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Overview
A specialist in shipping, insurance and international trade, Clyde & Co is a litigation powerhouse for whom rivals include the likes of Barlow Lyde &Gilbert and Ince & Co. Despite a tough time in its core markets over recent years, Clydes last year actually improved its position in the Legal Week Top 50, inching up one place from 20th to become the 19th largest firm in the UK by revenue. Total fee income improved by 8% to reach £135m although partner profits were pancake-flat in 2006-07 to remain at a still respectable £500,000.
"The building is awful - 1980s and dingy - and can no longer fit in the firm," complains one poster. "Generally, departments seem to get physically moved every year or so for no apparent reason. On the bright side, the partners are pleasant to work for, the cases interesting and the hours generally very good, with 9.30am-6.30pm quite common."
History
Clyde & Co was formed in London by Scots solicitor Dick Clyde in 1933 and has grown more or less continuously ever since, except for a hiatus during the Second World War when the practice was temporarily transfered to Hill Dickinson and again in 1977 when a major fire hit the firm's City premises.
The firm opened in Guildford in 1969 in an early example of hiving back-office functions out to the provinces (and decades before it became popular to outsource to other continents), with the resulting office nowadays Clydes' largest after London.
Its first overseas outpost came in 1981 with the launch of an office in Hong Kong, with a spate of further expansion continuing throughout the tenure of long-serving figurehead and insurance-law doyen Michael Payton, who became senior partner in 1984 and has yet to show any sign of relinquishing the role.
Culture
Key departments
Key areas include insurance and reinsurance, shipping and international trade, while the firm boasts one of the largest litigation teams in the UK.
Clydes' well-received takeover in 2005 of 17-partner specialist aviation outfit Beaumont & Son added considerable strength to the firm's aviation insurance and litigation expertise, as did its 2006 acquisition of a four-partner team from US firm Condon & Forsyth - a move that also marked Clydes' debut in North America.
"The classic insurance/shipping litigation model has meant there hasn't been enough work for several years," says one contributor, "so the firm has recruited lots of asset finance people, who don't seem to fit in or stay long. Litigation is quite confused in terms of who does what - partners try to do work themselves rather than refer it to other teams, so a litigation assistant may find themselves doing corporate work and vice versa."
National/international coverage
As befits a firm big on shipping, Clydes has a network of 18 UK and international offices stretching around the globe. They are:
- Europe - Paris, Nantes, Piraeus and Moscow plus associate offices in Belgrade and St Petersburg;
- the Americas - New York, Los Angeles, Caracas and Rio de Janerio;
- Middle East - Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi; and
- Asia - Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore.
A touch less glamorously, Clydes also has an office in Guildford (its second-largest) to complement its City base.
Key clients
In early 2008 the firm won a landmark court battle for consumer group Which? over the price-fixing of replica football shirts, which you can read all about here.
Leading partners
Career prospects
Not great, according to the firm's contributors on the LW Wiki - or "virtually non-existent" as one puts it.
Another contributor notes: "There have been several partner departures over the last couple of years. Assistant morale is pretty low with lots of people leaving (including recent joiners), partly because salaries are low but more because of a feeling that there are no partnership prospects and no opportunity to progress otherwise."
Salaries
In 2007, Clydes was offering salaries of:
- NQ - £55,000
- 1PQE - £59,000
- 2PQE - £64,000
- 3PQE - £69,000.
"Pay is well below market level and has always been," says one poster. "I'm on £65k and am told that's high for my year. Target hours are 1,430, bonus is 5% if you hit then 10% if you hit something else (I think 1,700)."
Anothers contributor points to dissatisfaction over pay as a key factor for high attrition rates in the corporate department. "Who are they kidding that sub-£70k salaries for four-year PQE is enought to attract and retain quality assistants?" he asks. "That's coupled with an overall salary cap of £85k. Partnership profits are currently being put too far ahead of continuity through development of future partners to be sustainable."
Recruitment
For information on graduate recruitment at Clydes, click here.
Work-life balance
In 2007 the firm had an annual billing target of around 1,100 hours - hardly exacting by City standards and several hundred hours below what you'd expect from firms more focused on transactional work.
"The hours are generally very good in most teams, although asset finance, Guildford corporate and some of commercial litigation are much longer," says one poster, while another confirms that "the hours [are] generally very good, with 9.30-6.30 quite common."
Diversity
Clydes' diversity policy is as follows:
"At Clyde & Co, we view diversity as critical to the international nature of our business and have created a working environment where people from different backgrounds can thrive. We are committed to treating all prospective and existing employees and partners equally and without regard to gender, marital status, ethnic origin, age, disability, sexual orientation or religious belief."
So there you go.
Corporate department has had high attrition over the last two years, mostly based on salary - who are they kidding that sub-£70k salaries for four-year PQE is enought to attract and retain quality assistants? That's coupled with an overall salary cap of £85k and prospects of partnership being virtually non-existent. Partnership profits are currently being put too far ahead of continuity through development of future partners to be sustainable.
The problem with Clyde & Co is that the firm has managed to recruit at the top whilst forgetting that to have a brain you need arms and legs at the bottom.
The salary is way behind the City average and the prospects of progression are minimal by comparison to other City firms. To pay your 1-3PQEs almost £5k below the average for nearest size firms in the same area is just a joke and the firm has suffered with departures as a result. The trouble with that is the firm just doesn't seem to care.
In addition, Clydes was one of the last firms in the City to introduce a bonus structure, which is set at a maximum of 10% of pay. Again, generosity knows no bounds!! Although to be fair, this is similar to other like-sized firms, albeit that those firms pay more base salary.
In addition, the firm has a huge identity crisis. Is it a commercial firm, considering that most of its revenue is insurance litigation-based? Does the firm hit at the right level in corporate and banking, considering that those departments are both small by comparison to other like-sized firms'? Is the firm international, considering that most of the firm's foreign offerings are not full-service and some hardly even consist of more than single digit numbers in terms in staff? Is the firm a good employer, considering that it is widely regarded as being one the stingiest firms in the City?
I'm 2PQE at Clydes and also trained there. The hours are generally very good in most teams, although asset finance/guildford corporate/some of commercial litigation (on the Tadaz case) are much longer. Pay is well below market level and has always been - I'm on £65K and am told that's high for my year. Target hours are 1430, bonus is 5% if you hit then and 10% if you hit something else (I think 1700?). People should be careful about joining the firm at the moment (I am looking to leave), as the firm is a bit directionless - the classic insurance/shipping litigation model has meant there hasn't been enough work for several years, so the firm has recruited lots of asset finance people, who don't seem to fit in or stay long. Litigation is quite confused in terms of who does what - partners try to do work themselves rather than refer it to other teams, so a litigation assistant may find themselves doing corporate work and vice versa. There have been several partner departures over the last couple of years. Assistant morale is pretty low with lots of people leaving (including recent joiners) partly because salaries are low, but more because of a feeling that there are no partnership prospects and no opportunity to progress otherwise.
The building is awful - 1980s and dingy - and can no longer fit in the firm. Clydes has thus sent two floors of people to the Corn Exchange (round the corner), which has framented the firm. Generally departments seem to get physically moved every year or so, for no apparent reason. Several floors are very overcrowded with boxes lining all corridors as there is nowhere to keep the files, and most '1 person' offices now have to take 2 people, in a very small space. The partnership is aware of the problems but not particularly intersted in solving them as profitability is up. However, the lease expires in around 3 years and after that Clydes will probably move somewhere bigger and nicer, which may cheer people up.
On the bright side, the partners are pleasant to work for, the cases interesting and the hours generally very good with 9.30-6.30 quite common.
Pay isn't top of range but in some areas its better than others. Asset finance and corporate are broadly in line with the competition, though there is an eternal debate about who the competition really is in those areas, for this is a firm that hasn't made its mind up where it wants to be positioned in its less traditional markets. For litigation, shipping and insurance the firm is worth a stint to beef up the cv at least. For asset finance and corporate/commercial, the trend is upward and there is an impressive property practice too for a firm with these roots. Asset finance (led by some fine Clifford Chance exiles) is centred on the London office, property is equally strong in both centres, though for UK corporate/commercial, you'd have to be prepared to be based in Guildford as the firm has plainly made a policy decision to centre its efforts and investment there (that's no great hardship, though, as the offices are pleasant and the dept head charismatic and endearingly unorthodox). The overseas offices are pretty much standalone, with seemingly little interference from London. Dubai is excellent and particularly strong in corporate and IP, Hong Kong and NY on the up. Secondments available and the Dubai posting is much sought after.
The most recent commentator has got the the heart of the issue with Clydes - it has no non-contentious strategy and a management team which is really not very interested, or motivated, to develop one. It's not sure why it's got 2 Corporate Departments in the UK (and why they're competing against each other and the one in Dubai) or, indeed, for the most part, what its non-contentious teams actually do. This is why the "Corporate Departments" include banking, property, tax, competition and the odd refugee, renegade litigator. Management's head is still filled with its vision of "Clyde Chambers" and its remuneration structure actively encourages an "eat what you kill" mentality. Your assistants are indeed "yours" - no-one else can touch them (and they know it). The firm still quaintly has a "Colours" system where there is in place a different coloured file for each partner's work. This ensures that you can make damn sure your serfs aren't doing one of your competitor partner's work. With a worldview based around growing your own share of the cake - rather than growing the cake as a whole - this firm lacks coherent direction.
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