Dechert
- London
"It’s a sweet life on Dech at this US-based funds and finance aficionado"
About the firm
- 18
- Trainees
- Undisclosed
- Associates
- 1
- National Offices
- 18
- Overseas Offices
Hopping aboard a US firm often comes hand in hand with the feeling that you’re moving at a rate of knots. Rookies were keen to note, however, that Dechert won’t leave you adrift. With supervisors who are “super invested” in trainees’ learning and development, “the opportunity to learn is massive if you’re willing to put yourself out there, but they also don’t expect you to be a machine,” one insider shared.
“The opportunity to learn is massive if you’re willing to put yourself out there.”
The firm is “looking for people who are self-starters and are going to enjoy trying to take the lead on things as quickly as possible,” according to training principal Adam Silver. And for those ready to captain the ship, there’s no shortage of standout work to get stuck into: our sister guide Chambers UK recognises the firmfor its employment work in London, and its capital markets and investment funds efforts nationwide. The six-seat structure also gives trainees room to chart their own course through these areas, letting them test the waters of various transactional and contentious teams before deciding where to drop their anchors.
Why trainees joined the firm
Six-seat training contract
Finance strengths
US firm with a strong local culture
Six-seat training contract
Trainees were drawn to Dechert’s six-seat training contract, which sees trainees rotate across six departments over the two-year programme. “It allows more of a tailored approach” to the shape of the training contract, noted one interviewee. “I knew going into my training contract that I didn’t know what area I wanted to qualify into, and it was a big difference that Dechert offered the opportunity to let the experience be more shaped to what you like,” they explained.
Finance strengths
“I wanted a firm that was good in finance-related departments,” one trainee reflected, and Dechert’s financial services expertise fit the bill.
US firm with a strong local culture
“I wanted a US firm with a strong London presence,” said one trainee, with another explaining, “There’s US exposure with a local feel to the culture of the firm.”
Trainee satisfaction rankings
- Excellent
- AI adoption
- Strong
- Compensation
Training contract structure
- 6x4
- Seat Structure
Seat allocation
For their first seat, new starters are asked to indicate whether they would like to begin in a transactional or a contentious practice area, with the caveat that a stint in the firm’s financial services group is mandatory for all.
For each of the next five rotations (yes, that’s six in total!) trainees submit three ranked preferences and sit down with the graduate recruitment team to discuss their choices. “It’s a very straightforward process,” trainees explained. As an added bonus, the six-seat setup means that if you just can’t get enough of your favourite seat, you can go back for more.
- Yes
- International secondments
- Yes
- Client secondments
Client secondments
Client secondments are available to trainees but are usually only offered on an “ad hoc basis,” and are dependent on client demand. When these opportunities do come around, they tend to be in the funds (financial services) practice area.
International secondments
International secondments are on offer to Dechert’s Dubai, Singapore, Dublin and Luxembourg offices, and “it’s pretty guaranteed that you’ll be able to do one if you want,” noted an interviewee.
Trainees aren’t restricted to those options, either: “if there’s an office you really want to go to, you can speak to the graduate recruitment team and make a case for it. Everything is on the table!” one insider explained. Similarly to client secondments, international opportunities tend to be available only in the funds practice area.
Seat Experiences
Dechert’s only mandatory seat is in its financial services group, known under the umbrella term of ‘funds’. Financial services is the “bread and butter” of the firm’s work, and this group was aptly described by one trainee as “the engine room of Dechert.”
With sub-groups focusing on several different services, including fund formation and fund management, the team represents an extensive list of asset managers and private equity clients, including ARP Global Capital, LeCap Asset Management, and TT International.
It will come as no surprise then that this was the “busiest seat” for most of our interviewees, who tended to be “staffed on lots of matters at the same time.” Day-to-day, typical trainee tasks included preparing fund documentation and offering circulars, inputting comments, and working on document checkers. Work can ramp up through the seat, with one trainee sharing that “by the end, I was working on closings, doing detailed analysis of transaction documents, and sitting in on client calls.”
There is a “steep learning curve” for this seat, with one source explaining that “you won’t understand the complexities of investment strategies until further down the line.” That said, trainees felt that the seat involved a lot of “learning through seeing how the team makes decisions,” with one interviewee noting that “there is a high ceiling for what you can do as a trainee, but equally, it’s demanding.” Another agreed that “the subject matter can be hard, but the firm is good with training.”
For trainees, a stint in the securities & complex litigation practice involves working across litigation, arbitration and mediation. As a result, one explained, “there is a breadth of work, which is good, and a breadth of clients as well.”
One such client is Chubb European Group, which Dechert has recently represented in multiple insurance claims that were brought to the High Court that related to the non-return of Russian-leased aircraftfollowing the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. And if you’re keen on getting international, that particular client is no exception: “every case that we’ve done has been cross-border, which I find really interesting,” one interviewee shared.
When working on these cases, trainees can expect to be tasked with filing submissions, carrying out due diligence and research, preparing ancillary court documents, and helping the team prepare emails and trackers. Trainees enjoyed the fact that “you get to use your brain a lot!”
There’s “not a lot of drafting work, but that’s to be expected when you’re a trainee,” a source noted, though interviewees were unanimous on the fact that the litigation team is “excellent at giving out trainings.” Indeed, “the team as a whole are really friendly and really willing to go out of their way to help you,” according to one delighted insider.
Dechert’s employment team is tasked with a mix of contentious work focusing on tribunals, as well as advisory work on all manner of employment questions. For instance, the team is currently advising Barings Investment Services Limited in a claim against the former co-head of its global private finance group, alleging a breach of contract in procuring mass resignations in order to establish a new company immediately following bonus payouts.
As such, trainee tasks range from preparing settlement agreements and drafting contracts and share incentive plans, to advising on maternity pay cases and contributing to employee handbooks.
Our insiders were pleased to note that there tends to be a “high level of responsibility given to trainees, because it’s a small team,” with plenty of interaction with seniors. One trainee recalled, “Sometimes a partner would send something straight to me and ask me to do it.” Another insider shared that “they get the trainees involved in practically everything. You’re more of a resource than just a trainee.”
On the employment litigation side, trainees are tasked with preparing bundles and given opportunities to attend judicial mediation hearings. There also tends to be “lots of being on calls with clients,” and in general “a lot more client exposure” to be had than in transactional seats.
Over in intellectual property, the team’s focus is split between contentious and transactional work, covering data protection as well as trademarks and IP litigation. For trainees, this meant that there is a “good balance to get involved in,” with typical tasks including handling domain complaints, drafting letters to registrars, and managing follow-ups.
Trainees also take charge of handling trademark oppositions and applications, witness statements, and general management of the firm’s portfolio of trademarks for its clients. Most of the team’s work is on the disputes side, with our sources reflecting that “it’s essentially a litigation seat” but with an IP focus.
Across the board, our interviewees felt that Dechert’s IP “client quality is really good,” and praised the seat as “a good learning opportunity.” Trainees did note that as an advisory team, “you’re not as consistently busy” as in the bigger transactional areas, but the small size of the team means that trainees are given the opportunity to take higher levels of responsibility than they might otherwise; one interviewee reported proudly that “I’ve really been given some chances to take ownership of substantive pieces of work.”
Trainee life
Culture and environment
“A US firm with a London culture,” was several trainees’ go-to description of Dechert’s London office, describing how people are “very easy to talk to” and “supervisors are super invested” in trainees’ growth and development. One interviewee noted that, because of the six-seat structure, “you genuinely do build relationships with what feels like the whole of the firm,” whileanother agreed that “everyone knows everyone!”
“The fact everyone’s expected to take a high degree of responsibility has a flattening effect.”
Trainees also commented on the non-hierarchical culture of the firm, noting that “the fact everyone’s expected to take a high degree of responsibility has a flattening effect.” Getting to know seniors at the firm is also a boost to trainees’ learning and development, with one insider sharing that “everyone – my supervisor, associates, all the way up to the partners – has been really encouraging.”
On the social side, the firm hosts spring, summer, autumn and winter events. Trainees did caveat that, aside from these seasonal parties, “the firm doesn’t have a lot of socials” and “it’s not very typical for people except for trainees to be going out to the pub.” When events do happen, though, insiders noted “the vibes are generally quite good.” For instance, twice a year, the Junior Business Development Committee will organise drinks with juniors from other industries which, sources explained, is “useful from a business perspective” but also “really fun!”
Working patterns
- 4 days a week
- Expected office attendance
- 45.1
- Typical billable hours in a week
Data from our annual trainee survey
Average working hours vary a lot between teams. Trainees did point out, however, that “there is flexibility. If you’ve worked late, there’s no expectation to be in at 9am the next day.”
In terms of how much of that work is done from home, the firm has recently increased its in-office policy for juniors from three days to four. “We are subscribers to the view that trainees get much more out of the experience and learn much more from being in the office,” Silver explains.
Trainees agreed with this, with one insider noting that “it helps your development if you’re in the office, because partners will come to you to do things.” There are other perks to being in the office too, not least the incredible views: one trainee revealed that “I can literally see St Paul’s from my window!”
Pay
- £55,000
- 1st Year Salary
- £61,000
- 2nd Year Salary
Data provided by firm and our annual trainee survey
Generally, trainees agreed that they’re happy with their salaries. “Dechert is in the sweet spot of a US firm where you won’t be working until 1am, but you’re getting US pay,” one trainee highlighted. “It’s competitive, I can’t complain!” another commented.
Supervision and training
Our interviewees had plenty of positive things to say about supervision, reporting that they felt they had “close working relationships” with their supervisors. It helps that a trainee will be sat with their supervisor in the office, so “you’re pretty much working as a pair much of the time, which means constant feedback.”
As well as day-to-day chats, every seat will have an informal mid-seat review and a formal end-of-seat appraisal. These appraisals are attended both by the trainee’s supervisor and a partner mentor. “My partner mentor sees my appraisals from my first seat to the very last, so they’ve seen your journey across two years, which can be nice,” one insider shared: “They’re someone to advocate for you.”
On the training side, new starters are given a two-week induction, but after this, training sessions tend to be department-specific and are more common in the bigger teams (FSG and litigation). “You learn most of it on the job,” trainees reported.
Pro bono & CSR
Pro bono at Dechert is “absolutely massive,” according to one source. The firm requires all its lawyers to carry out a minimum of 25 pro bono hours, but our interviewees had all exceeded that target, some by tenfold!
“A rewarding thing to be a part of…”
Our interviewees felt that pro bono work at the firm was “a rewarding thing to be a part of” and “a great opportunity to meet people in different teams.” One insider described how “you learn what it really means to be a lawyer on pro bono projects.”
The firm has a dedicated pro bono counsel, and emails go out regularly advertising opportunities, which include three mandatory sessions at the Islington Law Clinic for first-year trainees.
Other opportunities include:
Windrush compensation scheme
Kids In Need of Defence (KIND)
Afghan refugee settlement project
Qualification
The qualification process takes place during the fifth seat of the training contract. The firm releases a list of available jobs, and trainees can apply to up to two teams. Although every team holds an interview, the level of formality varies between practice areas, and some seats such as litigation also require the submission of written work.
Trainees did note that retention was more likely in the financial services group, with sources explaining, “If you align with what the firm is growing towards, you will most likely stay.” As such, there are fewer opportunities available for those wanting to work in contentious practice areas.
Occasionally, fixed-term contracts are offered instead of full-time associate roles. Despite this, there was praise for the graduate recruitment team, who are “very helpful” in providing support for non-retained trainees to find jobs elsewhere.
- Undisclosed%
- Trainees Retention
Trainees aren’t the only busy bees at Dechert…
The firm has recently installed a beehive on its roof terrace!
Contact this law firm
Top Figures
- £55,000
- 1st Year Salary
- £61,000
- 2nd Year Salary
- £165,000
- Newly Qualified Salary
- 10
- Training Contract Vacancies
- Firm recruits exclusively through it's vacation scheme
- Application Closing Date
