Linklaters - The Inside View

What do Linklaters and postage stamps have in common? More than you’d expect! First: both have their humble beginnings in the United Kingdom back in the 1800s, though fortunately there’s nothing Dickensian about Linklaters (affectionately known as Links) today. Second: Links’ US presence and postage stamps both exist in relatively small dimensions, but their sizes are by no means accurate representations of their might and universal identity. Associates explained that “in the States Linklaters is relatively small, but its global reach is huge, so I’m getting all the BigLaw work with a smaller-office atmosphere.” Indeed: Linksnow has around 30 offices spanning 20 countries with a total of over 3,000 attorneys.

“I’m getting all the BigLaw work with a smaller-office atmosphere.”

So, just how big of a global icon is Links? Chambers Global awards the firm over 200 accolades across numerous jurisdictions. Most notably, the firm is recognized for its top-tier multi-jurisdictional expertise in banking & finance, capital markets, competition/antitrust, corporate/M&A, employee benefits, and projects & energy. There’s more to this magic circle member’s story, but you’ll have to head over to chambers.com for the full picture. Links’ two US offices – New York and DC – garner a total of six Chambers USA rankings, with its New York bankruptcy/restructuring and nationwide privacy & data security work receiving top praise.

Both offices take on juniors, although the majority can be found in New York, where newbies ply their trade across the dispute resolution, antitrust & foreign investment, corporate, tax, banking, capital markets, financial regulatory, and investment funds departments.

Strategy & Future

“We have an ambitious project underway to expand our numbers in the US. It’s a very profitable market, and the competition is ferocious,” hiring partner Doug Tween tells us. This plan was clearly well communicated to our associate sources, who concurred that “strengthening the US market in areas such as M&A, tech, and data continues to be the firm’s aim.” And that’s not all. Last year, the firm secured multiple wins with the hire of key partners from US-heavyweight firms to bolster its employment; exec compensation and employee benefits; regulatory; energy & infrastructure; and capital markets practices.

While expansion in the US remains a key point of interest for the firm, growth elsewhere has not been slowing down. In late 2022, the firm added key hires to its Dubai and Hong Kong offices to strengthen its energy & infrastructure and restructuring & insolvency practices, respectfully.

Career Development

Links associates can collect mentors much like Pokémon: “You have a partner mentor as a summer, a new one when you start, and the opportunity to have two associate mentors, too,” a source explained. Newbies also have access to a sponsorship program which sees them paired up with a senior sponsor from one of Links’ global offices. The sponsor acts as an advocate for the associate on multiple fronts, including secondments and senior progression at the firm. “It’s an interesting program that not many firms have,” one source praised.

The firm also provides a marketing budget to juniors which allows them to build out their network and take clients to lunches, encouraging them to be “transparent in their growth.” As such, our survey results found that almost three quarters of respondents felt partnership was achievable at the firm. Admittedly, “partnership is a bit far off at the moment,” one third year noted; however, “informal discussions in relation to the skills needed to transition from a junior to mid-level associate” were in abundance.

The Work

Over the summer, associates get into the swim of things through the firm’s pool system. Newbies are able to test the waters in areas across the firm, including banking, dispute resolution, and M&A. This fluidity was highly praised by our interviewees, who noted: “When I came out of law school, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so it was great not to be set in a practice group straight away.” In fact, another admitted, “during my summer, I wanted to be a litigator; however, derivatives sold me and I haven’t looked back!” Ultimately, the majority of the firm’s 2021 cohort joined the dispute resolution group, with the rest evenly spread between antitrust & foreign investment, banking, capital markets, corporate, investment funds, and financial regulatory.

“Juniors often lead the documents and emails.”

Links’ finance umbrella covers (but isn’t limited to) structured finance & derivatives, restructuring & insolvency, energy & infrastructure, banking, finance, and capital markets (which includes a dedicated Latin America practice). The capital markets division typically represents banks, insurance companies, funds, and investment advisers on derivatives transactions. There’s also a new group that handles collateralized loan obligations (CLOs). Here, newbies carry out reviews of credit facilities, swap hedge agreements, and take the first stab at drafting documents. “You do a mix of due diligence and transaction management,” a source explained. “The firm wants to teach you how to manage big deals and interact with clients, so juniors often lead the documents and emails.”

Capital markets highlight: Advised Arrival, inventor of a unique new method of design and production of electric vehicles (“EVs”), on its definitive agreement for a business combination with Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp. V, a special purpose acquisition company. 

Also falling under the finance umbrella is the investment funds group, where newbies can get their hands on a mix of general practice and investment work. The group works closely with the corporate/M&A, energy & infrastructure, finance, derivatives & structured products, tax, and dispute resolution groups to advise clients on regulatory and compliance matters. “We essentially work with clients’ documents, make sure all the boxes are ticked, and bring in the right investors,” one source explained. On a day-to-day basis, this means “making edits to documents and liaising with clients,” and occasionally “drafting documents and going through them with senior associates.” Juniors welcomed the opportunity to liaise with clients directly: “I didn’t expect to be interacting with the client so early on! The firm eases you in, and now I’m confident with phrasing; it’s a great learning experience.”

Investment funds clients: Aermont Capital, DRA Advisors and AIG Asset Management.

Dispute resolution is a broad practice group in which associates can get their hands on general commercial, white-collar, and antitrust cases. Ultimately, this means the client base is varied, but tends to comprise of Fortune 500 companies, with many from the pharma sector. According to our sources, the New York office is the hub for cross-border commercial disputes, while DC leads in white-collar and government investigations. When it comes down to the work carried out by associates, responsibility increases over time. “As a first and second year you’re reviewing documents on relevancy,” an interviewee explained. “As a third year, you’re still reviewing documents, but you have a view of the broader picture and you’re discussing with partners directly. I’m currently preparing criminal defenses, motions, and letters for trial.” Admittedly, “the job isn’t always glamorous, but I love it!” a source gushed.

Dispute resolution clients: Société Generale, Credit Suisse, NatWest, Nestle Nespresso USA, AES Alto Maipo, TDK Electronics. Defended Strides Pharma in a multidistrict product liability litigation with over 100,000 claimants and 40 defendants relating to the alleged presence of a probable human carcinogen in one of their medications. 

Hours & Compensation

Billable hours: 1,900 target for full market bonus

Thanks to a cocktail of billable, pro bono, DE&I, and training hours contributing towards the 1,900 target, our sources felt it was “totally doable!” This is hardly surprising considering the firm’s current influx of work. According to our survey results, Links associates reported racking up around 56.6 hours per week – higher than the overall market average of 49.6. While a few felt that the fluctuation between slower and busier weeks “balanced out in a way so you don’t feel overwhelmed or burnt out,” others indicated that the hours could be tough and impact the amount of time enjoyed outside of work.

Regardless, our sources found their market-level compensation to be “a big motivator.” Even further motivation was found in the firm’s discretionary bonus for those who “go above and beyond the requirement,” though there was some confusion around the rules for achieving this extra bonus. We were informed that the firm takes into account various factors, including each associate's contribution to the firm (in the form of DE&I, marketing and business development, recruiting activities etc...), when deciding on bonus payouts.

Pro Bono

Links serves up an unlimited buffet of pro bono, we heard. There’s no cap on the amount of pro bono work associates can get involved in, and all pro bono hours can contribute towards the billable target.  And with associates encouraged to complete around 100 hours each year, we can understand why “so many people get involved.”

“I brought in my own matter to work on in my own language.”

Alongside billable credit, newbies found that another pro to pro bono work was the ability to “lead the matters you’re on and take responsibility” as a junior. “There are lots of research projects, but some people get to do some trial stuff,” an interviewee added. Typical pro bono matters at the firm include (but definitely aren’t limited to) immigration cases, school and youth support, and diversity and environmental matters. The firm’s international roots also come to the fore in its pro bono offering: “I brought in my own matter to work on in my own language,” one of our sources stated.

Pro bono hours

• For all US offices: 14,823
• Average per US attorney: 84

Culture

It’s often said that you never truly forget your roots, and this seems to be the case with multimillion-dollar law firms too. Hailing as it does from London, associates could well and truly feel the firm’s European twang, particularly when it came to taking breaks. “Europeans take holidays so seriously, and it’s been reinforced in our New York and DC offices, which I’m all in favor of!” one associate laughed.

“The firm is known for karaoke, so juniors get heavily involved in that!”

What’s more, “people listen and take an interest in my personal life and growth,” an interviewee shared, explaining that associates’ voices were heard within the firm. And we heard their singing voices were just as loud: “The firm is known for karaoke, so juniors get heavily involved in that!” However, if singing isn’t your idea of a good time, sources told us spontaneous food and drink with your team was a regular occurrence, but “there are no expectations to hang around if you want to go home to your family.”

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Our sources praised the firm’s push for diversity and inclusion through the implementation of gender-neutral toilets, the use of pronouns, the guidelines around respectful language, and the firm’s affinity groups. Interviewees were also pleased with the firm’s effort to “hold itself accountable” through “open discussions about reports and goals on diversity.”

In 2020, Links launched it’s ‘Race Action Plan’ which outlined multiple targets the firm hopes to hit year-on-year regarding the recruitment and retention of diverse candidates. In its 2022 update, the firm reported that it had achieved the goal of having at least 15% diverse partner representation in new partner elections across the UK and the US. In fact, the firm’s 2022 partner class had 38% diverse representation, and 41% female representation.

Linklaters is a Top 10 firm for DE&I in our 2023 survey.

Get Hired

The first stage: recruitment on and off campus

OCI applicants interviewed: 394

Interviewees outside OCI: 2

Linklaters USA conducts OCI interviews at American, Brooklyn, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Emory, George Washington, Georgetown, Harvard, Howard, University of Michigan, NYU, University of Pennsylvania, St John’s, and UVA. It also does resume collections at Cardozo, Fordham, and Stanford, and participates in the MABLSA Job Fair, and NEBLSA Job Fair. Partners, counsels and senior associates usually conduct the interviews. At each school, interviewers see approximately 20 to 70 students.

Hiring partner Doug Tween tells us: “During our initial interviews we try to focus on the following core competencies: motivation and commitment to excellence, organizational and commercial awareness, intellect and analytical ability, working with others, and communication skills. The best interviews are with candidates who can explain how they satisfy those competencies with specific experiences.” Overall, Linklaters is looking for “intelligent, curious, energetic, team-oriented people who will help us succeed going forward.”

Top tips for this stage:

“This can vary from student to student, but in general we are looking for well-rounded individuals with a combination of strong academics, relevant work experience, leadership positions, and examples of working effectively as part of a team. Language skills are a plus.” – Doug Tween, hiring partner

“Be familiar with the firm and what we do. Look at the website, research social media, speak with students who have summered with us in the past. Come to our recruiting events and talk to people. Listen and be prepared with questions that demonstrate you’ve done your homework. Come in with energy and enthusiasm.” – Tween

Callbacks

Applicants invited to second stage interview: 171

Callback interviews include five separate meetings. Students meet with one member of HR or recruitment, two partners/counsel, and two associates, each for half an hour. Interviewers here ask behavioral questions that hone in on particular competency areas. Tween tells us “at this stage of the interviews, we are interested in delving deeper into the candidates’ past experiences and behaviors to help us get a better sense of what motivates them, how they work with others, and how they have handled challenges in the past.”

Top tips for this stage:

“At this stage of the interview process, you should be able to clearly identify why you are interested in the firm. Doing some research on the firm and your interviewers will enable you to make connections with the people you meet and convince them of your interest.” – Tween

“Be ready to talk about your resume, but also about current events. And perhaps most importantly: be prepared with your own thoughtful questions.” – Tween

Summer program

Offers: 53

Acceptances: 24

Our summer associates are part of a pool and typically work with several practice groups throughout the summer. They may also have an opportunity to spend the summer in one of our overseas offices or spend time in more than one office. As well as helping on billable matters, summer associates are expected to work on pro bono assignments. They also attend training sessions throughout the summer to prepare them for practice and introduce them to the firm. Summer associates typically share offices with associates, and each summer associate is assigned a partner/counsel mentor and an associate mentor. Summer associates have informal catch-ups with their mentors over the course of the summer, and they also receive two formal appraisals during the program, one at the midpoint and one at the end of the summer.

Linklaters hosts many social events for summer associates, the most notable being the midsummer retreat to London. “The retreat brings the entire global summer associate class together in London for several days to see the office and learn more about the firm and how we work together to serve our clients,” Tween explains. “The retreat is also an opportunity for the summers to meet our London-based attorneys and get to know their summer associate classmates who are working in different offices. And of course, they also get to do some sight-seeing as a class and experience London.”

Back home in the US, associates informed us of social events ranging from “an axe-throwing class and a museum hack tour to exploring nice restaurants.”

The firm tells us nearly all summers return as junior associates. In the New York and Washington offices, juniors are placed in a general pool during their first six months at the firm. At the end of that period they express their preferences and are then placed into specific practice areas.

Top tips for this stage:

“The best way summer associates can impress and make the most of their summer experience with us is by being proactive and engaged; demonstrating that they are excited to learn and be a part of the team; and focusing on contributing and doing their best.” – Tween

“Take the opportunity to meet and work with as many people as possible and explore a variety of work.” –  Tween

And finally….

Tween tells us: “Know what distinguishes Linklaters from other top-tier law firms, and be able to explain why Linklaters is the firm for you.”