Milbank LLP

The Legal 500 Future Lawyers verdict on Milbank LLP

Trainees love Milbank because it’s ‘strong in the energy sector’ and ‘top of the market for creditor-side finance’. A ‘relatively small London office’, everyone at Milbank is ‘really friendly’. A small trainee cohort leads to ‘more responsibility and, in certain seats, more client (and partner) contact, which is great for learning’. Colleagues are ‘excellent lawyers who are also very sociable’ and trainees have ‘better, closer relationships’ with them than peers at larger law firms. Training is ‘hands-on’ and ‘less formal than friends at UK firms’, but ‘this is typical of a US firm’, said respondents. The upside is that ‘the quality of work we get to engage with is definitely higher’, and there is ‘great attention to professional development’ regardless. The ‘free breakfast’ was applauded by trainees. The work/life balance and the ‘long, unpredictable hours’ are a disadvantage of working at Milbank, though hopefully trainee hopefuls will be aware of this before applying. For one trainee ‘billing 150 hours in 11 days to close a deal’ was a low point. Also disappointing is ‘the lack of international secondments’. The days might be long but they’re rarely dull; Milbank trainees regularly experience highs such as ‘sitting in the closing submissions for the VISA/Mastercard case!’ and ‘working on a major Part 26A restructuring plan in the Court of Appeal’. To work at the top of the market in a firm with a friendly culture, and lawyers who are at the top of their game, take a closer look at Milbank.

A day in the life of... A trainee, Milbank

Departments to date: TSG; Leveraged finance; Litigation

University: University of Cambridge

Degree: Law, 2(1)

Morning: The day starts between 9-9.30am. First, I check my emails to see if anything has come in overnight (perhaps from clients working in different time zones) and either reply to those or complete the tasks set in them. Tasks might include updating conditions precedents checklists to help everyone working on a deal stay up-to-date with the progress of the deal and what stages the various documents are at, amending documents based on the comments received from a client or external counsel, or emailing documents onto various parties for their review.

Lunch: Now that we have returned to the office, lunch is a great time to talk to other Milbank employees, whether this be fellow trainees, people from your team, or people from other departments in the firm.

Afternoon: In the afternoon, I either continue the work from the morning or get set more work by associates in my team. Often, they call me (if we are not in the office) or come into my office to explain the task and make sure that I understand what I am doing. Everyone is very helpful. The work set includes drafting the various documents required for transactions, creating signature packs for when deals are being signed, or checking documents for missing definitions or cross-references.

Evening: If you are working into the evening, you can eat at the office and complete your work. If not, the evening is yours to spend however you like! On some nights, I like to cook or go out for dinner with my friends. On others, I might go to the gym, but usually I just collapse onto the sofa and watch TV with my housemates!

About the firm

The firm: Milbank is a premier international law firm handling high-profile, complex cases and business transactions through 12 offices worldwide. Our offices work together on an integrated basis, giving us an extraordinary global presence and allowing us to serve a client base that includes the world’s leading companies and financial institutions. Milbank is internationally recognised as a leader in major corporate/finance transactions (such as M&A, structured finance, banking, capital markets and project and transportation finance), litigation (including complex commercial, intellectual property, securities and white collar), financial restructuring, and trusts and estates.

The deals: Please refer to our website for recent deals we have worked on.

Managing partners: Tom Canning and Andrej Wolf

Other offices: https://www.milbank.com/en/offices/index.html.

Who we are: Shaping the legal landscape.

Driven to deliver exceptional results for our clients, we push boundaries and challenge assumptions. That’s been core to our ethos since our founding in 1866. It fuels how we work and define ourselves, and it informs our growth and evolution as a firm.

We keep impressive company. Our clients are market leaders, global innovators and paradigm-shifting entrepreneurs that advance emerging industries. Surrounding ourselves by the best inspires and challenges us to constantly reimagine what’s possible.

Our clients are why we strive for remarkable results.

What we do: https://www.milbank.com/en/practices/index.html.

What we’re looking for: Our trainees work in small teams and are given responsibility from day one. Working directly with associates and partners, our trainees are an integral part of the team in every seat. The benefit of our select intake is that our trainees receive exposure to high-quality work as well as first-class training and supervision throughout their training contracts.

We’re looking for candidates who not only have strong academics but who also possess excellent interpersonal and problem-solving skills. Candidates will need to be ambitious, intellectually curious and have a genuine interest in our practice areas. You should also have (or be predicted) a 2(1) or above in any degree discipline.

Sponsorship

Costs for PGDL and SQE covered by Milbank. Maintenance grant amount has now been increased to £20,000.

Diversity and inclusion