Training Contracts at Macfarlanes

The City’s most profitable firm doesn’t become so by letting any old riff-raff in the door, oh no. The focus is on the academic crème de la crème; a 2:1 is the minimum prerequisite, with the majority of trainees picked from the UK’s top 20 or so institutions.

With approximately 30 trainee places available each year, obtaining one of Macfarlanes’ elusive contracts is about more than just raw talent and ambition. Any successful candidate will have earmarked Macfarlanes as the firm they truly wanted to work for – singling it out as their clear first choice. Applicants will need to know the firm, its latest news and marquee deals, and also have a concise and substantial answer to why they chose Macfarlanes in particular. Above all, applicants are advised to be themselves, as they will be judged by trainees as well as partners. The firm’s current trainees will be on the look-out for individuals they wouldn’t want as colleagues, so it’s no good just schmoozing the partners.

Any successful candidates will have to go through an assessment day comprised of a combination of written, oral and team exercises, culminating in a formal interview. Applicants shouldn’t be too intimidated though, as current trainees agree that the atmosphere is friendly and encouraging. Just be sure to thoroughly read up on the firm.

Macfarlanes Graduate Recruitment Info

Contact:
Vicki Dimmick
Graduate Recruitment Manager
Email: gradrec@macfarlanes.com

Application Deadlines: Training Contracts: 31st July 2012

How to apply: www.macfarlanes.com/careers.aspx

Macfarlanes Profile & Stats

Macfarlanes has admirably come to the aid of male egos everywhere; with less than 300 lawyers and only one office, this modest sized firm can make the immodest boast of being the most profitable firm in the City – thus proving beyond all reasonable doubt that size isn’t everything. Joking aside, Macfarlanes has achieved this irrefutable position without a single office overseas or formal international network of alliance partners. Most of its business must therefore be domestic, right? Wrong! Macfarlanes has clients based all over the globe – dealing with its international clientele by informally teaming up with the best firms based in the relevant region and market.

Macfarlanes was founded in Victorian London, in 1875, by George Watson Neish. He was joined in partnership by the eponymous John Embleton Macfarlane, in 1894. The firm was subsequently run by his sons and grandsons before adopting its current moniker in 1962. To this day, the firm has never merged.

Although remaining a relatively small, independent practice, Macfarlanes’ client roster is ogled with green eyes by many a larger firm. The Royal Mail, ING, Umbro, Royal Bank of Scotland, Red Bull, Barclays, Virgin, Mizuho Bank and Pernod Ricard have all entrusted Macfarlanes to represent them. In addition to its corporate work, the firm is equally dedicated to its private client practice – another characteristic of Macfarlanes that bucks the industry trend. The firm services wealthy individuals through trusts and estates work, private banking, immigration, wills and probate work.

Macfarlanes also has a real estate practice that’s not to be scoffed, and a formidable fund formation service that not only feeds private equity, but generates work setting up property investment vehicles. The firm's litigation practice is also well known – working on construction disputes, intellectual property and competition.

Falling in line with its family roots, this monolith has an ethos of loyalty and collegiality to match. Because although not quite branding its yearly intake on their way through the door, it’s not far off; an incredible 84% of Macfarlanes’ trainees were retained in 2009, which increased to 94% in 2010! In addition, laterally hired partners are rare, with the firm instead preferring to promote from within, allowing its solicitors a greater chance to work their way to the top.

Just because Macfarlanes doesn't match the industry’s behemoths on size, doesn’t mean it’s home-time at 5. Solicitors work just as long, hard hours as their counterparts at the larger firms – perhaps even harder, as there isn’t the colossal support team that the big boys pack. But demanding as the environment is, the work at Macfarlanes is as good as any other London firm can offer.

Macfarlanes believes in its wider responsibility to the communities and environment in which it operates. The firm ‘aims to have a positive impact through five main themes of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activity’: pro bono legal advice, diversity, community action, sustainability and charitable giving. Macfarlanes’ CSR activities are developed and co-ordinated by a committee, consisting of staff from across the firm. Macfarlanes encourages all members of staff to support the various initiatives and each year it picks a charity to be the focus of fundraising efforts.