex cross-border deals and
cases in the London market.
OUR LONDON OFFICE
LEADING PRACTICES
Our London practice and our English
law platform are now as large and
full service as many of the wellestablished UK firms, but with the
added advantage of a powerful
international network. Lawyers in
our London office handle work all
over the world, alongside each of
our other offices. The firm has its
origins in America and that is a huge
advantage to us, but our practice is
now genuinely global, which means
we don’t typically work around US
hours in London or rely on our offices
in the US to provide our work.
International trade law
Banking & leveraged finance
Capital markets
Employment & incentive
Environmental law
EU & antitrust
Intellectual property
International arbitration
International dispute resolution
Investment funds
Litigation
Mergers & acquisitions
Private equity
Project finance
Real estate
Restructuring & insolvency
Structured finance
Tax
Technology transactions
& outsourcing
Venture capital
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WHO WE ARE
We recruit only the highest calibre
candidates, both in terms of
academics and personality. That’s
because we pride ourselves on
our collegiate atmosphere and
our collaborative style, which we
work hard to maintain. Latham is
made up of people from a variety
of backgrounds with a diversity of
opinions but we all value originality
and creative thinking, and we all put
a strong emphasis on client service,
entrepreneurship and teamwork.
Our associates are involved in
firm management through their
participation on our Associates,
Recruitment, Diversity and Pro Bono
Committees, amongst others. We
look for candidates who are leaders
and will make a positive contribution
to the firm as a whole – we also
require our lawyers to be able
to apply the law in a commercial
context and take charge on client
matters by showing initiative early
on in their careers.
We expect our
trainees to be given meaningful
responsibility on client matters from
the outset.
MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD
The Associates Committee
We believe our Associates
Committee is unique, and illustrates
much of what is special about our
firm. It brings together lawyers
of all levels of seniority, including
partners, from almost every one of
our offices, and those individuals
oversee all lawyer reviews,
progression and welfare at the firm.
If any associate finds themselves
with an issue in their office, it is
usually their Associates Committee
representative that they are
encouraged to speak to first.
The review process for lawyers at
Latham is different to many firms,
in that all the individuals who have
supervised another lawyer write a
review on that person’s performance.
It then falls to the Associates
Committee to consider all of those
reviews twice a year, and a member
of the Committee will provide
feedback to the lawyer concerned
about how they are doing.
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This review process feeds in to
partner progression decisions, and
in their seventh and eighth year
associates are told about their
partnership prospects by members
of the Associates Committee. New
partner decisions are made by
the Committee in an extremely
transparent process, and not just by
the partners that work closely with
the candidates.
It may seem counter-intuitive that
an associate in Munich can have
meaningful input on the career
prospects of a partnership candidate
in Tokyo, but promoting partners
on the basis of their talents and
achievements and not because
they have worked for a particular
partner in their local office is very
important to us and has been since
the firm’s inception.
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We advised ABN AMRO
(Nederland) NV on the sale
of its prime funds solutions
business to Credit Suisse.
We advised Highbridge
Mezzanine Partners, KKR
Asset Management and
AlpInvest Partners as
subordinated lenders in
connection with KKR’s
£955 million acquisition of
Pets at Home.
We advised the facility
agent and mandated lead
arrangers in a £1.98 billion
senior secured credit facility
for Virgin Media, the largest
sterling leveraged loan
syndication of the past
two years.
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We advised a consortium
of banks on the
€3.6 billion debt financing
for Spartan Capital Holdings’
acquisition of Polish
mobile telephone operator
Polkomtel. It is the largest
leveraged buyout financing
in Europe since 2008.
. WHAT WE DO
DEALS & CASES
Our London office works on some
of the biggest transactions and
disputes globally, regularly advising
many of the world’s leading
companies and financial institutions.
Below are a few examples of recent
work handled by lawyers in London.
FAST MOVERS
We staff deals differently at Latham.
We like to keep things lean, using
small teams of highly capable
lawyers to deliver the best services
to our clients. From early on in
We represented ArcelorMittal
in the Prestressing Steel cartel
investigation by the European
Commission and the related
court proceedings. After nine
years of investigation, the
Commission in April 2011
dramatically reduced the fine
imposed on our client from
€ 276 million to € 45.7 million.
their careers, Latham lawyers are
encouraged to take responsibility
and become heavily involved
in transactions. There is plenty
of supervision and support, but
everyone is encouraged to work
above their class-year level, so
they enjoy exposure to issues that
might be handled by more senior
people elsewhere.
getting a good balance of work
and opportunities to progress.
On
most deals you’ll work closely with
an associate or a partner. You’ll be
expected to step up to the mark, and
encouraged to take responsibility,
but you will always get help if you
need it.
MOVE THINGS FORWARD
At Latham, it is down to the
partners and senior associates in
each department to ensure the
junior associates and trainees are
We advised Vedanta
Resources plc on its
US$10 billion acquisition
of up to 60% of Cairn India
Limited, an Indian natural
resources company, from
Cairn Energy PLC. This
was the largest deal on the
London Stock Exchange
in 2011.
We advised Barclays
Capital in connection with
the US$2.4 billion financing
for Phillips-Van Heusen’s
acquisition of the Tommy
Hilfiger global business.
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We represented Ukraine in
an ICSID arbitration brought
by GEA AG, a German
petrochemicals company.
GEA claimed approximately
US$70 million.
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MATHEW EVANS
Law
King’s College London
July 2006
August 2006
Started the Training Contract
Corporate (Capital Markets) seat
March 2008
Litigation seat
September 2008
Secondment to the Brussels
office. Anti-Trust seat
March 2009
Project Finance seat
September 2009
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Started the LPC at BPP
September 2007
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Interviewed and was offered a
Training Contract starting in 2007
September 2006
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Applied for a Training Contract
Qualified into Litigation
. WHAT WE DO
MOVE THINGS FORWARD
Latham has world-leading practices
in a wide range of areas, and
is particularly well-known in
transactional, litigation, corporate
and regulatory work. If you join the
firm you’ll be exposed to complex
and groundbreaking work on a daily
basis, as our involvement in the
Madoff litigation demonstrates.
litigation team who has been involved
with the case since qualifying in 2009.
As the only UK-based associate on
the team, he has been working with
two other Latham offices and various
local counsel in other jurisdictions to
investigate the claims made against
our clients and uncover the facts
relating to unravelling the fraud.
In 2009, the American financier
and non-executive chairman of
the Nasdaq stock market, Bernard
Madoff, pleaded guilty in a US court
to defrauding thousands of investors
of billions of dollars. The amount
missing from client accounts,
including fabricated gains, was
almost US$65bn.
Matt says: “A lot of my work has
involved client interviews and
frequent international travel,
particularly to Central and Eastern
Europe, and coordinating the overall
defence strategy. The team in London
is comprised of two partners and
myself, together with a partner and
an associate in Frankfurt, and
a partner, a counsel and three
associates in New York.”
A team of Latham attorneys spread
across our New York, London and
Frankfurt offices is currently working
for a group of clients connected
with institutions that have had
claims made against them by
former Madoff investors.
Our clients
find themselves facing allegations
relating to Madoff’s fraudulent
investment operation.
Matthew Evans is a two-year
qualified associate in our London
He adds, “We are trying to deflect
a series of claims that have been
made in various forums, and work
out exactly what happened. I’ve been
given a great level of responsibility,
and have had frequent client contact.
This has given me the chance to
develop skills that I don’t think I would
be able to develop elsewhere at this
stage of my career.”
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Matt says he always wanted to
practise in litigation, and that he
chose the Latham training contract
because it offered the opportunity
for real “hands-on” experience on
international cases. “You actually
develop a really close rapport with
the colleagues that you work with in
other offices,” he says, “so you don’t
ever feel detached.
We have lots
of team calls and get together for
client meetings, so we have a close
working relationship even though
we spend much of our time working
in offices that are thousands of
miles apart.”
MATHEW EVANS
Trainee 2007–2009
. NICK DAVIES
English and French Law
King’s College London and Universite Pantheon – Sorbonne
December 2004
Applied for a summer vacation
scheme
August 2005
Attended the summer vacation
scheme
September 2005
Offered a Training Contract starting
in September 2007
September 2006
Started the LPC at The College
of Law
September 2007
Started the Training Contract
Corporate (M&A) seat
March 2008
Project Finance seat
September 2008
Secondment to the Moscow
office. Corporate seat
March 2009
Litigation (Anti-Trust) seat
September 2009
Qualified into Corporate
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. WHAT WE DO
MOVE ON UP
At Latham we take career
development very seriously, and
from your first day here we’ll work
in partnership with you to help you
realise your ambitions and take your
career in the direction you choose.
Nick did a vacation scheme with us
in 2005, and is now an associate in
our corporate team. Here’s his story:
“I did the Latham vacation scheme
when I was in my third year of a
four-year degree course in English
law and French law. I applied in
December 2004, and was accepted
to attend the scheme beginning in
August 2005. By that time I’d already
completed a similar scheme at one
of the big English law firms, and
what stood out for me was just how
different the two firms were.
Latham
had a more open culture without
all the hierarchy that you get at the
traditional English firms, and the
opportunity to be part of a smaller
trainee intake meant I would get
more one-on-one attention. It all felt
much more personalised and
hands-on.
During the second week of the
vacation scheme you can interview
for the training contract, and that
was quite informal. Of course, it’s
hugely competitive but the system is
much more human compared with
all the ‘grillings’ they put you through
at other firms.
Out of all the training
contract offers I received, the offer
from Latham was the most exciting
because it was the chance to be part
of a growing office in a firm with a
global reputation. I joined Latham as
a trainee in September 2007.
My first seat was in the corporate
department, where I gained a lot
of experience on headline-making
deals, and then my second one was
in project finance, in which I really
enjoyed playing a key part in huge
infrastructure projects and had the
opportunity of travelling to Qatar
to close a deal. For my third seat I
spent six months in Moscow in the
depths of winter, which I loved — it
was a great opportunity to get to
know another office and make new
friends and gave me a valuable
insight into the legal and business
challenges in emerging markets.
My final seat was in antitrust, which
I chose because I thought it would
be useful to get a grounding in
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competition law, having known
early on that I wanted to qualify
into corporate.
It’s a key moment when you become
qualified to practise law.
Then you
are in your own office and you feel
like you’ve arrived. That can be
daunting, especially when you’re in
direct contact with clients, working
with them to make important
investment decisions, but the training
you get prepares you for that. You
know what you should do in almost
all situations and every partner
and associate has an open door
and is approachable and willing to
exchange ideas and offer support.”
NICK DAVIES
Trainee 2007–2009
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KEEP ON MOVING
Qualified lawyers continue to
receive access to comprehensive
and ongoing training at the firm.
We provide regular seminars and
training sessions for all our trainees
and lawyers using both internal
resources and external providers.
We run a series of Latham & Watkins
Academies that help to further our
lawyers’ legal and personal skills and
enhance their understanding of the
firm from a global perspective. Held
for all of our first year, third year and
fifth year associates, the Academies
bring together entire peer groups
from across all of the firm’s offices,
so that associates get to meet their
colleagues from around the business
and learn with each other.
First Year Academy
The First Year Academy combines
formal training programmes on
topics such as the “Anatomy of a
Lawsuit” and the “Critical skills for
practicing as a lawyer” with social
activities that enable the associates
to get to know their peers from
around the firm.
Third Year Academy
This programme offers a mix of
presentations and workshops
with an emphasis on supervision,
client interaction and business
development. By the end of the
academy, the associates have a
clear understanding of how to make
a successful transition from being a
junior to a mid-level associate.
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It also allows our associates to
continue to build relationships with
their peers across the Latham network.
Fifth Year Academy
This final Academy is a training
programme focused on the transition
from mid-level to senior associate.
Topics include courses on partnership
standards, business development,
firm finances, mentoring and public
speaking, as well as professional
growth and development opportunities.
. WHAT WE DO
MAKE IT COUNT: SERIOUS ABOUT COMMUNITY
Each of our offices is fully immersed
in its local community, and pro
bono work is an important part
of what we do. The firm is one of
the largest providers of free legal
services in the world. In 2010, with
almost 1,900 attorneys, paralegals,
summer associates, trainees and
professional staff in 27 offices
across 13 countries participating
in our program, Latham provided
almost 200,000 hours of free legal
services valued at approximately
US$91 million, including
approximately 6,000 hours of free
legal advice provided out of the
London office.
We aim to use our expertise and
resources locally, nationally and
globally to support the legal needs
of disadvantaged individuals and the
not-for-profit organisations that work
with them. We treat pro bono work
in the same way as fee-paying client
work: pro bono hours contribute
to annual target hours for lawyers;
work is reviewed and supervised in
the same way; and pro bono is used
as part of the associate evaluation
and bonus system.
In London we act for charities, notfor-profits and community projects.
Some of the organisations we
work closely with include Human
Rights Watch, an independent body
focused on defending and protecting
human rights internationally,
and Virtue Foundation, which
provides humanitarian assistance
through healthcare, education and
empowerment initiatives.
In 2010 we worked for Ashoka,
an organisation that invests in
social entrepreneurs to help them
transform communities, on a number
of matters, including company and
charity law issues affecting its UK
subsidiary and various employment
and tax issues.
We also advised the
BLUE Marine Foundation, which
promotes marine conservation, on
its organisational structure and on
achieving charitable status in
the UK.
All of our London associates are
encouraged to participate in more
than 60 hours of pro bono work a
year, and are invited to bring in their
own pro bono clients to the firm.
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Diversity
Our lawyers and staff around the
world are comprised of a rich mixture
of men and women of different
races, ethnic backgrounds, cultures,
sexual orientations and primary
languages. We believe the firm is
strengthened enormously by this, and
our commitment to diversity and equal
opportunities allows Latham to recruit
and retain the best lawyers across
the globe. We continue to make a
concerted effort to build on our firm
culture and to value individuality and
differences among our employees.
Sustainability
Latham’s SMART (Sustainable
Measures and Recycling Tactics)
initiative implements the firm’s global
sustainability policy.
We believe
everyone in the firm can play a
daily part in reducing our impact
on the environment, conserving
natural resources and managing
our firm in a more sustainable way.
Examples include educating our
people about ways we can reduce
paper consumption, conserve natural
resources, and operate in a more
sustainable and cost-effective manner.
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WHY TRAIN WITH US
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OUR VACATION SCHEME
The London office of Latham offers
two-week placement schemes twice
a year, one over Easter and one
during the summer, for candidates
who are considering an application
for a training contract at the firm.
As we recruit predominately from our
vacation schemes, we encourage
candidates to apply for those instead
of applying directly for a training
contract. For the Easter scheme we
invite applications from candidates
who are in their final year, who
have graduated, or who are doing
their GDL or LPC studies, while
the summer scheme is primarily
aimed at law undergraduates in their
penultimate year of study.
Both vacation schemes are exactly
the same in terms of content, and
aim to introduce you to our work and
our culture by providing plenty of
opportunities to meet and socialise
with the people who work at Latham.
If you choose to participate in one of
our vacation schemes, you will spend
time in two of our departments; a
week in each. Before you arrive you’ll
be invited to tell us your preferences
in terms of practice areas, and we’ll
do our best to place you in a seat that
you request. During each seat, you’ll
share an office with a supervisor who
is a qualified lawyer, and you will be
treated like any other Latham trainee.
During the course of the two-week
period, candidates are asked to
produce two pieces of written work
and deliver a short presentation to
a group of their peers about one
of the firm’s practice areas.
Other
members of the office also deliver
presentations, so that you will be
immersed in the firm and gain a
thorough view of how we work.
Candidates are all assigned a mentor
before the scheme starts, usually
a current trainee, and that mentor
will get in touch with you before
you arrive and will be a friendly
face to make you feel comfortable
throughout your time with us.
While you are here you will enjoy
plenty of social events designed to
show you the relaxed and open side
of Latham, and give you access to
lawyers and trainees who can answer
your questions. You will then be
asked to decide whether you would
like to apply for a training contract
with us, and if so, you will undertake
an interview during the second week.
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For the last two years we have had a
100 per cent acceptance rate: all of
the candidates that have attended our
vacation scheme and been offered
training contracts have accepted
them. In 2011 Legal Week named us
the Best Vacation Scheme Provider,
as voted for by students.
.
WHY TRAIN WITH US
MAKE AN IMPRESSION
The Latham vacation scheme is
all about giving you a chance to
get to know us better, so that you
can decide whether we’re the
right firm for you. We can normally
accommodate your choice of seats
to maximise the benefit you get from
your time with us, and we’ll introduce
you to lots of members of our team,
as Yasmina explains:
“I joined the vacation scheme at
Latham in Easter 2011, and I’m
currently in my final year of a PhD
in biomedical engineering. I was
attracted to the firm because I know
two people that work there, in New
York and Hamburg, and they were
full of enthusiasm and spoke much
more positively about their jobs than
friends I have at other firms.
I asked to do my first week in the
intellectual property group within
the corporate department, and my
second in antitrust litigation, and
I was able to do both. Most of my
time was spent doing legal research
alongside my supervisor, drafting a
couple of documents, and redrafting
contracts.
I found it all interesting
and challenging.
The scheme really acted as
confirmation for me of the
perception I had about Latham.
I witnessed firsthand the way the
firm is managed, and saw that the
associates are genuinely involved in
decisions. When I was interviewed
for a training contract in the second
week, both associates and partners
were there, and it felt like everyone
had a say in who would join the firm,
which I liked. It was very different
to the top-down approach I’d
seen elsewhere.
The interview was relaxed and
informal, and I actually enjoyed it.
It was more like a conversation,
reviewing what I had done and
what conclusions I had drawn from
the programme.
The interview was
on the Friday and I found out on
Monday that I’d been accepted. I
start my training contract at Latham
in August 2013.
One of the things that stood out for
me about the scheme was how well
organised the social programme
was. We did lots of things, including
a bowling evening, where we got to
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meet a range of people from across
the firm.
We also had one-to-one
lunches with our supervisors and
mentors, which I found really useful.
I felt I really got a chance to have a
good chat and find out what the firm
was like.”
YASMINA BORHANI
Easter vacation scheme 2011
. MAKING YOUR MIND UP
As soon as you accept the offer of
a training contract at Latham, you
will be assigned a mentor who will
work closely with you in the run-up to
your arrival at the firm. That mentor
will be a trainee and will act as a
point of contact for you in the years
before you start, and they will be
able to answer your questions and
help you familiarise yourself with the
firm. You will also have up to three
opportunities to meet your mentor
face-to-face before you begin
your training.
We host two social events a year
for our future joiners, and these are
also attended by current trainees,
supervisors and the Recruitment
Committee members. These events
are designed to be informal gettogethers that allow future trainees
and current trainees to get to know
each other, so as to ease your
transition into the firm and help you
get to know people here before
you arrive.
The Training Contract
Latham hires 15 to 20 trainees every
August and we currently have a total
of 28 trainees at the firm.
The training contract consists of
four six-month seats, including
mandatory corporate, finance and
litigation seats.
There is also an
opportunity to spend six months in
one of our overseas offices such as
Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, Paris
or Moscow. So far, we have been
able to offer an international seat
to every trainee that has requested
one. Language lessons are also
available for some overseas seats.
Trainees share an office with their
supervisor in each seat and are
also assigned a mentor as an extra
means of support.
They are also
encouraged to communicate with
their supervisor and our Recruiting
Committee to make sure their career
is following the path that they wish
to pursue.
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As far as possible, training is bespoke
and tailored to your individual
preferences. It’s a two-way process,
and how it develops is the result of
ongoing dialogue and consultation.
In addition to learning ‘on the job’
there is a formal training programme
providing trainees with the
fundamentals of the group they are
joining on rotation, as well as more
specific skills such as drafting
and networking.
You are given plenty of responsibility
but the Latham culture means you’ll
never feel like you’re out on your
own, because you can always talk
to an associate or a partner to get
any support you need. Above all, our
trainees are treated as members of
the team who are able to make a
meaningful contribution.
This means
you get very good exposure to client
work as well as building relationships
with many individuals, at all levels of
seniority, around the firm.
. WHY TRAIN WITH US
MIXING
At Latham, we have a culture of hard
work, commitment and quality, but
we don’t believe that doing the very
best for our clients means we can’t
have fun in the process. The firm is
a relaxed place to practise law and
the environment is non-hierarchical,
friendly and supportive.
We believe our social programme
is an important part of who we are.
The London office has two parties
a year, one during the summer and
one at Christmas, to which everyone
is invited. We also have a quarterly
LO Bar event, when the firm puts
money behind the bar at a local
venue and everyone is invited to
come along, to mix with people from
other departments and get to know
each other.
On a healthier note, the firm runs
weekly evening yoga classes in the
office that are subsidised and open
to all. In addition, Latham offices
participate every year in a firmwide
inter-office competition called the
Spring Challenge, when the offices
compete to do the most exercise
during a set period.
Everyone is
invited to log their participation,
whether it’s walking to the office,
riding a bike or running a marathon,
and then totals are calculated,
taking into account different office
sizes, after which a winning office
is announced. During the Spring
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Challenge there are lots of parallel
events and other initiatives going
on, with the firm making smoothies
and healthy breakfasts available,
for example, and running clubs
taking place.
All year round there are plenty of
opportunities to get involved in team
sports with your colleagues, with
our cricket and football teams being
particularly popular.
. THEO KALIC
Law with International Relations
Sussex University
December 2007
August 2008
Started the LPC at The College
of Law
September 2009
Started the Training Contract
Finance seat
March 2010
Corporate (M&A) seat
September 2010
Secondment to Hong Kong office.
Finance and Corporate seat
March 2011
Finance seat
September 2011
|
Offered a Training Contract starting
in September 2009
September 2008
22
Attended the summer vacation
scheme
September 2008
|
Applied for a summer vacation
scheme
Qualified into Capital Markets
. WHY TRAIN WITH US
MAKE IT HAPPEN
The Latham corporate practice is
one of the best in the world, adept at
handling complex cross-border deals
on a daily basis. As a trainee, you’ll
be fully involved in headline-grabbing
transactions from the start. The trainees
were an integral part of our team when
we advised on the high-profile sale of
Harrods, for example:
At the end of 2009, London corporate
partner Nick Cline was contacted by the
Qatar Investment Authority, which was
interested in acquiring London’s iconic
luxury department store the Harrods
Group from Mohammed Al Fayed. The
deal called for experts in benefits and
compensation, intellectual property,
real estate and tax as well as mergers
and acquisitions, and Nick assembled
a team of lawyers across our London,
Hamburg, Paris and Silicon Valley
offices to advise the client.
In March 2010, Theo Kalic joined
the corporate department in London,
starting out on the second seat of his
training contract having already spent
six months in the restructuring group.
He found himself immediately in the
thick of the Harrods deal, which was set
to close in May.
He was part of a lean
core corporate team: alongside Nick
there was a sixth year associate, Farah
O’Brien, who took the lead role below
Nick running the deal. There was
also a mid-level associate, Robbie
McLaren, a junior associate, Nick
Davies, and Theo.
Theo says: “My responsibilities were
supporting the junior lawyers with
the signing of the transaction and
everything leading up to it – from
assisting with principal transaction
documents, drafting ancillary
transaction documents and performing
diligence. The diligence process was
fascinating – we were working with
the employment department, tax and
IP to get an in-depth knowledge of
Harrods and this required us to become
experts in every aspect of the business
and make legal and commercial
assessments on everything we saw.”
He rose to the challenge.
Farah says:
“The trainees were a vital part of the
transaction team, we really couldn’t
have done it without them. They were
involved in most aspects of the deal,
and Theo also attended the signing
and closing meeting in London, which
involved checking original documents
and was a very important task. I think
the deal demonstrates how Latham
trainees are expected to step up and
become fully involved in all aspects of
transactions, both having autonomy
and responsibility for their own specific
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tasks, and supporting more senior
members of the deal team.”
Theo, who went on to complete seats
in Hong Kong and banking, says: “The
Harrods deal was great, because I was
thrust right into the middle of it and the
learning curve was pretty steep.
I got
the thrill of learning new things for the
first time, and whilst I was expected
to know what I was doing, when I was
unsure everyone took the time out to
teach and explain. Being part of such a
friendly and close-knit team we helped
each other through the highs and
lows of the deal and had a great time
celebrating our client’s success”.
Nick Cline, who is now managing
partner of the London office, adds:
“The Harrods deal was a large, high
profile and complex M&A deal that
was extremely challenging in many
regards. But it was a lot of fun, and
I would say we had a very strong
team made up of partners, associates
and trainees, and everybody had
a substantive role.
The trainees, in
particular, had a lot of responsibility
for a significant amount of document
review and production, and they made
a really valuable contribution.”
THEO KALIC
Trainee 2009–2011
. SINTHU SIVAKUMARAN
Law
London School of Economics
December 2005
August 2006
Started the LPC at BPP
September 2008
Started the Training Contract
Project Finance seat
March 2009
Tax seat
September 2009
Corporate (M&A) seat
March 2010
Litigation seat
September 2010
|
Offered a Training Contract starting
in September 2008
September 2007
24
Attended the summer vacation
scheme
September 2006
|
Applied for a summer vacation
scheme
Qualified into Tax
. WHY TRAIN WITH US
MAKE EVERY SEAT COUNT
Right from the outset, the
Recruitment Committee and your
mentors at Latham will work to help
develop your career along the lines
that best suit you. You will usually
get to choose all four seats on your
training contract, so you can get a
taste of the wide array of work the
firm handles. Here, Sinthu gives
an idea of what a seat in project
finance involves:
similar to a corporate seat, with lots
of negotiation of the commercial
considerations. During my seat
I worked primarily on the Papua
New Guinea Liquefied Natural Gas
project, as part of the team advising
six export credit agencies and 17
commercial banks on the US$14bn
financing, which was described by
Infrastructure Journal as “the largest
project finance transaction ever”.
“I did the vacation scheme at Latham
and joined as a trainee in 2008.
The
second seat of my training contract
was project finance, and now I am
a first year associate in the tax
department. You might think that
project finance has nothing to do
with tax, but the general transaction
management skills and insights I
gained in that seat come in useful all
the time.
At first I had to familiarise myself
with the project by reviewing
the initial documentation. I then
worked with another trainee to help
manage the multiple workstreams
by updating task lists, organising
calls with our colleagues in other
offices (including New York and
Singapore) and collating large
amounts of documents.
I also
had the opportunity to draft some
provisions for the key transaction
documentation. In addition I
undertook many research tasks,
including analysing and comparing
specific provisions in precedent
deals, to aid negotiations of similar
provisions in our deal.
Project finance deals don’t close
quickly, and it is not unusual for
the projects the firm is involved in
to last two or more years. From
the outset you need to understand
the mechanics of many complex
documents, and from then on it is
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I learnt a lot about working in a
multi-office legal team and managing
my time effectively.
It was great
to feel I was really contributing,
because I knew that everything I did
was being used by other members
of the team. The deal was being led
by London partner Bill Voge, and he
always recognised the contribution
of the trainees on the deal. At one
point he even invited all of us,
including trainees, spouses and
children, to his house for dinner.
I
feel lucky to have experienced the
extraordinary teamwork dynamic of
the project finance group on such a
high-profile deal.”
SINTHU SIVAKUMARAN
Trainee 2008–2010
. EMMA PERKINS
English Literature
Edinburgh University
December 2006
August 2007
Started the GDL at BPP
September 2008
Started the LPC at BPP
September 2009
Started the Training Contract
Employement seat
March 2010
Corporate (M&A) seat
September 2010
Secondment to Hong Kong office.
Finance and Corporate seat
March 2011
Litigation seat
September 2011
|
Offered a Training Contract starting
in September 2009
September 2007
26
Attended the summer vacation
scheme
September 2007
|
Applied for a summer vacation
scheme
Qualified into Employment
. WHY TRAIN WITH US
MOVE CONTINENT
Latham is an international firm with
no head office, so we all interact on
a daily basis with our colleagues
around the world. To help you build
relationships and to foster that
integration from the outset, trainees
are able to do a seat abroad if they
want to. Here, Emma explains what
it was like to spend six months in
Hong Kong:
“I knew early on that I wanted to
do one of my seats in Hong Kong,
and after I requested it the firm was
able to arrange this for my third
seat. Latham put me up in a great
flat for six months and arranged all
my travel.
Hong Kong is an exciting
place to work and a brilliant place
to be a trainee, as there are lots
of trainees there from other firms,
and it’s a good hub for travel; I took
23 flights in six months, exploring
Southeast Asia.
The work was a mix of corporate
and finance, with a lot of capital
markets. I got involved on a couple
of IPOs, some bank financings and
some leveraged finance. It’s a small
team out there so I was able to work
across departments and get to know
everyone.
I liked the flexibility and
the autonomy I had, as well as being
able to get involved in whatever work
I wanted to put myself forward for.
I spent six months being treated like
an associate and managing my own
workload – on one deal it was just
me and the partner working together,
which gave me fantastic exposure
to how transactions work. It was a
great opportunity to see another
office and a new culture, and to
work alongside Latham colleagues
in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as
people from Silicon Valley and New
York who were working in the region.
It was really good to experience
the sheer scale of the firm’s capital
markets practice globally, and to see
how it’s growing in Asia. Plus I really
enjoyed building up my network of
contacts across the firm as a whole,
and making a lot of
new friends.
The firm looked after me really well,
and I learnt a huge amount.
The flat
I was in had floor-to-ceiling windows
and fantastic views, and it was in a
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building with a lot of other trainees
from other firms. Both the HR team
and the admin team made sure
everything ran really smoothly, so it
really was a brilliant experience.
I’d definitely recommend it.”
EMMA PERKINS
Trainee 2009–2011
. G
D
R
P E O P L E
W
L
I N V E S T
I
Q
V
H
E
U
R
A
L
. D
WHAT TO DO NEXT
. MAKE YOUR MARK
We are looking for candidates with a
strong academic background, which
means we expect a minimum 2:1
degree and grades of at least AAB
at A-level or equivalent. We look for
excellent communication skills and
a consistent record of personal and/
or professional achievement. And
above all, people do well at Latham
if they have an entrepreneurial spirit,
take the initiative, and aren’t afraid to
put their hands up. If you’re proactive
about your career, expect to work
hard and want to stand out from the
crowd, please get in touch.
We carefully select all our trainees
because we hope that you will play
a vital role in the future growth of
the firm.
We think it’s important to
establish a reciprocal and long-term
relationship straight away, focused
on developing your potential and
ensuring we offer you a successful
and prosperous career at Latham.
Our Recruitment Committee
The committee in charge of
recruitment into our London office
is made up of a mix of partners
and associates, plus our
Graduate Recruitment Coordinator
Alex Mitchell, Trainee Coordinator
Tracy Davidson and members of
the lateral attorney recruiting team.
The committee members have a
say in the recruitment strategy and
will be the people that you meet
at interviews, while they also play
major roles in the vacation scheme
and in the training contract.
The committee meets once a month
and includes a trainee representative,
who attends meetings as the voice
of the trainees to raise any issues or
concerns they may have.
GET THINGS MOVING
To apply for a training contract or a
place on one of our vacation schemes,
please go online to the careers
section of the London office page of
our website at www.lw.com, where
you can complete an application
form. We encourage anyone who is
interested in pursuing their career
at Latham to apply for a place on
one of the vacation schemes in the
first instance, as the majority of our
training contracts will go to people
who have participated in a vacation
scheme at Latham.
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We recruit about 20 trainees a year,
and accept around 20 students on
to each of our two vacation schemes
annually. We pay £350 per week
vacation scheme remuneration.
To join our Easter vacation scheme,
you need to apply online between 1
October and 31 December, while to
join the summer scheme you need
to apply by 31 January.
The deadline
for applications for training contracts
is 31 July.
The Selection Process
Applicants for our vacation scheme
will be invited to attend a halfday assessment during which
they will meet a mix of partners
and associates and complete
two 30-minute interviews. Those
interviews are conducted by either
a partner and an associate or two
associates, with the first one being
based on the application form and
awareness of Latham & Watkins,
and the second focused on
commercial awareness.
If you attend the assessment day
you’ll have an opportunity to get
to know us, and we’ll get to know
you better. There’s a presentation
.
WHAT TO DO NEXT
about the firm given by a partner,
an associate and a trainee, and
then lunch with the trainees where
you’ll be able to ask questions and
find out what it’s really like to be a
trainee at Latham.
If you attend a vacation scheme and
decide that you wish to apply for a
training contract with us, you will
be asked to complete one further
interview during the second week of
the scheme. We will then also take
into consideration your performance
during the scheme, including your
written work and presentation.
We see the vacation scheme as a
great chance to see you in action,
and vice versa.
Applicants for our training contracts
who do not attend the vacation
scheme are asked to attend a
similar half-day assessment,
and complete three 30-minute
interviews, covering the application
form, Latham awareness, and
commercial awareness. They then
give a presentation and lunch with
the trainees.
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. PREPARATION
EDUCATION
LAW GRADUATES
1 YEAR
Graduate from university
Penultimate year law students
Summer Vacation Scheme (2 weeks)
Apply early as we recruit on a
rolling basis!
NON-LAW GRADUATES
Students in their final year and those
who have graduated or are doing the
GDL or LPC
Easter Vacation Scheme (2 weeks)
Apply from 1 October to 31 December
Interview from December to January
Legal Practice Course (LPC)
Apply to law school of
your choice
Payment of LPC fees and
maintenance grant of £8,000
| Apply for a training contract by 31 July |
Apply from 1 October to 31 January
Interview from December to February
2 YEARS
1 YEAR
Graduate Diploma in Law
(GDL)
Apply to law school of your
choice. The course runs
for a year and is designed to
prepare you for the LPC
2 YEARS
Legal Practice Course (LPC)
Apply to law school of
your choice
Payment of LPC fees and
maintenance grant of £8,000
Payment of GDL fees and
maintenance grant of £8,000
Apply early as we recruit on a
rolling basis!
We host two social events each year for our future joiners, to ease your
transition to the firm and help you get to know others before you arrive.
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. YOUR CAREER PATH AT LATHAM & WATKINS
THE TRAINING CONTRACT
ASSOCIATE
PARTNER
2 YEARS
Four seats of six months
Three mandortory seats in;
Corporate, Finance and Litigation
Third or fourth seat opportunity
to be seconded to one of our
international offices
Be considered for partnership in
your 7th year
Newly qualified
Junior associate
1–3 YEARS
Mid-level associate
4–6 YEARS
Senior associate
7–8 YEARS
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. A WISE MOVE
If you choose to train at Latham & Watkins, we offer you the following salary and benefits.
Payment of GDL and
LPC fees, including
full repayment if you
have completed
your studies.
A maintenance grant
of £8,000 for each law
school year.
A qualification salary of
no less than £96,970.
A bonus of £500 if you
achieve a distinction
for your LPC.
A starting salary of no
less than £42,000.
A benefits package
that includes life
assurance, medical
and dental insurance,
a stakeholder pension
scheme and 20 days’
paid holiday a year.
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. CONTACT US
If you have any further questions,
please don’t hesitate to get in touch
LIVERPOOL STREET
STATION
yC
ur
Fin Recruitment Team
sb
Latham & Watkins
99 Bishopsgate
London EC2M 3XF
ircu
s
et
+44.20.7710.1000
london.trainees@lw.com
St
re
Live
fie
ld
rpo
ol S
tree
t
Ne
Bl
om
To find out more visit our
website LW.com
w
St
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Wa
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Br
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Wormw
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Bi
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et
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Threadneedle Street
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Ho
un
ds
dit
Ca
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mi
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St
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et
Be
Gr
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Lon
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’s Pl
a
vis
ce
M
ar
ks
. Latham & Watkins operates worldwide as a limited liability partnership organized under the laws of the State of Delaware (USA) with affiliated limited
liability partnerships conducting the practice in the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Singapore and as affiliated partnerships conducting the practice
in Hong Kong and Japan. Latham & Watkins practices in Saudi Arabia in association with the Law Office of Mohammed Al-Sheikh.
© Copyright 2011 Latham & Watkins. All Rights Reserved.
. . Abu Dhabi
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* In association with the Law Office of Mohammed A. Al-Sheikh
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Riyadh*
Rome
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LW.com
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