Arnold & Porter
Interesting selling points
- Renowned for its product liability specialism, representing high profile clients such as AstraZeneca and Phillip Morris.
- Strong Life Sciences practice, as demonstrated by its work advising AstraZeneca on its COVID-19 vaccine (which required cross-practice international collaboration).
- Chambers and Partners has awarded the firm a Band 1 ranking for its Life Sciences practice.
- Carries out private client work (see here), as well as work for organisations, indicating there is more variety on offer for trainees than at many other City firms.
- Works with very early stage businesses right through to large global corporates (see here), suggesting lawyers have the opportunity to gain exposure to businesses at all stages in their life cycles.
- Small trainee intake.
- The firm’s training contract includes a mixture of in-house and external training, plus a fast-track professional skills course.
- The firm is part of the Give a Little Campaign, which encourages employees to donate part of their salaries to charity.
We cover these selling points in more detail below, alongside other relevant firm facts and characteristics.
Practice areas / services
Arnold & Porter is a full-service law firm, with a broad range of practice areas including:
- Anti-corruption
- Antitrust/Competition Litigation
- Antitrust/Competition Merger Review
- Appellate & Supreme Court
- Bankruptcy and Restructuring
- Capital Markets Transactions
- Class Actions
- Commercial Litigation
- Compensation and Benefits
- Compliance
- Consumer Protection & Advertising
- Corporate Governance
- Crisis Management & Strategic Response
- Election & Political Litigation
- Emerging Companies & Venture Capital
- Environmental Compliance and Counselling
- Environmental Enforcement and Toxic Tort Litigation
- False Claims Act Investigations & Defence
- Financial Services
- Financial Services Transactions
- Global Law and Public Policy
- Government Contracts
- Intellectual Property
- International Arbitration
- International Trade
- Investment Management
- Legislative & Public Policy
- Life Sciences & Healthcare Regulatory
- Life Sciences Transactions
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- National Security
- Privacy, Cybersecurity & Data Strategy
- Private Client Services
- Private Equity
- Product Liability Litigation
- Real Estate
- Securities Enforcement & Litigation
- Sovereign Finance
- Structured Finance & Derivatives
- Syndicated & Leveraged Finance
- Tax
- Tax-Exempt
- Technology Transactions
- Telecommunications, Internet & Media
- White Collar Defence & Investigations
Chambers and Partners, a leading analyst of the legal market, has awarded Arnold & Parker its highest ‘Band 1’ ranking for the following departments: Life Sciences: Product Liability and Life Sciences: Regulatory. See here for more information
Key sectors / industries
Arnold & Porter works with a number of notable clients, with its most profitable clients operate in the following sectors:
In addition, Arnold & Porter services the following industries: Aerospace, Defence & National Security, Cannabis/Wellness Products, Consumer Products & Retail, Energy and Energy Transition, Financial Services, Food & Beverage, Governments/Sovereigns, Hospitality, Sports, Technology, Media & Telecommunications, and Transportation.
Work
Arnold & Porter has worked with a number of notable clients, including:
- Cumberlege Inquiry: The firm advised Bayer and Sanofi in the Cumberlege inquiry, which was a non-statutory inquiry set up to look into the issues surrounding the marketing of certain implants and medicinal products including, in the case of Bayer and Sanofi, how hormone pregnancy tests were marketed in the UK in the 1950s to 1970s after allegations that the products caused teratogenic effects in new-borns.
- Pfizer: the firm represented its long-standing client, Pfizer, on a $1 billion agreement to sell its early-stage rare disease gene therapy portfolio to Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease.
- Sotheby’s: the firm successfully defended Sotheby’s against an anonymous plaintiff alleging that it was the owner of the world's first non-fungible token. According to the firm, “the plaintiff alleged that McCoy had used an older blockchain to create his NFT but later chose to preserve his original metadata using a different and more modern blockchain, Ethereum, which was included in the sale of [digital artwork] Quantum”. The NFT had been sold through Sotheby’s in 2021 and this NFT was the world’s first.
Offices / global footprint / expansion
Headquarters: Washington, 601 Massachusetts Avenue.
Offices: The firm has 15 offices across the globe, including in Amsterdam, Brussels, New York, Chicago and Shanghai.
Insights, internships and other opportunities
The firm hosts an insight day each year where those wanting to apply to the firm can learn more about the firm and participate in several interactive sessions and skills workshops. The firm also offers a work experience programme for Year 12 students interested in pursuing law.
In addition, the firm has introduced a business services placement year in its London office, which enables a placement student to spend time in each of the firm’s business support departments including accounts, HR/Admin, Marketing, and Information Technology.
The firm also runs a vacation scheme, taking on 10 summer vacation students each year. Vacation schemes are two weeks long and provide participants with an opportunity to work on a variety of projects and attend workshops.
Training contract
The firm offers training contracts at its London office and provides trainees with the opportunity to sit in four seats, each six months long. The seat selection options include Life Sciences and Healthcare Regulatory, Intellectual Property, Corporate and Securities, Financial Services, Competition, White Collar Defence, Commercial Litigation and International Arbitration. Alongside the wide range of seat options, trainees attend a fast-track professional skills course which is provided externally for the firm. This training sits alongside the firm’s internal training and induction programme and various in-house sessions.
Secondments
The firm does not offer either international or client secondments.
Technology and innovation
Arnold & Porter produces a range of thought leadership pieces on technology and innovation to help its clients keep up with developments relating to the technology sector. Examples of this thought leadership include:
- Advisories: The firm offers a number of articles for clients covering a range of issues related to technology and innovation.
- TMT Time: the firm produces a podcast which looks at unique and pressing issues facing the technology, media and telecommunications industry.
- TMT Resource Centre: this resource centre provides details of events and thought leadership pieces relating to technology and innovation.
Corporate social responsibility
Arnold & Porter states that pro bono work is “key” to the firm’s identity and that it is part of the reason why many join the firm. Notable pro bono efforts include:
- Kids in Need of Defense UK (KIND): The firm worked in collaboration with KIND, the pre-eminent non-governmental organisation devoted to the legal protection of unaccompanied children in immigration proceedings, to successfully secure the regularised immigration status of a family that fled Nigeria for the UK.
- The Give a Little Campaign: This campaign is a charity drive created by law firm associates to aid humanitarian efforts. It asks associates to donate a portion of their earnings to one of the selected charities involved.
- Denver Protestors: The firm helped to secure a $14 million judgment for protestors injured by Denver police.
Diversity and inclusion
The firm wants to cultivate diversity and inclusion and its efforts to do this include:
- Diversity & Inclusion Committee: this committee is composed of senior professionals who drive the firm’s diversity and inclusion strategies around five pillars: recruitment, retention, advancement, engagement and service.
- Affinity Groups: these support networks operate firm-wide to accelerate the attainment of professional and business development skills through mentoring opportunities and various speaker programmes.
- Women’s Initiative for Success and Empowerment (WISE): this initiative is dedicated to recruiting, developing, retaining and advancing women at Arnold & Porter. Specifically, WISE’s steering committee of partners, counsel and associates implements programmes focused on leadership training, business development and work-life integration.