Unique selling points
- Chambers and Partners has awarded Milbank its highest ‘Band 1’ ranking for its Asset Finance: Aviation Finance, Capital Markets: CLOs and Projects: Mainly International departments.
- Strong focus on corporate social responsibility, with the firm contributing 62,000 hours of pro bono advice in 2019 alone, working on impactful cases and supporting various charitable organisations.
- Strong presence in key sectors such as power and energy, technology, infrastructure, and financial services, along with expertise in aviation, biotechnology, gaming and hospitality, healthcare, mining and metals, renewable energy, retail, and telecommunications.
- Recognised for its commitment to using technology and innovation in legal services, as demonstrated by initiatives such as the Milbank@Harvard program and the UK's first sports-related Hackathon, as well as consistent recognition by the FT Innovative Lawyers awards.
- Early adopter of diversity and inclusion initiatives, establishing its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee in 1992, and continuing this tradition through affinity networks, diverse hiring practices, and collaboration with clients on diversity and inclusion events.
We cover these selling points in more detail below, alongside other relevant firm facts and characteristics.
Practice areas / services
Milbank is a full-service law firm, with a broad range of practice areas including:
- Capital markets
- Corporate
- Finance
- Financial Restructuring
- German Practice
- Litigation & Arbitration
- Real Estate
- Tax
- Trusts, Estates and Exempt Organisations
Chambers and Partners, a leading analyst of the legal market, has awarded Milbank its highest ‘Band 1’ ranking for the following departments: Asset Finance: Aviation Finance, Capital Markets: CLOs and Projects: Mainly International. See here for more information.
Key sectors / industries
Milbank services a broad range of industries, with some of its highest-value clients operating in the following sectors:
In addition, Milbank services the following industries: aviation; biotechnology; financial institutions regulation; gaming and hospitality; healthcare; infrastructure; mining and metals; oil and gas; pharmaceuticals; power and energy; renewable energy; retail; space and satellite; technology; and telecommunications.
Work
Milbank consistently advises on high-profile, cross border matters. Some examples of its recent work include:
- REC Solar: Milbank’s finance team advised lenders on the creation of a ‘Green Loan’ to finance the $736 million acquisition of Norweigen-headquarted solar panel maker REC Solar Holdings.
- Carlyle Group: Milbank recently advised major private equity house Carlyle on financing and loan agreements in connection with its acquisition of global manufacturing firm Altadia Group.
- Foxconn: Milbank advised a major Thai national energy conglomerate in connection with its joint venture with leading electronics manufacturer Foxconn, which centred on the creation of an electric vehicle research and development, production and supply facility in Thailand.
Offices / global footprint / expansion
Headquarters: New York, United States
Offices: Milbank has an international network of 14 offices, including offices in Los Angeles, Frankfurt and Tokyo.
Insights, internships and other opportunities
Milbank 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: an extensive selection of meet and greet events, during which representatives from the firm provide insights into life at Milbank; and a summer vacation scheme in which law students from their penultimate year onwards and non-law students from their final year onwards can sit in two different practice areas in the London office.
Training contract
Milbank offers a four-seat training contract, with each seat lasting six months. Trainees are expected to take seats across the corporate, finance, and litigation practices. Beyond on-the-job training, trainees can expect a comprehensive training programme that develops both technical legal knowledge, and specific industry and practice group knowledge. Business development and communication skills are also developed through specific training sessions and workshops.
Secondments
Milbank offers trainees the opportunity to apply for 6 month international or client secondments, subject on business needs, with previous client secondment taking place at businesses including Blackrock, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.
Technology and innovation
Milbank is committed to utilising technology to provide clients with flexible and innovative legal services, with related initiatives including:
- FT Innovative Lawyers: Milbank has been recognised repeatedly by the FT Innovative Lawyer awards, including being named as one of the world’s ‘Top 20 Most Innovative Law Firms’ at the 2021 awards.
- Milbank@Harvard: Milbank has a longstanding partnership with Harvard Law School’s Executive Education Program, named Milbank@Harvard, which involves the firm sending mid-level associates (apparently including London-based associates) to the university to take classes covering innovative working and leadership practices. Through this programme, the firm ensures it is always developing its working culture and staying at the cutting edge of new managerial developments.
- Hackathons: As part of the firm’s commitment to the application of innovative technological solutions to pressing issues, Milbank partnered with Love of the Game to host the UK’s first sporting ‘Hackathon’, an event that brings together software engineers, designers, developers and academics to create innovative solutions for the treatment of head injuries and concussion in sports.
Corporate social responsibility
Milbank is committed to offering pro bono legal services to a variety of charities, NGOs, governments and marginalised individuals, with the firm contributing 62,000 hours of pro bono advice in 2019 alone. Some examples of recent pro bono work include:
- Margaret Pyke Trust: The firm advised the Margaret Pyke Trust on an innovative initiative that combines environmental restoration with community health and educational programmes in Uganda’s Rushebeya-Kanyabaha Wetland.
- Love the Game: Milbank helped Love of the Game - an organisation focused on reducing head injuries in sport - to set up as a charity, and to prepare its governing documents.
- The Center for Reproductive Rights Africa Program: The firm worked on a research project for the Center for Reproductive Rights’ Africa Program which focused on the recognition and realisation of women and girls’ sexual and reproductive health rights in Malawi.
Diversity and inclusion
Milbank was one of the first major firms to establish a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee (back in 1992), and to this day, the firm pursues a number of initiatives designed to create a more welcoming and supportive workplace. Some examples include:
- Affinity Networks: Establishing a number of ‘Affinity Networks’ to facilitate networking and mentorship for members of marginalised groups and allies, with examples including ‘aADAM: Attorneys of African Descent at Milbank’, ‘Women@Milbank’, and ‘Pride: LGBTQ+ Affinity Group’.
- Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee: This committee focuses on recruiting lawyers from groups that have been traditionally under-represented in large law firms and helping them thrive within Milbank.
- Diverse hiring: Encouraging diverse hiring practices throughout the firm, including through Milbank’s 1L Diversity Fellowship Program and 2L Diversity Scholarship, two scholarship schemes designed to encourage students from diverse backgrounds to enter the legal profession.