reed smith graduate recruitment brochure 2011-2012

Could you…

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This is a challenging time for law firms. But the diversity of our practices,industry sectors and geographies has served Reed Smith well, and weare doing amazing work in Europe and the Middle East. We provide topquality legal services and continue to maintain strong client relationships.As we grow, we need outstanding new people to join us. Could you beone of them?

Ours is a great place to work: a welcoming and stimulating atmosphere,with best-in-class salary, training and benefits for new joiners. With astrong, culturally-embedded focus on pro bono work, environmentalcommitments and our diversity programmes, we are set apart fromother firms. Our new building in the City, with its pioneering greentechnology, is a reflection of the success of the business and our carefor the comfort and happiness of those working here. (And the view isawesome.) The new CareeRS programme is a shining example of thefirm’s desire to help its people achieve ever-higher levels of success andprofessional development.

We are proud to be able to offer new joiners a truly exceptional career.If you feel you are a truly exceptional candidate, and are wondering ifReed Smith might suit you, please take a look at some of the fascinatingwork we have done recently. It should help you decide.

If you would like to know more, do write to me personally. Good luck!

From the managing partner…Roger ParkerManaging Partner, Europe andthe Middle East

[email protected]

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03 Welcome to our network04 Could you?16 The story so far18 Get with the programme20 A rewarding experience22 Balance25 Contacts and next steps

…be a Reed Smith lawyer?

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Welcome to the law firm that puts relationships at the heart of itsstrategy. A firm focused on building a network of lawyers across theworld that really connects.

Our network now stretches across three continents, in 23 integratedoffices that share work, resources and rewards. We have structuredourselves in a way that encourages teamwork across offices andinternational boundaries. It allows us to provide the best service for ourclients – who often need advice that spans more than one jurisdiction –and to provide our lawyers with a stimulating and rewarding environment.

For trainees, Reed Smith offers extraordinary opportunities to interactwith some of the best lawyers in each field on an international platform.The connections our trainees make during their training contract placethem in an enviable position, and give them the foundations for anexceptional career.

As a top international law firm we are able to offer the best quality workand opportunities for career development. Like relationships, thoseopportunities demand commitment to make them succeed.

WinnerReed Smith has been awardedWinner, Best Graduate Employer,LSR 2011, Legal Week

Welcome to our network

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Reed Smith lawyers are involved at the forefront of the technologyscene, advising on all legal aspects that matter in this fast-paced,exciting industry. Our team advises established media companies, youngand fast-growing technology companies, venture capitalists, businessangels, investors and digital start-ups looking to make it big.

Our advertising, media and technology practiceOur lawyers are consistently rated by independent directories as market leaders inproviding legal advice to the broadcasting, film, television, music and technologysectors. Your work in this team could involve anything from advising banks and financehouses on film and television financing to working with major broadcasters and filmproduction companies on the contracts relating to the production of films and televisionprogrammes to advising digital music companies on their global licensing arrangements.

Could you spotthe next Spotify


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If you like the thrill of buying up land in Monopoly then you should try itfor real. Our London real estate team was instructed by the ReubenBrothers in relation to the acquisition of the much sought after PiccadillyEstate, Mayfair for £130 million – and before you ask, no, there wasn’tany Monopoly money involved.

Our real estate practiceThe real estate group advises on high-value acquisitions and disposals of propertyacross all our key client sectors including retail, leisure and hotel, media, financialservices and manufacturing. In addition to buying and selling, you may find yourselfnegotiating and drafting commercial lease agreements, renewals and surrenders. Youcould also be advising a bank or investors on their property portfolio or be in charge ofdrafting the financial documents to fund a project. You could be advising a developeron a project that starts as a piece of waste land and ends up being a huge shoppingcentre with a cinema, a casino, a hotel and luxury apartments! You could alsospecialise in construction work or, if you prefer the courtroom and enjoy negotiation,then real estate litigation might be for you.

Could you playMonopoly for real


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We’re not talking about kite surfing or wind surfing here. We’re talkingabout using the power of the wind to generate clean energy, helping theenvironment and providing a sustainable source of energy. We’readvising a consortium of European utilities and Middle East investors inrelation to the procurement, construction and operation of the world’slargest (1GW) offshore wind farm in the Thames estuary.

Our energy and natural resources practiceOur energy and natural resources practice is recognised as being at the very top of its industry sector. A seat in this department will involve advising clients on all aspectsof the trading, financing and transporting of commodities – anything from sugar andcoffee to metals, petroleum products and biofuels. It involves both litigation and non-contentious work.

Could you help harnessthe power of the wind?


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We work for 32% of the FTSE, 43% of the DAX and 45% of the CAC, soReed Smith lawyers are used to working with the biggest of companieson some of the most complex transactions and legal issues. That meansa good deal of time on the phone with some important people.

Our corporate practiceOur corporate group handles a wide variety of corporate and commercial transactions.A seat in this group could involve you advising businesses on mergers & acquisitions,management buy-outs or listing on Capital Markets such as the Alternative InvestmentMarket (AIM). Alternatively, you might take a seat in Corporate Tax or Competition & EU.

Could you pick up thephone to a FTSE CEO


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‘The name’s Smith, Reed Smith.’ That saying may not be quite asfamiliar as the James Bond equivalent but when it comes to defendingour clients, our lawyers are as determined as 007 himself. Just oneexample in this area is our work defending and winning substantial libeldamages for the producer of the Bond franchise, Barbara Broccoli, overfalse claims made in the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday. Or, if Bond isn’tfor you, then how about Sylvester Stallone, Harrison Ford, ClintEastwood or Kim Basinger – we’ve successfully protected them all.

Our commercial disputes practiceWe have one of the largest dispute resolution practices in Europe with a particularlystrong track record in multi-party, international disputes. Working in the group youwould be exposed to high-profile litigation, learning from some of the leading lawyers intheir fields. Our specialist areas include: banking and financial services; insurance andreinsurance; professional negligence; global regulatory; intellectual property; media andtechnology disputes; and international arbitration.

Could you protectJames Bond


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A 540ft abseil down The Broadgate Tower, Reed Smith’s London officemight not seem the most sensible of ways to leave the office, or areasonable way to treat employees but don’t worry, our employmentlawyers wouldn’t allow that. Some Reed Smith employees undertook thedaring feat to raise money for the British Red Cross, the rest just usedthe lifts as usual.

Our employment practiceOur employment team advise corporate clients on all aspects of employment law, fromadvising companies on the issues surrounding employment contracts during mergers,acquisitions and downsizing, to giving best practice advice to HR professionals onemployee management. Obviously they also assist employers defending claims whenthey are accused of unfair or inappropriate treatment by employees.

Could you abseilhome from work?


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We may not be going sword-to-sword against the wooden-legged,eye-patch wearing pirates of the big screen, but we do advise internationalowners and charterers on the effects that attacks by pirates can haveon their commercial relationships and, importantly, on vessels, crewand cargo. Advice is also given on how best to avoid and deter attacksby pirates, including the deployment of armed security guards onboard vessels.

Our shipping practiceWe are widely acknowledged as being one of the market leaders in the shippingindustry. The vast majority of the work has an international flavour and involves workingon disputes arising from collisions, casualties and contracts for the transport of goods.With a worldwide client base, if you want to utilise your language skills, this is one of thebest places to be.

Could youtake on pirates


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“Social media is not just changing the way we live, it is now alsochanging the way we invest,” said Dale Gabbert, Reed Smithfunds partner, after helping Derwent Capital Markets Ltd set up theground-breaking hedge fund which will be Europe’s first to utilisesentiment derived from real-time social media data analysis. And youthought Twitter was just about celebrity gossip and super-injunctions!

Our banking & financial services practiceWe handle a wide variety of financial services work, including advising on commercialfinance transactions (such as venture finance and ship and other asset finance deals),assisting with corporate restructurings and insolvency, advising on consumer financialservices products and managing financial regulatory work. We are also developing ourcapabilities in funds and leverage finance.

Could you help launcha social media-based#hedgefund


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The earthquake in Haiti in January 2010 left more than 250,000 peopledead and 1.3 million displaced in tent camps. Shortly after the disaster,we sent a delegation of doctors and lawyers to Port au Prince to help.The primary focus was to identify Haitians who may qualify for evacuationto the United States based on critical medical needs.

Since the first trip, our teams have returned to Haiti several times andhave conducted extensive human rights assessments to determinewhether UN Conventions governing the protection of internally displacedpersons were being upheld.

Our pro bono activitiesReed Smith is a proud charter signatory to the Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Pro BonoChallenge, devoting more than three percent of our billable time to pro bono work.We are also a founding member of Advocates for International Development and asignatory to the United Kingdom Joint Protocol for Pro Bono Work.

Could you help Haiti?


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The Reed Smith story is one of connections. The firm is the successfulproduct of a number of mergers of law firms in the UK, US, ContinentalEurope and Asia. Connecting these firms produced a single firm withover 1500 lawyers, making us one of the largest law firms in the world.

In the US, the ‘original’ Reed Smith firm began in 1877 and soon beganacting for businesses which are still some of our most important clientstoday. From a single office in Pittsburgh, we have grown in the US to a15 office presence including New York, Philadelphia, Chicago,Washington, D.C. and San Francisco.

In the UK, we can trace our history through two firms: Warner Cranstonand Richards Butler (which began in 1972 and 1926 respectively). Wealso have offices in Paris, Munich, Piraeus, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Beijingand Shanghai. In addition we have recently merged with Richards ButlerHong Kong.

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The combined strength of Reed Smith and Richards Butler gave us greater criticalmass post merger, improving the strength and breadth of our expertise. As a directresult we have been able to attract even better work both from our existing clients andfrom new clients. From a training and career perspective, this produces moreinteresting work, greater variety and a wider group of experts to learn from.Thomas Ince, partner

The story so far


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Where you’ll be based: Our London office is now the largest in the firm,and in April 2009 we moved into The Broadgate Tower. This state-of-the-art building (with its pioneering ‘green’ technology) provides anexceptional work space – and 360˚ views across London from ourcafeteria on the 31st floor.

Your two-week induction: We know you’ll be itching to get your handson some client work, but first we make sure you are fully equipped forthe task. Our training programme starts with a detailed induction course,and we were winners of the Lawcareers.net Best Trainer – Large CityFirm Award 2010, which demonstrates the importance we place on yourprogress. During the first couple of weeks, you’ll find out how the firmworks, build some vital practical skills and begin some core modulesof your Professional Skills Course.

Get with the programmewww.reedsmith.com


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Your peers: The first relationships you’ll form at Reed Smith will be withyour fellow trainees: they will help you develop and prosper throughoutyour training contract. As part of the process, you’ll also link up with a‘buddy’ – a more experienced trainee solicitor who’ll provide guidance andsupport to help you through your first six months (and often beyond).

More training if you are hungry for it: In addition to training to introduceyou to our practice areas, you’ll attend ongoing training on updates anddevelopments with the partners and associates. You’ll still have somefurther PSC courses to attend, but if you are hungry for more training,you’ll find a wealth of courses on offer through our corporate university.

And then you move into your first seat: While ‘classroom’ training isvery important, your practical legal training and experience is whereyou really learn how to be a lawyer. We want you to get involved in clientwork, and make a real contribution to the service we offer our clients.You’ll get plenty of access to files and clients and as much responsibilityas you can handle in a supportive and encouraging environment. Duringeach seat you’ll get regular feedback from your supervisor to help yougauge your progress, including a mid-seat and end-of-seat appraisal.

Still wanting more? Much of our work is cross-border and, in many seats,you’ll have contact with lawyers and clients based overseas. If you haveforeign language skills, we’ll try to give you an opportunity to use them.If you are keen to build your international relationships even further, weoffer a number of secondments to overseas offices. Many of our traineesalso take advantage of the client secondments on offer, which really buildtheir client management skills and commercial understanding.


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In addition to a competitive salary (for 2014 not less than £37,000 pain London), our trainee solicitor benefits package includes:

� 25 days’ annual holiday

� Permanent health insurance

� Life assurance

� Private healthcare (with associated discounts on gym membershipand other benefits)

� Contributory pension scheme

� Season ticket loan

� Subsidised cafeteria

� Cycle to work bicycle purchase scheme

A rewarding experience


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As we said, we want you to have good relationships not just in your worklife, but also in your home life. We are so committed to helping ourlawyers achieve a work/life balance that we even provide training forthem to achieve it. Our working hours targets are much lower thanthose often associated with US law firms. But we are not a typicalUS firm: we’re an extraordinary international law firm.

Among our awards and accolades, in the US we were nominated as oneof the top law firms for working mothers (by Working Mother Magazine) –based on a range of criteria – based on our approach to flexible working.

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At Reed Smith, trainees are given a lot of responsibility in order to develop andsometimes that means the working days can be long. However, having a life out ofwork is encouraged and I am always asked not to stay later than is absolutelynecessary. Trainees are given autonomy to manage their own workloads.Milan Joshi, 4th seat trainee

Balance


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When I decided to end years at sea to study law and pursue a career with a city lawfirm I knew I wanted a training contract in a challenging and dynamic firm offering awide variety of opportunities and all coupled with a friendly, motivated and engagingteam. Reed Smith is all these things and more. Additionally, following a six monthsecondment to Greece I can say that this is true of whichever of the Firm’s offices thetraining contract may take you to. Mark Johnson, newly-qualified lawyer

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Pro bono and community work are integral to the experience of being a lawyer at ReedSmith. RS encourages all trainees to spend 30 hours a year on these areas. We alsooffer trainees the chance to volunteer in a number of legal clinics as well as thepossibility of going on secondment to Liberty. Sarah Ramwell, pro bono manager

And while we’re on the subject – our approach to having a balancedworking life goes hand in hand with our commitment to the way wetreat people generally. We are recognised as one of the leading firms inthe US and the UK for our diversity initiatives. This is borne out by ourTop-10 rating in a recent Black Solicitors Network League Table. This isjust an indication of a much wider diversity initiative to ensure inclusionfor people whatever their background. Our only differentiators are skills,talent and commitment.

In 2008 we were named Corporate Social Responsibility Firm of the Yearat the Legal Business awards. Further recognition of our commitment topro bono was received in the Vault Guide to the top 50 UK law firmswhich rates us in the top five firms for pro bono work. It’s part and parcelof the same cultural attitude – treating people with respect. We feel it is aprivilege to be a leader within the legal profession, and we like to sharethe benefits with people who may not otherwise get the help they need.Whether it is assisting in a local community project or offering free legaladvice to individuals in challenging circumstances, we try to get involvedand to give something back. We encourage our trainees (and our otherlawyers) to be part of those projects.


Try us out: by joining us for a two-week summer vacation placement.It isn’t a prerequisite to applying for a training contract, but we guaranteeyou’ll find it a stimulating and valuable experience.

Or apply directly for a training contract atwww.reedsmith.com/ukgraduates and for further details, contact us on:[email protected]

www.facebook.com/reedsmithgraduatesuk

If you think you couldbe a Reed Smith lawyer,talk to us

Reed Smith LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC303620 andits registered office at The Broadgate Tower, 20 Primrose Street, London EC2A 2RS. Reed Smith LLP is regulated by theSolicitors Regulation Authority. Any reference to the term ‘partner’ in connection to Reed Smith LLP is a reference to amember of it or an employee of equivalent status.


Well, could you?

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reed smith graduate recruitment brochure 2011-2012

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