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Our view...
Eversheds' slightly clumsy
vision is to become "a great place to work and the most client-centred
international law firm". It seems to be heading the right way,
although it's not quite there yet.
One of Eversheds'
problems was that by pursuing an aggressive policy of expansion
via merger it suffered from variable standards across its
offices. This made it difficult to convince the market
that it was a single body with an identifiable corporate culture
rather than a collective of smaller firms. Another concern was its
London office, which was simply not as good - nor as profitable - as
those of the traditional City players.
Both of these issues are
now being addressed. The firm has, by any standards, had a very good
year. Profits per equity partner in 2006 rose by 20% to £420,000,
turnover is up to £320 million. Some of the less profitable offices have been
abandoned, smart new ones are being opened up (most recently in
Shanghai and Qatar) and there is a huge focus on ramping up London.
The firm will be abandoning its shabby offices at Senator House in
2008 for shiny new ones near St Pauls, and it's been bussing in
senior partners and heads of departments from the regions to London
(most notably litigation and real estate).
Assistants will be pleased to know
that London salaries have also been raised to more reasonable
levels. But they still fall well short of the magic circle (a two
year qualified lawyer at A&O will make ten grand a year more than at
Eversheds, before bonus) and - crucially - are lower than those paid
at arch-rival DLA. There are various bonus schemes in place, linked
both to the firm's overall performance and assistants' chargeable
hours, but this is not the firm to work for if your chief motivator
is cash.
There are also concerns about
prospects. The firm made up a record number of partners this year -
24, seven of whom were in London. But all of them were salaried and
are likely to remain so for a long time. In fact, only half of the
firm's partners are in the equity: around 160 out of a total
population of 2,000 lawyers. Not the best odds. Average earnings for
all partners are £269,000, under half what you'd make at a
traditional City firm such as Ashurst.
And you'll be working pretty
similar hours for it. The firm says that it doesn't have a long
hours culture, but an assistant tells us that one of the written
criteria for becoming an associate is to record at least 2,000
billable hours a year.
Another comments that the
"culture engendered is big city / potential magic circle, as are
hours, but pay and conditions are not".
On the plus side, there does appear
to be a huge range of flexible working options, from career break to
reduced hours, remote working and job sharing. More reports on
whether this really does work please - if so then clearly this
is a very good thing indeed. Although not good enough to have
prevented the firm from dropping out of the Sunday Times list of top
100 employers in 2006.
Trainees should know that although
the firm takes on a lot of new recruits every year they're shared
out around its offices. This means that you'll never have more than
17 colleagues, so you should be able to get to know each other
easily. You'll also
have the opportunity to be seconded to the firm's international
offices or clients.
Overall the London office is
clearly making strides - work is good (particularly if you're a real
estate lawyer - property makes up a quarter of the firm's work),
it's moving to new premises, and pay and prospects are on the up.
But we reckon it's still got a long way to go before it can match
the deal on offer at its City competitors.
 For
more information on Eversheds click
here
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