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A magic circle firm with 80 years practice experience, Allen & Overy (A&O) stands with Linklaters, Slaughter and May and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer as one of the ‘global elite’. Traditionally its strength was in finance but consistent investment in its corporate and commercial teams has paid dividends: annual turnover since 2008 has not dropped below £1bn.
What are its strengths? A&O’s banking and finance lawyers advise over 800 clients on domestic and cross-border transactions. Its employment, pensions and incentives department is internationally renowned. Regulatory work continues to boost the profile of the insurance team and the firm has also built its international capital market practice into one of the largest in the world.
Clients include private, public, national and international companies, government agencies and banks in 30 countries. Noteworthy among them are:
Consistent investment in Allen & Overy's corporate and commercial teams has paid dividends.
The Legal 500 puts Allen & Overy in the first tier of UK law firms for: fraud: corporate crime, banking litigation: investment and retail, international arbitration, acquisition finance, asset finance and leasing, corporate restructuring and insolvency, debt capital markets, derivatives and structured products, Islamic finance, securitisation, employment, pensions, insurance litigation: for policyholders, Infrastructure, oil and gas, private finance initiative (PFI), water, environment and property finance.
And second tier for: corporate tax, equity capital markets: UK capability, financial services, M&A: upper and mid-market and premium deals £250m+, VAT and indirect tax, fraud: civil and regulatory investigations, commercial litigation, public international law, emerging markets, insurance: corporate and regulatory, mining and minerals, administrative and public law, intellectual property, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, and rail.
New offices in Australia, Indonesia and Qatar give A&O the largest global network of the magic circle. A long-term strategy of investing in new markets means more than half of the firm’s revenue is now generated overseas.
Turnover rose by 3% in 2010, with strong performances in Asia Pacific, Moscow and New York. The firm moved ahead of Linklaters and Clifford Chance with a 7% share of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) debt capital markets. Elsewhere, the Paris office can now claim a full-service disputes practice, thanks to a three-partner-defection from Herbert Smith.
Allen & Overy salary - trainee
£38,000 – Year 1
£43,200 – Year 2
Allen & Overy salary - qualified
£61,000 per annum
The firm obviously sets out to cut a dash. Its offices at the heart of the re-developed Spitalfields market were designed by architectural firm Foster & Partners which modernised London’s landscape with its futuristic designs for the ‘Gherkin’, Millenium Bridge, British Museum and Tate Modern. The offices have two roof gardens, and there are interfaith contemplation rooms, music rooms, a fiction library, parking for 300 bicycles and charge-points for electric cars. There is also a health practice, dentist, gym (with personal trainers), beauty salon, subsidised restaurant and a café which becomes a bar in the evening.
City lawyers work hard and are expected to be constantly on the ball. With Allen & Overy there’s no deviation from this norm. However it introduced flexible working in 2001 and a flexible partnership scheme in 2010. The latter is a family-friendly scheme whereby partners can retain an equity stake whilst working part-time. In fact more than 11 per cent of employees work part-time and there is a popular system for remote working. The firm’s Time Out policy also lets people take a career break of up to three years to travel, study or care for their family. It also provides emergency childcare, maternity coaching and parenting seminars.
The firm has won a slew of awards for supporting working women and for its diversity initiatives in general. All City firms have made big strides in this area recently; however A&O been marked out in particular by:
The firm’s current trainee population was recruited from over 40 different universities. 59 per cent are female and 23 per cent come from an ethnic minority background. Allen & Overy has participated in the Black Solicitors’ Network Diversity League Table for three years running and contributed to research conducted by Working Families and the Lehman Brothers Centre for Women. It works with EmployAbility and was a founder of the Disability Café. The A&Out network was set up to for the firm’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered lawyers. Carers@A&O and Parents@A&O fulfil a similar function for their members.
As well as supporting diversity in its own workplace, Allen & Overy generally encourages students from non-traditional backgrounds to pursue a law career. It participates in Legal Launch Pad, CSET Summer Schools, Target Chances Law and Pure Potential, and is a founder sponsor of Pathways to Law.
The firm runs a number of inclusive work experience schemes. It runs a week’s work experience to 12 law students from low-income families and a two-week work placement for high achieving students from non-traditional backgrounds at the University of Westminster.
The firm has recorded over 60,000 hours of pro bono and community work last year. Trainees can do their bit as a judicial assistant at a human rights organisation, volunteering at the Battersea Legal Advice Centre or serving breakfast at the Whitechapel Mission among other initiatives.Employer insights are written by independent experts with job candidates in mind, helping you research and understand employers.
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