Davis Polk & Wardwell

About the firm

Companies work hard to get their brand recognition up and their value proposition high, and some of them hit the nail on the head. For Davis Polk, as one trainee put it, “The value proposition is straightforward – top of the market work and top of the market salary.” It is, admittedly, a pretty straight summary of life as a trainee in Davis Polk’s London office, but for our interviewees looking for a firm with a small intake and access to high stakes multi-jurisdictional work, the choice was an easy one.

“…top of the market work and top of the market salary.”

The London office’s modest headcount of around 80 lawyers is backed by a sizeable stateside offering, where it boasts no less than 61 Chambers USA department rankings. The firm’s international reach also earns it a whole host of spots in Chambers Global, particularly for its global capital markets (high-yield products) and banking & finance capabilities.

No less, the firm holds its own in London, too; our colleagues over at Chambers UK recognise the firm’s national expertise in equity & debt capital markets work. From this alone, “when you apply you know you’re going into a transactional firm,” sources noted,but that knowledge isn’t the only expectation the firm has for applicants…

Here, trainees, associates and partners alike are united by a genuine “interest in the law,” which interviewees noted “carries into the culture. You can have a conversation with any associate which is conducive to good work.” Trainees were also keen to highlight that the smaller office size means “you know everyone in the team you’re in – and most people in the office.” As a result, “having those relationships lets me work more freely,” one concluded.

Why trainees joined the firm

Small trainee intake

“It’s a smaller team than many other US firms in London,” one insider noted of the firm’s trainee cohort; the firm typically takes on around five trainees each year. Smaller cohorts often lend themselves to more one-on-one interaction with seniors and partners.

International secondment opportunities

“Davis Polk is one of the firms offering the chance to go abroad,” noted one interviewee. Indeed, the firm allows those who want to to spend a six-month stint in New York or Brussels as a second-year trainee.

US firm with respectable UK presence

“I was looking at US firms with a noticeable but not monolithic presence in the UK,” said one interviewee. Davis Polk’s overall London headcount is one of the leaner in the guide, though the firm holds its own with UK-wide practice strengths.

Trainee satisfaction rankings

Training contract structure

Seat allocation

Trainees have a say in which departments they’d like to sit in, though interviewees noted “it’s not a formal process; we’re not sent a form to rank practice areas.” Instead, trainees have a conversation with the training principal to express their preferences.

The firm has a select few practices on offer, so trainees will almost certainly complete a stint in the M&A and finance department, complemented with a rotation one of the firm’s specialist departments. Other options include tax, antitrust, investment management, executive compensation, financial regulatory and restructuring.

“You’re never going to be guaranteed anything because there’s always an element of business need taken into account,” one source noted; however, all out interviewees felt positive about the departments they were able to experience. Trainees can also spend more than one rotation in the same seat, though this is usually during their final seat if they have intentions to qualify into that department.

Client secondments

Client secondments are arranged on an ad hoc basis according to business need.

International secondments

For those that wish to partake, Davis Polk typically offers an international secondment to either New York or Brussels during trainees’ second year. “The seat you do on secondment will depend on business need,” noted insiders. Brussels tends to be antitrust-focused, while New York is more flexible as the office is larger.

Seat Experiences

Trainee life

Culture and environment

Data from our annual trainee survey

“It’s a boutique feel right in the centre of everything!”

“I’m a big advocate for preaching that Davis Polk has a great vibe!” one trainee headlined. The vibes are perhaps best exemplified in the firm’s snazzy new office “right behind the NED – it’s a boutique feel right in the centre of everything!” The new office boasts collab spaces, focus rooms, a balcony with a BBQ, changing rooms and a dining space.

Perhaps thanks in part to the aforementioned perks, trainees had no qualms with the four day in-office policy (with Friday being a work from home day). During the month of August and the period surrounding Christmas, trainees have the option to work completely remotely for two weeks.

Physical space aside, our sources had only positive things to say about the firm’s people who “are nice – and clever!” This goes for “not just the lawyers, but all the staff – the barista, reception, cleaning staff, business development – and that’s been a big thing for me,” said one.In addition, trainees “can swing by anybody’s office and ask a question, or for a coffee, so I think it’s pretty chill,” another noted. Of course, there’s no getting away from the fact that it is a busy corporate firm so “everyone is under varying levels of stress,” said an insider, “but I’ve never been shouted at or anything that made it feel like an unfriendly space.”

On the social side, though “we’re not organising tons of socials,” trainees felt that “the culture is collaborative.” The trainees themselves “eat together and go out together.”

Working patterns

Data from our annual trainee survey

As is the case at many law firms, hours vary quite a bit between practices. Corporate, for example, “is a lot more up and down; some days you can be finishing at 5.30pm, while others you can finish at 2am!” Practices like antitrust and finance tend to be more consistently busy with fewer booms and busts; trainees here reported finishing between 7pm and 10pm on most days.

Overall, sources felt that seniors were generally respectful of evenings and weekends. Ultimately, “Nobody wants to miss out on weekends, but you’re paid top of the market and get the best work, so you can’t expect to be logging off at 5pm,” a source concluded.

Pay

Data provided by firm and our annual trainee survey

In return for slightly more demanding hours, “Our salaries are really high, so I think it’s fair compensation,” said a trainee. First years are a rewarded a tidy £65,000, moving up to £70,000 in their second year, before making the sizeable jump to £180,000. “There are times when the hours can be brutal,” said one trainee, though admittedly, the compensation helps sweeten the deal: “All things considered, it’s good!”

Supervision and training

“You never have to chase feedback.”

Newbies have introductory training sessions to get a grounding on main documents, which are accompanied by further training sessions each rotation. Across practices, trainees get the chance to take first passes on a range of documents. “You’re bound to make mistakes, but it’s how you learn,” reflected one. Feedback was praised in general with sources noting that “seniors and counsel are so open to questions.” On top of that, “you never have to chase feedback.”

Pro bono & CSR

“When I was applying, they made a big deal about it,” one trainee said of pro bono – so much so that they weren’t sure if it was just a “buzzword!” Rest assured, that’s certainly not the case. The firm has a pro bono team in London and New York, and they send out firmwide emails with details on different projects trainees can get involved with.

As an international firm, trainees can work with offices like Brussels and New York on projects. “You get a level of exposure you don’t think you’ll get early on, so it wet the whistle, so to speak!” one interviewee divulged.

Closer to home, the firm recently ran a domestic abuse clinic in collaboration with LSE. “We’re coming together to help victims of domestic abuse with the process and the documents they need,” one trainee explained: “So their students help to draft the first pass, ask us questions, and we draft the document with the legal language.”

Qualification

The firm’s qualification process doesn’t include interviews; instead, trainees submit short applications to the two departments they’d like to qualify into explaining why.“It’s a quick turnaround, so you get your offers in the same week in May,” said one trainee.

Marching forWard…

Davis Polk & Wardwell is one of the firms with the highest NQ salaries, with associates receiving an eye-watering £180,000.