Rhodes’ map
Trethowans was founded in Salisbury in 1866 by Mr George Nodder, and with a small merger obtained its Southampton office in 1996. The offices are now a similar size and, as part of its ‘Destination 2012’ strategy of growing in all areas, Trethowans has been busy poaching lawyers from rival firms, including a Chambers-ranked corporate partner from Blake Lapthorn. Managing partner Simon Rhodes expects moves like this one to create a “ripple effect” and attract more top people. “We have some of the region’s leading experts in every field. What we're aiming for is to get most of them," he told us.
The firm’s clinical negligence and personal injury teams are top-ranked in the South of England by Chambers UK, while its corporate client list includes household names such as Ladbrokes and Bacardi. In fact, there is a fairly large range of departments considering the relatively small size of the firm, and trainees can take seats in PI/clin neg, corporate, commercial litigation, commercial property, employment, family, insurance litigation, residential property, private client, and farms and estates. Most of the commercial departments are in Southampton while those dealing with private individuals are in Salisbury, although some practice areas can be found in both offices. Most trainees visit at least one seat in each office and experience both commercial and private law.
Before arriving at the firm, new recruits hand in a “wish list” of their ideal seats. They can also name any particular seats they don’t want to do. These preferences are usually accommodated – trainees are warned that seat allocation is partly dependent on business needs, but our sources had all received their first choices. Trainees complete three six-month seats in different departments, usually returning to the department they want to qualify into for their fourth and final one. Although this means they only get to experience three practice areas in total, a positive is that “compared to other trainees you know a lot about your area when you qualify.”
Fast cars and soft toys
The personal injury department hosts what many find to be a rewarding – if sometimes emotionally challenging – seat, with heaps of client contact. The department deals with a lot of road traffic accident cases, as well as accidents at work. And we’re not just talking about minor trips and slips – Trethowans specialises in head and spinal injury cases and works with Headway – the Brain Injury Association, the Spinal Injuries Association and the SRA’s clin neg and PI panels. Though it acts mainly for claimants, the PI team also handles defendant work, recently acting for a farmer (via an insurer) after someone was trampled by a cow while on his farm.
The 2009/10 financial year saw the commercial litigation department’s income from fees surpass £1m for the first time – double that of two years before. Its big-name clients include Toys R Us and geriatric haulage company Stannah, and it also acted for a pension scheme in a professional negligence claim against a City law firm. As in the PI seat, there’s plenty of client contact in commercial litigation. Trainees are allowed to run smaller cases by themselves, and for larger cases may draft witness statements and go to court. The work is varied: “One day you might be dealing with people arguing over a lease and the next you’ll be working with the employment team on a dispute over a contract.” A highlight of the employment seat, meanwhile, is the chance to help prepare for and attend an employment tribunal. Trainees may also take minutes in meetings, and always do a lot of drafting of employment contracts, compromise agreements and witness statements.
Trainees have less individual responsibility in the corporate seat because of the size of the deals, but this is balanced by the excitement of being involved in deals worth “millions and millions and millions.” They include Ladbrokes’ acquisition of betting shops from the administrators of Roar Betting. Who’d have thought a bookie could go bust?
Did any of our readers go to Bay House comp in Gosport? They have Trethowans’ commercial property team to thank for working on the development of the school’s new sports facilities. The team also acts for major banks, notably Santander and HSBC, and the seat gives trainees “loads of opportunities to experience different aspects of property.” Trainees don’t run their own files, but again there is a lot of client contact.
Trethowans has no official mentoring scheme, but trainees have a review with their seat supervisor every two months, as well as mid and end-of-seat reviews with the training partner. Trainees emphasised the relaxed and supportive atmosphere within the firm, where “you never feel like you’re asking too many questions” and “everyone’s willing to give you the time to explain something, even partners in other departments.” You can expect a few all-nighters before an employment tribunal or a big deal, but generally people are “very good at telling you to go home if you’re here still here at 7pm.”
Dressage for success
The open-plan Salisbury office is located on a business park outside the city centre, and is modern, light and airy. The layout of the horseshoe-shaped office means “you do feel like you’re in your department, not just a massive sea of people,” while still providing “lots of opportunities to bump into colleagues and have a chat.” In March 2011 the firm announced that it had outgrown its Southampton premises and was planning to move. From what we hear, it sounds like they’re looking for something with a similar feel to the Salisbury office.
Trethowans “makes you feel like part of the team from the word go.” This starts even before the training contract – future trainees are invited to all socials in the year before they begin, and several who had time to fill between the LPC and the start of their training contract (and couldn’t afford a round-the-world cruise) are currently on the payroll as administrative or secretarial staff. Trainees are encouraged to get involved in marketing events, from organising and running stands at local business fairs to serving drinks and schmoozing clients at the summer Pimm's party. They also have a social budget, which they are free to spend however they like (within reason...). This usually takes the form of a meal out every few months, although paintballing was mentioned to us as a possible future event. Other than a few departmental or firm-wide events it’s mostly up to trainees to make their own fun – and we get the impression they do.
“Good person, good lawyer” was the phrase Simon Rhodes used to describe the ideal Trethowans recruit. This isn’t just a fluffy philosophy, but an integral part of the firm’s business strategy, he said. “Every time a lawyer moves, their client ties weaken slightly. Creating a place where people want to work means they spend their whole careers here. That makes a good impression on clients, and the firm will do better as a result.”
Top academic qualifications and lots of legal experience wouldn’t hurt your application, but they aren’t the most important qualities for Trethowans. Simon Rhodes tells us how to impress: “Don’t just get legal experience, do loads of stuff. Sell things on the internet to show you’re savvy about IT and business. Prove you have life experience, prove you have stuck to things and achieved goals – do a bungee jump, cycle across Poland for charity, join a brass band or a rugby club” were just a few of the suggestions. We nosed around Trethowans’ website a bit and discovered that among the current trainee group are people who’ve worked as paralegals, a former captain of the England Young Riders Dressage team and someone who was a prison healthcare project manager in the NHS.
And finally...
Trethowans trainees qualify in November, so retention figures hadn't been announced by the time we went to press. We will update this feature as soon as they are released.