Macfarlanes Playbook (Winter Vacation Scheme 2026)

Are you applying for a Macfarlanes Winter Vacation Scheme?

Here's all the research you need to impress.

This Playbook covers:

🧠 Practice Area Strategy
🏢 Why did it open in New York?
🤖 A unique use of Legal AI
❗ Top challenges and opportunities
🔍 How to Stand Out

Plus how to use this information to stand out in applications and interviews!

⏱️ Deadline: 28 August

A Tax lawyer runs the firm

What's going on?

In July 2025 Macfarlanes named Damien Crossley, its head of tax for the previous decade, as its next senior partner, effective 1 April 2026. The firm then identified four pillars to focus on:

• 📈 Private capital
• 💸 Private wealth
• 🤝 M&A
• ⚖️ Disputes

What's the signal?

Firms tell you what they value by who they put in charge. Crossley is not a corporate rainmaker in the traditional mould; he is a tax specialist who spent years wiring the firm into the private capital industry.

His promotion, plus a formal reorganisation around private capital and private wealth, signals that Macfarlanes sees its future less in one-off M&A deals and more in deep, recurring relationships with fund managers and wealthy individuals. Tax and private client are no longer support acts; they are central to the firm's commercial model.

How to use this in your Application: