Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe

About the firm

In any industry, those that tend to have the most success are those that steer into the right opportunities. In law, this means having your finger on the pulse when it comes to which sectors things are happening in. Orrick certainly does. A glance at the firm’s website outlines its focus on technology & innovation, energy & infrastructure, finance & life sciences and health tech, and according to our sources that very much holds true. In fact, its reputation in these practice areas was the key draw for our interviewees, particularly its work with tech start-ups and its renewables practice. But more on that later.

This US-headquartered international firm receives top rankings from Chambers Global in Structured Finance Capital Markets, CMBS and PACE Securitisation, Projects: Power & Renewables, Projects: PPP and Projects: Renewables & Alternative Energy, among others. Orrick is also well-rated in the Chambers UK guide, particularly for its IT, Renewable Energy, International Arbitration, Venture Capital and Private Equity practices.

Why trainees joined the firm

Tech & energy startup work

As one trainee put it: “Orrick has a good rep for tech and energy clients, and the firm does a lot of work with technology company groups, tech startups and renewable energy. That’s why I chose Orrick.”

Down-to-earth culture

What sealed the deal for the trainees we spoke to, though, was Orrick’s people. As one source told us, this “should be a big consideration since you’ll be spending hours together under pressure.” Interviewees told us how friendly the associates at the firm are and how “very down to earth” the firm feels.

Early responsibility

Orrick has a relatively small trainee intake, so “if someone were thinking of applying, they should ask themselves if they would like to be at a firm where they take on a lot of responsibility and are a bit out of their depth!” Unlike bigger firms where the trainee role might be more defined, Orrick prides itself on giving trainees a bit more flexibility.

Trainee satisfaction rankings

Training contract structure

Seat allocation

“You have freedom in designing your training contract.”

The training contract at Orrick is unusual in that trainees undertake six four-month seats in different departments over the two years of training, rather than the more usual four seats each lasting six months at other firms. Trainees felt that the greater number of shorter seats on offer at Orrick has its pros and cons. Four months isn’t a long period of time to get a handle on everything in each department, but ultimately, they said that “it gives you more breadth than four would offer, and pretty much everyone repeats a seat they really like that they’ll probably qualify into.”

Interviewees also reported that, at Orrick, “you have freedom in designing your training contract.” Everyone has to do a seat in one of the corporate teams, and “most people sit in the technology companies group” to satisfy this requirement. Trainees must also complete at least one seat in a contentious practice.

At the end of a trainee’s first seat, they get the opportunity to put forward their preference for their next seat to graduate recruitment. “There’s preference given to second years because they’re closer to qualification,” sources said, but the six-seat approach means that “the risk of you having a seat you didn’t want to do eating up your chance of having a seat you do want to do is reduced.”

Client secondments

Secondment opportunities are not available to trainees, “but it’s not uncommon for associates to go on secondment.”

Seat Experiences

Trainee life

Culture and environment

Data from our annual trainee survey

Orrick’s London office is in the heart of the City, “right next to Bank, so it’s easy to get there,” and sources told us that its three floors are “a friendly environment where everyone is open and welcoming.” It’s always good to hear that “it’s not a scary thing to knock on a partner’s door,” contrary to the US firm stereotype.

Everyone goes into the office on Wednesdays and trainees are expected in three days a week, but sources said that “there isn’t really a facetime culture. Everyone is understanding if you have other things going on.” Although, as with any workplace, “there will be one or two people you don’t get on with,” interviewees told us the general vibe of the firm is that “everyone is largely very nice – on the whole, everyone is very supportive.”

Social life at Orrick is a little more low-key and ad hoc than at other firms with bigger trainee groups. While the firm does “make an effort to make sure it’s enjoyable,” interviewees reported that “we don’t really have big, formal set-ups” for socialising. Orrick does host holiday parties, though, and teams will go for drinks and dinners every so often. One interviewee cautioned that “if the social side is a key driver, I wouldn’t recommend Orrick; we don’t have things like sports teams because there just aren’t enough people.” However, because the trainee cohorts are smaller, “they all tend to be very close,” a source said. “We’ll organise going out for drinks if we’re done with work or ask people for help on the group chat.” We also heard that trainees now have a budget for social activities.

Working patterns

Data from our annual trainee survey

No US law firm in the City is going to have you working nine-to-five, but at Orrick the hours can vary significantly. On a very quiet day, sources said, you might just be able to sneak out at 5.30pm. On “a good day, you’re out by 7pm or 8pm – and on a bad day…” Say no more.

Trainees stressed that, although “you definitely have some seats where you are spread quite thin and you are working significantly longer hours,” seniors and partners “are keen for you to take a break after a busy period, protect your holidays fairly well, and try to make sure that you protect your important plans.”

Pay

“The nature of the job is that you turn around work with tight deadlines,” so trainees weren’t too taken aback by the hours. The general feeling was that compensation “is probably fair – we get paid more than a lot of UK firms.” First year trainees are rewarded £60,000 for their efforts, rising to £65,000 for second years, and leaping to £160,000 for NQs – not too shabby three years into a job.

“You’re working to an end goal where the compensation steps up.”

One trainee did say that “there are times you feel you’re working crazy hours and you’re not sure what the maths looks like in terms of pay-per-hour,” but another noted that it’s about the long game – “you’re working to an end goal where the compensation steps up.”

Supervision and training

At Orrick, trainees said that they “don’t have reams of lecture-style learning.” Training on the job is the focus instead, and trainees have a senior associate supervisor in every seat. Everybody sits in individual offices, but trainees share with their supervisors which our interviewees felt was “a really beneficial way of learning.” One trainee noted that “in all my seats, everything I did was checked, and I was told why things were changed.” Another source commented that “your supervisor gives you a task, after which you can sit down with them and talk about anything that cropped up.” And feedback isn’t limited to supervisors: “everyone has been good at doing that, even when it’s busy,” said one interviewee.

Formal training is, in one trainee’s words, “more ad hoc, rather than a regimented, classroom-based programme” like you might get at firms with larger trainee groups. Every department does have its own training programme, but these are generally what the firm describes as “trainee-led training.” That means the trainees themselves organise talks with seniors on topics that might benefit their fellow trainees, rather than forcing everyone to sit through “generic talks on a random topic you might not experience.” Insiders were generally positive about this approach to training, with a couple of trainees echoing the sentiment: “I hate sitting in a room being lectured.”

Pro bono & CSR

“It’s very supported, it’s fantastic.”

Sources at Orrick told us that while the target is technically 20, “most people hit close to 100 hours” of pro bono work per year, and for one simple reason: an interviewee said pro bono is “very supported; it’s fantastic, one of the things I was really impressed with.”

Trainees get regular newsletters and requests in their inboxes, which typically involve supporting a partner or an associate on a pro bono matter. These opportunities vary widely, from project-based environmental matters to disability rights, but trainees found that immigration work, particularly regarding asylum claims, was the most common work on offer. “We have a partnership with LawWorks, which helps families with children with claims,” one insider mentioned, but “there are loads of different kinds of matters.”

Other opportunities include:

• The Greece Collective: UK and European offices of Orrick with a group of law firms partner with the NGO European Lawyers in Lesvos (ELIL) to provide pro bono legal information to asylum seekers in Athens and Lesvos.

• Advocating with terminally ill children and their families in areas of social housing and community care with LawWorks

• Assisting Afghan individuals with family reunification with Safe Passage and Refugee Legal Support

• Helping with statelessness applications with Asylum Aid

Inclusion

Insiders were positive about the firm’s inclusion efforts. Orrick has “a lot of affinity groups,” sources said, although the groups are generally small in London owing to the small size of the team overall. These affinity groups also have members throughout Orrick’s offices around the world.

Qualification

Qualifying at Orrick is a “very informal” process. There are no interviews with practice groups. Instead, trainees sit down with the head of HR near the end of their training contract and say where they want to qualify, then the heads of these practices confirm allocations with the firm’s US operation.

“From my cohort coming up, we’ve all had strong indicators of where our NQ jobs will be,” said one trainee; “so, barring some horrible travesty or terrible event, those should be fairly set.”

Terrif(Orr)ick!

Orrick’s dedicated pro bono team is in place to help trainees reach their target of at least 20 hours of pro bono work a year.