Slaughter and May

The overview

Slaughter and May is among the top five law firms headquartered in the UK – in other words, it’s a member of the 'magic circle'.

Slaughters (its unofficial but widely used nickname) has firmly entrenched roots in the business world with particular strengths in M&As, litigation and corporate practices. The firm also has specialist practitioners covering such areas as tax, real estate, IT and intellectual property. The firm has recently extended into finance and restructuring.

Rankings and awards

Recent awards include:

• Competition Team of the Year 2011, Legal Business Awards. For its work advising British Airway’s transatlantic joint venture with American Airlines and Iberia.
• Legal Advisor of the Year, FT and Mergermarket Group European M&A Awards, 2010. For resolution on the acquisition of AXA UK Life Business and Global Infrastructure Partners in relation to the acquisition of London Gatwick Airport.
• Banking and Finance Team of the Year, The Lawyer Awards, 2010. For its work advising HM Treasury on the UK Government's Asset Protection Scheme.

The Legal 500 puts it in the first tier for: corporate tax, EU and competition, M&A: upper and mid-market and premium deals £250m+, tax litigation, insurance: corporate and regulatory.

And in the second tier for: financial services, VAT and indirect TAX, fraud: civil and regulatory investigations, fraud: corporate crime, banking litigation: investment and retail, commercial litigation, corporate restructuring and insolvency, mining and minerals, power (electricity, nuclear, renewables), administrative and public law, environment.

Clients include

• Barclays
• American Express
• Unilever
• Ladbrokes
• Morgan Stanley
• Prudential
• Shell
• Boots
• Marks & Spencer
• Corus
• Cadbury Schweppes
• GlaxoSmithKline.

Business strengths

• A multidisciplinary and flexible approach has allowed it to weather the recent recession well.
• While other law firms develop overseas through expansion, merger and acquisition, Slaughter and May nurtures relationships with what it calls ‘best friends’. These are firms with whom it wants to do business.

Salary and benefits

Salaries for trainees (as of 5 May 2011)

• First 12 months: £38,000
• Second 12 months: £43,000

Salary on Qualification

• £61,500

Other benefits

• Private medical insurance
• Money purchase pension scheme with life cover
• Up to £2,000 interest-free loan on joining
• Personal accident cover
• Health screenings
• Childcare vouchers
• Subsidised restaurant and cafe
• Special membership terms for local health clubs
• Various entertainment benefits including theatres and galleries through their corporate memberships
• Concierge service
• 25 days' annual holiday allowance.

Culture and values

In the legal press, Slaughter and May has a reputation for doing things its own way: extending the hand of friendship to overseas rivals instead of taking them on head to head; eschewing the fripperies of employing its own press officer; doing things with a proper purpose.

It reckons it hires good people and lets them get on with it. Partner Nigel Boardman says in The Times: ‘If we adopted a snooty, stuck-up attitude you would end up with the wrong recruits and you wouldn't survive… We want the best people to apply to us and to genuinely give them as much help as they need to become good at their job.’