TRAINEE SOLICITORS JOIN ENERGY THE

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1 TRAINEE SOLICITORS JOIN ENERGY THE

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3 FOCUSED ENERGY DEEP EXPERIENCE With the majority of its lawyers dedicated to the energy industry, Vinson & Elkins advises clients in the sector s most complex transactions, projects and disputes. Vinson & Elkins has extensive experience throughout the energy industry value chain: exploration, production, transportation, refining and marketing, petrochemicals, power and cogeneration, environmental, and regulation in all major energy hubs and emerging markets. Our inherent understanding of the energy sector, and the geographies in which it operates, has led our London office to develop extensive experience across other multiple complementary industry sectors. These include construction, infrastructure, projects, real estate finance and telecoms, often in emerging markets. Our sector knowledge, which has taken our lawyers all over the globe, has enabled us to advise clients on deals and cases involving almost every country in the world. In each of the sectors and geographies in which we act, our work includes M&A transactions, capital markets, joint ventures, project development, finance, tax, dispute resolution, and regulatory proceedings. V&E is top-notch all the way. They are really smart people. Chambers UK 2014 Our London trainee solicitor programme offers you a chance to be part of Vinson & Elkins dynamic and international team. 1

4 GLOBAL For almost a century, Vinson & Elkins, a leading U.S.-headquartered global law firm with approximately 650 lawyers located in 16 offices across the globe, has provided innovative business solutions for our clients whose needs are as diverse as the entities they represent. In today s challenging environment of global markets, volatile economies, and complex human and environmental issues, our law firm s time-tested role as trusted adviser has become even more critical. The depth and breadth of Vinson & Elkins lawyers experience, combined with the responsiveness and efficiencies of the firm s global reach, enable Vinson & Elkins to serve clients from start-up, to the negotiating table and boardroom, before legislative and regulatory bodies, in the courtroom and beyond. Vinson & Elkins has amassed a wealth of experience working on projects for clients in almost every country on the map. We are accustomed to working not only in well-defined markets, but also in less familiar and more challenging environments, under developing local regimes or those with evolving communications and infrastructure. We know how to adapt to local customs, cultures and laws, enabling us to handle matters quickly and effectively. We work in tandem with our clients, travelling wherever and whenever we are needed. This knowledge enables us to offer creative solutions for our clients engaged in leading-edge projects around the world. OVERVIEW Over four decades ago, Vinson & Elkins became one of the first U.S. law firms to establish a practice in London. Since then, we have built a dynamic office, undertaking work that has gained the respect of clients and competitors around the world. The London office has approximately 45 fee earners. Our clients are predominantly in the international energy, finance, and infrastructure sectors, focusing on: Construction (contentious and non-contentious) Energy, Transactions & Projects Finance Infrastructure International Dispute Resolution Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity & Funds Tax Telecoms Infrastructure RELATIONSHIPS Vinson & Elkins is committed to encouraging lawyers and other firm personnel to be involved volunteers in their communities. Through their personal efforts, firm employees strengthen the ties that bind our local and national communities and promote the development of individuals who make up those communities. Our lawyers are guided by the principle that pro bono clients like all of our clients should be fully and effectively represented. As a result, we devote significant time and financial resources to the legal needs of persons who cannot afford to pay for representation, as well as to local civic projects. Vinson & Elkins international pro bono initiatives provide lawyers an opportunity to connect with the human side of the practice of law. From senior partners to trainees, Vinson & Elkins lawyers apply their skills to personal passions and make lasting impacts in the communities in which they live and work. Whether we are helping to reunite parents with their children, assisting Holocaust survivors in the U.S. with obtaining restitution from the German government, or assisting with legal problems at voluntary law centres across London, our long tradition of pro bono service has grown to become a broad and diverse practice area. 2

5 OPPORTUNITY International Non-rotational Part of the Team From Day One Vinson & Elkins London office offers approximately four training contracts starting in September each year. We operate a non-rotational training system and trainees work across our practice areas throughout their two years. This means that while trainees share offices with more senior lawyers and physically change where they sit every six months, they are available to receive work from all departments (and all our offices) at the same time. As a consequence, our trainees get a constantly varied spread of work, as well as having the opportunity to follow a project or case from the moment it comes through the door to the time it is finally resolved. Since its inception in 2003, our London training programme has earned Vinson & Elkins numerous awards, including the Best Recruiter U.S. Firm in the City award in 2017, the Best Trainer U.S. Firm in the City award in 2010, and the Best Trainer Medium City Firm award in 2006, all from LawCareers.Net. From , LawCareers.Net shortlisted the firm for the Best Trainer U.S. Firm in the City award. From , we were further shortlisted for the Best Recruiter U.S. Firm in the City award, and in 2017, we were shortlisted for Best Training Principal (small trainee intake) Mark Beeley. Vinson & Elkins is proud to continue to win such recognition particularly where it is based on independent interviews with people who are going through or have been through our training programme. Secondments While being based in London, trainees often take secondments in our overseas offices, including in the Middle East and Asia, as well as in our head office in Houston, Texas. Secondments give trainees the chance to experience different legal cultures and to have increased client contact. Whether or not secondments are offered, trainees should expect to travel internationally during the course of their two years. Trainees may also expect to work with lawyers from across the firm s various offices on a daily basis. Vacation Placement & Training Contract When we are considering offers for training contracts, we give preference to those students who have previously completed a summer vacation placement with us. Accordingly, undergoing a vacation placement with us is strongly recommended. Approximately 25 one-week summer vacation placements in our London office are available per year between June and September, which are also run on a non-rotational basis to give you a real-world experience of life as a trainee here. Our vacation placements are designed to give you a real sense of what you would encounter as a trainee in the first six months of your training contract, and have a deliberate emphasis on letting you interview us as much as letting us get to know you. Open Day If you are in the first year of a law degree or the penultimate year of a non-law degree, and would like to learn more about the firm, you may be interested in applying to attend our Open Day on 21 March The Open Day is dedicated to candidates at this earlier stage. Applications can be made at any time up until 9 February 2018 by ing us at graduaterecruitment@velaw.com. Please include your name, contact details, and your current stage of education. Please also confirm that you have achieved our minimum academic requirements of at least AAB at A-Level or equivalent. Open Day places will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Requirements We are looking to recruit ambitious individuals with exceptional academic results (2:1 degree minimum and at least AAB at A-Level or equivalent), sound commercial awareness, and rounded personalities. The ability to think laterally and creatively is essential, as is a need for common sense and a willingness to take the initiative. Foreign language skills are an asset, but by no means a requirement. Additionally, diversity and inclusion are two of the core values which guide all that we do at Vinson & Elkins. Since our success ultimately depends on developing exceptional legal talent, Vinson & Elkins is committed to attracting and retaining the finest lawyers from all backgrounds and perspectives. In terms of compensation, currently, the firm funds both the LPC and GDL. A maintenance grant of 8,000 will also be provided for both the LPC and GDL year. Trainees start at a salary of 50,000, which increases to 55,000 for the second year. Newly qualified salaries in London are currently 120,000. Benefits include private health insurance, firm pension, season ticket loan for transportation, discounted gym membership, travel insurance, and dental cover. 3

6 INSIGHTS Don t just take our word for it though Francesca Gray Vacation Placement Student 2015, Trainee I took part in a vacation scheme at V&E in the Summer of The experience was an invaluable one and cemented in my mind that this was where I want to train. The scheme was a genuine snapshot of what it is like to be a trainee at V&E. I was tasked with real work and was able to get a true sense of how the non-rotational system operates. It was evident to me that you are encouraged to knock on the doors of the departments in which you want to work and engage with the people with whom you enjoy working. In that sense, you are given a unique opportunity to shape your own career and you avoid the disappointment of not being placed in a department of your choice. The firm s smaller intake of trainees complements this system and ensures that trainees are a valued part of any team. They are awarded with a great deal of responsibility from the start. This is a steep learning curve, but it seemed to me to provide the ideal foundation for a career in law. The people at V&E really stood out to me. It was encouraging that a lot of the lawyers in the London office have been through the system themselves as trainees and, as such, were more than willing to take the time to explain what deals they were working on in some depth. Furthermore, I was exposed to the truly international nature of deals at V&E. Each deal that I was instructed to assist involved a different jurisdiction. As trainees, therefore, you are involved in transactions involving major companies worldwide within the oil and gas industry. During my week, I saw matters ranging from the Middle East to the USA. I have certainly been encouraged to interact with the firm since I was offered a training contract in The future trainees are invited to social events, and I assisted the V&E recruitment team at my University law fair last Summer. This makes the prospect of starting a lot less daunting, and I very much look forward to joining V&E in Ka-Mun Fu Vacation Placement Student 2013, Trainee , Associate in M&A Team 2017 to Date My vacation scheme at Vinson & Elkins was an excellent opportunity to experience life as a trainee with the firm. I was introduced to everyone and, after a tour around the office, I very quickly set about assisting one of the lawyers in the litigation department on one of their cases. I was given a wide range of tasks to do, ranging from legal research and sitting in on conference calls and client meetings to amending and proofreading a sale and purchase agreement and a master licence agreement. It was great to be able to contribute towards genuine client cases and transactions (rather than made-up tasks), and everyone in the office made me feel like an actual member of the team. I am now in my second seat on secondment in the Houston office and since I started as a trainee, I have been able to work on a wide range of different matters from different departments and also follow projects from start to finish. I enjoyed working on the physical signing and closing of a transaction concerning the acquisition of a golf course which involved due diligence and drafting of ancillary documents such as board minutes and resolutions. I have also worked on commercial litigation cases relating to the breach of a construction contract and I had the opportunity to work on an international arbitration and attended the hearing in New York. My experience as a vacation placement student and as a first year trainee at Vinson & Elkins has been challenging yet rewarding, and I look forward to that continuing. 4

7 Emilie Stewart Trainee , Associate in Finance Team 2012 to Date A training contract at Vinson & Elkins will certainly be diverse, challenging, and exciting. I started my two-year training contract sitting with a disputes partner and, on day one, I was thrown into a case we had recently been instructed on and which I continued to work on until my last seat. The non-rotational seat system gave me the opportunity to work on all aspects of this case from pleadings to the arbitration, which provided a much rounder training than a rotational system and a better opportunity to experience the aspects of work you will do as an associate in each department. This training system also means trainees will be working on a number of matters across many departments at any one time. This can be challenging, particularly when you need to switch between matters because a lawyer walks into your room and asks about one deal when you are thinking about another. However, it does ensure that even on the few days you have some less glamorous trainee tasks, you can be sure to also have many more interesting tasks on your to-do list. One of the main reasons I came to Vinson & Elkins was the ability to work on large international transactions while being in a smaller and friendlier office in London. There is certainly a Texan feel to the London office and you might occasionally see some cowboy boots or hear a Texan y all. During my training contract, as well as working with those in the London office, I also had the opportunity to work with associates on matters originating from the Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing, Dubai and Houston offices, many of whom were originally London trainees. International opportunities are definitely available for trainees at Vinson & Elkins, and I have been lucky Given our U.S.heritage, we aim to treat our trainees as simply the most junior members of client and deal teams, giving them direct experience of international quality work while providing a safe environment in which to learn. Alex Msimang, Managing Partner, London enough to travel to Houston, Dublin, Luxembourg, Frankfurt, San Franciso and Paris on transactions, in some cases with less than a few hours notice. I also did one of my seats as a trainee sitting in the Hong Kong office. It is very rare to work on a deal with just one jurisdiction involved; almost all our work is international which makes things more exciting and gives trainees a view of larger scale, more challenging transactions. I have now qualified into the finance team and appreciate the breadth of my training in all departments; things learnt in each department still come in use on a daily basis. Having a smaller intake gives trainees an ability to mold their training to their individual interests and trainees are encouraged to seek out opportunities which interest them. This helps ensure that trainees who are willing can take on more responsibility. Training at Vinson & Elkins is all about getting involved from the start of a matter right until the end. 5

8 EXPERIENCE Vinson & Elkins London office has been involved in some of the biggest and most exciting work of the last few years, including representing: STAR Rafineri A., a subsidiary of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic ( SOCAR ), and its sponsors on the financing and development of a US$5.65 billion greenfield oil refinery in Turkey on the Aegean Sea. This is the largest project financing in Turkey and involved 7 ECAs and about 15 banks and won 10 awards, including Infrastructure Journal s European Oil and Gas Deal of the Year 2014 A portfolio company of an African-focused private equity firm on the acquisition of telecommunications infrastructure in African countries including Ghana, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, and Congo Brazzaville Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corporation in connection with its c. 6.6 billion acquisition of Addax Petroleum Corporation, a Canadian company publicly traded on the Toronto and London Stock Exchanges, with assets in West Africa and the Middle East A large U.S. private equity company bringing claims against the Republic of Ecuador under its bilateral investment treaty with the United States, arising out of the indirect expropriation of power generation An international real estate fund on the acquisition of the holding company and related interests of Coeur Défense in Paris, France, the largest single office complex in Europe; the acquisition was part of a restructuring of 1.64 billion of mortgage-backed securities, enabling the assets to be released from safeguard proceedings by the Paris Commercial Court EuroChem in relation to the financing and development of its approximately US$1 billion Baltic Ammonia project in Kingisepp, Russia Uz-Kor Gas Chemical LLC and its sponsors on the development, financing and construction of its US$4 billion integrated upstream gas and petrochemical complex in the Ustyurt region of Uzbekistan. The project is the largest project financing in Central Asia, and the largest petrochemical project financing to date in the CIS region. It is supplied with gas and condensate as feedstock from the Surgil field, which is licenced to and operated by Uz-Kor and other gas fields operated by Uzbekneftegaz. The Surgil Project has won six awards, including Project Finance International s Petrochemical Deal of the Year, Infrastructure Journal s Oil and Gas Deal of the Year and The American Lawyer s Global Finance Deal of the Year: Project Finance (Asia) The Panama Canal Authority in relation to the construction and engineering aspects of the 3.4 billion Panama Canal Expansion Program in Panama Africa Oil Corp. on the successfully signed acquisition by Maersk Oil & Gas A/S of 50% of Africa Oil Corp. s interests in upstream oil and gas blocks located in Kenya, and in the Rift Basin and South Omo in Ethiopia, for an aggregate consideration of up to $845 million A consortia of international and domestic companies in two arbitrations arising out of a hugely successful oil field offshore India in connection with a series of profit sharing disputes with the Government of India, collectively valued at just short of 650 million The Republic of Iraq Ministry of Oil in connection with the c billion Basrah Gas Project to capture the large volume of natural gas currently being flared in oil fields in the southern region of Iraq, including a 25- year development joint venture agreement with Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Mitsubishi Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. 6

9 IMPACT Exceptional everyone I met, spoke to or had any dealings with, from partners to reception staff, was professional. Quality of advice was 100 percent, as was their knowledge. Chambers UK 2014 UK Construction law firm of the year. ACQ Global Awards 2012 V&E runs a fluid and incredibly flexible system that allows you to seek out and pursue work that really interests you. Chambers Student Guide 2014 V&E is a leading light in the world of energy law. Chambers Student Guide 2014 Best Infrastructure, Energy and Project Finance Law Firm. International Legal Alliance Summit 2012 Vinson & Elkins team operates at extremely high levels. Legal The firm s battalion of seasoned energy lawyers oversees arguably the largest oil and gas practice in the world. Law They are energy people. Chambers UK 2014 They are responsive, attentive, creative in their thinking and offer sound legal advice. Chambers UK 2014 Its prowess in this field [construction] is demonstrated by the clients it represents. Chambers UK 2013 Vinson & Elkins is one of the very few whose position at the top remains assured. Latin Lawyer Excellent reputation for energy and commodities work, particularly in emerging markets. Legal 500 UK 2012 Very fine oil and gas practice. Chambers UK 2013 Tackles big-ticket arbitrations in the energy, construction and pharmaceutical sectors in the Middle East, China and Central America. Chambers UK 2015 Excels at transactions in growth sectors. Legal A lot more client contact than expected. Chambers Student Guide 2014 There s a sense of Southern hospitality at the firm V&E lawyers know how to enjoy a good Texan party. Chambers Student Guide 2014 Recognised for impressive regional experience and notable strengths in the private equity, telecoms and oil and gas sectors. Chambers Global 2013 UAE Cross-border Law Firm of the Year and North Sea Transactions Team of the Year UK. Acquisition International M&A Awards

10 RECRUITING THE ASSOCIATES OF TOMORROW Vinson & Elkins recruits trainees with a view to developing our next generation of associate solicitors (and partners). Our retention record reflects that. Since the inception of our training programme in 2003, we have made associate offers to 87% of our qualifying trainees and are delighted that 79% of the offers were accepted. QUESTIONS If you have any questions relating to the summer vacation scheme or our training contracts, please do not hesitate to contact any member of our London trainee recruitment team, which is made up of solicitors who were in your shoes in the past and know how important finding the right training contract is for you. MARK BEELEY Training Principal Partner International Dispute Resolution mbeeley@velaw.com SARAH STOCKLEY International Talent Manager sstockley@velaw.com EMILIE STEWART Associate Finance estewart@velaw.com JOIN ENERGY THE 8

11 KEY DATES If you would like to apply for a summer vacation placement or a training contract, please note the following important dates: Vacation placement application window: 1 November 2017 to 31 January 2018 Training contract application window: 1 November 2017 to 31 July 2018 Open day for first year law students or penultimate year non-law students: 21 March 2018 Vacation placements: June 2018 to August 2018 (one-week placement) You begin your training contract: September 2020 Applications should be made by way of our online application form, available from our website at: In applying for vacation placements, please be aware that we give preference to those candidates who will be ready to start a training contract two years after that placement. The Open Day was extremely enjoyable. It succeeded in providing me with a true picture of what it would be like to work in Vinson & Elkins London office. There was a friendly, relaxed and professional nature to the structure of the Day, which reflected positively on the firm s character. Everyone I spoke with was hospitable, helpful and kind. Consequently I look forward to applying for a training contract with Vinson & Elkins. Anonymous, Open Day Attendee 9

12 JOIN THE ENERGY Vinson & Elkins RLLP 20 Fenchurch Street 24th Floor London EC3M 3BY velaw.com/careers/londonrecruitment.aspx Vinson & Elkins RLLP International Lawyers Austin Beijing Dallas Dubai Hong Kong Houston London Moscow New York Palo Alto Richmond Riyadh San Francisco Taipei Tokyo Washington velaw.com