New juniors earn a market cap of £180,000
Elite US law firm Paul Weiss is stepping up its recruitment activities in the City of London with the launch of a new UK training programme.
The New York headquarters is planning to do some recruiting Legal cheek expects to hire between five and 10 interns this fall as part of an ambitious expansion strategy on this side of the pond that has seen it poach top partner talent from a host of Magic Circle and U.S. rivals.
The inaugural cohort will commence their TCs in 2026 and will earn a market-leading £180,000 upon qualification. Legal cheek Firms Most List – where Paul Weiss is set to appear soon – shows that only one other law firm, fellow US player Gibson Dunn, is currently offering this amount of cash to its NQs.
Intern compensation has not yet been finalized, but the firm offers additional financial support, including living grants and covering law school costs.
Over the past year, Paul Weiss has been building a formidable team of lawyers in London as part of an expansion plan led in part by private equity guru Neel Sachdev. Sachdev attracted considerable press attention when he left rival US law firm Kirkland & Ellis last summer.
Speak with Legal Cheek Speaking about the creation of the new training programme, Sachdev, Co-Director of London, said:
“The launch of our training programme is a significant milestone for our growing London office. We are excited to have the opportunity to mentor and develop interns into our partners of the future. We have an elite team of lawyers in private equity, public M&A, debt finance, tax and antitrust who act on some of the most high-profile and complex transactions in the global markets. Interns will have the opportunity to be part of these great teams in a unique, diverse and client-focused culture.”
Overseeing the program is the firm’s new senior recruitment manager, Paul Gascoyne, who led graduate recruitment at Shearman & Sterling before its merger with Allen & Overy.
“The training contract program at Paul, Weiss is going to be something special,” Gascoyne said Legal cheek. “We strive to provide junior lawyers with the best training, in an environment like no other. The team in London is exceptionally talented, creative and collaborative, and our office will be a fantastic training ground for those wanting to reach the top of the legal profession.”
Paul Weiss has had a presence in London since 2001, but has only recently begun to pursue significant growth. The firm now has 108 lawyers in the British capital, more than triple its 2022 headcount, thanks to a bold hiring strategy that has attracted top partners from rivals including Kirkland & Ellis, Linklaters, Clifford Chance, Macfarlanes and Ropes & Gray.
As part of this major recruitment drive, Paul Weiss also recently moved to the former Twitter (now number of the company’s businesses. private equity clients.
The new talent has in turn attracted big-ticket work across the firm’s M&A, finance, capital markets, tax, antitrust and IP specialisms. The London office recently advised on the financing and structuring of a potential cash offer for International Distributions Services, the parent company of Royal Mail, and on General Atlantic’s acquisition of a majority stake in Joe & the Juice.
Outside London, Paul Weiss is a major global legal player, with over 1,000 lawyers in more than 10 offices around the world. Last year the firm posted just over $2 billion in revenue, with profit per equity partner a whopping $6.5 million (£5.1 million).