Mayer Brown LLP - The Inside View

Maybe you’re Chicago born and raised, or maybe the draw of a firm with that “Midwestern feel” is just too darn strong. Mayer Brown just has that magic ingredient. “I was looking for somewhere that did interesting work, and here at Mayer Brown, the culture clicked for me,” one finance associate told us. It’s really no shock that this associate (and many others) have found their fit either, given that Mayer Brown bags over 80 Chambers USA rankings, with an extensive collection of top-tier nationwide rankings in capital markets securitization & structured products, financial services regulation, outsourcing, product liability, projects, tax and technology.

“…each class size in relation to the firm overall indicates that the firm isn’t expecting a high attrition rate.”

As an international firm, MB has a presence across the Americas, Europe and Asia, but here in the US most of the associates on our list can be found in Chicago, New York, Charlotte and Washington DC. Beyond a big reputation in its areas of strength, insiders highlighted their summer program experience for “allowing associates to get a feel for every practice; to get a sense of what they want to end up doing at MB.” In addition to which, the firm’s intentional hiring practice was a pull factor, with practice-specific offers providing sources with a sense of security - combined with the knowledge that “each class size in relation to the firm overall indicates that the firm isn’t expecting a high attrition rate.” The general consensus? “This is a firm that is invested in my success, and it’s a place where I can advance my career!”

Strategy & Future

The big news from the last twelve months, managing partner Jeremy Clay tells us, is the launch of a new joint venture in Singapore with a local law firm there: “The local law capability is important in enabling us to develop our business in Singapore, as it continues to develop as an important financial and legal hub in Asia.” As Clay puts it: “There is a lot going on in the world right now, whether that’s in Asia, Ukraine or the Middle East, and that is impacting our clients, and therefore has a bearing on how we respond and position ourselves.”

2024 has so far been a particularly strong year for the firm on the disputes side of things, Clay explains, accompanied by “a continued pick-up in activity” on the transactional side. Moving forward, we heard the firm will remain focused across its international footprint on its target products and industries, and “by focusing on all of that, we’ve got a nicely balanced business that will be able to take advantage of market opportunities and trends and navigate what is going on in the world right now."

The firm has also invested in developing a structured work allocation program: “We have a team that works with and supports partners and lawyers to ensure that lawyers are getting not only the right volume of work, but the work they want to do to develop their skills and capabilities.”

Read more from Jeremy Clay under the 'Get Hired' tab.

The Work

At the time of writing, the centralized work allocation process has been rolled out across all offices and some practice groups, meaning that associates still spoke about using their existing networks to jump on different pieces of work. For incoming juniors however, “work coordinators give you the first assignments to get the ball rolling. You meet with them beforehand and can express your interests as to what you want to do.” The finance practice held the largest group of associates on our list, followed by corporate & securities and litigation regulatory enforcement. Groups like real estate, IP, restructuring, tax and employment & benefits took on a handful each.

“…correspondence changes from firing emails to more senior discussions, to eventually, one-on-one phone calls with a client.”

The finance practice at MB is broadly split between structured and unstructured finance, including subgroups like securitizations, mortgages, fund finance and project management. “The structured finance side encompasses securitizations related to all types of mortgage related assets such as warehouse facilities,” one junior explained, “The non-structured work includes leverage and acquisition financing, and other types of loans which usually involve an all-asset line or a more general type like funds finance.” Clientele “by and large are the biggest banks in the world, with various sponsors in the energy sector” as well as “tax equity investors.” Juniors reported managing deal flow, drafting ancillary documents, due diligence and some client interaction early on. As one insider highlighted: “If you have less people on a matter, correspondence changes from firing emails to more senior discussions, to eventually, one-on-one phone calls with a client. As you get more experience, seniors and clients trust you more, so in turn you get more responsibilities.”

Finance clients: Blackstone GSO Capital, Citizens Bank, Nissan Motor Acceptance Company. Represented JPMorgan in the maturity extension and amendment of a $1.5 billion syndicated revolving credit facility for Gulfport Energy.

In corporate & securities the work falls into three main categories: fund formation, M&A and capital markets: “Being free market, you are able to try all these groups in the first two years” after which juniors go on to “commit to one of them.” As one M&A associate put it: “Here in M&A we do all the basics, from the $20 millions into the billions, with mostly private equity clients. I’ve worked on a lot of different things from major bond and stock offerings, roll up agreements from ten companies into one, and a lot of private equity work acquiring companies.” Interviewees spoke of performing logistical tasks (such as setting up meetings for seniors and partners), a lot of due diligence, editing ancillary documents and client communication.  For the latter it was noted, “on smaller teams you can do a lot of that work much quicker. It’s probably not as cool as being a National Geographic photographer, but I’m doing real corporate law tasks” an insider quipped.

Corporate clients: Nestlé, CGX Energy, General Motors. Represented TC Energy Corporation in its $3.9 billion sale of 40 percent interest in Columbia Gas Transmission in a cross-border matter.

Associates in the litigation regulation & enforcement practice told us that they “can work on various matters” including (but not limited to): complex commercial, bankruptcy, financial, mass torts, antitrust, labor & employment, products liability and international arbitration matters. Litigators at MB are free to cross over into the IP litigation group to “work on soft IP stuff like trademarks, copyright and licensing matters” too. Across the practice, “clients come from pretty much all industries - from financial institutions such as banks to food and beverage companies, manufacturers, pharmaceutical and tech companies, and academic institutions.” As one associate pointed out: “The number of international clients in labor & employment was interesting (although not surprising), there have been days where I had to email local counsel in more than 20 countries.” Beyond that, juniors should be ready to work on doc review, research assignments, drafting letters to clients and counsel, motions and deposition outlines, and even attend depositions.

Litigation clients: Boeing Corporation, Yale University, Nespresso. Represented YouTube and its CEO in the dismal of a trademark infringement and false-advertising claims.

Culture

Let’s set the scene: “Mayer Brown is originally a Midwestern firm from Chicago, and came to New York in the 70s.” In many ways, the firm arrived “in a place that, historically, is not the most hospitable. But that mid-western niceness has trickled in” one NY associate detailed. So, in that “culture of general kindness, someone who is more jaded would stick out like a sore thumb.” Firm leadership was credited with being the driving force behind it: “The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that the office managing partner is always meeting with associates, offering to go for lunch or a coffee. It’s this kindness that emits from the top down.”

“…if happy hour with your colleague isn’t your kind of thing, the firm is happy for you to grab lunch with someone more senior!”

“We have a lot of lifers here too who take the culture pretty seriously” one junior told us. Supported by “opportunities and budgets which encourage formal and informal mentoring, if happy hour with your colleague isn’t your kind of thing, the firm is happy for you to grab lunch with someone more senior!” Associates at the firm drew our attention to events such as the annual associate’s ball and monthly pizza parties. “At a work function you can talk to people about their personal lives,” one added, “it is great to connect with people on a personal level.” As another put it: “People are empathetic and understanding if you have other things going on in your life. People are good at saying ‘I’m on childcare duty.’”

Career Development

Fresh faced juniors are paired up with an associate and partner mentor. The more formal training kicks off with general training for all associates, and each practice gets flown out to an office to meet each other. Followed by specific training and seminars which vary in frequency depending on the practice. The emphasis for our interviewees was on the value of on-the-job training: “They definitely put you in the deep end, but there is always a life preserver. When you don’t know what you are doing, it is comforting to know that most of the time attorneys are watching you, giving you advice whilst you gain that experience – it is a happy medium.”

Associates have access to career coaches too: “You can seek out advice specific to your practice. I’ve had discussions about how to make sure I get the work I want to ensure I’m on the right track” one insider explained. Another side to attorney development is the launch of the NextGen initiative: “Juniors can be intimidated by the prospect of how to develop their own business and networking. NextGen is really supportive of associates with events where we can practice business development and networking by meeting others in the professional world in the same position as us - whether it be current clients or other companies.”

Hours & Compensation

Billable hours: 2,000 requirement

Associates must bill 2,000 hours a year to earn a bonus, 200 of which can go towards non-billable activities with practice leader approval. Those who reach the target are rewarded with a market-rate bonus and, resoundingly, interviewees felt that this was “definitely achievable.” 

“Mayer Brown has implemented a new work allocation program, so no associates are left behind or overworking.” 

On the litigation side, a source explained how “I’ve found it possible to hit eight billable hours daily. It ebbs and flows, but we’ve been busy.” Litigators acknowledged that, even though things can get busy, “for the most part people try not to give you things on the weekend unless absolutely necessary.” For transactional associates, meanwhile, “it can be hot or cold, with a slower 30-hour week or a busier 60-hour week.” However, sources emphasized that “Mayer Brown has implemented a new work allocation program, so no associates are left behind or overworking.”

Pro Bono

“There are a ton of opportunities, they send out emails every week” interviewees explained, “you just need to click a button to say you are interested.” Plus “we have access to Paladin - a website with a lot of pro bono matters. So, if something there interests you, you can email the pro bono coordinator who will help you out with arranging it.” The goal for juniors is to complete 60 hours of pro bono (with up to 200 counting towards their bonus). With an array of options, interviewees mentioned asylum and immigration, prisoner’s rights, record expungement clinics, name change clinics, trust and wills, and housing matters to get involved in.

Of which, the Homeowner Stability Project run by the City Bar Justice Center was picked out by associates, with those we spoke to explaining that the project “helps to protect homeowners from developers who use shady means to acquire or seize family homes, and then flip them for way more than they were purchased.” We heard that the Chicago finance group enjoys “pro bono lunches where we answer various legal questions for legal aid, like landlord tenant issues.” Whilst for litigators it is an opportunity “to get the keys to the kingdom to your skills as you get a lot more responsibility.”

Pro bono hours

• For all (US) attorneys: 53,798
• Average per (US) attorney: 50

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Sources agreed that the firm “is on the right path!” when it came to diversity. Insiders mentioned that representation amongst “the juniors has been very good. Althoughthe higher levels are less representative (more so due to past trends).” Sources agreed that “with every incoming partner class, things are becoming more diverse and equitable.” In 2023, MB achieved the Mansfield Certification testifying to this. The efforts of Jeremiah DeBerry and the DE&I team were commended by interviewees: “The firm will be in a better place because of their policies.” The introduction of the work coordinator was seen as another positive step. The firm puts on conferences with food and drinks for all members of staff for occasions such as Hispanic Heritage, Black History and Pride month. We heard that when it comes to affinity group participation “it counts towards your thought leadership hours.”

Get Hired

Stage One: Recruitment On and Off Campus    

Mayer Brown takes a national approach to hiring, with dedicated teams focusing on key pipeline schools including, among many others, Columbia, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Northwestern, NYU, Stanford, the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia. The firm also recruits from many regional schools. In all cases the firm has a purposeful focus on diversity. Most of the students interviewed at each campus will meet a senior and a junior attorney – often these are alumni of the school and will be able to discuss their track to the firm.    

The firm is primarily looking for interest in their practices and any particular niches the candidate has their eye on. The firm is strong in both transactional and litigation work and has a significant focus on finance companies, funds, asset managers, insurance companies and banks. Transactional practices are a particular focus of the firm’s recruiting. Research is key: approach the interview with a good idea of what Mayer Brown does and doesn't do and tailor your own questions accordingly.     

Top tips for this stage:     

“The most important things to ask about are day-to-day life and what type of responsibilities associates get on matters – get a sense of what life would be like as a junior.”    

“As an interviewer, I ask what the applicants see themselves doing five years from now, which can link to a practice group interest.”    

Prior to interviews with partners or senior attorneys, look your interviewer up on the firm website or LinkedIn to get a sense of their primary practice area. This will help you craft questions specific to your interviewer, and better understand the firm and its practices ahead of and during your interview.  

Stage Two: Callbacks    

When candidates are invited for a callback interview, they'll meet with partners and associates from the practice areas they've expressed an interest in for a series of four or five 20- to 30-minute interviews. In most cases, each applicant will meet a junior associate in order to get the opportunity to talk about starting one’s career at Mayer Brown. Where there is mutual interest, the firm encourages candidates to have additional follow-up meetings and even return for additional introductions over lunches and dinners.    

Engagement and focus are key during callbacks: Mayer Brown wants to hear thoughtful reasons behind the motivation to practice law at the firm. The firm is looking for a long-term relationship as most future partners come for the summer program or join as associates. “The ideal candidates are smart, thoughtful, and care about their work. They are also going to be engaged in the practice of law and client satisfaction,” sources say.    

Top tips for this stage:     

“Some of the process is about trying to figure out life experiences beyond what's on your resume: what are your passions? What experiences do you value?”    

“When I'm interviewing I'm typically just gauging their interest in the firm, and whether they can articulate an interest in Mayer Brown in particular.”    

Stage Three: Summer Program    

Mayer Brown has a ten-week program across the US. Each of our eight US offices develops a summer calendar filled with social events. The social events are designed to help the summer associate build relationships with each other and firm lawyers. Training is provided through both national and local programs. In addition to the typical social sessions and practice area events, there are events organized by the diversity committee, the women's committee and Mayer's other affinity groups.    

While summer associate work assignments can vary by office, the firm works diligently to assign work based on individual practice area interest expressed prior to the summer program and by practice area needs. The summer program committees, HR teams and partner mentors also meet with each summer associate periodically throughout the summer to check in on the summer associate’s satisfaction with the work they are doing and their summer experience in general. Summer associates are also encouraged to regularly connect with their mentors and HR teams to discuss their workload and overall experience. 

Each summer associate is assigned at least two mentors to steer them in the right direction, but the firm takes an autonomous approach and advises they “reach out to partners and associates with whom they have an interest in working.” Members of the recruiting committee and the summer program committee check in with summer associates throughout the process to keep an eye on which practice they'd like to join upon receiving an offer.   

Top tips for this stage:     

“Some summer associates come in with the mindset that they'll get easy assignments – instead, they should approach the work as if they were already full-time associates here.”    

Part of the summer program is learning how to operate as a full-time associate. That said, the firm also offers various resources for support as summer associates grow and develop during their time at the firm. Summer associates are encouraged to leverage their resources, each other, and other associates. Junior associate development is a key priority of the firm. 

And finally...    

An OCI applicant will typically know who their interviewer is in advance, so take the time to research your interviewer’s practice and role in the firm. 

Interview with Jeremy Clay, managing partner

Commercial strategy, market position and trends

Chambers Associate: How would you define your firm’s current position and identity in the legal market? What differentiates your firm from your peer firms in the market?

Jeremy Clay: We’re a large international firm. We’re aiming to continue to develop as one of the leading international law firms doing the best work for major corporates, funds and financial institutions (something we’ve been developing over the last 20 years). The nature of our business means we have developed a collaborative and diverse culture. This provides real value not just for our clients but for our lawyers and members of our business support team that work together to deliver a high-quality service internationally. The combination of our reach, our capabilities, and our culture is an attractive offering for our clients, as they like the way we work together. This combines with our focus on certain areas which we’ll come to discuss, that distinctive combination of industries and products is part of who we are. 

CA: What is your firm’s commercial strategy focusing on, and how do you expect the next year to unfold?

Clay: 2023 started slowly as clients were impacted by the economic environment and so, it was a slower start, particularly in the transactional space, for example, in capital markets and transactional M&A. That started to pick up and improve, and we saw a stronger finish to the year. Into 2024, it’s still been very strong for us on the disputes side and on the transactional side we’re seeing a continued pick-up in activity. It is hard to judge 2024 at this point, as there is some concern about the underlying economic recovery in particular regions and interest rates are still higher than most clients would like. This is also a year of elections around the world, creating some uncertainty that generally slows up the transactions market a little bit. But we’re positive about 2024 continuing a general trend of improved transactional activity. With all of that going on, in terms of our strategy across our international footprint it is to continue to have a keen focus on our particular products and industries where we have a real strength and expert capabilities

We want to continue to double down on and grow our strengths. We’ve got real strengths in financial services, including fin-tech, financial services M&A, lending and private credit, structured finance, all leading areas for us. In M&A we’ll continue to shape our offering in targeted industries where we have strengths like infrastructure, energy, insurance and fin-tech alongside our private equity offering. Our disputes capabilities make up about 40% of our business. It is here where we are looking at high stake litigation in particular industries and continuing to be very focused about that in cybersecurity, white collar investigations and regulatory enforcement. 

We want to double down on our industry focus where we already have an established international presence, including projects, infrastructure, energy (including renewables and transition), and the funds and asset management. We’ll continue to deepen these and build client relationships, offering them that market knowledge with the right depth in the right markets, with the right join up between markets, so we can take clients across the world as they need.

By focusing on all of that, we’ve got a nicely balanced business that will be able to take advantage of market opportunities and trends and navigate what is going on in the world right now. 

CA: Have there been any developments at the firm over the past year that you’d like law students to know about?

Clay: There are many things happening that are impacting how we’re operating our business. As an example, in the last year, we’ve launched a joint venture in Singapore with a local law firm. The local law capability is important in enabling us to develop our business in Singapore, as it continues to develop as an important financial and legal hub in Asia. Right now, with everything going on there impacting the PRC and Hong Kong, we’ve seen significant growth in the Singapore market.

CA: Are there any domestic or international events/trends that are affecting any of the firm’s practices at the moment? Are there any trends that you think are affecting the business of law firms more generally, and how is that playing out with your firm?

Clay: I would like to emphasis the development of generative AI development. Our use of tech and the development of AI will be massive for our new lawyers, and we want to be at the forefront of that. We’re using Harvey AI like many other firms; it is increasingly part of how we work now. It is really the first step as we work with them and other providers, and continue to develop and accelerate our use, recognizing that we must do that in a way that has regard for client concerns. We, of course, need to manage security and confidentiality. This is a challenge for law firms, but I don’t doubt it is the future. We believe generative AI will change the work we do, how we do it and the service we provide for clients. 

A related issue is cybersecurity, it is a significant threat to our clients and to law firms like us. We’ve developed our security and our teams in terms of providing advice around cybersecurity in the US, Europe and Asia, and we’re looking to create a joined-up global business that allows us to advise clients around the globe. If anything, it is getting more important as it's impacted by geopolitical disruption and de-globalization where countries and politics are becoming more nationalistic, and that of course impacts our clients and global law firms. We’re trying to manage that evolution, and one of the ways it is expressing itself is through the cyber threat, as well impacting the kind of work we do in areas suchlike sanctions and trade work where we’re seeing that change in our business.  For businesses like ours with a joined-up global offering, this is a change we must respond to and so we must have lawyers in the right place for our clients.

There is a lot going on the world right now, whether that’s in Asia, Ukraine or the Middle East, and that is impacting our clients, and therefore has a bearing on how we respond and position ourselves. We aim to be adaptative to these changes in the environment. 

Inside the Firm

CA: How is the firm evolving to accommodate the needs/expectations of the next generation of lawyers?

Clay: Our continued development of the flexible working model is important; we believe in its importance and relevance, and that is true also of our clients, many of which are operating in a similar way. We want to combine that with the right culture and training for our lawyers. That includes a more structured work allocation program. We have a team that works with and supports partners and lawyers to ensure the lawyers are getting not only the right volume of work, but the work they want to do to develop their skills and capabilities. That requires us to invest in the infrastructure, the team, and the right tech. Work and opportunity allocation and connection to clients is how lawyers evolve and how the job stays fun, otherwise it gets too much of a grind. So, this is an important feature that we’ve started to roll out in the infrastructure across our firm. Alongside that, there has been a bigger emphasis on our mentoring programs and opportunities. We’re trying to combine that kind of support and development for lawyers. When you’re trying to run a flexible work model you need those resources of support and communication to ensure that it works.

CA: It was mentioned by interviewees that the firm is expanding the New York office. Could you tell us some more about that development?

Clay: New York has been the fastest growing office over the past two or three years, we have well over 300 lawyers there. We would still like to be bigger in New York and we aim to achieve that. Growth has been rapid, and we want to continue to accelerate it, so we’ve taken more space for that purpose. Of course, in a flexible work environment there is always the question of how law firms should be occupying space. There is still this desire for lawyers to have offices, and we want to accommodate that. We’re not just taking on office space; we’re developing the space deliberately so that we’ve got the right social and collaborative space to create what we regard as a modern office environment on a greater scale in New York. That will allow us to grow there, and bring people into the office in a way that they’ll find attractive, and this will support our flexible working model. New York is a key office for us, linking closely with our offices across the US but also very importantly London and Europe. So, you’ll see us focusing on continued and exciting growth in New York and London.

CA: What’s the firm’s approach to bolstering diversity, equity, and inclusion?

Clay: For many years we’ve been focused on improving diversity, which remains a challenge for our industry. We’re combining a number of things around that to continue to press ahead with creating a more diverse law firm. Some of the structural things we’re doing is driving this change. The work allocation program is part of DE&I, we’re focused on ensuring that all lawyers and, in particular, our diverse lawyers are really integrated into our business and have all the right opportunities, as it is critical to development. We have Mansfield Rule Certification in the US & UK, but we’ve got our own goals in the US and globally around diverse lawyers in our partnership and leadership. We publish those goals internally and talk about how we’re going to achieve these goals. They don’t make things happen alone, but they hold us accountable for change, which is important. 

We work closely with the firm’s leadership to ensure that we bring through and get the right diverse candidates for promotion into the partnership and leadership roles. That is crucial for developing a diverse law firm as you need to have those role models. We’ve done a lot around recruitment, both new intake recruitment with lawyers coming out of university and law school. That has been a real focus, and you can see that in the diversity in our classes over the last few years, which has been great. 

The key for us of course is retaining that diverse talent throughout the career trajectory, and that is where other programs and ideas come in terms of work allocation, mentoring and communicating the targets we want to achieve. All of which is part of our story, you have to push a lot of buttons to move forward and become a truly diverse business. We’re not there yet, our industry isn’t there yet, we still have work to do and that cannot change. 

The Fun Bit

CA: Is there any advice you’d give to your younger self starting out your career?

Clay: Have a plan and be proactive. Too often you can be a little reactive in terms of getting into a place where you just start rolling with it. When I was an associate, I definitely went through periods of drifting a little bit, but you can’t do that with our business now you need to be constantly pressing. So, get out there and be proactive, have something of a career plan, whatever that might be and be adaptative as life happens. Communicate with your team and leadership to understand where you are, how you’re valued and what you’re focusing on, don’t sit and wait until your annual review. If you want to go in-house or take a different career track with your degree and experience working with the firm, we have programs to help place people where they want to be. If they want to move into a different career like GC type roles all of that is something to take advantage of. So, have a plan and be proactive, don't sit around, just go after it!

CA: The hours in BigLaw can be punishing. How do you unwind at the end of a long day/week?

Clay: I think for me it's friends and family and staying connected with them. It’s a great way of being taken back down to earth from the joys of Big Law, and that for me is a big thing. Also, you’ve got to have something to do that is a fitness thing, that is absolutely essential. I find that running for me is the thing, as that is just great for stress management and physical wellbeing, it is particularly important when you’re flying around and have jetlag a lot. Whether it is running or some other sport you just need to take your pick.

CA: Is there a movie/TV show/books about lawyers or the legal profession that you particularly enjoy? And how accurate would you say it is?

Clay: I deliberately don’t watch them, after work it is the last thing I’d inflict on myself. When I get to watch TV/films I just want to watch something totally mindless. I do tend to enjoy the ones like the Big Short, as it's the world I'm in, but not lawyering! I’m always interested in ‘what happened’.