Milbank LLP - The Inside View

What Milbank do, the rest follow – at least that’s the way it is for associate salaries. Having developed a reputation as the trendsetter for associate compensation, Milbank has once more upped salaries across the globe in the past year, and like clockwork, a slew of other firms have followed in its footsteps. “Of course I knew about the salary raises!” quipped one of our sources when asked about what drew them to the firm, with another admitting that their awareness of the firm primarily stemmed from this.

“Milbank has been more exponential in its growth, and that was a train I felt comfortable getting on!”

However, to suggest that the glint of golden dollar signs in their eyes was the main attraction for juniors at the firm would be far from the truth. A market-leader in numerous practices, associates underscored Milbank’s reputation, excellent training and mentorship, and “friendly, respectful” vibe. A source told us: “They stood out by having very tangible things in place to ensure objectives are met, in terms of contact with partners and a push for continued education. That was a special opportunity I didn’t see at other places.” With reasonable concerns over weathering any economic storms too, one interviewee expressed their solace in finding their place at Milbank. “When it came to choosing a firm, I noticed some were very much on a downturn and others were inconsistent,” they explained. “Milbank, though, has been more exponential in its growth, and that was a train I felt comfortable getting on!”

Milbank’s chairman, Scott Edelman, verifies the firm’s deliberate scope: “We try to have the size, scale, and diversity of practices and locations to engage in the biggest global restructuring and litigation deals, and the most complex transactions.” Recognized nationwide by Chambers USA as the crème de la crème for bankruptcy & restructuring, power projects, and aviation transportation, the firm also retains high marks for its work in banking & finance, capital markets, and white-collar crime and government investigations. Also “very capable of dealing with cross-border matters,” as Edelman outlines, internationalism remains at the core of the firm’s pride. As such, Milbank boasts nine bases across important financial centers throughout Europe and Asia, in addition to its domestic offerings spanning New York, DC, and LA. Most of the associates on our list were based in the firm’s New York home base, but newbies are taken into the DC and LAoffices too.

Strategy & Future

“Our strategy has been, ‘let’s try and be in the money-centered locations of the world’, and to try have the highest-level corporate litigation restructuring practice possible so that we’re positioned to be working on some of the biggest deals,” Edelman details. He acknowledges that this remains successful for everyone involved – firms, clients, and associates alike: “The strategy works for our clients because they come to us when they have something important that they’re willing to pay for, and it works for our associates, as we can offer them really challenging and complex work.”

Building out its corporate practice on a global basis, in addition to growing competition capabilities in New York, Edelman references Milbank’s enhanced energy focus in response to the growing trend of renewable projects. “We’re a leading firm in energy, power, and all these new technologies that are designed to create power that won’t be hurting the climate,” he states. “We’re doing things like green steel projects, financing plants, and creating data centers to fuel computer power – and we’re able to handle those transactions on a global basis.” But within the energy markets and beyond, associate development is never far away from the firm’s core strategic goals: “You’re not coming here to do stuff that’s more commoditized. You’re coming here instead to be pushing on the cutting edge of whatever we’re working on – working on the best deals and building intellectual capital that gives you the opportunity to do great things,” adds Edelman.

Read more from Scott Edelman under the ‘Get Hired’ tab.

The Work

Whilst many juniors were working in the litigation practice group, associates we spoke to were also spread out across global leveraged finance, trusts & estates, tax, real estate, and alternative investments. Generally speaking, each group has a centralized staffing coordinator who is on hand to deal out work, but some of the smaller groups will be more partner-led. Usually though, associates “can tell the staffing coordinator what you want to do, and they ask which areas you’re interested in” before matters are divided up amongst those “who need work the most.”

Litigation juniors at the firm predominantly work on cases related to commercial, securities, antitrust, and white-collar litigation as “they’re the two big practices in the group,” but we were reassured that those are “not the only subjects.” Highlighting the scope of the group, one associated detailed, “I was on an intense white-collar investigation earlier this year, and some cases are more securities-led,” before adding, “some of my colleagues have done AXA trials and whilst I haven’t done a ton on insurance, that too makes up a lot of the practice!” Another source was sure to mention that “we do lots on the civil side – things like music licensing, big contract disputes.” Litigation clientele include financial institutions and institutional investors, and we heard that while daily tasks are “different every day,” they are largely comprised of researching motions, drafting, and preparing arguments for court, though on the white-collar side, “I do less research and more aggregating information.” Interviewees were big fans of drafting, as source emphasized how useful it was to “take on the first draft of a section, then get feedback back and forth” to ensure that you’re improving, andanother commented that “drafting is nice because I get to use my intellectual skills!”

Litigation clients: AXA Equitable Life Insurance, Bloomberry Resorts and Hotel, Universal Entertainment Corporation. Representing hedge fund Susquehanna International Group in a pending litigation against its investment in ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company.

Over in leveraged finance, “our work is mostly dictated by sponsored designation work, where private sponsors will be looking for a commitment to the amount equal to the portion of an acquisition.” Working mainly on the lender side, “we put together proposals for the loan they’d be willing to sponsor” before putting together the final documentation. Then, sources told us “we’ll work with the lender, adding and subtracting money – that’s the bulk of the work!” For juniors, standard tasks involve drafting smaller ancillary documents, reviewing ECT filings and security documents, and putting communications forward. The clients are both institutional and investment banks, but “the clientele is definitely varied” as “we also work across several different firms representing different private equity sponsors.” Juniors appreciated this variety, because “you’re working with similar players over and over again, so you get a good understanding of the clients without being tied to just one.”

Global leveraged finance clients: Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Credit Suisse. Advised the financing sources on the $6.5 billion merger of Hong Kong-based businesses Vistra and Tricor – one of Asia’s largest private equity-backed transactions of 2023.

Career Development

Associates were quick to shout out the firm’s “excellent” training opportunities which aim to “make sure associates get the full range of experience.” The firm also “invests heavily” in Milbank@Harvard, the most highly regarded program by our juniors - Edelman himself dubs it the “gold-standard” program at the firm. As part of this scheme, associates attend Harvard University and partake in three-week-long sessions, firmly in the mold of a mini-MBA-type program. Edelman adds: “It’s taught by business and law school professors and partners. It includes a focus on leadership and management, and even includes personal coaching!” Milbank also runs Advocacy@Milbank for litigators and Deals@Milbank for those doing more transactional work, both of which associates typically begin in their first year. These programs work to improve deposition skills, oral arguments, due diligence, drafting, and “all aspects of the life cycle.”

“I don’t worry about my marketability at all.”

Supplemented by more informal partner presentations and opportunities to network at dinner events, associates felt like they’d been given the tools to succeed. “They want us to be good associates,” stated one source, meaning that “they want us to do well, and they want us to be marketable.” A fellow newbie seconded this: “I can tell that the partners I work with are really hoping to foster an environment of making sure people stay.” Yet, the clarity surrounding the path to partnership was a little muddled for some, but clearer for others: “Not all associates can magically make partner, but if the effort’s there, then people will make sure the doors stay open.” But whichever way the wind blows, as one associate declared, “I don’t worry about my marketability at all,” thanks to the firm’s strong training and mentorship programs.

Culture

Finding a firm with the right cultural fit can be a challenge in and of itself, and the advice we heard from associates was to pay attention to the people you speak with at events and open days: “You want to be able to say, ‘I feel comfortable working with this person.’” Luckily though, for those at Milbank, the culture remained a huge selling point, with associates describing it as “very friendly and accessible.” With an “open-door culture” where “people are constantly in each other’s offices,” one associate stated, “I love my cohort – we’re all friends and super close. In general, the juniors are so chill with each other and even though we might socialize less with seniors, they’re still cool people!” Another added: “You can go to anybody – everyone is super helpful, and partners are always willing to sit down with you to explain things.”

“The people here are very smart, but the competitiveness I experienced in law school is not there.”

Speaking more about the firm’s culture in a work context, one associate mentioned that “they really promote being a self-starter, and they’re fostering an environment where you can mess it up completely, but it’s important that you tried!” Another agreed that the firm has a nurturing environment, suggesting that Milbank takes a more academic type of approach: “They don’t want you to stay in your lane – they give you opportunities to take on a little bit more outside your field.” But that’s where the academic comparisons end, according to one associate who gratefully highlighted that “the people here are very smart, but the competitiveness I experienced in law school is not there.” Another interviewee seconded these claims, enthusing that “there’s no politics, which is so refreshing!” And although the firm isn’t “aggressively social,” they’ve “started to do more social events – we recently had a night at the Whitney Museum, and lots of people showed up to that!”

Hours & Compensation

Billable hours: no requirement

With no overarching billable hour target, one litigation associate laughed that “we wouldn’t need one anyway since it’s always so busy!” Others suggested that due to the firm’s smaller nature, nobody has a problem finding work because there’s always enough to go around; we heard that “the goal is around 40 hours per week” and “2,080 to 2,100” annually, though this is practice group specific. Of this, one source shared that “if you’re billing 500 to 1,000 hours, they’d probably talk to you! But there’s no official target – you’ll get your bonus regardless.”

The firm was also described as “very flexible in terms of when people start and finish” each day, and our survey found that juniors were averaging just under 50 hours a week. “We’re an international practice group so sometimes you might have to stay later, but everyone’s really understanding,” a leveraged finance associate confessed. “If you had to stay up until midnight one night, they wouldn’t expect you online early the following morning!” But “the more I go on at the firm, the more freedom I have,” one interviewee explained before another mentioned the, albeit fleeting, weekend work. And best of all, the firm’s market-leading salary increase to $225,000 for first years certainly sweetens the deal!

Pro Bono

Associates are expected to complete at least 25 hours of pro bono each year, but our sources felt that this was a modest total. “People blow through that pretty quickly,” said one of the target, and others confirmed that it’s both billable and uncapped. An interviewee felt that “pro bono is a great way for juniors to get real work experience in running deals,” whilst another noted that the pro bono projects offered “have a real chance to be really meaningful.” The pro bono matters we heard about ranged drastically, from the likes of death penalty advocacy, immigration cases with the ACLU, and police malpractice to voting matters, medical rights for inmates, contested divorce proceedings, and the Innocence Project.

Pro bono hours

• For all (US) attorneys: undisclosed
• Average per (US) attorney: undisclosed

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

One of the most popular aspects of life at the firm when it came to DE&I was the variety of affinity groups on offer. We heard about Women@Milbank; Pride: LGBTQ+; LaMano (Latinx Attorney Mentoring & Networking Organization); APIN (Asian Pacific Islander Network); aADAM (Attorneys of African Descent at Milbank); and the PAG (Parents’ Affinity Group). Associates are able to block out time to attend affinity events and “these groups are very well-respected. People picked up work if needed to ensure people could attend these events.” Associates felt “the junior classes are quite diverse in terms of gender, race, and ethnicity,” with another associate particularly happy to see women thriving at the firm: “I work with a ton of women, and it’s always nice to see women at the partnership level.” With a bit more of an imbalance as seniority rises, sources caveated that “I wouldn’t say there’s anything glaring at Milbank that isn’t unique to the legal field in general.”

Get Hired   

LATERAL RECRUITMENT: Find out more about lateral opportunities with Milbank here. 

The first stage: recruitment on and off campus

OCI applicants interviewed: undisclosed  

Interviewees outside OCI: undisclosed   

Milbank interviews students at over 30 law schools each year. It continues to participate in traditional OCI programs and job fairs, but also increasingly interviews students who apply directly through its website. Roughly three out of four of the summer associate class are recruited from the top 20 law schools. Nearly 60% of the summer class of 2024 is comprised of students from the top fifteen law schools.   

Traditional OCI screen interviews are conducted by a partner and associate duo, while early interview screens are conducted by hiring partners. The firm’s five affinity groups are involved in the OCI process (more on them in Milbank’s Inside View feature). Milbank’s recruiters don’t “expect students to know everything” at the OCI stage, but we heard that “those who have a compelling basis for choosing to interview with Milbank always impress.”    

Top tips for this stage:    

“Everyone is very curious. A classic Milbank person is someone who’s really smart, someone that has a life and a personality that brings something different to the table. Crack a joke or tell a story – no one hides in the dark here. We’re a very welcoming and warm community.” – a junior associate.    

“The key ingredients for success at Milbank are intellectual curiosity, enthusiasm for the practice of law, a strong work ethic, and a devotion to teamwork and collaboration. Show us that you bring these traits to the table and you will impress.”– partner Alex Lees  

"Collaboration and collegiality are key ingredients in Milbank’s culture so interviews are meant to be conversational and about learning who candidates are as individuals." – partner Sean Solis  

Callbacks

Applicants invited to second stage interview: undisclosed  

Students typically interview with two associates and two partners, and then can opt for a lunch or coffee with junior associates. The firm also offers the option of evening interviews, which are followed by a casual cocktail reception. A junior associate involved in this process told us: “We take callback interviewees out to lunch after their formal interview for another informal interview – to make sure they’re normal people! We’re given a list of criteria that the firm’s looking for: do they work well in teams? Are they intellectually curious? Do they strike us as the kind of person we want to work with?”     

Top tips for this stage:    

“You can never look at someone’s resume and say, ‘that’s a Milbank person’, but you can tell pretty quickly within five minutes of being in a lunch with them whether they fit. They’re smart but at the same time don’t take themselves too seriously. They’re interesting and have interests outside of what they’re working on a daily basis.”– a junior associate.    

"We look for candidates who show us that they are enthusiastic about practicing law, engaging with legal issues and ideas, and taking on new challenges. Show us that you are a self-starter and an eager learner, motivated to engage in the complex problem-solving that characterizes our practice." – partner Sean Solis  

"Consider how your personal and professional experiences have gotten you to this moment in time, and how those experiences make you the right fit for Milbank." – partner Alex Lees  

Summer program    

Offers: undisclosed  

Acceptances: 86

Milbank's summer program allows students to rotate through up to three of the firm's practice areas.  Work is assigned by practice group assignment coordinators and each summer associate receives a partner mentor and an associate mentor.  Summer associates receive real-time feedback on their work in addition to mid-summer and end-of-summer meetings with a hiring partner to discuss feedback and their development for the future.   

Summer associates participate in formal training programs throughout the summer program. The first program examines a hypothetical company, Windstar, and each session includes an exploration of a key legal step from inception to bankruptcy and then restructuring, including work on assignments ranging from commitment letters to an IP prospectus. Each session is taught by partners and associates who are experts in the subject matter. The second training program consists of Lunch-and-Learn sessions with the various practice groups at the firm.

Nearly 100% of summer associates return as junior associates.  When they return, they are assigned to the ‘transactional rotation program’ or to litigation, restructuring, tax, or trusts & estates.  Associates in the transactional rotation move through three corporate and finance practices.     

Top tips for this stage:    

“There’s an emphasis on trying to find the types of people that’d fit into the culture: friendly, and easy to get along with. Those people who you’d want to spend the hours with when the hours are long.”– a junior associate.    

"The summer program offers you an opportunity to not only get to know the firm but also figure out what kind of lawyer you’d like to be. It’s an opportunity to ask questions, attend training sessions, explore various practice areas and network with lawyers across the firm." – partner Alex Lees  

"The summer associate experience will help teach you about the practical side of being a lawyer following the rigors and intellectual side of the law you learn in law school. But the program also is a lot of fun, chock full of events intended to promote the cohesion of the summer class and give summer associates a memorable experience." – partner Sean Solis  

And finally….    

“One thing I’ve noticed is that Milbankers are generally pretty funny. When they get us all into a room, I’m surprised at how easy it is for everyone to make each other laugh.”– a junior associate.  

Interview with Scott Edelman, chairman

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?

Scott Edelman: We try tohave the size, scale, and diversity of practices and locations to engage in the biggest global restructuring and litigation deals, and the most complex transactions. What we don’t try to do isprovide all the commodity kind of work that smaller firms provide or that all our competitors provide. Our strategy has been, ‘let’s try and be in the money centered locations of the world’, and to try to have the highest-level corporate, litigation, restructuring, and finance practices possible so that we’re positioned to be in some of the biggest deals. We have recently grown deliberately and we are supportive of controlled growth but we don’t need to have 1,500 – 2,000 lawyers as we don’t do the same level of commodity work that’s less interesting and less remunerative that some of our competitors try to do. And that strategy works for our clients because they come to us when they have something important they’re willing to pay for, and it works for our associates as we can offer them really challenging and complex work. You’re not coming here to do stuff that’s more commoditized, you’re coming here to be pushing the cutting edge of whatever we’re working on; you’re working on the best deals; you’re getting the experience; and you’re building intellectual capital that gives you the opportunity to do great things either at Milbank or somewhere else.

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

Edelman: Over the last year or two, we’ve been growing a little more quickly than in the past because we’re trying to build out our corporate practice on a global basis. We’ve added some really great lawyers in New York, Asia, London, and Germany on the private equity and M&A side, whilst we’ve also grown our competition capabilities in a significant way in both New York and in London, and that’s something we’re very excited about. But as a firm, in terms of growth, I think our strategy is different than other firms. Some firms will say we want to be in X practice in X office, whereas our approach is that there are lots of things that would fit into the strategy of the firm, but we won’t make an addition unless we see somebody that we think is a really superior partner, and if not, we’ll just do without that expertise. We’ll wait until we get really superb market-leading partners. We posted great results for 2023 and feel positive about 2024.

CA: Are there any domestic or international events/trendsthat 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?

Edelman: One trend that’s been to our benefit is that there’s a real focus on energy, specifically new forms of energy, and new forms of investment in products that are being produced on a carbon neutral or carbon negative basis. We have a leading practice in energy transition that is incredibly busy across the firm. We’ve got a dominant market position within the renewable space regarding solar projects but now we’re doing things like green steel projects, financing plants that create carbon neutral concrete, and creating data centers to fuel computer power.  We’re a leading firm in energy, power and in all these new technologies that are designed to create power that won’t be hurting the climate.  And we are able to handle those transactions on a global basis, consistent with the global nature of the challenges of climate change.

CA: Are there any upcoming trends regarding commercial litigation? Anything related to ESG in securities litigation perhaps, crypto & blockchain etc. or just anything the industry will be dealing with in the coming months?

Edelman: There has been a pick up in litigation, some of which can be explained by increased regulatory efforts in the United States.  When the regulators are more active, they do investigations, which creates white collar regulatory work.  And in many cases, the investigative work ultimately results in follow on civil litigation.  One area that has seen increased activity on the regulatory side is antitrust, and we have seen a big pick-up in antitrust litigation, which is consistent with the growth we have seen in that practice area at Milbank. 

CA: Some of the associates I’ve spoken to so far have mentioned the excellent training on offer at Milbank, before referencing schemes like Milbank@Harvard, and from last year’s editorial I read about additional programs like Advocacy@Milbank and Deals@Milbank. I therefore just wondered if you could maybe explain what these are a little more and what the thinking is behind why these are put on for associates?

Edelman: We’ve invested heavily in training as a firm, and our gold-standard program is Milbank@Harvard, whereby all of our associates undertake three week-long sessions at Harvard. It’s almost like a little executive MBA type program and it’s taught by business school and law school professors and firm partners. It includes a focus on leadership and management, and even includes personal coaching.  It’s a really terrific program – so terrific in fact that we run the same thing for our clients. We have general counsels from around the world come in and take the same classes and they love it. We also have in-house large programs for our associates, one transactional, one litigation. And we have specific practice group training as well.  When people arrive at the firm we try to have a r a curriculum, so associates get the whole picture of what they’re doing, and that’s taught by partners and to some extent outside teachers, so we make sure everybody does it. We also supplement it with more informal partner presentations. For instance, I personally did a dinner session with all our junior associates to talk about basic things like ‘what are you doing in a deposition?’. We organize about 30 associates who joined us for dinner and I spoke about how the deposition process works. I did another one on how you settle litigation, and it’s also about trying to build connection with our juniors, and to try pass on some of the accumulated knowledge over the years. We really try to create formal training with Milbank@Harvard and then the informal training supplements that.

CA: Milbank is of course an international firm that engages in work across all regions of the world – how important is it then for associates to have things like language skills and the ability to adapt to different cultures? Is that something you actively look for, or maybe not if they are predominantly focused on the US?

Edelman: One of our competitive advantages is that we view ourselves as very capable of dealing with cross-border matters, and dealing with clients in Europe and in Latin America and Asia Because of that, when we’re recruiting, language skills are very valuable, such as people who can speak Spanish, Portuguese, or Chinese, or French – they are very helpful because we have matters relating to those languages that create opportunities. Those people are valuable in New York or in London because we handle transactions in Latin America, Europe and Asia from our main offices. But certainly from time to time we have people that request to go out to another office because there’s an opportunity, whether it’s Brazil, or Seoul, or Singapore. We recently moved somebody out to Seoul. Going abroad isn’t a formal program but it does happen from time to time. We have a number of successful partners around the firm who have spent time in another office over the course of their career, and that’s something that builds the connectivity of the firm.

Inside the Firm

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

Edelman: In terms of remote work, our policy is three days in the office, except for 1st and 2nd years who are required to be in four days. My view is that younger lawyers really want to be in the office and benefit from being in the office. There does come a point where mid-level/senior lawyers may not want to come in and the problem is if they don’t come in, the junior lawyers don’t get the experience of learning from them and growing. I therefore think it’s important we mandate people being in the office, and that applies to partners and myself. I don’t believe in a free-market system where everybody just does whatever they want, because when that strikes, nobody comes in and then you have a bad experience for your junior lawyers. As much as some people would prefer to not have to come in, I think it’s really important that they do. In terms of well-being, we have a full range of mental health programs. We as a firm try to watch out for people who are impacted by personal and professional stress. Although I’m not an expert, I believe that working in the office a fair amount of the time is a positive and not doing so is not the best practice for this career. I know sometimes people do not want to come in but I am certain it’s good for you!

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

Edelman: We brought in a new head of diversity about two and a half years ago now and she has done a great job. Our recruiting has been very successful in bringing in great women and diverse candidates. We have a bunch of affinity groups that have been very successful as they bring in speakers and they have gatherings to go through particular DEI topics. I think more than most firms – and this is in part because of our international exposure – we really embrace inclusiveness with having people from different backgrounds, because we have clients from different cultures and so we really look for diversity in our hires,  our business model requires us to have a bunch of people with different skills and backgrounds.  That results in a firm that values diversity and inclusion of all sorts.  One of the great things about Milbank is working with people of many different backgrounds who have different experiences.

The Legal Profession

CA: How do you predict the legal profession will change in the next five years? Are there any particular challenges the industry is facing?

Edelman: I think the increase in the competitiveness of the industry at the partner level puts more stress on institutions to be more profitable, which in turn puts more stresses on culture and on associate expectations. We need to make sure we’re cognizant of that by projecting culture and focusing on the associate experience.

The Fun Bit

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

Edelman: My advice is that whichever law firm you go to, you want to work as much as you can and as hard as you can in order to learn as much as you can! Because the real thing you’re getting compensated with as a young lawyer – I know the money’s good! – but the real thing you’re getting is intellectual capital and experience, and so you want to get the most out of the experience. You can take a job and earn a check, but what’s really going to position you for your future is not the credential of having worked at a particular firm but rather that you’ve built a reputation with your colleagues and your clients. Working at a firm like ours, you’re getting experience and expertise that very few people in the world have, but you’ve got to make the most of it!

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

Edelman: Different people deal with it in different ways, I watch sports and reality TV! There are times when you’re under a lot of pressure and you’ve just got to power through it. And then when things are less busy, you can do things that allow you to recharge your batteries.

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?

Edelman: I’m a big fan of the movie My Cousin Vinny – it’s a classic, you have to watch it! It’s a great courtroom kind of comedy, and I recently watched another great movie that just came out on Netflix called The Burial which is another courtroom drama with a great cast – I’d recommend that one too.