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Macfarlanes

Interesting selling points

  • Uniquely broad range of practice areas, covering not only high value transactional and contentious work, but also private client work. 
  • Chambers and Partners have awarded the firm a Band 1 ranking in areas including Banking & Finance, Corporate/M&A, Tax, and Private Equity.
  • Developed innovative, in-house technological solutions, such as Velocity for automating contract management, and Bastion for managing structures, documents, and projects for family offices.
  • Runs a unique two-year Lawtech Graduate Programme (this is separate from a legal training contract), which aims to build a cohort of innovative technologists who work on legal-tech solutions and initiatives within the firm.
  • Provides direct personal supervision from a partner or senior solicitor, an intensive schedule of seminars and lectures, and access to Trainee Solicitor Committee partners (with whom trainees can discuss any issues they have and seek guidance on how to refine their professional skills).
  • Demonstrates strong commitment to D&I and CSR, for example through running its Conversations on Race programme to help build a more representative partnership and providing pro bono advice to Cambridge House, the Refugee Law Clinic and St Hilda’s East Legal Advice Clinic. 

We cover these selling points in more detail below, alongside other relevant firm facts and characteristics.

Practice areas / services

Macfarlanes is a full-service law firm, with a broad range of practice areas including: 

  • Commercial, Brands, IP and IT
  • Competition/Antitrust 
  • Construction and Engineering 
  • Corporate and M&A 
  • Derivatives and Trading 
  • Employment 
  • ESG 
  • Finance 
  • Financial Services Regulation 
  • Immigration 
  • Insurance 
  • Lawtech 
  • Litigation and Dispute Resolution 
  • Pensions and Pensions De-risking 
  • Private Client 
  • Private Equity 
  • Private Funds and Investment Management 
  • Public Policy 
  • Real Estate 
  • Restructuring and Insolvency 
  • Reward 
  • Tax 

Chambers and Partners, a leading analyst of the legal market, has awarded Macfarlanes their highest ‘Band 1’ ranking for the following departments: Banking & Finance: Borrowers: Mid-Market, Corporate/M&A: £100-800 million, Tax, Investment Funds: Open-ended Funds and Private Equity: Buyouts: Up to £500 million. See here for more information

Key sectors / industries

Macfarlanes services a broad range of industries, with some of its highest-value clients operating in the following sectors:

In addition, Macfarlanes offices services to the following clients: alternative asset fund managers; credit funds; executives and business leaders; institutional asset managers; public companies; and real estate investors and developers.

Work

Macfarlanes advises on complex legal matters. Examples include: 

  • Legal & General: Macfarlanes advised Legal & General on the establishment of £350m residential property development build-to-rent joint venture. 
  • Superdry: the firm advised Superdry on capital and restructuring measures related to Superdry’s UK property estate and retail cost base as well as to extend its secured debt facilities, an equity raise and delisting. 
  • Goldman Sachs: the firm advised Goldman Sachs in relation to a £90m private securitisation, backed by bridging loans originated by Together Financial Services, trading as Together. 

Offices / global footprint / expansion

Headquarters: London, 20 Cursitor Street

Offices: Macfarlanes has an office in London and one in Brussels, and works closely with a broad selection of partner firms to carry out international work. 

Insights, internships and other opportunities

Macfarlanes offers a number of opportunities for individuals wishing to gain experience in the legal industry and learn more about life at the firm. Opportunities for interested applicants include: a ‘First Year Insight Scheme’, which provides first year students with the chance to meet trainees, solicitors and partners; a ‘First Year Skills Development Initiative’, which offers students at select universities a week-long experience involving workshops and work shadowing; and vacation schemes which run in spring and twice in summer (these are open to students in their penultimate or final year of study, as well as graduates).

The firm also offers the Macfarlanes trainee experience app which provides the opportunity to try tasks which are modelled on real work undertaken by trainee solicitors. This includes work from corporate and M&A, finance, litigation, and private client. 

Training contract

Macfarlanes offers a four-seat training contract, with each seat lasting six months. Most trainees complete a corporate seat, with the opportunity to submit future seat preferences in advance. Trainees are personally supervised by a partner or senior solicitor, and they are invited to attend an intensive schedule of seminars and lectures. Trainees are also split into small ‘constituency’ groups, which then have direct access to Trainee Solicitor Committee partners, with whom trainees can discuss any issues they have and seek guidance on how to refine their professional skills. 

Technology and innovation

Macfarlanes is committed to utilising technology to provide clients with flexible and innovative legal services, with related initiatives including:

  • Velocity: as part of the firm’s commitment to providing efficient legal service to clients, Macfarlanes has developed Velocity, a ground-breaking online solution that automates contract management in complex transactions.
  • Bastion: Bastion is a secure, cloud-based system that provides a comprehensive dashboard for managing structures, documents and projects for ‘family offices’ (in the firm’s case, this is often international families with complex assets spread across multiple jurisdictions).
  • Lawtech Graduate Programme: Macfarlanes is committed to building an internal cohort of innovative technologists through its Lawtech graduate scheme, a two-year programming offering graduates experience working with and developing a range of legal-tech solutions and initiatives.

Corporate social responsibility

Macfarlanes aims to support various communities and charities by providing practical help and financial support. Examples of projects pursued include: 

  • St Hilda’s East Legal Advice Clinic: Macfarlanes lawyers support the St Hilda’s East Legal Advice Clinic in London, offering legal advice on a range of topics including housing, welfare benefits, consumer, contract and employment. 
  • Refugee Law Clinic: the firm is a founding partner of a Refugee Law Clinic, alongside the University of London, the Refugee Law Initiative, and Clifford Chance. The clinic offers advice to refugees. 
  • Cambridge House: the firm has a long-standing close relationship with Cambridge House by providing ongoing support for the charity in HR, contract matters, charity governance, and real estate advice. Cambridge House is a charity based in Southwark which helps to tackle poverty, social justice, and social inequality. 

Diversity and inclusion

Macfarlanes prides itself on its ‘inclusive, forward-thinking culture’, which it achieves in part through adopting fair recruitment, retention and promotion practices, ensuring individuals from all walks of life can succeed at the firm. Examples of initiatives pursued to nurture inclusivity include:

  • Conversations about Race: the firm runs a Conversations about Race programme which is part of the firm’s aim to build a more representative partnership. It includes videos and mandatory in-person workshops. 
  • Pride Network: this is Macfarlanes forum for networking and peer support, and to communicate information to colleagues interested in LGBTQ+ matters. It hosts various events and runs various campaigns. 
  • Legal Women’s Network: as part of the firm’s partnership targets, this network was set up to allow strong working relationships with women across the firm to be built up. There are various regular catch ups, lunches and workshops.