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"We don’t serve butter,” says the canteen worker handing over a toasted bagel at the London office of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison that only offers a healthy menu.

“Would you [offer food or] have conditions that your athletes train and work in that were sub-optimal and not really assisting them in being the best? I think it’s no different in the world of lawyers,” says Neel Sachdev, the London co-head of Paul Weiss.

Competition for top lawyers has intensified in London in recent years, driven by the significant growth of US-founded law firms such as Paul Weiss in the British capital. This has led to escalating pay wars at both the junior and senior end of the profession.

Newly qualified lawyers in their mid-20s can earn as much as £180,000 ($363,000), while top partners can receive packages in the double-digit millions of dollars. Retention and referral bonuses have been dangled, three-year guarantees offered.

Now, law firms are seeking to differentiate themselves beyond pay. From health food to juice bars, office perks have become the new frontier in the big law war for talent.

Where Paul Weiss is offering its lawyers a shiny new office space – the firm is housed in the former UK headquarters of Twitter – complete with a restaurant providing the best “fuel” and top career coaches on call, its peers are equipping their premises with the latest state-of-the-art exercise equipment and wellbeing spaces.

Kirkland & Ellis, the world’s biggest law firm by revenue and a rival to Paul Weiss, moved into a new office this northern summer that offers saunas, a hair salon and a 10,000-book library.

“For elite law firms, their buildings serve a powerful symbolic purpose as luxury cocoons.”

— Laura Empson, professor in the management of professional service firms at Bayes Business School

The trend has been driven in part by the huge turnover in real estate across central London to accommodate the rapid expansion of the legal industry.

Last year, 52 law firms signed for new office space in the UK capital, the highest number since at least 2019, according to data from property group CBRE. Over the past seven years, 284 law firms in London have done deals for new premises.

“Many law firm leases were signed in the wake of the global financial crisis … and a lot of firms [are now] rethinking their space requirements in light of significant expansion,” says Jack Tomlin, CBRE head of City of London occupier transactions.

He adds: “The client-facing nature of the business, coupled with the war for talent, has made office experience a strategic priority across the legal sector.”

Office moves, many to new buildings, have brought opportunities for firms to design their spaces from scratch and differentiate the softer perks they offer employees that go beyond money. Such benefits can make a difference in attracting and retaining lawyers pulling 80-hour weeks.

The Chicago-founded firm has set out to reset relations with fund investors. Bloomberg

When Los Angeles-founded Latham & Watkins moves to a new office space in the northern autumn next year, after more than doubling its headcount in London, the building will have bookable private fitness suites on every floor, including Peloton exercise bikes. The firm is also exploring a click-and-collect coffee service from its on-site coffee bar for lawyers on the go.

Status, security and convenience

At UK law firm Addleshaw Goddard, which is moving to new premises near the Bank of England this month, a new “cooling down wall” – a chilled internal wall where lawyers will be able to seek relief after they build up a sweat cycling or running to work – is among the perks employees are most excited about.

The firm is also offering heated lockers where soaked commuters can dry out their belongings on rainy days.

Competition for top lawyers has intensified in London in recent years, driven by the significant growth of US-founded law firms in the British capital. Bloomberg

“I think people who are serious about wanting to join a law firm look at it in the round [and think], ‘Where am I going to be spending a significant portion of my time?’” says Andrew Johnston, Addleshaw’s managing partner. “That matters.”

“For elite law firms, their buildings serve a powerful symbolic purpose as luxury cocoons,” says Laura Empson, a professor in the management of professional service firms at Bayes Business School. “It is partly about status – the exceptional facilities make the lawyers feel special. It [also] helps them believe in themselves and the fees that they charge.”

She adds: “But it is also about security. When you routinely spend nights and weekends in the office, you need to have things around you which make your workplace feel like your home.”

The introduction of better perks also reflects a post-COVID push by employers to make sure staff come into the office more. Most US-founded law firms in London now require lawyers to be in at least four days a week, while many UK heritage firms have kept the mandate closer to three days.

US-founded firm McDermott, Will & Schulte is planning a move to Mayfair in 2028, but has taken advantage of its recent merger to revamp its benefits package. It is introducing therapy for employees and their families, as well as improved parental leave, because “competition for top talent covers more than pay”, according to London managing partner Aymen Mahmoud.

UK “magic circle” firm Linklaters will be offering employees beauty treatments in-house, as well as a music room, when it moves around the corner next year.

As I sip my ginger shot in Paul Weiss’s juice bar, which has its own jukebox, I ask Sachdev if he has had any pushback from lawyers over the healthy food agenda.

“There’s definitely been, ‘Where’s the dessert? Where’s the bacon?’ and the answer is, ‘Nobody’s making you eat here’,” he says. “We’re in the heart of Soho … if you want to go and have hamburgers every day, the door is not locked.”

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5805141&forum_id=2\u0026show=week#49476880)