Stephenson Harwood (London)

Our view...

Stephenson Harwood has always had a strong reputation for middle tier corporate work, shipping and litigation. This reputation took a battering in the mid Noughties when the firm went through a bit of a wobble, but things seem to be firmly back on track. In 2009/2010, turnover hit £91.1 million, steadying the good ship SH. PEP is currently £561,000, down from the peak of a couple of years back, but still very respectable. And we hear that some of the more senior partners can push a million a year.

As everyone knows, it's been a tough time for certain departments - and the well-regarded real estate team at the firm has been doing some extensive wound licking. Still, they've worked on high profile stuff recently and would surely hope the litigation is extremely highly rated. And quite apart from the increase in work there is much that is good about SH. One advantage, in contrast to many other City firms, is that whilst the corporate department is undoubtedly important, it is not king, with other departments being highly regarded in their own right. And the firm has acted on some properly big deals and cases recently, with some high-profile clients in the locker - including Crapita, EDF and TFL.

Being a firm with a strong shipping department, you'd also expect it to have some interesting overseas offices - who together provide 22% of the firm's revenue. It has six of them, in fact, including three in China - Guangzhou, Shanghai and Hong Kong. There are chances for trainees to get out there for a stint, too. And possibly - if you're lucky - to Paris.

In essence, SH is a capable mid-sized firm fortunate enough to have offices that are slap bang in the middle of the City, right by St Paul's (although sadly - neo-classical architecture fans - they're moving next year). It's more than capable of doing good quality work for good clients (including the likes of HSBC - a client of very long standing) and would continue to do so if only its partners would stop disappearing to do it for other firms. Now it's finally decided to specialise in the areas in which its strengths lie (banking and asset finance, maritime services and property) it's reversed the trend, and has nicked more laterals from other firms than it has lost, increasingly headcount to about 270 lawyers. Hiring generally looks to have picked up, too - although presumably mainly to replace those staffers who were made redundant in the bad times. Ambition runs deep here, all the same. So a firm to watch.

In 2009, 15 out of 18 trainees stayed on. Which given the climate was very impressive.