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Revealed: the reasons why UK associates join US firms - and it's not just for money

Having worked at both US and MC I can say that the extra pay does not make up for the massive dip in quality of work (US firms in London, with the exception of one or two and even then only in a few discrete areas, simply do not have the same relationships or brand power in the City and the quality of work you do reflects that). Most people are pretty switched on and appreciate that the US firms pay a premium because there is more of an "on-call 24/7" culture (sister's wedding, your own wedding! holidays etc). You might not end up working more hours (although I did - by far) but the attitude to Blackberry is, in my experience, completely different and this may or may not be worth an extra £900 a month (in the end, it wasn't for me). I worked at a leading NY firm and I have friends still there and some others at other NY and LA firms, and almost without exception they moved for the cash. The article refers to DLA and Bakers - they are not really US firms. Bakers is a global swiss verein (the "subway" of law firms) and DLA has a similar model, it's not really a US firm at all (more of a global eversheds). Ditto Hog Lov. Just a mid-tier city firm who got into bed with a yank.

10-Apr-2012

4:06 pm