Bristows LLP

Address: 100 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0DH

Web: bristows.com

Email: trainee.recruitment@bristows.com

 

Survey results

The lowdown (in their own words...)

The Verdict

Bristows has a ‘reputation for very high-quality intellectual property work’. In a ‘booming sector of the law’, the firm prides itself as a City firm ‘without the cut-throat competitive environment’. The ‘big-name and impressive client list’ were important factors for many current trainees. The London-based firm is full of ‘very friendly, welcoming and intelligent people’. As there is only a ‘small intake of trainees’, the ‘personal approach’ results in a ‘friendly culture’ and Bristows becomes a ‘very big family’. The firm’s three Lex 100 Winner awards are for friendliness, confidence of being kept on and diversity levels. One respondent reported, ‘I am given real work to do and never feel like I am being exploited’. Trainees are ‘exposed to challenging and varied work’ that is ‘super-interesting from the first week’. Everyone is ‘very approachable’ and you are ‘not seen as just a trainee but a valued member of the team as you are involved and listened to in discussions’. Trainees are made to ‘feel equal’ and even when ‘the office is manic, everyone still has time for the trainees’. Top trainee moments include ‘working on really high-profile trials’, ‘winning interim applications three times in a row’ and ‘completing a deal’. The ‘sociable hours’ are appreciated and the firm is described as a ‘breath of fresh air’ where trainees ‘look forward to coming into work every day’. ‘Job satisfaction’ is evident but trainees report that there isn’t ‘much control over the first seat’. Although one respondent remarked there wasn’t ‘anything really negative’, one thing that ‘could be improved’ is more ‘client contact’. Those looking to work at a collegiate firm with a market-leading reputation in TMT and IP should take a closer look at Bristows.

 A day in the life of...

Constance Crawford second-year trainee, Bristows LLP 
Departments to date:  Real estate, regulatory, IP litigation
University:University of Bristol 
Degree:Biochemistry (BSc), 1st 

9.00am:  I arrive at Bristows and grab a quick coffee from the hub, our staff common room, before settling down to read through the emails which have come in overnight and check my calendar and to-do list for the day. In the IP litigation department, I sit with Dominic Adair, one of the partners.

9.20am:  I get a call from one of the associates I have been working with on an industrial patent case asking me to check a reference in the Civil Procedure Rules. I carry out some research on Westlaw and write up my findings in a short note. This research will assist the associate in negotiating an order for directions with the other side.

10.00am:  I have been writing an article for publication in a patent journal, which summarises how recent case law has been developing a new concept in patent law known as plausibility. The deadline is fast approaching, so I spend some time editing and proof-reading my latest draft before sending it to the partner for review.

11.15am:  One of the other trainees is preparing for trial, so two of us help her by checking that the bundles have been copied correctly and taking them to chambers.

11.45am:  I’m involved in a full day meeting with counsel tomorrow so I spend some time preparing. I read the latest round of correspondence between the parties relating to a dispute about confidentiality, review a number of our client’s disclosure documents and make a note of the pertinent issues they raise so that I have them to hand and make sure I have printed all the documents we might need.

12.30pm:  There’s an internal patent litigation seminar over lunch where associates and trainees provide updates on recent case law and any procedural developments that the group needs to be aware of. Accompanied by the usual sandwich lunch, these informal sessions are a great way to learn about relevant changes in the law while getting to know other colleagues that you might not have worked with yet.

2.00pm:  I attend a call with an expert who will be assisting us with the life sciences case I work on. The team is in the process of drafting the expert’s report and to this end, we discuss a number of scientific publications referred to in the patent that might help us convince the judge that our patent is valid.

3.45pm:  I get an urgent email from an associate working on a large telecoms case asking me to file an application at the High Court. After taking instructions and making sure I have enough copies, I hurry to court to file the application before the counters close.

4.15pm:  One of the deadlines for the service of fact evidence is only a week away in the life sciences case I work on and the partner has asked me to review the latest draft of a witness statement and start organising the exhibits. One of the pieces of evidence we intend to rely on comes from the client’s disclosure documents and so I set about identifying the correct document and checking that it doesn’t contain anything adverse to our case.

6.30pm:  The last thing on my to-do list for the day is to draft an email to the client involved in the telecoms litigation, providing a summary of all the correspondence which has been exchanged between the parties that day. Once I’ve done that, I prepare my to-do list for the next day.

7.00pm:  I leave the office and make my way across town for a yoga class.