Get into the groove 

“It has always been our intention to supplement our growth through lateral hires with a more ambitious merger strategy,” said Penningtons' chief executive David Raine, “and we will continue to look for opportunities to increase the strength of our client offering.” Raine was making his comments in the aftermath of two mergers. The first was with three-partner City practice Wedlake Saint in April 2011. The second, in May, was more substantial. A cluster from the respected but struggling Lincoln's Inn firm Dawsons came to Penningtons. Dawsons was very good for private client – an area which fits in well with some of Penningtons' existing strengths.

The merger significantly bulks up Penningtons' London presence, but it was already well established in the capital. It also has offices in Basingstoke and Godalming, but it would be unwise to see this as 'a Home Counties firm with a City office' or vice versa. A 'one firm' strategy means work is shared between all three offices. Trainees, too, are fairly evenly divvied up – at the time of our calls, seven were beavering away in London, five in Godalming and four in Basingstoke.

With regards to turnover, the recession was hard on Penningtons. However, things are looking up, with a 7.6% increase in turnover – to £24m – posted in 2010/11. “We are keen to make Penningtons more competitive,” said one trainee. “But we know who we are and who we are never going to be. The culture of a medium-sized firm will continue, so any expansion will be conducted in a very rational way.”

Penningtons is respected for both its commercial and private client capabilities. It is divided into three business divisions: business services, commercial property and private individual. Business services covers corporate, corporate tax, IP/IT, employment, immigration, dispute resolution and professional regulation teams. The commercial property divisions include teams spanning banking and finance, construction and development, projects and infrastructure, property litigation, property tax and social housing. The private individuals division includes clinical negligence, personal injury, family, private client, employment, immigration and residential property.

Do the maths 

Penningtons likes its trainees to take seats across the three business divisions, so no matter what office they are based in, they will get a mix of commercial and private individual work. Each office has a different selection of seats available. London has commercial dispute resolution, corporate/commercial, employment, immigration and professional regulation, private client and commercial property. Clinical negligence is on the way here. In Basingstoke there's corporate/commercial, private client, clin neg, employment and commercial property. Godalming has the same as Basingstoke, minus employment and plus a seat in travel, which is “pretty much personal injury, but with a foreign element.” The seat allocation process is “very fluid.” Trainees list four preferences a month before starting the training contract. Thereafter, it is made clear what seats are available, and usually trainees “get together and figure out who will do what, and when.” Trainees can move between offices if they like and if business needs allow.

The business services division brings in the most revenue, and most of our sources had completed an entire seat in corporate or done a corporate/commercial split. One of the corporate department's aims over the past year has been to strengthen links with businesses in the hotels and leisure and the technology, media and telecommunication sectors. Trainees documented working on “three big private equity investment deals,” one of which involved a company raising money to fund medical research. Trainees said that this seat was “document-intensive” and came with “an awful lot of responsibility,” drafting board minutes and resolutions for companies that enabled them to “really learn the mechanics of how a company operates.” Others found that it “was exciting to be a part of large transactions.” This excitement carried through in our interviews when another trainee spoke of “really hitting the ground running” in the middle of a multimillion-pound transaction: “I was in charge of a lot of money coming in and I had to keep tabs on ten shareholders – working out the maths was frightening!” Corporate clients include tour operator Australian Pacific Touring (UK), wine importer Alivini and the India-based Tata Group. As for the commercial team, it has “a big IP client base” including the West Cornwall Pasty company and the American Institute of Foreign Study – the organisation behind Camp America. Trainees handled “massive IP portfolios” for clients, in order to “make sure that there are no other brands out there that are similar.” This can sometimes lead to trainees serving infringement notices to other companies and eventually taking them to court. The team is also doing “more and more work for big IT companies.”

The London office has an immigration team that is top-ranked in Chambers UK. It is well known for its expertise in business immigration, and has been busy responding to the challenges presented by the new points-based system recently implemented by the government. Personal liability is another big issue in this field of law, and directors of companies increasingly want advice on how their employment practices stand in relation to illegal working legislation. Trainees say the recent policy changes make this a fascinating team to be in and detailed an “amazing” client list made up of corporates, high net worth individuals and non-EU students looking to study in the UK .

Bring your hankie 

In the private client team, trainees highlighted three main areas in which they were likely to be given work: Court of Protection work, wills and tax planning, and contentious private client matters. “I've been able to do work on all three and have never repeated the same thing,” said one. On the wills and tax planning side, trainees found that they were often the “Lasting Power of Attorney person,” and were pleasantly surprised by how “technical drafting wills can be – it's a fascinating job because you have to fit the client's particular circumstances to the type of will that they require, and amend the clauses accordingly: there's problem solving to be done.” Contentious work is difficult to sum up succinctly, given the sheer variety of claims that pour into the team, but recent cases have often involved acting for the beneficiary of an estate to recover funds misappropriated by another family member.

Penningtons' PI and clin neg practice is regarded as one of the leaders in the South East. “You are always speaking to and meeting clients – it's a fantastic seat for developing your client skills,” said one interviewee. Our sources thoroughly enjoyed this seat and mentioned that they felt “very visible,” assisting on a wide range of “cerebral palsy cases, cosmetic cases, amputation cases, situations where things have gone undiagnosed or surgery hasn't been carried out properly – it's really hard to give you the whole picture!” It was agreed that “you start off by helping associates and partners, and then as you get more familiar with everything, you begin to take responsibility for lower-value things of your own, and draft witness statements, claim forms and schedules of loss.” Personal injury was described with just as much enthusiasm: “You do everything that senior people do – it's very hands-on.” Trainees had worked on high-value road traffic accidents – the team focuses mainly on serious injury cases, predominantly brain and spinal injuries and fatal accident claims. “It's incredibly rewarding getting involved in this type of law, because you really see how an amount of money will make such a huge difference to someone's standard of life, especially with the more severe injuries that we encounter,” explained a trainee, and this sentiment was echoed unanimously by our other sources: “There's normally a few tears when cases reach a settlement.”

Trainees noticed that “as the economic climate picks up there is a real buzz” in the various property teams. The firm recently acted for the trustees of University College School in connection with the grant of a 35-year lease to Goals Soccer Centres for the construction and running of an outdoor soccer centre. Other clients include Burhill Golf & Leisure, Thames Valley Housing Association and Caring Daycare. “There's also a lot of banking work: banking falls under commercial property, so expect exposure to that element of property transactions.” It's also important to underscore that trainees may also come across some residential property work. Our interviewees had assisted with the first registration of residential properties and dealt with leaseholder disputes.

Horses and children first 

“They're not looking for slaves with no character,” asserted one trainee when asked about the recruitment process at Penningtons. “Of course academic strength has to be there, but there also has to be a certain energy and a lot of common sense – common sense is what fuels the culture of 'you go home at six' here, as people are efficient and get the work done.” Other interviewees also emphasised this point, saying that “the hours of 7pm until 9pm are really emergency hours that are reserved for especially busy times.” Trainees informed us that Penningtons goes for well-rounded individuals who enjoy things outside of the law as well: “They do expect that you have a life outside of work, they do factor in that perhaps you have a child, or perhaps you have a horse... but I currently have neither!”

Trainees are well looked after here, and they have three main avenues of potential support: their seat supervisor, a partner-level principal each, and finally first-years are allocated a mentor from the trainee intake above. Appraisals are “always very helpful,” and carried out in a “forward-looking fashion rather than dragging things up that perhaps haven't gone so well.” Trainees provide a written response to a series of questions before each appraisal, which are then discussed thoroughly during the meeting, and “as you're always working very closely with your supervisor throughout the seat, appraisals are very detailed.” The formal training sessions were also looked on favourably. Once a month, trainees across the firm gather in one office for 'Trainee Thursday', when they listen to a presentation given by a partner or senior associate on a relevant topic, followed by drinks that enable them to get to know their peers in the other offices. Departmental training also abounds.

There are at least two firm-wide social events each year, one of which is a Spring Ball held in London (usually in May). The last “took place in a hotel near St Paul’s – it was a disco event, and people do dance, these events are approached with a sense of humour,” confirmed a second-year. The other event is an annual sports day, held in Godalming, where “everyone plays rounders and enjoys a barbecue.” Each office has its own sports and social committee, which is allocated and “encouraged to spend” a budget. Trainees in Godalming spoke of a monthly cinema club and seasonal events like Christmas breakfasts and spring drinks. In Basingstoke, bowling nights and zoo trips have been scheduled, while in London there have been “quite a few curry nights.” In London, due to the recent Dawsons merger, “the emphasis has been on integration” and so quite a few departmental events have been put on recently. In terms of local watering holes, Godalming trainees are more of the “beer garden type” and have set up camp in The Star, while in Basingstoke trainees tend to go to “whatever pub is closest, so the Wetherspoons or Lloyds.” London-based trainees sometimes like to up their game and indulge themselves after a hard day with some “high-class drinks" in Gutter Lane's Manicomio.

And finally... 

If a healthy mix of commercial and private client work attracts you, then Penningtons is the perfect place. In 2011, five out of six qualifiers stayed with the firm.