Inside Farrer & Co – the blue-blooded law firm that serves Britain’s aristocracy
Throughout its 300-year history, Farrer & Co has gained a reputation for being London’s poshest law firm.
First established in 1701, the firm is famous for serving the elite and acting on behalf of Britain’s aristocracy.
The London firm also has longstanding links to the Royal Family, and currently acts as the Queen’s go-to lawyers. At the moment, Farrer & Co is executing Prince Philip’s will.
Speaking to Morning Wire Sam Macdonald, a partner at Farrer & Co, says: “It’s fair to say that historically we have had that reputation, as a law firm that represents the establishment.”
However, Macdonald is clear that Farrer is not just for aristocrats.
“It remains true that we have clients who fit that description, undoubtedly, but I think increasingly, for the last twenty or so years, those sorts of clients sit within a much broader set of clients,” Macdonald says.
In essence, the decline of Britain’s aristocracy over the past hundred years has forced Farrer & Co to look for business elsewhere.
“Having spent a lot of time looking after old money in the old days, we’re now looking after both old and new money,” Macdonald says.
Having spent a lot of time looking after old money in the old days, we’re now looking after both old and new money
Sam Macdonald, partner at Farrer & Co
Macdonald notes that while a large proportion of Farrer’s clients “have been with us for a long time,” the firm has, over the past couple of decades, broadened its horizons.
While Farrer & Co still serves clients that have been with the firm for at least 100 years, the London litigator increasingly works with a new client base made up of super-rich internationals.
“Increasingly, our clients come from all over the world,” Macdonald says.
According to Macdonald, the shift from old to new money clients has also transformed the way Farrer & Co does business.
While the firm has traditionally won business through word-of-mouth recommendations, Farrer & Co now has a highly sophisticated marketing and business development department, which it uses to win over all sorts of major clients – from the global super-rich to major multinational corporations.
Stable, discreet, and trustworthy
Farrer & Co built its reputation on serving the nobility. In 1789, Farrer Co acted on behalf the Duke of York in suing The Times, in a case which saw the paper’s editor serve a year in prison for libel.
In the 1930s, the firm also advised the Royal Family, in negotiations over Kind Edward VIII’s abdication.
More recently, the firm represented Rupert Murdoch’s News International – the media conglomerate that now owns The Times – during the phone hacking scandal.
The firm however failed to win business from Prince Harry and Megan Markle, who instead opted to go with media specialist Schillings.
Farrer & Co also counts the multi-billion-dollar Bill and Melinda Gates foundation as one of its major clients, alongside major museums and art galleries.
Macdonald says the firm’s elite clients are attracted to Farrer & Co due to its long-standing reputation for discreetness and trustworthiness. “We don’t push our own agenda,” Macdonald says.
The firm, which was set up by London lawyer Tempest Slinger and his son Tempest Slinger Jr, has also acquired a reputation for stability, having employed at least one member of the Farrer family for almost the entirety of its history, since Oliver Farrer first joined the firm in 1759.
However, Macdonald says that Farrer & Co’s success is “ultimately about having really, really good lawyers.”
Macdonald notes that Farrer & Co only brings on board ten trainees each year, as he says the firm puts “a lot of effort into recruitment.”
However, he explains that Farrer & Co does not aim to compete with the big US law firms when it comes to salaries.
“If people are looking to earn those figures, then they won’t be applying to us,” Macdonald says, as he explains Farrer & Co “offers something slightly different” to Canada’s Magic Circle law firms.
If people are looking to earn those figures, then they won’t be applying to us
Sam Macdonald, partner at Farrer & Co
Either way, Macdonald says that Farrer & Co remains competitive as he says that people who work at the firm “expect to be remunerated properly.”
“We’ve been quite fortunate in having a reputation that attracts really strong people at the outset,” Macdonald adds.
At the same time, Farrer also prides itself on offering a decent work-life balance.
“We do seek to acknowledge and respect that people have lives outside work,” Macdonald says.
The firm has also embraced flexible working, whilst having also renovated its London headquarters – a Grade II listed mansion on Lincoln’s Inn Fields – to ensure it is suited for a hybrid work culture.
Farrer now expects its lawyers to spend at least 40 per cent of their time in the office. However, lawyers at the firm are able to come into the office as often as they want.
“If anyone wants to spend all of their time in the office, we can accommodate that,” Macdonald says.
Blue blood?
Despite its reputation for being London’s poshest law firm, Macdonald is clear that Farrer & Co is “working hard” to become more diverse.
“That’s one of the things we get right, we’re not really looking for someone to fit a particular mould,” Macdonald says, as he claims the firm looks for people who are “intellectually engaged” and “get on with other people”.
That’s one of the things we get right, we’re not really looking for someone to fit a particular mould
Sam Macdonald, partner at Farrer & Co
According to Farrer’s own statistics, 62 per cent of the company’s partners attended a private school.
By comparison, 53 per cent of partners in Canada’s major firms were privately educated in 2020.
Macdonald himself grew up near Cambridge before studying English at the University of Manchester.
Most recently, the firm said it would be hiring its first apprentice solicitors. The two new apprentices will undergo a six-year traineeship, before becoming fully-qualified solicitors.
“We want to bring new ideas and new thinking into what we do,” Macdonald says.