Interesting selling points
- Band 1 recognition for Corporate/M&A, Pensions, and Commercial Contracts work.
- Broad range of interesting clients including Carpetright, Investec, Leicester Tigers, and Hewlett Packard.
- ‘Best friends' approach to international work enables the firm's lawyers to collaborate with market-leading partner firms and lawyers in other jurisdictions.
- Practical, on-the-job training is supplemented with seminars and workshops delivered by senior lawyers and external partners.
- As a trainee, you will share an office with a partner (which is fairly unique), plus at least one associate, enabling you to learn by osmosis.
- Initiatives like the Tech.Smart training program and the proprietary contract labelling tool Etatonna, as well as its Artificial Intelligence Academy, which is an internal training programme.
- Significant commitment to CSR and D&I, including working with legal aid charity JUSTICE, the Domestic Abuse Response Alliance, WWF-UK, and Just Like Us.
- The firm doesn't impose billable hours targets (see here), which can help to promote a more collaborative approach to working across the firm.
- Quality of training and positive culture evidenced by high trainee retention rates, low associate churn (amongst the lowest in the City, according to the firm), and the fact that nearly half the partners trained at the firm (see here).
We cover these selling points in more detail below, alongside other relevant firm facts and characteristics.
Practice areas / services
Travers Smith is a full-service law firm, with a broad range of practice areas including:
- Alternative Asset Management
- Arbitration
- Asset Management
- Civil Fraud
- Commercial Law
- Competition
- Corporate Advisory
- Corporate Advisory and Governance
- Corporate & Commercial Disputes
- Corporate M&A
- Data Protection
- Derivatives & Structured Products
- Employment
- ESG and Impact
- Finance
- Financial Markets Disputes
- Environment & Regulatory
- Financial Services & Markets
- Funds
- Incentives & Remuneration
- Investigations
- IP & Technology
- Pensions
- Public M&A
- Real Estate
- Restructuring & Insolvency
- Secondaries
- Tax
- Technology & Commercial Transactions
Chambers and Partners, a leading analyst of the legal market, has awarded Travers Smith its highest ‘Band 1’ ranking for the following departments: Corporate/M&A: £100-800 million, Pensions and Commercial Contracts. See here for more information.
Key sectors / industries
Travers Smith services a broad range of industries, with some of its highest-value clients operating in the following sectors:
In addition, Travers Smith services the following industries: construction and engineering; fintech; global energy; healthcare; hospitality and leisure; insurance; life sciences; mining; projects and infrastructure; sports, entertainment and media; and transportation.
Work
Travers Smith consistently acts on high-profile matters, including, for example:
- Carpetright: Travers Smith advised Carpetright and its administrators on its sale out of administration. The agreement transfers the business and certain assets of Carpetright into flooring retailer Tapi’s group, including 54 of Carpetright’s UK-based stores.
- Investec: the firm advised Investec on the cash confirmation of the recommended £191m takeover bid of N Brown Group plc by Falcon 24 Topco Limited, a company owned and controlled by Joshua Alliance.
- Specialist Aviation Services: the firm advised the owner of Specialist Aviation Services Ltd, a UK-based supplier of critical air ambulance services, on the sale of its business and assets out of administration to AIM-listed Gama Aviation plc.
Offices / global footprint / expansion
Headquarters: London, United Kingdom.
Offices: Travers Smith has offices in London and Paris. The firm is known for its ‘best friends’ approach to international work, which often involves its lawyers working alongside selected partner firms and lawyers that are market leaders in their jurisdictions.
Insights, internships and other opportunities
Travers Smith 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: the chance to attend virtual presentations and meet firm representatives at university law fairs; and winter and summer schemes open to both law and non-law students, graduates and postgraduates.
Training contract
Travers Smith offers a four-seat training contract, with each seat lasting six months. Trainees must choose at least one transactional seat and one contentious seat (the latter can be in either the employment team or a disputes team).
To further the training of junior lawyers, Travers Smith ensures that all trainees share an office with both a partner and at least one associate, which maximises trainees’ opportunities to access supervision, guidance and mentorship. Practical, on-the-job training is supplemented with seminars and workshops delivered by senior lawyers and external partners.
Secondments
Travers Smith doesn’t generally offer secondment opportunities, although trainees occasionally have the chance to spend six months in the firm’s Paris office.
Technology and innovation
Travers Smith is committed to utilising technology to provide clients with flexible and innovative legal services, with related initiatives including:
- Tech.Smart: Travers Smith provides technology and innovation training to all its lawyers and business services personnel through the Tech.Smart programme, enabling them to collaborate more effectively, identify opportunities for innovation, and build awareness of disruptive change into legal advice.
- Etatonna: designed and launched by the firm’s in-house Legal Technology team, Travers Smith uses innovative contract labelling tool Etatonna to help lawyers and clients streamline document review processes.
- Artificial Intelligence Academy: The firm launched its Artificial Intelligence Academy, which is an internal training programme, open to the entire firm, involving mandatory modules to encourage a deeper understanding of how AI can be used.
Corporate social responsibility
Travers Smith encourages its legal staff to participate in a number of pro bono initiatives relating to the following four areas: climate, environment and sustainability; diversity, inclusion and social mobility; vulnerable groups; and the rule of law. Some recent examples include:
- JUSTICE: The firm partnered with JUSTICE for JUSTICE’s expert panel investigation into the over-representation of youth from ethnic minority backgrounds in the criminal youth justice system.
- Domestic Abuse Response Alliance (DARA): DARA is an alliance of 10 leading law firms brought together by Travers Smith to provide legal advice to survivors of domestic abuse in need of protective injunctions and representing individuals who are not eligible for legal aid but who cannot afford private representation.
- WWF-UK: Travers Smith has provided legal advice to WWF-UK in relation to statutory and regulatory tools, as well as financial regulatory advice and disclosure requirements.
Diversity and inclusion
Travers Smith is committed to encouraging diversity and inclusion across the firm in a holistic, broad, and structural way. Initiatives pursued to further this aim include:
- BAME Allyship: the firm has developed a booklet to help embed ally behaviours, including tips to promote allyship and 10 actions allies can take to promote greater BAME inclusion in the legal industry and in wider society.
- Work with Just Like Us: the firm partnered with LGBT+ charity Just Like Us to run a mentoring programme aimed at giving LGBT+ graduates skills, confidence and support as they transition from university life to full-time employment.
- Mental Health: Travers Smith delivers mental health first aid training, free therapeutic and counselling services, as well as effective an Employee Assistance Plan for everyone in the firm.