Linklaters’ Shamin Choudhury, managing associate and co-head of the firm’s global sports sector group, discusses building a sports law niche at a Magic Circle firm, the legal and commercial forces shaping the sector, and his advice for aspiring sports lawyers

“We officially set up the sports practice in 2019,” recalls Shamin Choudhury, managing associate and co-head of Linklaters’ global sports sector group. He and a veteran partner spotted sports deals ballooning in value and complexity to the point a Magic Circle firm could add real value and apply global expertise. Armed with that insight and a passion for sport, Choudhury helped grow Linklaters’ sports law offering as a newly qualified solicitor — and he’s been at the heart of its growth ever since.

Choudhury, a former state school student who studied law at Warwick University, admits he “didn’t quite enjoy” the dry academic side of his degree until a practical law-and-business module hooked him and made him see a future as a solicitor. By graduation, he still hadn’t secured a training contract. Instead, he took six months to travel and worked briefly as a temporary paralegal at Goldman Sachs, an experience that gave him a glimpse of the finance world and how it operated.

He eventually landed a winter vacation scheme at Linklaters in late 2016, seated in structured finance — a department he jokes he “still doesn’t fully understand what every part of the team does” — which led to a training contract offer. During his training, Choudhury rotated through a series of transactional seats from banking to private equity, including a secondment in Dubai. “I always knew I was more of a transactional lawyer than a litigator,” he reflects. He qualified in March 2020 having just returned from secondment, just as Covid lockdowns hit which he says was an unusual start to life as a new associate.

Right as he qualified, an early mentor, partner Julian Davies, saw the sports sector on the cusp of something big. Sports deals were reaching sizes and levels of complexity where “it made sense for us to be involved,” Choudhury explains. So in 2019 Linklaters formed its dedicated sports sector team, with Davies spearheading and Choudhury handling much of the early legwork from the transactional side. What began as a speculative venture with an open “give it a go” mentality quickly gained momentum.

Choudhury continued his structured finance work (which often lent itself well to unique sports deals) even as sports mandates started to flow in. “We got a lot of mandates from various types of institutions in the sports space, and that’s where we really grew our practice,” he says of the early mix of sports-related M&A, regulatory and financing matters. In 2023, he spent nearly a year on secondment in New York, serving sports clients while further honing his finance skills. Having now worked in London, Dubai and New York, he brings a global perspective to the practice. Today, as co-head, he coordinates and works with a network of lawyers across the firm whenever a big sports deal comes in. “It’s not six or seven people sat in a corner doing sports work every day,” he points out. Instead, specialists from competition, litigation, corporate, finance and other teams assemble around each sports matter, marrying their expertise with a shared passion for the sector.

His client work is equally varied. One day might involve quietly chipping away at a long-running project; the next could bring urgent calls requiring quick thinking and reactive advice. “You’ve got to manage your day well,” Choudhury says, describing how he juggles steady deal work with ad hoc queries by setting priorities and pulling in colleagues as needed. Amid it all, he carves out time for business development, constantly looking for new opportunities and connections. He urges junior lawyers to do the same from early on: building confidence and a network is an ongoing part of the job, not something to leave until you’re senior.

Over the past few years, Choudhury has amassed an enviable roster of sports-related work. Much of it is confidential, but a few highlights can be shared. On the club side, he helped a long-term client go from minority ownership in 2021 to majority ownership of Norwich City FC by 2025. “We’ve assisted in the journey of acquiring a small piece to becoming the steward of the club,” he smiles, having guided the client through incremental share purchases and the maze of football regulations that come with club ownership. His team has also been involved in private equity investments across sports, including in league-based deals and media rights — though details remain under wraps. More recently, he’s advised on a deal spanning across women’s football, basketball, cricket with others in the practice advising in the fast-paced sphere of Formula 1. It’s an eclectic practice that, he jokes, makes his mainstream finance deals feel less exciting to others by comparison.

Choudhury sees a few major trends powering the sports law boom. “Women’s sport is front and centre for many now and represents a strong business opportunity,” he says, highlighting the surge in interest and investment in women’s leagues and clubs. Investment within and originating from the Arabian peninsula is another driver — countries in the region are pouring resources into sports at home and abroad, rapidly transforming the landscape. Then there’s the continued rise of competition law issues in sport. From breakaway leagues to clubs and players challenging regulations and laws, stakeholders are more alive than ever to their legal rights and increasingly willing to compete in legal forums. As deals get larger, “clubs, leagues and investors are getting more clued up about protecting their own interests,” he notes.

With these opportunities come challenges. One is the sheer volume of regulation: sports businesses must comply with layers of sporting rules on top of ordinary law. Another is bridging the cultural gap between traditional sports insiders and the finance-savvy investors now entering the arena. “These two groups have not typically worked closely together in the preceding decades,” Choudhury explains — and part of his job is translating between the passion of sport and the pragmatism of business. Finally, there’s often tension among stakeholders themselves. Sport is an inherently emotional investment, he notes. Owners who are fans at heart want to win trophies, which doesn’t always sit easily with the need for sustainable, profit-minded management of a pure business. Negotiating that balance is often important for a lawyer to understand — a rounded commercial view is a powerful tool for any lawyer, he notes.

For those keen on this field, Choudhury’s advice is straightforward. He emphasises that “sports law” isn’t a single defined discipline — “there’s no Sports Law Act,” he quips. Rather, it’s a collection of legal areas applied to a sports context. So focus on the aspect that excites you most — be it finance, regulation, media or something else – and get as much exposure to it as possible. That could mean writing about sports-related legal issues, volunteering with a sports organisation, or simply reading up extensively. Networking is also key. Choudhury encourages reaching out to people in the industry for insights — “nine times out of ten, they’ll say yes,” he notes — but he advises having a clear purpose when you do, rather than a vague request to chat. And don’t worry if your route isn’t linear. Choudhury himself took a winding path, and believes those extra experiences only helped. It’s a long career — “a marathon, not a sprint” as many of his mentors have advised over the years — and the world of sports law will reward genuine passion and the initiative to seize opportunities when they arise.

Shamin Choudhury will be speaking at ‘Behind the game: Explore sports law — with Linklaters’, a virtual student event taking place on Thursday 25 September, from 4pm to 6pm. APPLY NOW.

@linklaterscareersuk It’s Summer Vacation Scheme Season! Here are our Top Tips for Day 1: Arrive early – a little extra time helps you settle in and shows your enthusiasm Introduce yourself – greet your new colleagues and fellow schemers, and let your personality shine Dress professionally and comfortably – first impressions matter, so choose something professional that you feel good in Don’t forget your notebook and pen – you’ll want to capture key insights along the way Come along with Jess to see what a day on the scheme really looks like! #vacationscheme #linklaters #career ♬ House Glamor Fashion – PMsound

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83%

Magic Circle law firm Linklaters has confirmed it will retain 33 of its 40 London-based trainees qualifying this autumn.

The firm made 34 offers, with 33 accepted, resulting in a retention rate of 83%. All offers were for permanent roles.

The Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2025 shows Links is one of the largest trainee recruiters in the City, offering around 100 TCs every year. First-year trainees currently earn £56,000, rising to £61,000 in year two. Newly qualified (NQ) associates earn £150,000.

Three trainees based in Hong Kong SAR and one from Singapore also received and accepted offers for NQ roles in London.

Chris Stevenson, trainee development partner at Linklaters, commented:

“Congratulations to our new junior lawyers as they embark on this next stage of their careers at Linklaters. They have all shown outstanding potential and ambition. Benefiting from the opportunities across our global platform, and supported by our culture of teamwork and high performance, they are well positioned to grow and thrive. We look forward to seeing — and celebrating — their successes in the years ahead.”

Links is only the second Magic Circle law firm to reveal autumn retention score, with A&O Shearman posting a score of 69% (37 of 54) last month.

Summer trainee retention rates: the story so far…

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Firm	Trainees	Retained	Retention Rate	NQ Destinations
Wedlake Bell	8	8	100%	2 to insolvency; 1 each to commercial disputes, construction, corporate, tax, IP/commercial, and private client
RPC	18	16	89%	6 to insurance; 6 to disputes (3 IP/tech, 2 commercial litigation, 1 media); 4 to corporate & commercial
Watson Farley & Williams	18	16	89%	5 to asset finance; 4 to project finance; 2 to corporate; 1 to debt capital markets; 2 to disputes and 1 to finance in Dubai; 1 to disputes in Bangkok
Linklaters	40	33	83%	Undisclosed
A&O Shearman	54	37	69%	Undisclosed
Withers	14	9	65%	Undisclosed

Financial results season gathers pace

Magic Circle firm Linklaters has reported a bumper set of financial results for the year ended 30 April 2025, with both revenue and profit reaching record highs.

Revenue hit £2.32 billion — an 11% increase on the previous year — while pre-tax profit soared 14% to £1.08 billion, marking the first time the firm has exceeded the billion-pound threshold. Profit per equity partner (PEP) rose 15% to £2.2 million, with profit per all partners also up 15% to £2.1 million.

The results were driven by strong growth across all core markets, according to the firm, particularly in the US, where profit jumped by an impressive 57%. Asia and the UK saw rises of 13% and 8% respectively, while Europe posted a more modest 3% increase. The firm also welcomed 27 lateral partner hires and elected 34 new partners globally during the financial year.

Paul Lewis, firmwide managing partner at Linklaters, commented:

“We have a clear vision and strategy to put us in the strongest position to win the most complex, cross-border mandates for the world’s leading corporates, banks, funds and financial sponsors. Our FY25 results and our performance in industry league tables, rankings and awards reflect the progress we have made and the strength of our global platform. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our teams across our global network for their hard work and for always delivering exceptional results for our clients.”

Macfarlanes also posted a strong performance, with PEP climbing 8% to £3.1 million.

The City outfit saw revenue rise 10.1% to £371.4 million, while operating profit grew 8.8% to £206.5 million. Senior partner Sebastian Prichard Jones praised the firm’s transactional strength and a standout year for its private client and tax practices, bolstered by activity around the UK general election.

“Our transactional practices performed strongly despite a slightly muted market,” he said. “We were fortunate that our clients remained active throughout, and I want to thank them, and our people, for delivering what turned out to be a good result for us.”

Elsewhere, Charles Russell Speechlys reported revenue growth of 11% to £242.3 million and a 3.7% rise in firmwide profit to £47.5 million. PEP nudged up 3% to £681,000.

The firm’s international push continues, with revenue across Asia up 80% and a new office launch in Milan. Managing partner Simon Ridpath said the strategy of targeting “key centres of wealth” through strategic hires and investment in innovation would remain central going forward.

Legal Cheek asks those at the top of the profession for their words of advice ahead of tomorrow’s International Women’s Day

As women across the legal profession come together to celebrate International Women’s Day this weekend, Legal Cheek has gathered advice from some of the most influential women in law — spanning both City law firms and the bar.

While women now make up 53% of lawyers in law firms, they remain underrepresented at senior levels, holding only 32% of full-equity partner positions. In the judiciary, women constitute 38% of all court judges as of April 2024, reflecting a 14 percentage point increase since 2014. ​

From securing pupillage or a training contract to making partner or taking silk, the path to the top comes with its challenges. So, we asked those who have made it: If you could give one message to the next generation of women in law, what would it be?

Here’s what they had to say:​

Chinwe Odimba-Chapman, London managing partner at Clifford Chance

“I would say, embrace your journey with confidence and resilience. In my early days starting out as a trainee I remember wondering whether I would fit in. A defining moment for me as a trainee was receiving feedback that I came across as shy. As you can imagine, this is not a word many people associate with me now!

I found that working hard and being determined was only part of the key ingredients to success, I also needed to build strong one-to-one relationship with colleagues and clients.

My background was different from many of my peers which meant I brought a unique perspective and different way of thinking that became my superpower. So don’t be afraid to be authentic, to bring ideas — and be open to trying and learning new things. Think of your career as a journey rather than plan — keep moving forwards and grabbing opportunities, and one day, you too will inspire others with your story.”

Aedamar Comiskey, senior partner and chair at Linklaters

“Believe in your abilities and embrace your different skills and insights. Give things your best shot. Break stereotypes. Smash ceilings. What’s the worst that can happen? If you give it a go and it doesn’t work out, you’re no worse off than if you hadn’t tried at all. Don’t worry about what other people think. You can’t control that. What you can control is your own attitude and effort. Believe in yourself, then others will believe in you too.”

Farmida Bi CBE, chair of Europe, Middle East and Asia at Norton Rose Fulbright

“The one piece of advice I would give to the next generation of women in law is not to choose a specific career path too early based on assumptions about what they think they may want in the future, such as a role where they can more easily balance a family with a fulfilling career. The reality is that firms are changing and more open than ever before to accommodating the needs of their people. So, a role that may previously have seemed unsuitable could now be — or could soon become — very feasible. Please wait and make decisions at the relevant time which may offer more options than may seem apparent in advance.”

Karen Davies, global chair at Ashurst

“The barriers for women in the legal industry are slowly coming down, as they rightly should. My advice for the next generation would be to keep looking out for those who come behind you. Finding a sponsor who truly cares about your career progression can be a game-changer — the people who take real responsibility and will leverage their experience and influence to help you further progress. So when women come to you for advice, mentorship or a helping hand, share your knowledge and experiences generously. This has been a big part of my career journey so far and how I got to the position of chair at a global law firm. It’s likely a cornerstone for the success of many other female leaders too. There have been so many brilliant women who have stood beside me and supported me in my career, and there will be many who do the same for you. Please seek out this support and sponsorship in your career, but also be that support for your peers.

My second message (and a crucial piece of advice!) is something I always tell my female colleagues: become comfortable with the word ‘no’. Women often take on extra responsibilities and while these additional things can benefit you and your career, it doesn’t mean you should say ‘yes’ to everything. It takes some getting used to, but ‘no’ can serve you just as well as ‘yes’.”

Annabel Gillham, co-office managing partner for London at Morrison Foerster

“Get to know what really drives you, what you really enjoy and try to shape your practice and career path around that, rather than being led too much by what you think you “should” be doing or comparing yourself to others. It’s great to have a role model, but perhaps it’s even better to have several. That way you can select different attributes and behaviours that chime with you and from which you can draw energy and enthusiasm.

Also, feel assured that there are plenty of women leaders in law who will happily make it their mission to mentor you. Just ask them!”

Georgia Dawson, senior partner at Freshfields

“We are fortunate to stand on the shoulders of incredible women who forged a path towards greater equality in the profession. Our duty now is to keep pushing for progress because the job isn’t done yet.”

Barbara Mills KC, Bar Council chair

“Three things have made a real difference to me over the years: always be prepared when pursuing your goals, surround yourself with a supportive network who can both guide you and understand you, and look after your own wellbeing. Treat wellbeing as a core skill which you incorporate into your everyday and not only as a way to manage a crisis.”

Emily Monastiriotis, incoming managing partner at Simmons & Simmons

“Be ambitious and resilient, but above all, be yourself. Your unique strengths and perspectives are your greatest assets.

Set career goals, have personal ambitions and don’t be afraid to challenge — but don’t discount the value of collaboration. Ensure that you’re supported — and that you support others in turn, this is absolutely key to success.

Firms like the one I am at have made great progress in representation at all levels — but there is still a long way to go. The legal profession is evolving — it’s an exciting time, embrace it. Your voice will be crucial in shaping its future.”

Results on the up, but human supervision still required

Linklaters has set an exam on English law for a series of AI models in order to assess their accuracy.

‘The LinksAI English law benchmark’ asks a series of 50 questions from 10 different legal practice areas, rating each response and allocating a score.

The AI models receive a maximum of 10 marks for each question, with five marks for substance (whether the answer is right or not), three for citations (including issues of hallucination) and two marks for clarity.

The questions are described as “hard”, and are the same level as those that would require a competent mid-level lawyer, roughly around two years post qualification, specialised in that practice area.

Topics on the roster come from a range of practice areas including: contract, IP, tax, privacy, employment, corporate, dispute resolution, real estate, competition, and banking.

The last benchmarking exercise took place in October 2023, and tested GPT 2, GPT 3, GPT 4 and Bard. Whilst Bard came out on top with an average score of 4.4 out of 10, all of the tools “were often wrong and the citations sometimes fictional” the report states.

The new round of testing looked at Gemini 2.0, with a score of 6 out of 10, and OpenAI o1 the top score of 6.4 out of 10. The improvements in both cases were driven by boosts to the substance and citation scores.

One significant shift came in the prevalence of hallucinations, with AI creating cases and statutes to support its answer. Whilst almost a third of the older models hallucinated (47 out of 150 answers), the two newer tools reduced this rate down to 9%. This does not, however, take into account real but inaccurate citation.

Commenting on the improved results, the report notes that, “despite the significant improvement in Gemini 2.0 and OpenAI o1, we recommend they should not be used for English law legal advice without expert human supervision. They are still not always right and lack nuance.”

“However, if that expert supervision is available, they are getting to the stage where they could be useful, for example by creating a first draft or as a cross-check. This is particularly the case for tasks that involve summarising relatively well-known areas of law.”

Looking ahead to the future the report goes on to say that “whether this rate of progression will continue is less clear.”

“It is possible there are inherent limitations to LLMs — which are partly stochastic parrots regurgitating the internet (and other learned text) on demand,” it continues.” For example, they all suffer from the embodiment problem; they will never experience the beauty of a summer cricket game or the physical revulsion at finding a snail in a bottle of ginger beer. However, the fine tuning of this technology is likely to deliver performance improvements for years to come.”

“In any event, we will reapply the LinksAI English law benchmark to future iterations of this technology and update this report,” it adds.

Several rookies heading to different offices around the world

Magic Circle player Linklaters has retained 75% of its trainees, with some moving to different offices.

The March 2025 qualifying intake was made up of 57 recruits worldwide, with 43 accepting an NQ position. In London these figures were 48 and 38 respectively, giving a slightly higher retention of 79%.

In the London cohort 35 received NQ offers to stay in the City with three receiving offers in Dubai, Singapore and Tokyo. Elsewhere seven trainees from Hong Kong, Singapore, the Middle East and Australia were made offers to qualify in London.

The Legal Cheek Firms Most List shows the newly qualified associates, all of whom are on permeant deals, will start on recently improved salary of £150,000.

Links is one of the largest training contract providers in the City, with an annual trainee intake of around 100, split across two intakes each year.

Chris Stevenson, trainee development partner at Linklaters, commented:

“We are thrilled to have this talented group of junior lawyers embark on their careers with us and its fantastic to see them already taking advantage of the benefits of our global platform, with a number accepting offers across our network. We look forward to seeing their careers take off as they take full advantage of our market leading training and platform, bringing diverse and global experiences to deliver the best for our clients.”

These figures represent a slight fall from the Autumn where the firm took on 78% of trainees, having moved 11 trainees from it’s Moscow office after deciding to shutter operations in 2022.

Classroom lessons, practical exercises and hackathon

Linklaters has teamed up with King’s College London to deliver training on generative AI (GenAI) to its lawyers.

The programme, dubbed the ‘GenAI Expert Training course’, has been put together by Linklaters’ GenAI programme team in collaboration with The Dickson Poon School of Law at KCL.

The new scheme follows the previous training run by the Magic Circle firm which saw over 80% of the firm’s staff complete an introductory course. “The new GenAI Expert Training course aims to take proficiency to the next level as the sophistication of these tools continues to develop”, the firm said.

The goal of the new programme is to provide an “in-depth understanding of GenAI and prompt engineering” in the legal space, with lawyers receiving classroom sessions and undertaking practical learning exercises, including a hackathon.

Legal Cheek understands that the new training is not yet available to trainees, although recruits will be required to complete the foundation training.

Earlier in the summer the firm rolled out Microsoft 365’s Copilot, a GenAI tool, to offices across the globe.

Shilpa Bhandarkar, partner at Linklaters and head of the firm’s client tech and AI offering, commented:

“Offering a global cohort of our people the opportunity to learn from leading academics and each other will help embed GenAI expertise across our business. We’ve already built the foundation on which this cohort can now bring their knowledge and creativity, identifying use cases and designing solutions that will help them transform the way they work and deliver client service.”

Professor Dan Hunter, executive dean at The Dickson Poon School of Law at KCL added: “We live and work in a rapidly changing legal and technical landscape, and equipping legal professionals with the tools to be able to utilise GenAI in their practice is vital to ensure we can keep up with these developments. I look forward to seeing how participants navigate the risks, mitigations, benefits and ethical issues they are presented with when considering how they use GenAI in legal practice.”

News of the training follows research which found more than 40% of lawyers now use AI in their daily work, with the ability to complete tasks faster seen as the top benefit. The findings, collected by LexisNexis, highlighted additional benefits such as enhanced client service and gaining a competitive edge over rival firms.

Linklaters counsel Tom Capon discusses the rapid growth of the space industry, sustainability, and the advantages of having a broad career

“We come in every day because we love seeing new things, we love new challenges: that’s what we enjoy,” says Tom Capon, counsel and co-leader of the space sector at Linklaters. He recalls, “When I was a relatively junior lawyer, I spoke to a very pre-eminent capital markets lawyer who was close to retirement. She had been doing this job for decades and she told me, ‘Tom, I’m learning every day!’ When you hear that from someone you look up to, it’s slightly surprising because you assume they must know everything,” Capon confesses “But, she said, ‘The moment I stop learning, this job becomes pointless.’ That changed my perspective.”

Capon studied languages at university, graduating in 2010 and going on to pursue a law conversion. “I had always had it in the back of my mind that I might want to be a lawyer but I hadn’t quite made my mind up when I was at university,” he tells me. “So, I decided to study something I loved.” Capon ultimately went on to complete a training contract at another large international firm, qualifying in 2014 in the structured finance and debt capital markets practice, before moving to Linklaters in 2020. “I really enjoyed my training contract. I saw all these different aspects of what was going on at a large international firm,” Capon says.

Capon started out working in debt capital markets and gradually took on more work in banking, structured finance and other related areas. “I’ve been very lucky in that I have had such a broad range of experience in my career,” he says. He has continued to expand his portfolio of work at Linklaters, taking on “a very broad spectrum of work and doing a range of different financing products.” “I also cover a range of different sectors and asset classes,” he adds. “I am relatively agnostic as to which sectors I work in although there are some that I take a particular interest in, by way of example, I am very interested in space.”

This interest in the space and satellites sector has led Capon to take on the position of co-leader of the sector at Linklaters and he is passionate about the firm’s offering in this area. “Others and I at the firm really love leading this sector and turbocharging it,” he tells me “We can bring a well-rounded and sector-specialist service to the table when someone needs our help. I’m in finance, and also we have specialists who are in regulatory, antitrust, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), TMT and dispute resolution who all bring their expertise to the table.” Despite this diversity of expertise, Capon adds, “We all bring our varied practice sector strengths together in one uniform space practice and meet regularly. It is a consistent group of likeminded people who all want to get behind working in the space sector.”

Linklaters’ space practice also boasts lawyers with first-hand industry experience. Among these is Nicholas Puschman, a Linklaters TMT associate who started his career at the European Space Agency. Puschman will be appearing alongside Capon on the panel at Legal Cheek’s ‘Space and the law — with Linklaters’ event.

Now is a great time to be focussed on this sector, Capon reveals:

“Everyone is excited about the pace at which the sector is moving. We now have newer space enterprises that are coming through the pipeline, the next generation of the space industry. There’s been a lot of venture capital focus on some of these new enterprises,” he says, adding, “something else we’ve seen recently is that there’s a lot more interest in the sector from more mature financial sponsors such as private equity and infrastructure funds. This shows the sector maturing even further.”

Space and satellites may sound more science fiction than commercial law to those unfamiliar, so I am curious to know what Capon’s day-to-day work looks like. “In this sector, I have typically worked on corporate group-level financing for space companies and asset level financings for the satellites themselves,” he tells me. “Beyond finance, there’s a very broad spectrum of work. Our TMT team look at contracts relating to space activity like capacity agreements and launch service agreements. There’s also the antitrust work and the broader work on M&A deals — we have a lot of space experience in this area as a firm.” M&A activity is something Capon expects to see more of as space technology continues to develop. “We are possibly going to see a lot of consolidation and M&A activity in the sector, particularly as businesses absorb some of these new technologies and new enterprises which have sprung up.”

Capon also spends his time exploring the future of the sector. “One of the things we’ve been looking at is the financing angle: how these new space enterprises can be financed using a wider variety of funding sources,” he tells me, “This is something we’ve been working on alongside our day-to-day roles, speaking to banks who are active in the sector and to other market participants.”

Innovation is the name of the game in the space and satellites sector at the moment. There is a growing conversation about how UK regulation needs to adapt further to foster the sector’s rapid growth, Capon details. “What I think is so fascinating about all of this is that you have the Space Industry Act (2018) and related regulations which facilitated a new regulatory regime for space activity within the UK, such as launches within the UK,” he explains. “This was a significant step at the time.” But the broader regulatory framework already needs to be reviewed, “it’s a sector which has moved so quickly, and the tech is moving so fast, that a new regulatory review has already been published recently. The UK regulatory environment needs to adapt even further to foster the space sector and encourage it.”

I ask Capon what direction he sees UK space sector regulation going in. “The agility point that came out of the review is what really stands out to me. The ability to move quickly and efficiently to regulate the sector is definitely something we need to be seeing. Tech is advancing so quickly, and regulators need to keep pace and provide clarity — I think that’s the direction we’re going in,” he says.

All this growth in space activity has not come without its challenges, however. “Sustainability has become a big focus,” says Capon. “Space is far cheaper and more accessible to get into now. There are a lot more satellites in orbit, a lot more,” he adds. “There is an issue of space debris in particular, and the issues that this debris will cause. It affects the safety of existing satellites, heightening the risk of collisions, and creates clutter in space. That has been a huge focus.” One initiative he mentions is the Astra Carta, launched by the Sustainable Markets Initiative and unveiled by King Charles last year. This initiative pledges ‘to care for the infinite wonders of the universe’ and aims to act as a framework to inspire sustainability across the space industry globally. “It should be viewed in the context of the broader discussion of this theme, and safety and sustainability were indeed also identified as a priority outcome in the UK regulatory review. As space becomes more commercialised, this needs to become more of a consistent focus.”

To wrap up our discussion, I am curious to know what advice Capon would like to share with aspiring solicitors. “Never specialise too much,” he replies, “Always be open minded. Try everything, or try as much as you can. Find something you enjoy but never become too focussed on one thing.” He reflects on how much he has enjoyed the breadth of his own career and would encourage future lawyers to follow a similar path, “have a broad career where you get to work on a range of things.” And, most importantly, “Never stop learning.”

You can find out more about life at Linklaters at ‘Space and the law — with Linklaters’, a virtual student event taking place on Thursday 26 September. Apply now to attend.

 

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46 out of 59

Magic Circle law firm Linklaters has confirmed its Autumn retention rate, with 46 out of 59 final-seat trainees — or 78% — securing associate roles.

Eleven of the trainees from the qualifying cohort relocated after the firm decided to shutter its Moscow office in 2022, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Legal Cheek Firms Most List shows the newly qualified associates, all of whom are on permeant deals, will start on recently improved salary of £150,000.

Links is one of the largest training contract providers in the City, with an annual trainee intake of around 100, split across two intakes each year.

Chris Stevenson, trainee development partner at Linklaters, commented:

“Congratulations to our new qualifying trainees on this milestone and who are advancing their careers with us at Linklaters! This is an exceptionally talented group of junior lawyers who have already demonstrated dedication, resilience and remarkable skill. They have limitless opportunities to grow and excel across our global platform, supported by industry-leading training and a culture that nurtures high-performance and teamwork. We are all looking forward to their continued success.”

Links is the final Magic Circle firm to announce its autumn retention results, following Slaughter and May and Freshfields last week with scores of 84% (36 out of 43) and 86% (37 out of 43), respectively. Meanwhile, Clifford Chance achieved a 75% retention rate with 42 out of 56 trainees staying on, while A&O Shearman retained 37 out of 56 trainees, or 66%.

12 law firms recognised for D&I efforts

A raft of law firms have been recognised for their efforts in promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace, with Linklaters taking the top spot in Stonewall’s latest rankings.

The top 100 list is created using the charity’s ‘Workplace Equality Index’, a voluntary benchmarking tool that assesses entrants on criteria such as training, staff engagement, policies, and leadership. It also helps organisations identify steps to build a more equitable workplace.

This year, Magic Circle law firm Linklaters secured number one spot, with De Montfort University and HSBC UK taking second and third places, respectively. Links has appeared in the top 100 for six years running and secured ninth position on lat year’s list.

“We’re thrilled to be recognised as the top employer in this year’s Stonewall Top 100 Employers list,” said Angela Ogilvie, Linklaters’ chief HR officer and executive committee LGBTQIA+ champion. “Our people are the key to our success, and this ranking really highlights the inclusive and supportive environment we’ve built.”

“Here, diversity is more than just supported—it’s celebrated, sparking innovation and helping us better serve our clients and our community,” Ogilvie added.

Other law firms on Stonewall’s list, in alphabetical order, are: Charles Russell Speechlys, Clifford Chance, Eversheds Sutherland, Gateley, Irwin Mitchell, Osborne Clarke, Penningtons Manches Cooper, RPC, Shepherd and Wedderburn, Slaughter and May and Womble Bond Dickinson.

The profession’s regulator, the SRA, also made this year’s list, which you can view in full here.

10% increase on last year

Magic Circle outfit Linklaters has crossed £2 billion revenue mark for the first time in its history.

The firm has recorded a revenue of £2.1 billion for the 2024 financial year, increasing income by 10% on the previous year.

With this comes the highest ever pre-tax profit at the firm, another 10% increase up to £942 million. Profit per equity partner (PEP) has also seen growth, climbing 8% up to £1.9 million.

The strongest performance came across the pond with Links’ US offices breaking records, delivering a 24% increase in revenue, whilst the UK contingent also topped its previous best.

Elsewhere the firm has hit its annual diversity targets of 40% female and 15% underrepresented minority ethnic newly elected partners whilst clocking 55,000 hours of pro-bono work around the globe.

Paul Lewis, Linklaters’ firmwide managing partner, commented: “Its been an exceptional year with record financial results and revenues exceeding £2bn for the first time. We’ve seen a strong performance across the firm, with M&A, complex restructurings, contentious mandates and energy transition-linked projects the biggest drivers of growth.”

“In what remain challenging markets for businesses, our corporate, bank, funds and financial investor clients continue to turn to our global platform on their biggest, cross-border mandates, like advising VW on its recent landmark US$5bn partnership with Rivian in the US,” Lewis continued. “These are the roles that have placed us top of league tables across the UK, Europe and Asia, as well as powering our UK and US offices to their best ever year.”

Linklaters is one of the largest trainee recruiters in capital, with the Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2024 showing that the firm takes on around 100 trainees each year. The firm recently increased the salaries of newly qualified associates to £150,000, matching the raises of its Magic Circle rivals, except for Slaughter and May, which has yet to increase.

One on fixed-term deal

Linklaters has retained 41 of its 49 trainees qualifying this spring, with one on a fixed-term contract.

This translates to retention score of 84% or 82%, depending on your reading of the numbers. The figure represents a minor drop from the outfit’s autumn retention figure of 86% (42 out of 49), and a more significant change from the 94% (48 out of 51) recorded last spring.

Taking on 100 recruits each year, Linklaters has one of the largest trainee cohorts in the City, joint with Freshfields and narrowly behind Clifford Chance on 110.

New joiners can expect to take home £50,000 in year one, £55,000 in year two, and the Magic Circle standard of £125,000 on qualification.

Chris Stevenson, trainee development partner at Linklaters, commented:

“We’re very pleased to have another group of high-performing junior lawyers take the next step in their careers with Linklaters. We are all extremely excited to see what this talented group can achieve with our global platform behind them – investing in our people to reach their full potential and delivering the best for our clients.”

Linklaters is now the fourth Magic Circle player to release their retention figures, with Clifford Chance clocking 71% (40 out of 56), Allen & Overy 77% (30 out of 39), and Freshfields 84% (32 out of 37).

Julia Salasky living the dream as she turns focus to her second business, a $25 million legal tech start-up

A Linklaters lawyer turned entrepreneur has sold her pioneering crowdfunding business in order to focus on her $25 million legal tech start-up.

CrowdJustice, a legal crowdfunding platform which operates a donation-based funding model to allow public and private funding for legal fees and costs, has been acquired by Crowdfunder.

Founder Julia Salasky, an Oxford and LSE graduate, came to pursue her access to justice ambitions after having spent four years as a litigation and arbitration associate at Linklaters, as well as a stint as a lawyer at the United Nations. In the eight years since its founding, the platform has facilitated more than £35 million in donations to go towards the funding of legal services, with an impressive 14 cases backed by such funding reaching the Supreme Court. Notable cases include People’s Challenge to the Government on Article 50 and a successful high court battle to prevent a road project near Stonehenge.

Discussing CrowdJustice’s acquisition by Crowdfunder, Salasky praised it as a “truly socially-driven platform, funded by its own community, with mission driven people at its helm, with real expertise in grassroots fundraising, campaigning and technology”. She went on to explain that the acquisition would allow the platform to expand further, providing it with more resources and the chance to have a greater impact. She confirmed to Legal Cheek that the “main motivation [here] was for CrowdJustice to find a great home with a mission-aligned organisation”.

Meanwhile, Salasky continues to work on a newer and growing legal tech business venture, Legl, which seeks to improve legal services from an operational and regulatory angle. It pulled in a $7m investment in 2021 and an additional $18m last year and now employs 60 staff.

Linklaters associate Charlotte Beardsworth reflects on her career so far

Fresh back from a seven-month secondment with a large player in the gaming industry, Linklaters associate Charlotte Beardsworth sits down with Legal Cheek Careers to discuss her career so far, the gaming sector and the ever-increasing reach of regulation in the tech field.

Having made an early decision to pursue a legal career, the St Andrews grad decided to first explore a philosophy degree at University. “Law was something that I really felt would suit my natural attributes” Beardsworth recalls, “and I decided that I could pursue a career in law after my undergraduate degree through a conversion course. I didn’t want to limit my career options from the outset, and instead I picked something I knew I loved doing and tried to learn what I could about getting a training contract whilst studying”, she explains.

During university, Beardsworth completed a vac scheme with the Magic Circle firm and hasn’t looked back since. “I really enjoyed my experience at the firm during my vacation scheme; the work was interesting and I felt very welcomed by the people I was with. In fact, I met some of my best friends today on that vacation scheme!”, she remarks. “And of course, you get an amazing variety of work across all of the different departments at Linklaters which meant I felt I would have the opportunity to sit in various groups and find out what really interested me!” The decision just made sense; she says, “Linklaters felt like a great place to start my career.”

Not an avid gamer herself, Beardsworth notes how she developed her interest in the digital space during her training contract.

“I found that I really enjoyed competition law; I did a six-month seat during my training contract and found learning about different markets and how competition takes place and is regulated in those markets fascinating. And these days, working as a competition lawyer naturally includes a great deal of work across the tech sector” , she says. The constant innovation, development and progression of the tech space has made it an interesting sector to work in, as law is constantly chasing technology.
Gaming has become a really large and diverse industry within the entertainment sector, and I was keen to learn more about it. So, I was very excited to have the opportunity to go on secondment and understand the industry from within one of Linklaters’ clients”.

Beardsworth continues: “What I also find particularly interesting is that the tech sector, of which gaming is a big part, has such a massive and increasing impact on all of us, every day  -even when you aren’t aware of it!. Everything we experience from search engines to social media, games, fitness apps, online shopping platforms, adverts on billboards, films and music all rely on “tech.”.

Also, tech develops and changes every day – the experiences and capabilities you can have within a game these days, for example, are hugely different from just a year ago – and the devices on which you can play a game are different too! For example, there are constant developments in cloud gaming, virtual reality headsets, Esports and mobile gaming – to name just a few! It’s this blend of rapidly developing digital markets and the scale of impact that the work has which appealed to me then, and still appeals now.”

Speaking of this varied work, Beardsworth assures me that there is never a boring day within the competition team; the variety of tasks and spread of different industries, companies, and questions from clients bringing a new challenge each day. These factors, Beardsworth says, are what ultimately helped her decide to qualify into the Antitrust & Foreign Investment group, where she has remained for the last four years.

Reflecting on her recent secondment, she says: “The opportunity to go on secondment is amazing, and something that I think is pivotal to your development and learning as a lawyer. I had the opportunity to do an international secondment during my TC with Linklaters’ Singapore office which was so great, both personally (there were lots of great travel opportunities!) and professionally. After that experience, when I was asked whether I would be interested in going on a client secondment, I jumped at the chance. Not only was it super interesting and an enjoyable time, but it’s definitely made me a better lawyer.”

Speaking more on this latter point, the associate notes the twofold benefit of having the opportunity to work directly with a client. “Having seen where my work product goes and how it’s used, I’m now able to better understand what the client needs, and tailor my product to address that.”

This is something, she says, is useful industry-wide, and not just in relation to a particular client. As for the second benefit, Beardsworth notes how being embedded in the client’s operation, “you really get to understand the business, how it operates and its products are, and how the industry is developing”. As a result, she’s returned to the Linklaters’s snazzy London office with fond memories, a wealth of new industry knowledge, and an understanding of how her team’s work is used, and therefore how to make it more efficient and effective.

Moving towards the end of our chat, Beardsworth offered some advice for those looking to apply for a training contract: “I think, these days, it’s much easier to keep up-to-date with anticipated changes in the law and have an idea of what a law firm is doing day-to-day because there are so many more blogs, tweets and online updates out there than a few years ago. They’re digestible, accessible, short, current, and often, you can quite easily subscribe to them. The students who arrive for vac schemes and are able to talk about some of the things our team has been up to or are aware of developments in the law definitely stand out from the rest,” she explains.

This isn’t to say, however, that an encyclopaedic knowledge of all things legal or tech is required. “What commercial awareness is about is not knowing everything that a firm is doing, that’s obviously impossible, but following something you’re genuinely interested in (such as gaming) and understanding how changes in the law or developments in cases might affect law firms, their clients and ultimately, consumers. It’s much easier to demonstrate that you are passionate and enthusiastic about a career in law when the legal developments you’re talking about directly relate to a sector or industry you’re naturally interested in.

It’s also worth noting, the associate says, that commercial awareness isn’t just something vacation scheme applicants need to be aware of, but it is very much part of one’s career as a lawyer. “Even now, whenever I see the news, I’m thinking how this will impact the law, what issues or opportunities might clients face, and how the broader industry or consumers will be affected”, Beardsworth explains.

Beardsworth rounds off with a poignant reiteration. “It really isn’t about knowing everything about law, or every recent case or piece of regulation that’s emerging”, she says. Have a look at what firms are doing, see what you find interesting, and then build from there to develop a greater understanding and awareness. Whether your interest is sport, music, gaming, or fashion, every industry is directly impacted by developments and changes in the law, and if you can show your enthusiasm and willingness to learn about a whole range of types of law through a sector you’re interested in, you’ll do well.”

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Up £3k

Magic Circle law firm Linklaters has increased maintenance grants for future trainees sitting the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE).

Graduates completing the SQE prep course with the firm in London will now receive maintenance support of £20,000, an 18% increase on the previous amount of £17,000.

The increase brings Links’s SQE grant in line with those offered by MC counterparts Slaughter and May and Freshfields. Meanwhile, Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance provide £17,000 in support.

Linklaters is part of the ‘City Consortium’, an influential group of six law firms that send their rookies to train at BPP University Law School. The consortium also includes Slaughter and May and Freshfields, plus three other firms, Herbert Smith Freehills, Hogan Lovells and Norton Rose Fulbright.

The firm recruits around 100 trainees each year on a starting salary of £50,000 in London, rising to £55,000 in year two. Links now offers a recently improved salary of £125,000 to its newly qualified associates.

42 out of 49

Linklaters has recorded an autumn trainee retention rate of 86%.

The Magic Circle firm will retain 42 of its 49 newly qualifying (NQ) associates, all on permanent deals.

The Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2023 shows Linklaters is one of the largest trainee recruiters in the City, offering around 100 TCs every year. First-year trainees currently earn £50,000, rising to £55,000 in year two. NQs earn a recently improved £125,000.

Chris Stevenson, trainee development partner at Linklaters, commented:

“We’ve retained another impressive cohort of high-performers and, on behalf of the firm, a well-deserved congratulations to these talented junior lawyers. We’re looking forward to seeing their careers take off at Linklaters, working alongside supportive and collaborative global colleagues, always delivering the best for our clients.”

Links becomes the fourth Magic Circle firm to post its autumn retention rate, after Freshfields recently confirmed a 90% score with 36 of its 40 September qualifiers staying on. Allen & Overy posted a score of 93% (37 out of 40) and Clifford Chance recorded a rate of 78% (43 out of 55)

Slaughter and May are yet to release their autumn results.

Hits £1.9 billion — but profits and PEP dip

Linklaters has become the third Magic Circle firm to post record revenues for 2022-23 — but profits have taken a dip amid “challenging” market conditions.

Back-to-back years of revenue growth has seen Links’ global revenues reach £1.9 billion, a 7% uplift on the £1.78 billion it posted for the previous year.

Pre-tax profits are down 2% to £845 million, in part due to the costs associated with shuttering its Moscow office in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Profit per equity partner also fell 4% to a little under £1.8 million.

Firmwide managing partner Paul Lewis described the results as “strong” amid “a challenging high-inflation environment and ongoing geopolitical instability”.

Lewis added: “Our continued revenue growth reflects that in difficult conditions the world’s leading corporates, banks and financial sponsors look to us for the quality of advice we bring to their most strategically important matters.”

Looking ahead, Links said it was aiming to double-down on its energy and infrastructure practice, further strengthen its M&A offering, and continue to embrace generative AI across the workplace.

Elsewhere in the Magic Circle, Allen & Overy posted a 7% uptick in revenues to £2.1 billion, and Clifford Chance recorded a marginally smaller 5% increase to £2.06 billion.