Satisfaction with Work

• "Having spoken to my friends at various other Magic Circle firms I seem to be getting more responsibility and am being managed better than others. The job is hard and takes up a lot of your day but it is rewarding and you feel that you are appreciated." -- Newly qualified solicitor, Corporate
• "Overall I am pretty satisfied being a trainee at Allen & Overy. I have been able to sit in a variety of departments and in most cases have had regular contact with partners, clients and other solicitors. The level of responsibility and the quality of work assigned has been more varied and I have found this usually depends on your trainer and the department rather than the stage of your training contract." -- Trainee
• "Great work and people – if you enjoy the area you are in, you will be working on the best deals with some of the best and highly regarded solicitors in the City. Supportive atmosphere – clichéd, but everyone that I come into contact with is helpful, willing to lend a hand and answer queries" -- Newly qualified solicitor, Capital Markets
• "I've been very lucky and have got on well with all three of my trainers so far, each of whom has given me a good level of responsibility and a high quality of work. Obviously the types of work differ from department to department – and there is always the odd mundane task – but it's been a very good experience overall." -- Trainee
• "I have been a trainee at A&O for 18 months and have found the work, responsibility and client exposure to be better than I'd hoped for. It's a great place to work with supportive staff and a collaborative way of working." -- Trainee
• "Like most large law firms, the level or responsibility I receive and the quality of the work I am assigned varies greatly depending on the nature of the deal my department is working on and the timing. In general, people at my firm try to ensure trainees have a variety of work – however inevitably there is a fair amount of proofreading and CPs." -- Trainee
• "I am reaching the end of my third seat and I am given a good level of responsibility, I am assigned interesting work, I am given small ICM deals that I manage myself, and I am often in direct contact with the client and other solicitors. I feel like a valuable member of the team." -- Trainee

Quality of Work

• "This is deal and partner specific but on the whole the quality of work is very high. You are given a lot of training so people are confident in delegating technical work to you. There is also scope to start building client relationships immediately." -- Newly qualified solicitor, Corporate
• "At times I am given great responsibility – sure there are points where you are stuck on a document review, but the next minute you can find yourself presenting a case brief to the entire department!" -- Trainee
• "The firm is prepared to give vast levels of responsibility to trainees on high level pieces of work. I have run deals on my own and had great levels of client contact. My first supervisor was a partner and in my second seat I also worked directly with a number of partners, who are all really friendly to work with." -- Trainee
• "Given a high level of responsibility and on the whole the quality of work is excellent. I can honestly say that not once have I had to do photocopying or tea making. Contact with clients and other solicitors is very good and I generally liaise with clients and other solicitors on a daily basis whether as part of the wider deal team on a conference call or on an individual basis." -- Trainee
• "The transactions that we are involved in are cutting edge and extremely challenging. Trainees are given a substantial amount of responsibility and there is a high expectation to produce results. While not everything a trainee is required to do is extremely stimulating, most of the time smaller transactions and trades are left for trainees to run with limited supervision. There is usually a lot of client contact as well." -- Trainee
• "Perfect level of responsibility; (free to do my own work, but always a partner involved and always available with queries etc.) High client interaction and a genuine sense, even at NQ level, that you are taking a prominent role in deals." -- Newly qualified solicitor, Capital Markets

Culture

• "The people I work with are all very approachable, friendly and supportive. Whilst there is obviously a hierarchy, the partners and senior associates are neither patronising nor dismissive and make a real effort to make everyone feel like part of the team whether it be a large matter or one involving only two or three fee earners. Social events are organised regularly and are something to look forward to rather than be dreaded as they appear to be at other places of work." -- Newly qualified solicitor, Litigation
• "The ad hoc social events at A&O take place a lot more regularly than I imagined they would. Whether it be cricket with a client or dinner with colleagues, rarely does a week go by without putting the world to rights over a glass of wine." -- Trainee
• "The firm feels collegiate in its approach. The senior management go to great lengths to ensure that there is open communication with all staff. Webcasts are widely used to ensure that messages are consistently conveyed and there is scope to ask strategic questions of the management. Within the firm there is an open-door philosophy and I consider my peers to be my good friends (going to law school together is really helpful in that respect). Having a bar onsite means that it is also easier to meet up with colleagues after work for a quick drink." -- Newly qualified solicitor, Corporate
• "Because we do the A&O LPC together, we have all got to know each other before we start. This means that you have a network of 100 friends around you for moral support when the going gets tough – this has definitely got me through some of my darkest days! The departments are very social, some almost too much so! However, any notion of a work/life balance is a bit of a myth if you are working in most of the core areas." -- Trainee
• "Trainees socialise often, especially on a Friday where drinks at the A&O bar (Lavanda) are common. The firm does arrange some drinks, a Christmas and a summer party, and there are countless vacation schemes or graduate recruitment drinks to go to." -- Trainee
• "Whilst it is a bit of a cliché, there is definitely a work hard play hard culture at A&O. The hours can be long at times, but that is the same at any City firm. What sets it apart is the people. In my experience, everyone, at all levels within the firm, has been welcoming, friendly and supportive. There are numerous firm-wide social events which are organised: a performance of the Magic Flute at Glyndebourne, The Manches Cup sailing event, cricket days and various charity events to name but a few. There is also a trainee social committee which organises various drinks events throughout the year and the very popular trainee summer ball! There are also more ad-hoc social events – being located in Spitalfields there are loads of bars and restaurants to go to after work and having our very own subsidised bar and roof terrace provides a good and convenient place to catch-up with friends for some post-work Friday night drinks!" -- Trainee
• "In the office the culture is professional but reasonably relaxed. Everyone is very approachable, and there is a distinct culture of partners being available to talk to trainees in a way that you hear is sometimes not the case in other firms. There are plenty of social events, both for trainees and within departments. Having Lavanda (the firm's Italian cafe and bar) onsite means there is also a lot of informal socialising too." -- Trainee
• "A&O is ambitious yet very collegiate. People are friendly and very helpful. Trainees often send out emails asking for help from each other, and the open door policy means that we are free to walk into a partner's office to ask a question, just as we can go to another trainee's office and chat. There's a trainee social committee, which organises events, but people meet up for lunch in the office canteen all the time anyway." -- Trainee
• "The trainees often socialise together as most of us did the LPC together. We socialise both informally and through firm organised events such as balls. We also have good team spirit and often have events/drinks within our department, for example a team 10k run!" -- Trainee

Hours

• "You know what the hours are going to be like when you sign up to be a trainee solicitor at a Magic Circle firm, but obviously everyone would rather they were a little more settled! It is less about the hours and more about the often last-minute need to stay at work and cancel evening plans." -- Trainee
• "The hours can be very varied, you can have 80+ hour weeks and you can have 40 hour weeks, but on average it is about what I expected." -- Trainee
• "Hours at a Magic Circle law firm are, by default, long. On average, one would be working around 40-60 hours a week, but if a deal is closing, it can get much worse. But if things can be left till the next day, there is no pressure to stay and pretend you're busy." -- Trainee
• "Hours can be heavy but are cyclical." -- Newly qualified solicitor, Capital Markets
• "Expected to work at least 50 hours per week, but often work a lot more (about 65 hours per week during busy periods). However, the amount of hours depends on the stage of a transaction and the department. Often given time off in lieu if you consistently work long hours. Hours worked are very unpredictable in some seats." -- Trainee
• "You hear a lot of horror stories about the working hours in City firms, but I have been pleasantly surprised by my experience. I tend to start work at 9.30am and have probably finished on average between 7-8pm over the course of my contract so far. There have been times when the hours have been long, but these have usually only been for short periods when a deal is reaching completion and so you tend to get a buzz from it. It's always exciting to see a deal which you have been working hard on for weeks appear on the front of the FT and the champagne and lunches which follow also make all the hard work seem worthwhile!" -- Trainee
• "Spend 80+ hours in the office on an average week. Flexibility on paper but in reality have to cancel mid-week days off etc." -- Newly qualified solicitor, Corporate
• "In light of the fact that I knew I was coming to a Magic Circle Firm and would face longer hours I have been relatively pleased with my hours. My typical day is 9.30- 7.30/8ish and whenever I've had to work really long hours I've always felt it has been necessary. In addition whenever I've been working longer hours I've found I've been given greater responsibility and have always had the support from my team – I've had a partner offer to stay and help me when he walked past my office on his way home. Additionally, I feel A&O understand the work/life balance and if I have plans that are important to me I'm generally able to give notice to my trainer and leave in time to make them." -- Trainee
• "I work full time and would say an average week for me would be 50 to 60 hours but it does vary a lot. The firm is reasonably good about holidays and you can purchase extra time off. There is also some flexibility to work from home if necessary." -- Newly qualified solicitor, Litigation
• "The hours worked really varies depending on where you are on a deal. It is very rare to leave much before 6-6.30 with somewhere between 7.30 and 9 being the norm. Don't need to be in the office until 9.30 so working 'til that time isn't a major problem." -- Trainee
• "This obviously varies and is an expected downside to the job of a City solicitor. Hours vary, but are monitored closely by partners and on various occasions I have been told not to take on any further work so as to maintain control over the number of hours spent in the office. There are options to take sabbaticals and unpaid leave and the firm also give the opportunity to purchase extra holiday. I have never had a holiday request refused and never been asked to rearrange or cancel any booked holiday – it is understood that time spent outside of the office is important." -- Newly qualified solicitor, Litigation

Pay

• (London 2010)
• 1st year trainee: £38,000
• 2nd year trainee: £43,200
• Newly qualified: £61,000
• 1 year PQE: £68,000
• 2 years PQE: £74,000
• 3 years PQE: £85,000
•  

Interviews & Assessments

• "Fairly straightforward compared to other training contract interviews; no assessment days or psychometric test." -- Trainee
• "I had only one day of interviews which included a case study which you had to read and then give a short presentation on." -- Newly qualified solicitor, Corporate
• "I applied for a vacation scheme and was invited for interview. The interview process consisted of one general interview and one interview based on a business case study. Then once on the vacation scheme I was invited to attend a training contract interview – it was not necessary to apply again. The training contract interview was one shorter general interview." -- Trainee
• "I interviewed with a senior associate and a partner." -- Trainee
• "The competition is fierce (even worse now since fewer trainees are being taken on). The selection involves an application form followed by two interviews one after the other." -- Trainee
• "Out of all the interviews I attended, my interview at Allen & Overy was the best. I was interviewed by two partners separately: the first interview discussed my application and the second interview discussed a case study that I was given. Although I was nervous, I was made to feel at ease by HR and the interviewers and saw the overall experience as a good experience: I felt as though the firm wanted to get to know me." -- Trainee

Sample Questions

• "They asked me questions like, "Why Magic Circle?", "If you're interested in finance, why not be a banker?" and lots and lots about my application form. Do not lie on your application form!" -- Trainee
• "What is the biggest challenge you have faced and how did you overcome it?" -- Trainee
• "…In my interview I was asked, "What do you think is the role of China in the world today?" -- Trainee
• "Actual interview questions: Why law? Why [university] as opposed to other universities? Do you have good attention to detail – give examples?" -- Trainee