Willkie, Farr & Gallagher
Interesting selling points
- Willkie is well known for its strength across both private equity and litigation (this is reflected in the firm’s training contract, which includes a mandatory seat in both private equity and litigation).
- The firm has serviced sponsors, targets and portfolio companies for more than 50 years, demonstrating the breadth and track record of its private equity practice (see here).
- Chambers and Partners has awarded the firm a Band 1 ranking for its Insurance: Non-contentious department.
- Notable clients include Netflix, Goldman Sachs and Motors.co.uk.
- Broad range of interesting practice areas, including a private client practice.
- Small trainee intake.
- Guaranteed seats Litigation, Compliance, Investigations & Enforcement, and Private Equity.
- The firm’s London training contract was only established in 2021, yet has regularly been recognised at the Legal Cheek Law Firm Awards for the quality of training on offer.
- The firm has a successful pro bono partnership with Bloomberg L.P and Imperial College, supporting clean air start-ups through the provision of legal and business advice.
- The firm has been particularly keen to reduce its own environmental impact, leading to the formation of its Environmental & Sustainability Committee. As part of its green initiatives the firm has put urban beehives atop its New York and Chicago offices and introduced Environmental Analyst internships.
Practice areas / services
Willkie operates a broad range of practice areas including:
- Accounting Litigation & Enforcement
- AI & Emerging Technologies
- Antitrust & Competition
- Asset Management
- Business Reorganisation & Restructuring
- Capital Markets
- Class Action Litigation
- Communications & Media
- Corporate & Financial Services
- Corporate Governance
- Crisis Management
- Entertainment, Health & Safety
- Environment, Health & Safety
- Environmental, Social & Governance
- ERISA Litigation
- Executive Compensation & Employee Benefits
- Finance
- Global Trade & Investment
- Insurance & Reinsurance: Dispute Resolution and Counselling
- Insurance: Transactional and Regulatory
- Intellectual Property
- International Arbitration
- Investigations & Enforcement
- Labor & Employment
- Latin America
- Litigation
- Litigation Practice Services
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Mergers & Acquisitions: Litigation
- Privacy, Cybersecurity & Data Strategy
- Private Clients Group
- Private Equity
- Private Funds
- Project Finance & Investment
- Real Estate
- Real Estate Finance
- Registered Funds
- Regulatory & Enforcement
- Securities Litigation & Enforcement
- Special Committee
- Strategic Motions & Appeals
- Structured Finance & Derivatives
- Tax
- Technology Patent Litigation
- White-Collar Defence
- Willkie Digital Works
It's London office states the following as its principle areas of work (see here):
- Asset Management
- Business Reorganisation & Restructuring
- Capital Markets
- Competition & Antitrust
- Competition Litigation
- Compliance, Investigations & Enforcement
- Corporate Insurance
- Finance
- Financial Services Regulatory
- International Arbitration
- Litigation
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Private Equity
- Tax
Chambers and Partners a leading analyst of the legal market, has awarded Willkie, Farr & Gallagher its highest ‘Band 1’ ranking for its Insurance: Non-contentious department. See here for more information
Key sectors / industries
Willkie services a broad range of industries, with its most profitable clients located in the following sectors:
In addition, Willkie services the following industries: Aerospace Security & Defense, Automotive, Chemicals, Communications & Media, Construction, Consumer Products and Retail, Education, Energy & Utilities, Environmental, Food and Beverage, Health Care & Life Sciences – Biotechnology, Health Care & Life Sciences Medical Technology, Health Care & Life Sciences – Pharmaceuticals, Health Care & Life Sciences – Providers, Hospitality & Gaming, Infrastructure, IT, Software & Internet, Manufacturing & Engineering, Power & Renewable Energy, Real Estate & REITS, Retail, Sports, and Transportation.
Work
Willkie consistently advises on complex high-profile legal matters, including, for example:
- Netflix: The firm secured a complete victory for Netflix which invalidated two patents.
- Goldman Sachs: Willkie advised Goldman Sachs on its €120 million Series B investment in osapiens, a leading ESG platform and provider of compliance and sustainability reporting solutions.
- Motors.co.uk: The firm advised Motors.co.uk on its acquisition of the Cazoo brand from Cazoo Ltd, which fell into administration in May 2024. MOTORS is backed by private equity firm Novum Capital.
Offices / global footprint / expansion
Headquarters: New York, 787 Seventh Avenue.
Offices: The firm has 13 offices worldwide including offices in Washington, San Francisco, Rome, Paris, Palo Alto, Milan, Los Angeles, Houston, Frankfurt, Chicago and Brussels. Its London office is located at 1 Ropemaker Street.
Insights, internships and other opportunities
The firm offers up to 20 places in total on its spring and summer vacation schemes. The scheme is two weeks long and is paid. The application process uses Rare’s Contextual Recruitment System to ensure “social mobility measures and educational data are embedded into” the recruitment process.
The vacation scheme is the main way the firm recruits its trainee solicitors. Alongside the vacation scheme, Willkie runs open events throughout the year and attends various law fairs and workshops to ensure prospective applicants can get to know the firm. The firm also offers informal work experience placements of one week in duration in the summer school holidays to those in Year 12 or 13. Applications are by way of CV and covering letter.
Training contract
Willkie’s training contract is made up of four six-month seats. The firm's website suggests that Trainees will sit in Litigation, Compliance, Investigations & Enforcement, and Private Equity or Insurance M&A (see here). However, according to one candidate, apparently there is a choice between Litigation or Compliance, Investigations & Enforcement for a mandatory contentious seat, and a choice between Private Equity or Corporate Insurance for a compulsory transactional seat, with the remaining two seats being the choice of the trainee (subject to availability).
Interestingly, Willkie only started offering training contracts in 2021, but was named winner of the Best Law Firm for Quality of Work award at The Legal Cheek Awards 2022 (trainees and associates were asked for their opinion in relation to this award) and recognised as a finalist in the 2023 award for Best Law Firm for Training, Best Law Firm for Quality of Work and Best Law Firm for WFH. Its award winning training includes associate skills training and regular workshops, as well as on-the-job training.
Secondments
Trainees may have the option to undertake a client secondment depending on business need.
Technology and innovation
Willkie is known for its advice on technology matters and thought leadership relating to legal tech. Examples of related initiatives include:
- InsurTech: This is a specialist multidisciplinary group within the firm which is made up of insurance lawyers and other business specialists who advise on technology matters and developments within the insurance industry.
- Digital Works Team: This is a practice group that advises on digital regulations, policy making and enforcement arenas. In this area, the firm has advised both start-ups and established technological institutions.
- Client Alerts: The firm issues regular client alerts designed to help clients keep abreast of new developments across the wider technology sector. These updates also include insights into how these developments could impact clients.
The firm sees corporate social responsibility as being amongst the “hallmarks’ of the firm’s core values and culture. Such hallmarks are clearly seen in the following examples:
- Environmental & Sustainability Commitment: As part of its green initiatives, the firm has put urban beehives atop its New York and Chicago offices and introduced Environmental Analyst internships.
- Clean Energy with Bloomberg & Imperial College London: Willkie works in partnership with Bloomberg L.P. And Imperial College on a pro bono basis, providing legal and business advice to a select number of cleantech start-ups from Imperial’s Cleantech Accelerator Programme.
- Stop Hate UK: The firm’s London lawyers work on a pro bono basis for Stop Hate UK. The organisation was established in 1995 to support victims of racial harassment, following the murder of Stephen Lawrence. It now supports people affected by all forms of hate crime across the UK.
Diversity and inclusion
Willkie emphasises that its people are its “most valuable asset”. With this in mind, the firm has a number of initiatives to support its people, including:
- Diversity Speaker Series: Willkie’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee runs this speaker series to draw attention to important D&I-related topics. This includes interactive workshops on implicit bias, stereotyping, and imposter syndrome.
- Women’s Professional Development Committee and the Task Force on Retention and Inclusion: These two initiatives combine to ensure that female and diverse lawyers have equal access to all training and development opportunities, including mentoring, work assignments, integration, review processes, and inclusive programming.
- Parents’ Group: This group is a forum for lawyers to share strategies and ideas about parenting and work/life integration.
- Caregiver Affinity Group: This group enables all of the firm’s employees who care for an elderly family member or loved one, or a child with special needs, to share ideas and support one another.