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Favourite Lists

OPL top companies, law firms and more..

Listing only the best

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Search and you will find
Why not scroll through our favourite companies and firms for lawyers?

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TOP 5 Hedge Funds for London Lawyers right now

1.Farallon Capital 
2.AQR Capital Management 
3. Man Group 
4. Sloane Robinson
​5. TCI

The funds listed are on the basis of: performance, stability, compensation, quality of legal work and work life balance for lawyers. Farallon is a great place to work as a top tier US fund in London, striking the balance between work life balance, excellent legal work and fair pay. AQR has had a stellar performance and is one of the top paying funds in the city, the new(ish) legal team seems balanced and productive.

​Man has had it's share of ups and downs but now seems to have their house in order, a sizeable legal function and good stability make this an appealing prospect while both Sloane Robinson and TCI have performed well and offer good quality pay and legal work.

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TOP 5 Law Firms Just for the Money right now

1. Kirkland
2. Latham
3. Milbank
4. Cleary
​5  Weil

The firms which balance long term and short term money best are unsurprisingly all US outfits. If you want the highest associate pay combined with top potential PEP consider the above. The Chicago HQ firm Kirkland offers associates top of the market compensation and if you can break into the equity (easier said than done) you will be most handsomely rewarded. Latham appears a more collegiate and casual environment than some of its US counterparts but don't let the west coast cool fool you into thinking hard work and long hours aren't expected, you will however be justly rewarded as both associate and partner.

The New York Trio of Milbank, Cleary and Weil take up the remaining positions, Weil offers slightly less money to associates than some of the other firms here, however this is made up for if you make it to the ranks of partner.

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TOP 5 FTSE 100  CV builders for lawyers 

1. Coca Cola
2. Smith & Nephew
3. BAE Systems
4. Diageo
​5. 3i

All the companies selected offer lawyers the chance to work on interesting cross boarder transactions while paying well and offering a good work life balance.   Total packages are good and these companies are great platforms to CV build in the middle of your career. Coca Cola is perhaps the most recognised brand on the planet, the well sized legal team offers interesting work, Smith & Nephew is in the hot pharmaceutical sector with a streamlined legal team offering good opportunities for advancement.

BAE, Diageo and 3i are all market leaders in their respective sectors providing a good mix of security, quality work and fair total compensation.

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TOP 5 Law firms to move in house from right now

1. Kemp Little 
2. Simmons & Simmons
3. Travers Smith
4. Linklaters
​5. Slaughter & May

These law firms offer fantastic training, the number one pick Kemp Little is a top platform to move to a technology company from; as an associate you can also benefit from the offer regular secondments. Simmons and Travers provide great experience for associates in financial services (particularly the hedge fund and private equity experience respectively) as well as not pricing themselves at the top of the market making the transition to in house more straightforward. For all round training and brand power it is hard to knock Linklaters and Slaughter & May.



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TOP 5 Private Equity Funds in London for lawyers right now

1. KKR
2. Blackstone
3. SilverLake
4. CVC
​5. Bain Capital

The usual suspects of KKR and Blackstone make the top 2 as behemoths in private equity albeit with strikingly compact legal teams in London, the quality of work and branding at both is second to none. SilverLake is a fantastic fund investing predominantly in the tech sector, the quality of personnel is exceptional at all outfits and the sector generally has been red hot for a while, most of the fund pays well and are not as crippling as you might imagine in terms of hours.

CVC and Bain are PE stalwarts with CVC the only non-US headquartered fund to make this years top 5.

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TOP 5 European Cities for Lawyers to work in right now

1. London
2. Amsterdam
3. Brussels
4. Barcelona
​5. Geneva

London retains its crown for lawyers, providing the best mix of compensation, access to opportunity and lifestyle. Driven in large part by favourable tax treatment Amsterdam has witnessed a boon for companies relocating or increasing their operations in and around the city. As a result of this investment new positions for lawyers have been consistent, particularly in the TMT space for several years now.

Brussels is the quintessential European hub, it has a surprising number of both European and US manufacturing, retail and logistics clients dotted around the city providing opportunity for local and international lawyers. Barcelona has a fantastic quality of life and with several major international and US players placing their EU hubs there it has offered the opportunity for international lawyers to have the best of both worlds (money and lifestyle). Geneva has a high cost of living, but is a key location for pharmaceutical, banking, insurance and private equity.

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TOP 5 Most marketable practice areas to work in right now

1. Finance
2. Financial Services Regulatory
3. Corporate/Commercial
4. Funds
​5. Corporate Compliance

Finance has been a skillset in consistent demand for the past few years both in house and within private practice in Europe. A lack of past trainees qualifying into this area and a glut in need for the work created an almost perfect storm in 2017 which has rumbled on over the past few years. Top regulatory lawyers are a rare breed and are urgently required by big banks and mid-sized financial services clients alike.

Corporate commercial skills consistently rank as highly desirable, lawyers with these skills are the backbone of most in house legal departments and keep the wheels of commerce turning. Funds, formation and transactional has been busy in 2019 with law firms and in house customers keen to ensure they have adequate resources for market conditions ahead. Corporate compliance, similarly to FS regulatory is a busy and marketable area with new regulations applying to financial and corporate clients alike now more than ever.

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TOP 5 US businesses to work for lawyers in London right now

1. Google
2. Apple
3. GE
4. Goldman Sachs
​5. Time Warner

Google and Apple top the list of US outfits in London that are most appealing for lawyers, both have significant legal teams and a good mix of work life balance, type of legal work and total compensation. GE has many different divisions and an institutional way of doing things, most lawyers tend to stick around there for a long time, those that move on are often on an accelerated track to the top.

​Goldman is the premier brand in the banking world and their recent tie up with Apple as well as a number of exciting spin offs (Marcus) and other projects make sure things stay interesting. Time Warner has more lawyers than you might think in London, as a top media business there are lots of opportunities to stretch your creative legal legs here as a solicitor in house.

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