Bingham McCutchen

Bingham McCutchen, formerly Bingham, Dana & Gould, managed to transform itself from a Boston heavyweight into a global firm through a series of bulking up mergers kicking off in the 1990s. Then in 2002, Bingham Dana merged with San Francisco firm, McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enerson and thus Bingham McCutchen was born.

Of all the US firms, Bingham seems to have weathered the recent economic storm relatively well. In the 2009/10 financial year the firm was one of a handful which didn't see a fall in revenue, indeed revenue shot up nearly 32% to $40.8m. And in 2010 turnover increased by another 6% to $43.2m.

The credit for the firm's good performance can be attributed to its focus on restructuring and finance litigation, which tend to be the areas to be in once the  sh*t hits the fan economically. The London office has very much stuck to its image as a finance outfit, rather than a full-service firm. And it's been doing pretty well off it, too. Bingham's recent work includes advising the world-wide bondholder group in relation to the restructuring of the beleaguered Icelandic banks and successfully concluding an epic decade's worth of litigation against Polish telecomms outfit Elektrim, securing over €700m for bondholders.

Bingham has offices all over the world. It's strategy is to plant its flag in every global financial centre (most recently in Frankfurt). Which should sound like good news for the firm's trainees, but in fact international jollies seats are not guaranteed. There is a possible 6 months to be had in Hong Kong but only if there is a business need. And given Bingham only takes on two trainees - it's not surprising that they're keen to keep them in London.

The firm's rationale behind the tiny intake is that it wishes to grow organically. That, and it probably doesn't want to be on the hook for too many NQ salaries. Bingham is probably most famous for offering the highest NQ salary in the City. An eye-watering £100k.

Unsurprisingly with this kind of wedge up for grabs, lawyers seem relatively happy with their lot at a firm which "pays a lot and respects weekends". As with many US firms, the general idea is that you get all the responsibility you can handle - so there's some interesting work to be had. Plus the small London headcount means that everyone knows everyone else, which can lend a certain camaraderie. However, shirkers beware, it also means there's nowhere to hide. Those wanting to skip out at 5pm must do so in front of everyone.

Overall, a solid choice for those with a real interest in finance and bankruptcy work. And those with dollar signs in their eyes.