About The True Picture

Every firm will tell you it is different from all the others because of its friendly culture in which everybody is down-to-earth and where approachable partners operate an open-door policy. If you're feeling bamboozled by brochurespeak we have the antidote…

How we do our research
 

Every year we spend many months compiling the True Picture reports on law firms in England and Wales, ranging from the international giants to small regional practices. Our purpose is to get to the heart of what you need to know about a prospective employer – what it can really offer you in terms of work and working environment. You’ll want to know how many hours a day you’ll be chained to your desk, the tasks that will keep you occupied and who you’ll be working with. Importantly, you’ll want to know about a firm’s culture and whether colleagues will turn into party animals or party poopers come Friday night.

Most of our chosen firms handle commercial law, although many also offer private client experience. There are a few general practice firms offering publicly funded advice to their local communities. To take part in the True Picture a firm must provide a complete list of its trainees. After checking the list is complete, we randomly select a sample of individuals for telephone interviews. Our sources are guaranteed anonymity to give them the confidence to speak frankly. The True Picture is not shown to the law firms prior to publication; they see it for the first time when this book is published.

Trainees tell us why they chose their firm and why others might want to. We put on our serious faces and talk about seat allocation, the character and work of different departments, the level of supervision and what happens to people on qualification. And we flirt shamelessly to get the gossip on firm politics, office oddities and after-hours fun. We look for the things trainees agree upon, and if they don’t agree we present both sides of the argument.

Your choice of firm will be based on location, size and the practice areas available... then it’s a matter of chemistry. Some firms are stuffier, some are more industrious and some are very brand-aware, involving trainees heavily in marketing activities. Some work in modern open-plan offices; others occupy buildings long past their sell-by date. Some focus on international business; others are at the heart of their local business communities. Some concentrate on contentious work, others transactional. The combinations of these variables are endless.

Our findings this year

This is the ‘recession edition’ of the Student Guide, written against a backdrop of redundancies and falling profits. We haven’t ignored the economic climate - after all, it’s when times are bad that firms reveal their true character - but we’re very aware that by the time you, our readers, hopefully begin your training contracts in 2012 and beyond, market conditions might be very different. We’ve tried to make this a forward-looking guide and we’ve spent more time than ever speaking to training partners and managing partners about their strategies for the next few years. You’ll notice their comments scattered throughout the True Picture features.

This year we found fewer law firms were willing to give us access to their trainees (and frankly some had reactions verging on the paranoid). Consequently, we have covered slightly fewer firms than usual. It’s worth reiterating that the purpose of the True Picture is not to put the boot into firms, but nor are we an extension of their marketing departments. Our only agenda is to give you the fairest and most detailed view possible.

Retention rates for the class of 2009 have been the worst for years. Usually, just over 80% of qualifiers stay with the law firms that trained them, but in 2009 total retention at those we covered dropped to 74%. If you intend to use retention rates as a determining factor in your choice of firm, do be wary of the statistics being bandied around. Law firms make their own rules on how to calculate retention rates - you may not be getting a full picture from them. We know of at least one medium-sized outfit that kept on 100% of its trainees in 2008 but made half of them redundant within nine months. We collect our own statistics and include them in each law firm feature. We have collated statistics since 2000 and also publish them on our website.

A word on law firm mergers or closures: thankfully, the latter are rare, but mergers are a regular occurrence in the profession these days. When firms merge, trainees’ contracts are honoured, though of course it does mean that new recruits find themselves in a different firm to the one they signed up to.

It’s not all bad news and there have been success stories this year. One man’s misfortune is another man’s gold rush, and while real estate, corporate and finance-focused firms have felt the pinch, insolvency lawyers and litigators have had a busy 2009. We’ve noticed these departments becoming increasingly popular as savvy trainees aim to maximise their chances of qualification.

Some things never change...
 

- Certain seats are more popular than others. The perfect example is employment law.

- Levels of responsibility vary between departments. In property you might have your own small files. In corporate you will generally work in a very junior capacity as part of a team.

- The experience in litigation depends entirely on the type of cases your firm handles; usually a trainee’s responsibility is inversely proportionate to the value and complexity of a case.

- In times of plenty, corporate and finance seats mean long hours, commonly climaxing in all-nighters. The size and complexity of a deal will determine your role, but corporate and finance usually require the most teamwork.

- Most firms offer four six-month seats; some offer six four-month seats and others operate their own unique systems. Trainees switch departments and supervisors for each seat. Most share a room and work with a partner or senior assistant; others sit open-plan, either with the rest of the team or with other trainees. Occasionally trainees have their own room.

- All firms conduct appraisals: a minimum of one at the conclusion of each seat, and usually halfway through as well.

- Client secondments help you learn to understand clients’ needs. They can be the highlight of a training contract.

- The Solicitors Regulation Authority requires all trainees to gain experience of both contentious and non-contentious work. Additionally most firms have certain seats they require or prefer trainees to try. Some firms are very prescriptive, others flexible. Remember, a training contract is a time to explore legal practice to see what you’re best at and most enjoy. You may surprise yourself.

And finally...
 

We hope the True Picture will help you decide which firms to target. No matter how hard or how easy securing a training contract is for you, you’ll want to end up with the right one.