Stephenson Harwood LLP

The Legal 500 Future Lawyers verdict on Stephenson Harwood LLP

Stephenson Harwood ‘excels in both marine and commercial litigation’. The international firm also shines in aviation and data protection, among other practice areas. An ‘extremely positive atmosphere, especially among trainees’ pervades, and ‘there is no sense of competition, but rather support’. Stephenson Harwood puts a big ‘emphasis on training’, which in certain departments is ‘excellent – the finance group has a particularly good trainee curriculum’. In the marine team too ‘there is a real push to attend internal training sessions that are put on at regular intervals’. Some recruits lauded the ‘balance of high-quality work and clients, without having to contend with the time demands of some of the larger City law firms’. But others, who applied to the firm in the hope of ‘a mid-tier appropriate work/life balance, medium hours and medium pay’, think that ‘this isn’t really the case anymore – we get the same pay as before but there is an expectation to work more hours’. Respondents felt a bit frustrated that ‘sometimes seems not as well known within the industry as it should be for a firm of its size’, although it was also acknowledged that ‘this seems to be a legacy issue which is gradually improving’. Best moments of the training contract so far include ‘being the lead fee earner on closing out an aircraft transaction which I had managed from start to finish with a high degree of independence’, and ‘my international secondment’ which was a ‘brilliant opportunity’. In fact, the overseas opportunities have won the multitalented firm a Future Lawyers Winner medal. For ‘breadth of work, client contact and impressive secondment opportunities’, consider Stephenson Harwood.

Why Stephenson Harwood? Nicholas Morgan, first-seat trainee, Stephenson Harwood

Departments to date: Commercial litigation

University: University of Bristol

Degree: Economics & Politics BSc

Currently in his first seat in the commercial litigation group, Nicholas Morgan tells us what it’s really like to be a trainee at Stephenson Harwood.

Tell us a bit about you.
I went to school in Cardiff where I studied A-levels in mathematics, economics and politics. I then took a gap year, during which I surfed and skied in California and continued to travel west through Indonesia and Southeast Asia. I then went on to study Economics & Politics BSc at the University of Bristol. Growing up, I worked plenty of odd jobs, from making coffee as a barista in a Starbucks drive-through to labouring on a building site in the summer holidays. My hobbies and interests include rugby, road cycling and mountain biking, surfing and skiing.

Why did you decide to pursue a career in law?
I always wanted to be in a career that was business-focused and commercially exciting. Of course that may be explored through any number of paths in the city, however a career in commercial law appealed to me because of the intellectual challenge with excellent training. Good, focused training offers a platform to carve out a real career path. Training to be a commercial lawyer offered me a chance to work closely with those at the forefront of business and finance, while ultimately being in a position to acquire lots of useful skills for my future career.

Why did you choose to apply to Stephenson Harwood?
When researching legal firms as a student, Stephenson Harwood stood out to me because it offered a lot more than the average mid-size firm in the city. I was looking for a mid-size firm that valued its training programme and individual trainees. The smaller trainee intake at Stephenson Harwood allows for focused training and more opportunities to directly assist the more senior lawyers in the team. I quickly found that being able to settle into your new team as a trainee is an important part of the training contract and the structure enables me to feel valued and useful. Another standout characteristic of the firm was its client base. It’s a great bonus to join a firm with so many FTSE 100, AIM-listed and industry conglomerates on its books, because with that comes a wealth of diverse work.

Do you work closely with senior colleagues and partners? Tell us about your experiences.
Almost all of the work I do is with senior colleagues and partners, which provides a great insight into their thought processes and has been crucial to my training and progression. Some cases I work on are very complex and have been active for a long period of time. These types of cases can be difficult to get to grips with in just six months, but smaller cases do come along and that provides an opportunity to assist directly with senior colleagues.

Describe a day in the life of a trainee.
Litigation is very deadline focused, so being organised and on top of things is crucial. A huge part of the job is corresponding with the client to make sure we’re in a position to meet the deadlines and exchange all the right documents. Other tasks include attending meetings and conference calls with clients and taking detailed notes.

Can you tell us about the international nature of your work and the global opportunities offered at Stephenson Harwood?
Working in the international arbitration team offers the opportunity to work with a range of international clients, including those from China, various African countries and the US. Sometimes that requires an awareness of time-zone differences and an ability to manage your workload around that. Our international client base necessitates an international presence so the firm has ten offices around the world. There’s a wealth of opportunities for trainees to take their training to some of those destinations and complete a secondment to an office for six months.

What would you say to someone considering applying for a role at Stephenson Harwood?
You’d be mad not to apply!

About the firm

The firm: Stephenson Harwood is a law firm with over 1,300 people worldwide, including more than 200 partners. Our people are committed to achieving the goals of our clients – listed and private companies, institutions and individuals. It has eight offices, a variety of sectors to explore and unlimited opportunities for you to develop an incredible career. At the firm, you can expect to work in tight, focused teams alongside associates and partners, where you’ll always be right at the heart of the action.

The clients: The clients that Stephenson Harwood works with are hugely varied. Whether they’re corporations, institutions or individuals, the firm assembles teams of bold thinkers to match clients’ needs and ensure they receive the right advice, from the right person, at the right time.

Some recent clients include: Acadia Healthcare; Bowmark Capital; China Development Bank; easyHotel; ENGIE; Transport UK Group (formerly Abellio); Henderson Global Trust plc; Kroll; DVB Bank; and Hotel Chocolat Group plc.

The deals: Advised Andera Partners on its investment in the consulting firm 2CGroup; advised James Gorfin on his reinvestment into G2V Group; advised Oaktree Capital Management on the sale of Fleetscape financing transactions to Quantum Pacific; advised Attica Bank on its first shipping sustainability linked financing for Stem Shipping group; advised on the enforcement of foreign judgments in the Commercial Court; and advised on the Court of Appeal decision regarding interest rate swaps.

Partner in charge: Eifion Morris

Other offices: Dubai, Hong Kong, Paris, Seoul, Singapore, Piraeus, Shanghai.

Who we are: Stephenson Harwood is a law firm of over 1,300 people worldwide, including more than 200 partners. Our people are committed to achieving the goals of our clients — listed and private companies, institutions and individuals. We assemble teams of bright thinkers to match our clients’ needs and give the right advice from the right person at the right time. Dedicating the highest calibre of legal talent to overcome the most complex issues, we deliver pragmatic, expert advice that is set squarely in the real world.

What we do: We advise a wide range of clients, including listed and private companies, institutions and individuals. Our experience encompasses corporate, commercial litigation and arbitration, finance, marine and international trade, real estate and projects, and employment, pensions and private wealth. We pride ourselves on supporting our people to reach their full potential, so as a trainee you can expect to work in close-knit teams, where associates and partners will take responsibility for ensuring that you get in on the heart of the action on the matters on which you work.

What we’re looking for: We expect the 25 trainees we take each year to be dedicated, driven and ambitious. If we choose you, it’s because we see qualities that make you a potential high-performing associate – possibly even a future partner. We look for four key characteristics.

The ability to quickly assimilate a wealth of information and identify the main issues is critical. You’ll have an excellent academic record (ideally at least a 2(1)), be able to make well-reasoned decisions and have meticulous attention to detail.

Ambitious, driven and inquisitive, you’ll love a challenge and have the resilience needed to respond well to feedback and adapt to working in a changing environment. As someone who always keeps the end result firmly in mind and is enthusiastic even under pressure, you’ll be able to show us you know how to get a job not just done, but done brilliantly – to the very best of your ability.

Lastly, you won’t be afraid to question and challenge, or to put forward practical solutions and ideas that are well thought through. We’re known for sound commercial judgement and our international outlook, so you’ll need the potential to develop the same skills.

What you’ll do: You could find yourself working on anything from a high-profile, multimillion-pound financial litigation case to a ground-breaking M&A deal. You could even spend time on secondment at a client’s office, absorbing a totally different business culture first-hand.

Although every seat is a different journey, each is designed to give you a broad balance of commercial awareness and practical legal experience, plus the flexibility to move between projects and pick up new skills. There will be plenty of challenges along the way, but also lots of support. At every stage you’ll be coached and mentored by a partner or senior solicitor who’ll give you regular feedback, advice and guidance on everything from your day-to-day responsibilities to your long-term career decisions.

Perks: We want you to feel valued so we’ll offer you a range of flexible benefits including: critical illness cover, dental health scheme, subsidised gym membership, private health insurance and screening, life assurance, pension, private GP services, subsidised café, retail discounts and a travel to work loan.

Vacation schemes: Our spring and summer placement schemes will give you a real taste of life at the firm. We’ll make sure you’re involved in quality work and will try to help you experience any areas of law you’re particularly interested in. Typically, you’ll spend one or two weeks in our offices, sitting with qualified lawyers and tackling some case work. You’ll also benefit from an organised programme of interactive sessions, talks and social events.

On your first day, we’ll assign you a buddy – a current trainee who’ll help you settle in, answer your questions and give you an honest overview of what it’s like to work for us.

A placement gives you a great opportunity to talk informally to existing trainees, lawyers, partners and support teams to find out just why the law and Stephenson Harwood are such attractive career options. What’s more, we’ll pay you £485 a week.

Sponsorship

PGDL grant – £12,000; SQE grant – £18,000.

Seat options

Commercial litigation; corporate; pensions and private wealth; real estate and projects; finance; employment; marine and international trade.

Tips from the recruiter

1. Triple check before submitting! Ask someone to proofread your application and ensure that you haven’t missed any spelling or grammar errors.
2. Include as much work experience as possible. This does not just have to be legal experience – we want to hear about any volunteering/extra-curricular activities/any work you’ve been doing.

Diversity and inclusion