A Career at Curtis

Curtis London Recruiting Contact:Tuula Davis, Office Manager, London020 7710 9816

• Curtis is ranked at #5 on The American Lawyer’s most recent “Diversity Scorecard.”

• Chambers Global recognises 31 Curtis lawyers as leaders in their fields.

• Global Arbitration Review recognises Curtis as one of the top

12 most active International Arbitration Groups in the world.

• Many of Curtis’ practices, including International Arbitration, International Trade, Corporate and Commercial, Dispute Resolution, General Business Law, Energy and Natural Resources, Banking and Finance, Tax, and Public International Law, are recognised as leaders in 2017 Chambers Global in countries such as Oman and Kazakhstan, among others.

• Legal 500: Europe, Middle East and Asia cited 15 Curtis attorneys for their work and 18 practices as leaders in their countries of practice, such as in Algeria, Ghana, Italy, France, Kazakhstan, Oman and Turkey.

Firm Highlights

About CurtisCurtis is a US-headquartered international law firm with 17 offices in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas.

Founded in 1830, Curtis is one of the longest established international firms in either London or New York. For all its venerable history, Curtis has always had a pioneering approach to its international offices. It was one of the first US firms to open in Mexico City in 1985. It remains the only US-headquartered firm licensed to practice in Oman. It is the first and only international law firm to open an office in Turkmenistan.

Curtis has grown steadily over the last 50 years, for the most part organically or, in the case of Mexico City, Milan and Buenos Aires, by merger with closely-affiliated firms. The strategy in new offices has been to transfer at least one long-term Curtis partner with local languages alongside lateral hires and local lawyers.

Curtis has tended to recruit lawyers with outstanding academic records from top law schools. Many of them are linguists, often from non-traditional backgrounds. The result of this is a culturally diverse partnership (top 5 firm, American Lawyer Diversity Scorecard 2017, and an international outlook that is unusual for an “establishment” New York-headquartered firm.

“I joined straight from my LPC, having done a week’s work experience the previous summer. I liked the friendliness and international feel of the office and it was a welcome contrast to the factory-scale experience I had at another international firm. On my very first day I found myself on a skype call with a partner in India, one in Milan and a third lawyer in Buenos Aires! So it was off to a flying and very international start. The firm says it treats its trainees as associates from day one and it feels that way to me so far. The office is very small – even if you don’t work directly with someone you will undoubtedly meet by the cappuccino machine at some point. Everyone is interested in meeting a new face and I have found it incredibly welcoming.”

Claudia King, Trainee SolicitorOxford UniversityBPP Law School

Curtis in LondonCurtis London’s core practices are international arbitration and corporate/commercial law, which includes mergers and acquisitions, private placements, public offerings, venture capital and private equity, fund formation, joint ventures, infrastructure projects and debt finance. Curtis acts for a number of state-owned energy companies around the world.

If you join Curtis, you join a diverse and internationally minded community. At last count, we had 13 different nationalities in the London team. The vast majority of

“Curtis feels like a family firm but on an international level. Client work is often done across several Curtis offices. For example, I regularly work with partners and associates in New York and Milan and have worked out of the New York Office for several weeks at a time. Trainees at Curtis take on responsibility earlier than at many other firms. As a trainee, I had the opportunity to travel with partners to visit clients in other countries, which is something that friends and associates in other firms don’t even dream of. In my second year as a trainee I spent several months in New York and met many US associates, and got to know another office well.”

“I joined Curtis as a paralegal, on two arbitrations and became a trainee in 2017. I ultimately spent 10 days in the Paris office for the hearings spending every waking minute seeing how partners prepare expert witnesses and interact with clients. There is a very strong team ethic at Curtis, and you get to meet and learn from very high calibre clients and experts. I have done some IP work, and am looking forward to more corporate work. After law school, I worked for the Greek Mission at the UN and thought about a diplomatic career. Curtis represents and solves problems for governments, which is for me an ideal blend of law and diplomacy.”

our partners and many colleagues are linguists, which makes for a stimulating working environment. London is a key “hub” for Curtis’ European and African activities and many of our overseas partners and colleagues visit regularly. Your network of colleagues will extend far beyond London.

Curtis London offers the best of both worlds. On the one hand, we are a small and friendly team, making it easy to settle in quickly. On the other, the office has expanded rapidly over the past few years and the workload is incredibly international.

Odysseus Stergianopoulos, Trainee SolicitorLLB, LLM Maritime Law LPC City University, London

Sena Tsikata,AssociateOxford Brookes UniversityOxford Institute of Legal Practice

Curtis London seeks applicants with strong academic backgrounds who are interested in international work. You will need to demonstrate intellect, energy and an ability to get on well with people. Trainees are expected to take responsibility for their own work from an early stage.

The training contract operates on a flexible non-rotational basis, and is therefore not divided into the traditional four or six “seat” method. We believe this benefits the prospective trainee and their development, through allowing them to experience and take on a broader array of work from any of Curtis’ practice areas and indeed offices.

“I joined Curtis in New York, having studied in the U.S. I wanted an international firm rather than a “New York only” firm. I liked the client exposure that came my way from the start, and had a broad range of experience in my first few years in capital markets, M&A, securities laws compliance and investment funds. I ended up specialising in international investment management, which had me working for clients like Bank of America Merrill Lynch as well as family offices and high net worth individuals. I joined a West Coast firm for two years before moving back to the UK to be with family. Curtis hired me in London, and while I work closely with partners and have made good friends here, I still feel part of the New York office, and see many familiar faces visiting from New York.”

“You can expect to work with senior partners and interact with clients from day one. Whilst the London office is relatively small, it is part of a much larger organisation with a global network of offices in all sorts of interesting cities around the world. This means there are regular opportunities to work with colleagues based overseas on large cross-border transactions. Curtis is an open, friendly and non-hierarchical firm of ‘happy lawyers’ and the firm goes to great lengths to accommodate the personal goals of all of its staff, a factor which sets it apart from most other firms in the City.”

Victoria Atkinson, AssociateNewcastle UniversityBPP Law School

Chris Driscoll, AssociateUC Berkeley, California

Training With CurtisCurrently, we have an informal secondment programme. For example, historically we offer our second-year trainees the opportunity to participate in the Summer Associate Programme in New York for up to 10 weeks. In addition, trainees have also had the opportunity to spend periods of their training contract in Curtis’ other international offices.

Salaries are competitive and benefits include private health care and pension.

You will need to demonstrate a consistently high level of academic achievement. This means that you will have gained at least a 2.1 (or equivalent) as well as AAB at A-level (or equivalent). Languages are an advantage but not essential. What is essential is that you have an unrestricted right to work in the UK.

What you Need to Apply

“Curtis is committed to the professional development of its trainees and associates, encouraging them to take responsibility from an early stage. As a trainee that was something which was very clear to me and now, as an associate in the firm’s Investment Management Group, I continue to work closely with partners on a day-to-day basis. Because of the firm’s size, you’ll have regular exposure to a variety of projects and as a result the opportunity to challenge yourself and develop new skills. Trainees and associates can also expect regular and direct client contact, with the firm’s corporate department boasting an impressive roster of international clients. Partners are all friendly and approachable and take a genuine interest in the associates and trainees, both professionally and personally.”

Karl Behrouz, Associate Oxford UniversityBPP London

How to ApplyApplicants who wish to apply should send their CV and cover letter addressed to Ms. Tuula Davis at: recruitmentlondon@curtis.com.

“I started training at Curtis with one year spent in the firm’s Oman office which really added to the international feel of the firm. The training was flexible, varied and from the get-go I was given responsibility fast. Overall, trainees are expected to get stuck in, work diligently alongside their team and most importantly be willing to rise to any challenge.”

Sophia Briffa, AssociateExeter UniversityUniversity of Law, Bristol

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