Vinson & Elkins LLP

The firm: Vinson & Elkins is a large international law firm, which has experience across a number of industries and has been repeatedly ranked as the world’s leading energy law firm.

Lawyers at Vinson & Elkins are committed to excellence and steeped in the energy and finance industries, offering clients experience handling transactions, investments, projects and disputes worldwide. The firm’s deep bench of approximately 720 lawyers worldwide collaborating across 12 offices allows a multi-disciplinary approach, whether clients need guidance on complex transactions or litigation.

London serves as a coordinating centre for Vinson & Elkins’ operations in Africa, Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe, with respect to clients operating out of Europe, the US, London, and elsewhere. The firm is accustomed to working not only in mature markets, but also in less familiar and more challenging environments, under developing local regimes and with evolving communications or infrastructure.

Since the early years of Vinson & Elkins’ existence, the firm has represented a broad cross-section of the top players in the energy industry and is now recognized as a global leader in energy-related transactions. The firm’s lawyers have worked on, or are currently working on, some of the most high-profile, complex and unique deals to take place in the international oil and gas sector. Vinson & Elkins brings insight and know-how, building on a strong foundation that offers clients an understanding of the intersection of energy, finance and the law.

Vinson & Elkins’ London office also has extensive experience across multiple other industry sectors, including construction, infrastructure (including telecoms infrastructure) and private equity.

Principal areas of work: Cross-border M&A; private equity; corporate finance and securities advice (including international equity and debt capital markets); joint ventures and other strategic alliances; banking and finance (including acquisition and bridge financings); international energy transactions; project development and finance transactions; construction; litigation and arbitration; restructuring; legal and regulatory compliance; tax; real estate finance; international telecom infrastructure transactions; and employment.

Clients: KKR, Macquarie, The Carlyle Group, Equilor, Cairn India, Helios Investment Partners, Republic of Iraq Ministry of Oil, Riverstone LLC, J.P. Morgan, Agrica Oil Corp., SOCAR, TPG Sixth Street Partners.

International: The firm’s clients include the governments of sovereign nations as well as public and private companies from around the world, domestic and international financial institutions, investment firms, portfolio companies, cities and government agencies, new enterprises, joint ventures, project companies and individuals.

The firm has offices in Austin, Dallas, Dubai, Houston, London, New York, Richmond, Riyadh, San Francisco, Tokyo and Washington, DC.

Recruitment: The firm currently offers between four and six training contracts per year, commencing each September. The training structure at V&E comprises of four seats. During the first year the trainees rotate through two different practice areas each for six months. During the second year, while trainees will be located in a further two practice groups, the year does not run on a rigid seat system, but instead a trainee will gain wide experience in all practice areas, working with a wide variety of associates and partners from across the firm. At the start of each rotation each trainee will be assigned to a supervisor with whom they will share an office, however they are expected to receive work from everyone within the assigned practice area, not just the person they are sharing an office with. Whist the trainees are based in London, the firm undertakes a regular secondment programme to other offices (particularly its offices in Dubai and its headquarters in Houston). In addition to the Training Principal (currently Andrew Nealon) and their supporting team, trainees will have the support of an associate mentor (appointed for the full two-year training contract for continuity) to provide an extra, and often first, port of call for support and assistance.

Administrative partner: Alex Msimang