Biglaw in London: career options? Forum

[E_Wrayburn]

Hi all.

I'm a 0L, heading to a T14 this fall, and I know I want to practice either in NY or London.
Perhaps this post is jumping the gun a tad, but I've been mulling a few things over that I thought I might ask the forum.

Is anyone able to shed some light on the career trajectory of US associates in London, particularly with an eye towards staying in London (with US levels of compensation)? I understand most US associates are in the Capital Markets & Securities practice group(s). Is employment security in a London office of a MC or top US firm more uncertain than at a comparable NY firm (say V20)?

What would I be "giving up" in NY if I went to London? Would my quality of training suffer appreciably? I have read on this forum that US associates are often doing High Yield offerings in London. Would it be better for my overall career if I did a few years in NY and then reevaluated moving to London? (I love NY, went to undergrad there, but love London more).

Do most associates stay in London for a little while, then go back stateside? Or are some able to make a life for themselves?

What should I be doing in the next nine months or so to position myself towards getting a summer associate position at a firm in London (aside from getting good grades in 1L). I studied abroad and worked in London in the legal field for a semester, and I interned in a capital markets group at a firm in my hometown during undergrad.

Any insight would be helpful and appreciated.

[The Lsat Airbender]

"Quality of training" is too vague/variable to comment on but the big risk is that you'll develop a skillset in high-yield CapM which, as you get more senior, will make you less desirable stateside.

With decent grades at a T14 and demonstrated interest in London you should do fine at OCI. If you strike out, can work in NYC for a few years and try to lateral.

Job security is about as good as it is anywhere else, depends a bit on the global macro situation but demand for EMEA access to US capital markets is historically durable. I wouldn't count on making partner and I've mostly seen people go in-house, either in the UK (or on the continent, but likely trickier post-Brexit and/or if you're monolingual) or back in the US, usually at a big multinational.

Definitely possible to stay in the UK permanently but you're dealing with all the uncertainty that comes with being an immigrant. The Tories adopted policies friendly to skilled/educated first-worlders (immigration reform being one of the scarce non-idiotic features of Brexit) but they're out of power now and the global political pendulum seems to be swaying against immigration. Would try and diligence a firm's willingness/ability to support you on this front (including relocating you back to NYC, needs be) before accepting an offer.

Brexit has changed the tenor of a lot of this stuff and I would seek out live conversations with current associates; root around on LinkedIn for people who went to your T14 or your undergrad. A lot of the things you're asking about vary from firm to firm so try to learn the inside baseball, and also ask about compensation (which varies even at "Cravath-scale" firms because COLA and tax true-ups can vary) or anything else important to you. Might as well start networking anyway if you're trying to get a job over there.

[Anonymous User]

Hi all.

I'm a 0L, heading to a T14 this fall, and I know I want to practice either in NY or London.
Perhaps this post is jumping the gun a tad, but I've been mulling a few things over that I thought I might ask the forum.

Is anyone able to shed some light on the career trajectory of US associates in London, particularly with an eye towards staying in London (with US levels of compensation)? I understand most US associates are in the Capital Markets & Securities practice group(s). Is employment security in a London office of a MC or top US firm more uncertain than at a comparable NY firm (say V20)?

What would I be "giving up" in NY if I went to London? Would my quality of training suffer appreciably? I have read on this forum that US associates are often doing High Yield offerings in London. Would it be better for my overall career if I did a few years in NY and then reevaluated moving to London? (I love NY, went to undergrad there, but love London more).

Do most associates stay in London for a little while, then go back stateside? Or are some able to make a life for themselves?

What should I be doing in the next nine months or so to position myself towards getting a summer associate position at a firm in London (aside from getting good grades in 1L). I studied abroad and worked in London in the legal field for a semester, and I interned in a capital markets group at a firm in my hometown during undergrad.

Any insight would be helpful and appreciated.

If you are willing to commit to London long term, you are not necessarily limited to cap markets - there are some US qualified associates in the UK practising UK law in US firms. England & Wales admission is encouraged but not at all required (and the exams are not difficult). However, if you want to start work directly in London in a non-capital markets team, London offices will expect you to complete a two year training contract, which is not well remunerated compared to the associate scale, and carries some level of grunt work. You can skip this if you move across with a couple of years experience as a US associate (but you will usually lose one class year in the process).

Keep in mind that many US firms in London do not exactly follow the US salary or (especially) bonus scale (but the variance is not as large as it once was).

You probably have more job security in London than in the US, but that is hard to judge.

Quality of training in capital markets will not be comparable to NY, but in other teams there will not be much downside, except that it would be hard to move back to the US.