Diamond geezers 

DMH Stallard started life in Brighton following the merger of three high street firms to create Donne, Mileham & Haddock. The firm rebranded itself as DMH (possibly to avoid fish gags) and expanded by opening a large Crawley office. Further mergers with London firms Stallards (in 2005) and Courts & Co (in 2008) gave it its current shape. It now attracts clients like Tesco, London Borough of Croydon and EDF Energy, presently the UK’s largest energy generator. Crawley is the largest office, and it houses most of the firm’s commercial departments. DMH prefers to call the office ‘Gatwick’– presumably that name has connotations of international jet-setting and dynamism thanks to the airport, while Crawley has connotations of… well, nothing much. Actually this Sussex town has grown hugely and is a great business centre. DMH has found success acting for clients connected to the nearby airport.

While trainees say DMH’s “heart is still in Brighton,” the majority of administrative departments, like HR, are now based in Crawley. They describe their employer as “primarily a regional firm with a London base.” Managing partner Tim Aspinall splits his time between Brighton and London, and the firm’s interest in the capital is undeniable: see our bonus feature to read about what DMH gets up to in the City.

Best foot forward 

Trainees can expect a broad-based training with seats chosen from dispute resolution; corporate-commercial; property; property litigation; contentious IP; employment; planning; personal injury; and private client. You usually end up doing a property seat and in 2010 half of the trainees qualified into this department. Trainees must undertake seats in at least two offices, and new starters are fully aware that “commuting is going to be part of the training contract.” The office-switching policy is based on “who fits with what team” and provides the benefit of “getting to know people in all the offices.”

The Gatwick corporate-commercial team works on M&A, banking and commercial matters, and there is also “a technology focus with lots of IT-related agreements.” Clients come from the retail, media, leisure, professional services and finance industries and include the likes of KPMG and Deloitte. Lawyers also act for the owners of Noostar, an online talent show partly funded by Graham Norton. London corporate work is more financial in nature, with clients including insurer Swiss Re, main occupier of the iconic Gherkin building. “I’ve been involved in a public company merger and done stuff on the buying and selling of shares,” one satisfied trainee told us.

In litigation, trainees tackle “whatever comes in the door: it’s one mountain after another.” Some cases are multimillion-pound matters, and so it’s only natural that one London trainee reported “having to do some dogsbody work.” Their peers in Crawley were keener: “I was given a good amount of responsibility and was able to talk to clients a lot.” Said clients include famed guitar-makers Fender, Ramsay Health Care, Lloyds and the Arcadia group, owner of Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge and Topshop. In December 2008, the firm was appointed to the Treasury Solicitor’s Department’s Lit-Cat panel. Other clients include the University of Sussex and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. Trainees enjoy the contentious IP seat, where they conduct research into “trade mark, design right and copyright” issues. There’s enjoyable work on “combating counterfeit products” for retailers such as Arcadia companies, Office (the shoe people) and Havaiana flip-flops.

Noise annoys 

A commercial property seat sees trainees supporting Brighton & Hove Albion FC. The construction of the club’s £60m new Falmer Stadium has run into all manner of legal and environmental difficulties, so it’s kept the lawyers on their toes. Other work includes “regeneration and bread-and-butter landlord and tenant work such as drafting leases and licences to assign.” There’s “quite a lot of client contact and the vast majority of work is assisting partners on larger files.” Property clients include Aviva, London Borough of Croydon and the City of Westminster as well as top international banks. In property litigation you might run into some surprising work on ASBOs. “If someone in social housing is breaking a clause in their tenancy by having loud parties, we’ll act for the council on how to deal with the situation.” Some trainees get their own caseload, which would typically include rent arrears and insolvency matters.

DMH’s employment advice is mainly given to employers, and “around 30 to 40% of clients are in the public sector.” These include the London boroughs of Croydon, Bromley, Merton, Southwark, and Kensington and Chelsea, as well as Dover, Crawley, Brighton and Medway councils. Trainee tasks include “reviewing staff handbooks and policies” plus more contentious tribunal matters. Private sector clients include Sussex County Cricket Club and the National Geographic Channel.

Seats in personal injury and private client are taken in Brighton. In PI “you get your own caseload of maybe 60 or 70 cases.” The team acts for claimants who have been involved with car crashes and accidents at work or on holiday. One client was a passenger in a car where the driver was killed. The driver was drunk and did not have a full driving licence or any insurance. The client lost his left, dominant, arm and suffered a psychological reaction. A key factor in the case was whether the claimant knew the driver was drunk. The private client team advises wealthy individuals or their surviving family members on wills, inheritance and wealth management. Recently, this included unmasking a forged will with the help of genealogists and handwriting experts.

Fess up 

Trainees see DMH as “extremely well-managed,” “entrepreneurial” and “business-focused.” While one source claimed there are “perhaps too many systems,” others admired the innovation. DHM Direct, the firm’s case management system, means “clients can look at their own matters remotely and see how they are progressing.” One trainee reported on “a streamlining initiative where different departments meet up to discuss how things can be organised more similarly.” The AGM, which is both social and informational, was cancelled in 2010, but trainees still “got their time with [managing partner] Tim [Aspinall]” to discuss targets, fees and job prospects, and they felt the firm was “open.” Describing their employer, our sources used all the usual happy buzzwords: “friendly,” “approachable” and “down to earth.” Despite a move “towards being a larger London-led regional organisation,” there is still “a lot of DMH in the firm,” which means that “if there is a problem and you ’fess up, they’ll support you and help you.” The firm’s history of good retention speaks for itself. In 2010, six of nine second-year trainees were retained on qualification.

And finally... 

If broad commercial/private client training in a respected South East and London firm is what you’re after then this is a good pick.

Note: DMH Stallard did not feature in the latest edition of the Student Guide. This article was researched and written in April 2010.