Dechert (London)

Our view...

Titmuss Sainer Dechert merged with US firm Dechert, Price and Rhoads in July 2000, transforming into plain old Dechert in the process (shame). Although ostensibly a merger, there is no denying the dominance of the US side. Decert is from Philadelphia, like - we are reliably informed - the "cheese steak". So, twelve years after the merger, is Dechert either an horrific-looking comestible, or an extremely tasty morsel?

In the course of a couple of years Dechert transformed from a chummy, mid-tier firm with a broad range of practice areas (of varying profitability...) into an ambitious US-led outfit with just four: private equity, investment funds, finance and real estate, and litigation. There was a radical cultural change with an increased focus on profitable, big ticket work, and clearly not everyone was happy with it. We received a barrage of comments, with assistants complaining of the emphasis on billable hours.
 
For a couple of years the firm went through a very bad patch as partners, assistants and even clients voted with their feet. But few would have seriously argued that Dechert could have carried plodding along, and now that the firm has been through the pain of transformation the benefits are starting to show themselves. The latest buzzword is global expansion: the firm recently opened in Hong Kong and Beijing, and more offices are to follow – the firm has its sights on Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
 
The firm's  financial strength shows itself in its salaries which are slightly above market rate for mid-sized City firms (but still well short of the mid-atlantic rates paid by the likes of Weils and Shearmans and not even close to the proper US rates paid by Skaddens and Kirkland). Assistants can supplement their already decent pay package with a solid bonus of up to 20% of salary if they put the hours in, although bear in mind that different departments pay their lawyers on different scales, so unless you're in corporate you're likely to need that bonus to get near the figures on the right. And the wisdom of paying corporate lawyers another £5k - effectively creating a two-tier firm - is hard to fathom.
 
There are other advantages to working at Dechert aside from the cash and the rather fancy offices. The work is good, responsibility is given early, assistants are encouraged to get involved in marketing and business development, time spent on pro bono is taken into account when it comes to dishing out bonuses and international secondments are offered. Another upside is that there's no "up-or-out" policy, so if you don't quite make it to partner you can still carry on as "of counsel".
 
Which is just as well, because your chances of getting on the letterhead are extremely remote, with only tiny numbers making the grade. Unsurprisingly assistants' biggest gripe is over career progression. Criticism was levelled at the lack of transparency of the partnership selection process ("completely opaque") and of the confusion surrounding the "of counsel" title (which seems variously to mean that you're on course for being a partner, will never be a partner, or used to be a partner). The situation is even worse if you're a woman - there are only a handful of female partners in London. And as one associate says, "it is nigh on impossible to become a partner unless hired laterally".
 
A trainee at the firm reports that "the general feeling is that the top brass cares little for those working under them". Although the firm refused to comment at the time Dechert appeared to be Europe’s first credit crunch casualty of 2008, with rumours that it made a number of associates redundant. Insiders say that there were more, too, with one associate reporting that "firm morale is terrible, with everyone scared of losing their jobs". Since then, we've found it pretty hard to get anything out of Dechert. What a coy bunch.
 
Finally, if you're considering the firm for a training contract you should bear in mind that the firm is historically pretty piss-poor when it comes to retention. That's not to say that it's not a top place to train, and a marketable name on any CV, but approach with caution.