Fladgate LLP

The Legal 500 Future Lawyers verdict on Fladgate LLP

Covent Garden’s Fladgate has ‘all the benefits of a small-firm culture, whilst also offering high-level work’. Trainees form a modest cohort, which means they get to ‘play a larger role when working on matters’, such as when ‘my M&A research was credited with saving the client from incurring significant expense’, and ‘attending a five-week trial in the High Court during the first seat of my training contract’. Training at Fladgate is ‘very tailored to my interests, which I’m not sure is the case for trainees at other firms’. Respondents applauded the ‘high levels of responsibility afforded to trainees’: ‘I think we get given far more responsibility and client contact’, said one recruit. ‘On top of that, nearly all the matters I am involved involve working directly with a partner, so to have the opportunity to learn from them is fantastic’. What’s more, supervisors, even at partner level, ‘always have the time to give feedback and explain tasks’. Trainees would like to see ‘more perks’, and also complained about the fact that the ‘LPC maintenance is offered as a loan rather than a grant’. The IT leaves a lot to be desired too. A career in law can be notoriously stressful, but Fladgate has ‘a good balance between offering trainees good work, whilst also ensuring [we] are not overworked’.  For a firm where ‘client contact and opportunity to get involved directly in deals’ is the norm, where ‘99% of the people are genuinely great to be around’, consider Fladgate.

A day in the life of... Jacqueline Holder, third-seat trainee, Fladgate LLP

Departments to date: Litigation; Real estate

8.30am: I like to arrive early at the office at around 8.30am, though working hours are 9.30am-5.30pm. I walk to work so I normally stop for coffee along the way to ensure I’m well caffeinated for the day ahead. There’s lots of local options – Redemption Roasters is a go-to, but Black Penny is also great.

8.45am: First things first, I like to go through my inbox and create a to-do list for the day. Having some time in the office before everyone else gets in allows me to prepare for the day and finish up any outstanding tasks.

9.15am: While each day is varied, today I’m assisting on a residential property refinance. I am drafting replies to enquiries for our client’s properties, which involves looking through the various title documents and compiling queries and comments for the client to review and approve. Our client, the landlord and borrower, has advised that each property is handled differently depending on the tenant’s needs, so I carefully review the client’s comments against our records before preparing a draft response setting out our client’s position. The partner on the file reviews the documents before they’re sent to the client. I email the draft reply to enquiries to the client and move onto my next task.

11.00am: Another property we’ve been working on is close to completion, so I start to prepare the financial statement in order to receive funds, alongside finalising the lease for signature. I send the lease to the other side’s solicitors and ask for them to confirm once the lease and stock transfer form have been signed. This is the first time I’ve done a financial statement in this seat, so I reach out to one of the legal secretaries for guidance. Fladgate is very collaborative, so it’s easy to ask for help when you’re not sure. I send the statement to my supervisor for review and message the rest of the team to see what the plan for lunch is.

12.30pm: The real estate team tries to eat lunch together most days, work permitting. We often walk to the nearby Seven Dials and bring food back to the office to eat together in the eighth-floor common room. This is a really great way of catching up with colleagues in a more personal and social setting.

1.30pm: Fladgate opens up department-specific training to all the trainees, so anyone can attend if it’s a subject they’re interested in. Today, we’re learning about fake evidence and how to spot it. Although I just finished up my seat in litigation, this sounds like an interesting topic so I join and take a note. You never know when the tips might come in handy! As well as regular training, the firm hosts lunchtime yoga and weekly personal training sessions in nearby Lincoln’s Inn Fields.

2.30pm: Time for another coffee. Residential real estate is fast paced which makes it exciting – there’s a constant onboarding of clients and new properties to look at. My supervisor briefs me on a new file, so I start to review the matter notes and client emails. I put together comments for my supervisor and set aside some time to review with her the following day.

3.00pm: It’s time for our team meeting. This is a chance for us to get together and go through admin topics or questions that have come up recently. It’s an informal way to make sure we’re all on the same page, and also a good chance for anyone to flag if they have any capacity. I let the team know my availability and a few team members mention they have some incoming projects that they’d like my assistance on.

4.00pm: Our client has responded to the draft enquiries I prepared this morning. I review the client’s comments and save the file as a new version, taking into account any amends they’ve made and ensuring the document is correct before sending to the lender’s solicitors. The client has a few questions, so I call them to clear up any enquiries and ask for a few outstanding documents the other side have requested. This is a complex matter as there’s quite a few properties on the go and the documents are varied so they require careful organisation and review to ensure the right amounts and details are captured.

6.00pm: I check in with my supervisor and ask if there’s anything else I can help with. We catch up on what I have planned for my to-do list the following day and I head into nearby Soho for some shopping ahead of drinks with friends – the upside and downside of working in a busy part of London is the desire to go out!

About the firm

The firm: Fladgate LLP is one of the UK’s top 100 law firms, with a strong reputation for both commercial and private client work. It delivers highly personal service for entrepreneurial, ambitious and fast-moving clients with complex needs that are often international.

The clients: Pensée Foundation; Conde Nast Publications; Ocado; London Wall; BeyondPlay; Zouk capital; Howden; Fox Networks; Random House Group; Credit Suisse; PriceHubble; Blockchain Worldwide; Close Brothers; Guild Esports; The National Portrait Gallery; Kaya Tourism Group; Headspace; Patron; over 100 of the world’s influential families, leading entrepreneurs, celebrities, sports people and 80+ family offices.

The deals: Our deep-seated focus in these markets has culminated in significant client wins and key deals recently including: advised London Wall in connection with a £90m facility to Bricks Group, a student accommodation provider, for a development in Nottingham; a multinational finance company in connection with a commercial real estate loan, a £333m facility relating to the residential component of The OWO Residences, and an £850m mixed-use development on the site of the Old War Office Building on Whitehall, London; Zouk Capital LLP in their latest £35m investment into Energy Park – we have worked with Zouk on a variety of investments over the years, including InstaVolt, Zest, Char.gy and Belie; our Turkiye team acted for Kaya Tourism Group, part of Kaya Holding Inc., on its acquisition of the Great Northern Hotel, a Tribute Portfolio in London’s King’s Cross – the largest investment by a Turkish hospitality group in the UK; and representing the Pensée Foundation in The Public Institution for Social Security v Al Rajaan & ors [2020] EWHC 2979 (Comm), a $1bn Commercial Court claim – one of the most high-profile litigation cases currently before the English courts.

Senior partner: Stephen Lewis

Managing partner: Grant Gordon

Who we are: Fladgate LLP is an innovative, progressive and thriving law firm which prides itself on its friendly and professional working environment. We are based in modern, attractive offices in London’s Covent Garden.

What we do: Fladgate has a broad skills base that covers a wide spectrum of legal services across the business lifecycle, and is shaped to operate collaboratively to move fast and flexibly:

• Dispute resolution: includes regulatory, corporate governance and investigations, banking and financial services litigation, international commercial arbitration, insurance, contentious trusts and family, civil fraud and asset protection.
• Corporate: including private capital, capital markets, M&A, tax, restructuring and employment.
• Real estate: including planning, construction, real estate finance and real estate litigation.
• Funds, finance and regulatory: including investment funds, private equity, fund managers, asset and investment managers, promoters, sponsors and investors; alternative finance providers, banks and debt funds, family offices, owner/manager businesses, private equity funds and corporate borrowers; FCA applications, advice on UK regulatory frameworks, fund-related advice. Our practice is varied and includes the full range of real estate finance, both for investments and developments, and we also have a number of sector specialisms within real estate finance.

What we’re looking for: We look for the best. We value academic ability, previous work experience and relevant extra-curricular activities. We seek candidates who demonstrate high levels of commercial awareness and business acumen, enthusiasm and leadership potential while also understanding the value of teamwork and the importance of culture and inclusion. We value individuality and strive to create an environment where our employees can truly be themselves at work.

What you’ll do: Our two-year training programme is divided into four seats of six months and combines a first-class education programme with real hands-on experience and client contact. The nature of our business and small intake of trainees each year mean you will be given exposure to high-quality work with lots of responsibility from an early stage.

Perks: A generous holiday allowance of 26 days, staff introduction bonus, life assurance, group income protection, private medical insurance, employee assistance programme, free online GP service, contributory pension, season ticket loan, corporate gym membership loan via GymFlex, cycle2work, options for private dental cover, eye test vouchers and free weekly personal training and yoga sessions. We also have a ‘dress for your day’ policy which allows smart-casual wear in the office to suit your schedule when you have no external meetings.

Sponsorship

Full GDL and SQE course fees sponsorship when studying with the University of Law. Maintenance grant of up to £7,000 for those studying a sponsored GDL or SQE.

Seat options

Dispute resolution; core corporate; commercial, sports and intellectual property; finance, funds and regulatory; employment; private client; immigration; real estate; real estate – residential; real estate – disputes; real estate – construction.

Tips from the recruiter

1. Be yourself; we want to get to know the real you! We run a very transparent, informative and collaborative recruitment process for our graduates and it’s important that your ability to be authentic shines through from the very beginning. Try to stand out for all of the right reasons.
2. Be diligent and thorough. Silly errors or typos can mean the difference between making it to the next round or not. Don’t fall foul of a simple spell-check or grammatical error. Perhaps ask a friend or relative to review your application with a fresh pair of eyes.
3. Be curious and creative. Simply regurgitating information on a website isn’t going to highlight your best qualities – and it is those qualities that are going to encourage us to hire you. Showcase your strongest competencies in sequence with telling us about our strengths (or weaknesses) and why you think Fladgate is a good fit for you and vice versa.

Diversity and inclusion