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Overview
To some a comeback king, to others still a firm with a lot to prove, Simmons & Simmons has nevertheless maintained solid financial performance for three years straight. Simmons has also largely stopped the constant flow of senior departures that had blighted the firm, with the recent exception of its Hong Kong office, where it lost a sizeable team to a US rival in late 2006.
The firm in market terms would generally be classed in the band directly below the magic circle, in a group of firms sometimes loosely referred to as the “chasing pack”. This is generally taken to mean firms such as Herbert Smith, Lovells and Norton Rose, which have substantial international practices and a fair number of bluechip clients but are still a considerable distance behind the UK’s top tier.
Simmons' revenues in 2006-07 were up 10% to hit £250.6m, with average partner profits hitting £530,000, against £476,000 the previous year. This would be regarded as a solid performance against the backdrop of a busy financial year for major City firms.
History
Simmons was held up by many as the poster boy for the kind of firm that would be unable to adapt to a more competitive legal market in the late 1990s, when the magic circle was pulling ahead of rivals and beginning to expand abroad in earnest. Poor financial performance, troubled international expansion and a string of senior departures buffeted the firm for four years until Simmons managed to stablise the ship around 2003.
A key decision of the time was the move in early 2004 to demote 11 partners from its equity partnership - equivalent to 12% of its London equity partnership - as part of a move to increase profitability. This risky strategy appears to have paid off. Since then the firm has made considerable strides but the jury is still out over whether it can compete effectively at its chosen section of the market.
Simmons in January 2008 re-appointed its managing partner Mark Dawkins for a second three year term.
Click here to read an interview as Dawkins sets out his agenda.
Culture
Partly thanks to the influence of former senior partner Janet Gaymer, Simmons is viewed one of the more collegiate partnerships around. It also has a reputation for being supportive of its assistants. Its external recruitment has focused on senior associates ahead of partnership in recent years, giving the firm a more youthful feel.
Key departments
A broad practice that has a less transactional feel that some rivals. Accordingly, employment and IP are strong areas. Perhaps the jewel in the crown in recent years has been the firm’s finance practice, which has continued to gain in stature across a number of sectors. Hedge fund-related work has become a particular strength, as has its structured products team in general.
National/international coverage
Fairly broad. The firm has respected outposts in Italy and Hong Kong. It also secured its largest international merger in 2002 with its takeover of Dutch practice Nolst Trenite. Its Spanish arm helped the firm win one of its biggest-ever mandates in 2005 with its role advising Telefonica on its £17.7bn takeover of O2.
Key clients
Major corporate clients include Telefonica, HMV and New Look, with Deutsche and JP Morgan key clients on the banking side. The firm was once associated with public clients and utilities thanks to high-profile work for the Ministry of Defence and Railtrack.
The loss of a major panel place for the MoD in 2006 and effective nationalisation of the latter has seen the firm, with some success, shift its gaze more prominently towards private-sector clients. However, the firm appeared to have rekindled that relationship with the MoD in spring 2008 after advising on the UK's largest-ever defence PFI deal, the £13bn 'Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft project.
Leading partners
Leading finance partners include Jeremy Hoyland, Richard Perry, Jonathan Hammond and Tony Smith. Stuart Evans and Richard May are well regarded in corporate. Well-known IP lawyers include Kevin Mooney and Rowan Freeland. The firm has a range of respected operators in employment, including Simon Watson, William Dawson and Mark Hewland.
Career prospects
Good. The firm has a strong record for promoting young talent. Likes to recruit at senior associate level with an eye towards making partner. However, this year's partnership round saw just three made up to partner in London from a lucky 13 firmwide.
Salaries
A decent payer, considering the firm’s profitability still lags London’s top firms substantially. Starting salaries for newly-qualified lawyers rose 15% to £63,500 in 2007. This rises to £66,000 at 1PQE, £75,000 at 2PQE and £78,000 at three years’ qualification. Trainees start on £36,000.
"The bonus is not shouted about as much as it might be," says one contributor. "It is calculated based on hours and seniority. On hitting 1,700 hours, an NQ gets £11,000. This rises to about £40,000 for a senior associate working well over 2,000 hours."
Recruitment
For the latest vacancies at Simmons & Simmons, click here.
Work-life balance
The firm was something of a pioneer in championing the issue, notably under former senior partner Janet Gaymer. However, Simmons has surprisingly been a little less vocal on the issue in recent months, just at the point when the issue has risen up many rivals’ respective agendas. Billing targets have also risen in recent years to a current target of 1,700 a year.
However, at the start of 2008 it emerged that around 20% of the firm's staff had taken advantage of a plan to 'trade' leave - allowing worker-bees to add up to five days a year to their holiday entitlement (or subtract up to five from it) in exchange for a chunk of their salary. Perhaps not surprisingly, the majority of those joining the scheme opted to swap money for more time out of the office.
Diversity
