Firm Profiles- Slaughter and May

An introduction:

Dubbed “the Real Madrid” of the legal world by Legal Cheek, Slaughter and May have always been a firm completely shrouded in mystery, preferring to let its inherent prestige do the talking. Indeed, until a few years ago, the firm didn’t even have a dedicated marketing department, with a small team of partners handling this function of business instead! Furthermore, the firm has been historically associated with a “conservative, traditional approach” to its work, though the extent to which this is true maybe slightly overstated, based on the firm’s tendency to hire candidates from Oxbridge.

The firm also tends to attract a slightly nerdy, incredibly intelligent type of lawyer, perhaps explaining part of its affinity for Oxbridge, as the firm seeks out the brightest young legal minds. Nonetheless, despite the firm’s quirks, Slaughter and May remain one of the best places in the world to start a legal career, with incredible work, no target hours, and immense prestige.

Facts about the firm:

• The firm does not release its financial results (one of its many quirks), but the firm’s profit per equity partner is rumoured to be the highest of any European-based firm! It is estimated that their profit per equity partner extends from between £2 million to £3 million, though keep in mind that these are purely rumours.
• Contrary to its peers in the Magic Circle, Slaughter and May have a small number of offices in foreign jurisdictions, with just 4, compared to Clifford Chance’s 32 and Linklaters’ 30. International work is still very much on offer, with Slaughters relying on a carefully curated network of close working relationships with other leading law firms from across the world. Trainees may also be seconded to these “best friend” firms in the second year of their training contract.
• Its international approach is not the only way in which Slaughters differs from the crowd. The firm takes a “multi-specialist” approach to training, which means that trainees act as generalists in each department, rather than specialising in a particular subset of work.
• The firm typically receives around 2,000 applications each year for up to 85 training contracts. The application process is rather simple, with the firm only requiring a cover letter and CV.
• During the 1980s and 1990s, the firm acted on several privatisations in the United Kingdom, including those of British Airways, British Gas, and British Steel Corporation under the Thatcher governments. This close link with political bodies has continued, with Slaughters still taking a considerable level of work from the UK government.

Key practice areas:

Being a Magic Circle firm, Slaughters holds considerable strengths across the board, with top banking & finance work on the borrower side, high-end corporate/M&A, competition, financial crime, tax, and mid-market real estate mandates. Along with this, seats are offered to incorporate; financing; competition, disputes and investigations, financial regulation, intellectual property/technology, pensions, employment and incentives; real estate, and tax.

Notable recent deals/cases:

• Slaughter and May advised Standard Chartered on its strategic investment in Atom Financial, which operates Asia’s largest buy now pay later platform, Atome, as well as digital lending platform Kredit Pintar in Indonesia.
• Slaughter and May advised Kosmos Energy Ltd on its acquisition of Anadarko WCTP Company from Anadarko Offshore Holding Company LLC, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corp. Kosmos is a full-cycle deepwater independent oil and gas exploration and production company, and is listed on the NYSE and the LSE.
• Slaughter and May are advising Shell on certain English law aspects of the sale of its Permian business to ConocoPhillips, a leading shales developer in the basin, for $9.5 billion in cash. The transaction will transfer all of Shell’s interest in the Permian to ConocoPhillips, subject to regulatory approvals. The cash proceeds from this transaction will be used to fund $7 billion in additional shareholder distributions after closing, with the remainder used for further strengthening of its balance sheet.
• Slaughter and May are advising Travers Smith LLP on the pre-let of its new headquarters at Stonecutter Court, London EC4.
• Slaughter and May are advising Daily Mail and General Trust plc (“DMGT”) on a transaction for the sale of its Insurance Risk business (“RMS”) to Moody’s Corporation (“Moody’s”) for approximately £1,425m in cash at completion (the “Sale”).

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