TC Offer accepted - have read that firm is in merger talks. What should I expect?

[delphinium]

Hi all,

What it says in the title. Offer has been received and accepted. Final contract won't be sent and signed until nearer my start date.

Have read firm may be in merger talks. What can I expect if the merger goes ahead? Am I at any risk of losing the TC, or anything like that if it does? Obviously aware this is early stages and hypothetical.

Thanks.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Losing your TC is unlikely in my opinion. The firm won’t want the negative publicity and will find ways to incorporate the trainees from both firms assuming it happens. It’s not impossible, but it’s incredibly risky for the firm from a brand perceptive (not just with candidates, but clients too).

Historically I have seen firms offer to defer trainees due to having too large a trainee intake, and providing some form of financial bonus for doing so. That could be offered in this situation.

They may just manage a bumper trainee intake though. The downside to that could be that it is more difficult to get work or find a NQ role, but it could easily be the other way around if the firm decides to have redundancies and restructure teams of associates post merger (much easier to offload expensive associates and keep cheaper trainees that will find it easier to adapt to the firm).

Obviously the merger could not even happen (heard so many that get into talks and then don’t happen in the later stages), so I wouldn’t worry too much about this at this stage.

 

[Sierra]

Heya, apologies if I'm reviving an old thread.

But I'm genuinely curious- because it seems like the firm in question is Shearman or A&O.

Would you be willing to share a little about how grad rec/the firm have approached this with you?