Burges Salmon LLP brochure 2019/20

Choose wisely, choose Burges Salmon. At Burges Salmon, we do not believe you should have to compromise. We offer complex, quality work couple with dedicated support and advice.

GUIDANCE FREEDOM N

Expect more from your training contract

Contents

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Burges Salmon

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Get to know us

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What we offer

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What we are looking for

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Meet our trainees

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What can you apply for?

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Insight events

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Application process

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Let’s get to know each other

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Department structure

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Secondments

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Quality clients

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Our values

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Responsible business

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Fair and inclusive

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Our culture

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A day in the life of a trainee

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A partner’s perspective

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Find out more online

Choose wisely, choose Burges Salmon

Top quality work High profile clients Inspiring colleagues Cutting edge training

Finding a training contract that is right for you is a critical step in your legal career.

At Burges Salmon, we do not believe you should have to compromise. We offer complex, quality work coupled with dedicated support and advice. Headquartered in Bristol (with offices in Edinburgh and London) with all of our trainees under one roof, we are an independent UK

law firm with an enviable range of national and international clients. Join our award winning training programme, you’ll enjoy exposure to our high profile client list and friendly, collaborative culture as you gain quality experience across a broad range of practices.

LOGO

Legal Cheek – Best law firm for social life award 2019

LawCareers.net – Best work placement scheme award 2018

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Get to know us

Burges Salmon by numbers...

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450+

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we operate in all three UK jurisdictions

lawyers

we are headquarted in Bristol with an office in Edinburgh and a client meeting space in London.

750+

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£94.6m

employees

partners

annual fee income to April 2019

33%

100%

62%

of partners trained at the firm

trainee retention rate in 2019

of the firm used their volunteering day in 2018/19

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What we offer

l Corporate responsibility opportunities including pro bono work with Bristol Citizens Advice Bureau and volunteering at local schools. l A friendly, collaborative culture balancing early responsibility with an open door policy. l As well as the Professional Skills Course , we also provide a range of in-house training. l We offer a comprehensive

l Exposure to high-profile clients from First Group to The John Lewis Partnership. l A six-seat training programme across a variety of areas from Banking and Real Estate to Dispute Resolution and Private Client. l A brilliant reward package including a firm-wide bonus scheme, private health insurance, discounted gym membership and a group personal pension plan with a matching contribution from the firm. l Secondment opportunities to clients and firms within our Preferred Firm Network.

sponsorship package to our trainees. So if you haven’t yet completed the GDL and/or the LPC, we will pay your fees and provide you with a £7,000 maintenance grant whilst you study each course.

What we are looking for

What all of our people have in common is an enthusiasm for the law and a drive to deliver top quality work for our clients.

A 2:1 degree in any discipline

To be a great team player

Drive and resilience

You’ll also need:

Strong analytical skills and good judgement

Excellent communication skills

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Meet our trainees Hear what some of our trainee solicitors say about working at Burges Salmon.

Ollie Maher “Trainees are valued members of the team in all of the departments. We are often given high levels of responsibility, which means that from the very early stages of our careers we are able to contribute to the firm’s work and grow in confidence in our abilities.“

Olivia Heininger “Trainees’ contribution is

recognised by senior lawyers who take a genuine interest in our development. It’s a very encouraging atmosphere to work in.“

Priscilla Osoba “Burges Salmon is a friendly and collaborative place to work. Trainees are given lots of responsibility, as well as lots of support and feedback.“

To read more, visit our trainee Blog page - click here

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What we offer can you apply for?

Law students As a law student you can apply for a vacation scheme and training contract during your penultimate or final year. This means you will have time to complete the final year of your degree and the LPC before you start with us.

Non-law students 50% of our trainee intakes studied another subject at undergraduate level. As a non-law student, you can apply for a place on our vacation scheme or for a training contract from your final year. This will give you the chance to complete the GDL and the LPC before you start with us.

Graduates/Career changes Once you have graduated you can apply for a vacation scheme or training contract at any time

We run a number of events aimed at anyone interested in a career in law. From your first year at University, you can apply to attend a presentation evening, open day, Insight events The Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) is the new route to qualification and consists of a series of exams that are planned to be introduced from September 2021. These will replace the need to complete the GDL and LPC. We are preparing for the introduction of the SQE and will

be posting updates as soon as we have made decisions on how we will be adopting the new system. In the meantime, if you start a law degree or GDL up to and including September 2021 you can continue studying and follow the current route to qualification.

or one of our ‘Food for thought’ networking and information sessions. You can find out more information and apply here .

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Application process

Online application form

Assessment day our assessment centre consists of a group exercise, a written exercise, a Watson Glaser psychometric test and a short interview with a partner. You will also attend a networking lunch with current trainees and get the opportunity to learn more about the firm from one of our recruitment partners.

Vacation scheme (one or two week scheme)

Training contract interview

with a partner and member of the People team. Direct training contract applicants will be invited back for an interview if successful following the assessment day.

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Let’s get to know each other A vacation scheme is a great way for you to experience life at Burges Salmon. It is also an excellent opportunity for us to get to know you and help shape your career.

interview on your final day and if we decide that we’re right for each other, you’ll be offered a training contract to start two years later. During your vacation scheme, you’ll gain a real insight into our award- winning law firm as you: • Get involved in real work • Have the chance to go to client meetings • Attend skills sessions and presentations run by qualified lawyers and trainees • Attend social events with our trainees and have the opportunity to sign up for sports events

Every year we run a winter scheme (one week), spring scheme and two summer schemes (two weeks), which are open to anyone who is eligible to apply for a training contract – regardless of your degree discipline. We recruit between 60-70% of our trainees from the vacation scheme. You will be offered a training contract

“The firm was friendly and welcoming, with everyone making an effort to make us feel comfortable and relaxed“ Recent vacation scheme candidate

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Department structure

Our six seat system offering you more choice.

Corporate and Financial Institutions (CFI) • Banking • Corporate • Corporate Financial Services and Funds • Commercial • Employment • Pensions Disputes, Planning and Construction (DPC) • Dispute Resolution • Construction and Engineering • Planning and Compulsory Purchase Tax, Trusts and Family (TTF) • Private Client and Tax • Family Projects Real Estate

Unlike traditional training contracts that offer four seat rotations, we designed our six seat system to provide you with the greatest breadth of experience possible as a trainee solicitor.

What does this mean for your legal career?

More opportunities to build valuable working relationships, deeper expertise and sector knowledge and a better insight so that you are fully informed before applying for your qualification department. Our trainees have the opportunity to spend time in the following departments:

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“The six seat rotation works really well; it is a unique opportunity to gain experience in more departments, which gives you a wider breadth of knowledge overall. It also enables you to meet more people across the firm, which ties in with Burges Salmon’s collegiate culture” Current trainee

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Secondments

We believe in nurturing talent, which is one of the reasons we offer secondments.

We also believe that commercial awareness, adaptability and people skills are what set a great lawyer apart from a good one. As well as giving trainees and lawyers a three dimensional view of the profession at large, secondments are an invaluable opportunity to learn more about our clients. Recent secondments have included working with EDF Energy , Amazon and The John Lewis Partnership . Secondments also extend to working with our Preferred Firm Network, a non-exclusive group of like-minded leading independent firms around the world, involving a mix of cultural and legal education, which benefits your overall career as a lawyer.

Ranvir Singh “The international secondment to the Law Society in Brussels was an amazing experience. Living and working in a new environment is a hugely rewarding experience which allows you to grow both professionally and personally, and form relationships with people you would never otherwise have met. The work the Law Society does is also hugely interesting as it relates to the EU institutions, especially with Brexit as an issue for the foreseeable future”

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Quality clients

We have an impressive list of national and international clients.

• The John Lewis Partnership, • The Financial Services Compensation Scheme, • FirstGroup, • HSBC Bank plc, • Virgin, • Costain Group, • The Crown Commercial Service, • Babcock International Group, • Highways England.

“Clients of Burges Salmon LLP praise the firm’s unparalleled service, which is on par with London firms.” Legal 500 “They are very commercial and pragmatic. They really understand our business well and go the extra mile to get under the bonnet of our

business.” Chambers 2019

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Our values We work hard to ensure that Burges Salmon is a great place to work and we were awarded with the prestigious Investors in People Gold Standard for the second time for 2018-2021.

Commitment

Quality

Collaboration

Burges Salmon

Fairness

Ambition

Respect

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Responsible business

As a responsible business we identify activities where our people can make a real difference in our local communities and for the environment. Our membership of Business in the Community (BITC) helps us to deliver on this agenda.

Pro bono work We are proud to support our

Volunteering Our clients, contacts and friends see our values in action when they interact with our people. Teams from around the firm get involved with some very hands-on, rewarding projects with local charities such as supporting the homeless and foodbanks. We work with local schools in a number of ways, such as: Bright Sparks (our bespoke school aged work experience programme), reading buddies and number partners in primary schools. All of our people are given two volunteering days a year, which can be used to help one of the organisations supported by the firm, or something close to your heart.

community using the skills of our people in a pro bono basis, i.e. for free or at a reduced cost. This includes supporting advice provision at drop-in centres at the Citizens Advice Bristol and the Avon and Bristol Law Centre. Charitable fundraising We have many organised opportunities to fundraise and use this as a way to come together socially and with purpose. BSustainable We are committed to reducing the impact of our activities on the environment. Our BSustainable group organises our annual Green Week as well as other green initiatives throughout the year. We encourage our people to cycle to work and join our active Bike User Group (BUG)

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62% of the firm used their volunteering day in 2017/18

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Fair and inclusive We believe in diversity and value individuals for their skills, potential and what they can bring to the firm–rather than simply their background. We are just as interested in where you want to go in your career as where you have been.

Our culture is open and collaborative and we promote an inclusive working environment, so that we continue to recruit, retain and motivate the highest calibre of people across the business. We want our people to feel they can be themselves at work.

We are members of Stonewall and Business Disability Forum. The firm has active LGBT+ and BAME networks and we support a range of other professional networks with which our people can engage. Be valued, Be Inspired, Be yourself at Burges Salmon.

“It’s great to be part of a firm that prioritises D&I. With the launch of BCultured there’s much more engagement with BAME employees and opportunities to contribute towards the firm’s strategic aims”

BCultured member

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Our culture

We are a leading independent UK law firm with a unique model and culture.

We have opted for organic and steady growth, rather than through mergers and acquisitions. We are headquartered in Bristol, have an office in Edinburgh and a client meeting space in London. All of our trainee solicitors are based in Bristol, which is key to shaping and maintaining a supportive and collaborative training environment and culture. We do not do hierarchy. Everyone’s contribution is valued and we mean it when we say our doors are open. Throughout your training contract, you will be an integral part of the team, working alongside lawyers

who are experts in their field and with a supervisor who will support your growth and development. And its not all work at Burges Salmon. You can build your network through our active sports and social clubs. Football, hockey and running groups meet on a regular basis and Pilates, yoga and circuits classes are available at the office. Our social club also organises other events such as wine tasting and weekend trips away, which are great opportunities to meet colleagues from across the business.

“The culture of the firm is fantastic and there are always lots of great events to get involved with.”

Feedback from Burges Salmon People survey 2019

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A day in the life of a trainee All of our trainees are based in our Bristol HQ. Located in the heart of the Temple Quay area, you’ll find us in the business hub of the city, less than five minutes walk from Temple Meads station. Trainee solicitor Izzi Pill-Williams shares a typical day with us.

toppings, but on Fridays I like to go all out with a full fry-up. 9:15am: I review my to-do list for the day and have a quick chat to my supervisor about what I’m currently working on, and what I should be prioritising. The nature of the work can be extremely varied in Pensions – from black-letter law research, to drafting deeds of amendment, to attending trustee meetings. My supervisor is supportive and keen to ensure I have a varied workload. 10:30am: I pick up a task from a senior associate. Our client (the trustee board of a pension scheme) is in the process of setting up a new trustee company. I am asked to review the new company’s articles to check they are in keeping with the rules of the pension scheme.

8:15am: I live in the Harbourside area of Bristol, which is within walking distance of the office and makes for a very scenic commute along the river. It’s great to be able to get my steps in for the day just by getting to and from work – and it’s free! 8:45am: I arrive a little early into work so that I can head straight to our resident restaurant, Glassworks,

for some breakfast. My default choice is porridge with all the

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11:30am: I attend a department training session on employment law for pensions lawyers, led by a member of the Employment team. We are well supported with regular and timely training – both within our constituent departments and with other departments and business professionals across the firm. Cross- departmental working really is ingrained in the culture of the firm. 1:00pm: Today is Thursday, which means only one thing: food market day. There are a whole host of options from which to choose, but today I opt for some bao and udon noodles. I sit down by the river and catch up with my fellow trainees. 2:00pm: I am asked by a partner to join a call. The subject matter is quite complex and around 10 international trustees of a large pension scheme are on the line, but this is what I enjoy about pensions. It is highly technical, regulated and constantly evolving – not to mention it has a direct impact on people’s lives. 3:30pm: My calendar reminds me that I am meeting a vacation scheme student for coffee and cake. The student wants to know a little more about what life is like here as a trainee. We discuss my experience over two rather large

slabs of millionaire’s shortbread. Our restaurant Glassworks boasts a phenomenal range of cakes, notably on Friday, which is cake trolley day. 4:00pm: The rest of my afternoon is taken up with drafting an article for the firm’s website on the Pensions Ombudsman. The Ombudsman investigates complaints made in relation to pension schemes, and I have been tasked with providing a legal update on the Ombudsman’s activities in the last year, along with a more general case law update. This entails some detailed research. As a trainee in Pensions, you can expect to get involved in some interesting legal research, which I really enjoy. 6:15pm: Tonight we have a team night to celebrate the end of a successful financial year and to welcome the new trainees to the department. We all walk down to the harbourside and begin the evening with a fun team-building exercise: Escape Rooms. As a new trainee, this is a great way for me to get to know people in the department. We then have dinner and drinks together. By the end of the night, I’m glad I live only a stone’s throw away.

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A partner’s perspective 33% of our partners trained at the firm and are now experts in their field. Commercial partner Helen Scott-Lawler shares her story.

I joined Burges Salmon as a trainee 25 years ago, and have been at the firm ever since. I did a law degree at Merton College, Oxford and I wanted to have a very high-quality training contract outside London. Burges Salmon fulfilled that objective, but also turned out to provide something else – a culture of collaboration, which helped me to feel part of the firm from the very start. That culture is core to the firm, and is just as palpable today.

As a trainee, I sat in four departments in six four month seats (as we continue to do): Disputes, Real Estate, Tax, Trust and Family and Corporate (which incorporated our Commercial practice) and then revisited Disputes and Commercial. I qualified into Commercial in the midst of Rail Privatisation (I have already dated myself, so don’t be too shocked by that), and was at the heart of the firm’s involvement in that project during my training

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contract and on qualification. We were one of very few firms to have that experience, and we have had a market leading Rail practice since that time. I also got to try some other aspects of commercial work, including IP and commercial contracts. I became a partner in 2001 in that practice area, and since then have spent time in our management team, both on our Board and as a Head of Department. But there is still time to be involved in some of our wider activities too: our bi-annual Strictly Legal event that we run for our Charity of the Year is my favourite example.

I am far from alone as a home-grown partner: about a third of our partners did their training contracts at the firm, 25% of whom are women. Indeed, both our senior partner and managing partner trained at the firm. Burges Salmon has always taken the view that trainees are the future of the firm: my 25 years here is one of many examples of that. And the reason so many trainees choose to stay and spend their careers here. It’s the combination of quality of work and clients with the strong culture of collaboration and shared values.

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Find out more online

Our website provides everything you need to know about the Burges Salmon training contract.

Find out more information about our programme, get application advice and much more.

www.burges-salmon.com/careers

@BurgesSalmonTS

burgessalmontrainees

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www.burges-salmon.com One Glass Wharf, Bristol BS2 0ZX T +44 (0)117 939 2000 F +44 (0)117 902 4400 Atria One, 144 Morrison Street, Edinburgh EH3 8EX T +44 (0)131 314 2112 F +44 (0)131 777 2604 6 New Street Square, London EC4A 3BF T +44 (0)20 7685 1200 F +44 (0)20 7980 4966 Burges Salmon LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales (LLP number OC307212), and is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. It is also regulated by the Law Society of Scotland. Its registered office is at One Glass Wharf, Bristol BS2 0ZX. A list of the members may be inspected at its registered office. Further information about Burges Salmon entities, including details of their regulators, is set out on the Burges Salmon website at www.burges-salmon.com. © Burges Salmon LLP 2019. All rights reserved. Extracts may be reproduced with our prior consent, provided that the source is acknowledged. Your details are processed and kept securely in accordance with our Privacy Policy which you can read on our website. To help us keep our database up to date, please let us know if your contact details change or if you do not want to receive any further marketing material by contacting marketing@burges-salmon.com.

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