Ashurst (London)

Our view...

Back in the nineties Ashurst was seen as pretty much the best firm at which to work in the City. The cliche was that it punched above its weight, with Magic Circle quality but mid-sized training. Its crown may have slipped a little since then, but it still remains one of the most highly regarded firms in the City.

Like all chasing pack firms Ashurst has had to make some tough decisions over its future, and there are concerns that it hasn't been entirely focused in this. Its strategy was to grow organically into the leading European law firm, but it hasn’t been shy of pursuing mergers. Clifford Chance and Latham & Watkins were both rejected as suitable targets, as was Fried Frank. Earlier this year, the latest rumour to be quashed was that Ashurst was looking at pairing up with Dewey & LeBoeuf. The firm has now decided to go it alone with international expansion. Its new senior partner, Charlie Geffen, has made it clear that he plans for the firm to invest further and the firm recently launched a new office in Abu Dhabi.

Will Ashurst’s strategy work? It may have lost valuable ground to its competitors whilst it was dithering around, but its reputation and profits should be strong enough to maintain its progress. Ashurst’s turnover was up by 17% in 07/08, hitting £323million. Average profit per partner was up 9% to a very healthy £1.04million, and the partner profit range stretched from £560,000 to £1.46million.

The firm’s corporate department is pretty much as good as any in the Magic Circle, its MBO team better than all of them. All its other departments are highly regarded, particularly property, tax litigation and its strengthening international finance team: Ashurst was recently instructed by Santander to advise on Bradford & Bingley’s rescue.

Lawyers seem to be generally happy. One associate comments that the firm is “friendly and collegiate yet still values the individual”. Another says, “many colleagues who have left comment on how the culture at Ashurst is much more cordial and relaxed than the firms they have moved to”. And it seems that at least amongst the junior lawyers, it’s pretty sociable; one trainee notes it’s “not known as ‘Lashurst’ for nothing...”

The combination of top-drawer clients and the fact it is relatively small in size means that Ashurst is an excellent place to train. As in any top firm lawyers will have to work silly hours a lot of the time, but at least it's doing big ticket work for top whack pay. Promotion prospects are reasonable – in April 17 new partners were appointed, of which eight were based in London. But the firm still lacks a viable alternative to partnership to compete with the likes of Allen & Overy’s counsel role or BLP’s associate directorships. And “trying to eat with the "compostable" cutlery (which melts in even tepid food) is an exercise in ritualised humiliation”.

For info on graduate recruitment at Ashurst, click here.