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Shoosmiths 
The Lakes Bedford Road Northampton NN4 7SH
Lex 100 winner
Favoured by 3 users (Register to add this entry to your favourites)

The trainee verdict

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The lowdown (in their own words...)

Why did you choose this firm over any others? 'Quality of work and training'; 'firm ethos'; 'the partners and solicitors were approachable during my vacation scheme'; 'trainees carry out real work'; 'big regional player'; 'fantastic secondment opportunities'; 'work/life balance'; 'decent clients'; 'strong support and development framework' 

How does your training compare with peers' at other firms? 'Far fewer administrative tasks'; ' the level of work is often of a higher standard'; 'more autonomy and client contact'; 'a lot more responsibility'; 'better hours'; 'opportunities to liaise and work closely with clients' 

Best thing about the firm? 'There are some very talented lawyers here'; 'approachable partners'; 'day off for your birthday'; 'high-profile clients'; 'great group of colleagues who provide help, advice and daily office banter'; 'given responsibility from the very start'; 'the firm culture' 

Worst thing about the firm? 'Lack of communication'; 'the fact Northampton is the main base'; 'lack of any social scene at some offices'; 'pay is not good for trainees' 

Best moment? 'Key involvement in big-ticket deals'; '£35m corporate deals'; 'my work being praised by one of the equity partners'; 'being asked to present at a client meeting' ;'being sent on a secondment for my second seat'; 'giving a training session to clients on competition law' ;'completing a multi-million-pound charge' 

Worst moment? 'Dictating for three days straight on hundreds of documents'; 'staying late on a Friday night to finish bundling'; 'being asked to wait around for a courier to arrive with important documents on a Friday evening, when the whole department had gone home'; 'seeing work repeatedly returned covered in red pen' 

The Lex 100 verdict

The firm

Shoosmiths is a dynamic, full-service firm with offices throughout the Midlands and the South East. Its many areas of strength include corporate, IP/IT, debt recovery and employment. Clients say that the firm 'epitomises professionalism' and is 'very experienced; intelligent and commercially minded'. 

The star performers

Banking and finance; Commercial litigation; Commercial property; Corporate and commercial; Corporate tax; Debt recovery; Employment; Health and safety; Licensing; Media and entertainment; Pensions; Personal injury: claimant; Personal tax, trusts and probate; Planning; Professional negligence; Property litigation; Shipping; Social housing.

The deals

Acted for SAI Global in its acquisition of Foodcheck; acting for the developer in HXRUK II (CHC) Ltd v Heaney, involving alleged breach of a right to light; assisted Indesit with a review of website terms and conditions.

The clients

Alliance & Leicester; BP; British Gypsum; HSBC; IKEA; RBS; Thomas Cook; WH Smith; major national retail and food and drink clients.

The money

(from Legal Business magazine) 

Turnover in 2010: £90m (-9% from 2009) Profits per equity partner: £268,000 (+82%) 

The Verdict

Candidates are attracted to Shoosmiths thanks to the quality of work and training ('fantastic') on offer here. A Lex 100 Winner for its vacation scheme, they are given 'real work' from the start and feel comfortable thanks to the 'friendly and welcoming atmosphere'. Current trainees are happy with the level of client contact and there are some 'excellent' secondment opportunities available. Unlike in some other large firms they are asked to do 'far fewer administrative tasks' and despite working on '£35m corporate deals' and 'regularly advising CEOs' the hours are reasonable and it is possible to 'have a life'. Prepare to be given responsibility from day one, however there is a 'strong support and development framework' and partners are 'approachable'. Current trainees say that communication at the firm could be improved and some offices could have more of a social scene. However, these grumbles aside, Shoosmiths is a 'quirky and refreshing' firm, which gives you the day off for your birthday and as one trainee notes 'trains you to become a good solicitor by allowing you to get first-hand experience of the typical work a fee-earner would complete in each department.' Sounds good to us.

A day in the life of.....

A day in the life of.....

Nick DalgleishNick Dalgleish, first-year trainee solicitor, Shoosmiths 
Departments to date:  Commercial litigation, real estate, commercial
University: Oxford Brookes 
Degree: Law with Environmental Science, 2(1) 

8.40am: My average working day starts here. I make sure I am in the office by this time in case something urgent comes up and needs sorting first thing. My current seat is commercial litigation and today is going to be a busy day.

9.00am: I have been assisting one of the associates with a matter in which we are acting for a recruitment agency client who is seeking to recover a debt. I make sure I am prepared for a quick call with counsel later before the summary judgment hearing.

10.00am: Counsel calls to say that they have arrived at the court, and run through their instructions again and ask me to confirm a few additional points from my brief and the documents I have prepared for them. Depending on the case at hand, counsel often only has a few days to prepare and there are always issues to iron out and instructions to confirm.

10.30am: I attend a charity committee meeting. Corporate responsibility is one of the firm's business strategies and trainees are encouraged to get involved wherever they can. I attend a meeting to discuss future fundraising ideas for our current charity, Help For Heroes.

11.00am: After the meeting and with the summary judgment hearing under way, I am free to work on other matters. I call a client on a long-running construction and collateral warranty matter that will shortly proceed to mediation. Having previously discussed the issues with one of the associates, I run through the evidential developments arising from the files that the client has recently provided.

12.00pm: Next, I call a client with whom I have arranged to take a witness statement. The witness is a director of the claimant company who is looking to recover unpaid agency fees. I have already prepared a full list of questions earlier on in the week and am well prepared. It is great that I have had so much client contact during my seat, and I have enjoyed mastering the skill of taking witness statements over the phone.

1.30pm: I receive an email from my supervisor requesting help for an upcoming trial that she is running. It is only a few days away and due to the claimant dis-instructing his solicitors we are required to make up the trial bundles urgently. Although this is a standard task for a trainee, these trial bundles are different as this case is being heard in the High Court and I need to comply with High Court witness referencing requirements.

3.30pm: Having completed the trial bundles, I have time to complete some of my less urgent work. Due to the standard of work that I have produced while in this department I have been allowed to run a few small files myself under supervision. They relate to various over-payments to previous employees of a client.

4.30pm: Counsel phones with an update from today's summary judgment hearing and confirms she will forward her notes after the call for my review and further instruction.

5.00pm: I start on some research for one of the partners in the team. I look into a road traffic accident and in particular research the positioning of the sun in the sky on the date of the accident to determine whether the sun could have been shining in the other party's eyes.

6.30pm: Normally, I would leave the office about this time to go home to have dinner with my wife and put my daughter to bed, followed by a game of squash with a friend. Tonight however, there is a drinks social event on for young professionals called 'New Friday' organised by the Shoosmiths trainees. I therefore head out to this with some other trainees.

About the firm

About the firm

Address: The Lakes, Bedford Road, Northampton NN4 7SH

Telephone: 03700 863075

Fax: 01604 623517

Website: www.shoosmiths.co.uk/graduates

Email:  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Chief executive: Claire Rowe

Chairman: Andrew Tubbs

Total partners: 110

Other fee-earners: 550

Total trainees: 34

Other offices: Birmingham, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Nottingham, Reading, Solent 

Who we are:  Growing steadily with offices across the UK, Shoosmiths is a progressive, forward-thinking law firm with a real spirit of enterprise. We really value our people by giving them the freedom, recognition and support to succeed, and our clients find us open, accessible and easy to work with. 

What we do: There's nothing like diving straight in and having a go and, while we would not ask you to do something you are not comfortable in tackling, we expect you to relish the opportunity to get experience of real cases and deals from the start. In our opinion, it's the best way to learn. 

What we are looking for: You'll be open-minded, forward thinking, creative and innovative, and be trained in a non-hierarchal, open-plan environment. You'll also value a social life outside the office. Work-wise you'll care about the quality of service you give to clients and you'll want to make a real and direct contribution to the firm's success. 

What you'll do:  Your experience will be built around a practical workload, complemented by technical and business skills training. Over the two years, you will complete four six-month placements, one of which possibly being an external secondment to a client's in-house legal team, which provides an invaluable insight into the client's perspective.

Perks: Regular involvement in sporting and social events, flexible holidays, pension (after three months service), life assurance, private medical insurance, dental plan, corporate discounts and discounts on conveyancing and legal advice. Plus, a free day off for your birthday and a birthday gift from Shoosmiths. 

Sponsorship: We pay GDL and LPC fees, plus a living allowance. 

Application process

Apply to: Graduate recruitment. 

How: Online application via www.shoosmiths.co.uk/graduates 

When to Apply: By 31 July 2012. 

What is involved: Application, telephone interview and assessment day. 

Facts and figures

Trainee places available for 2014: 22 

Applications received pa: 1,400+ 

Percentage interviewed: 10% 

Salary

First year: Under review 

Second year: Under review 

Newly qualified: Under review 

Vacation schemes

Summer: June, July, August 2012 (apply by 28 February 2012).