Michelmores

The Legal 500 Future Lawyers verdict on Michelmores

Michelmores offers training contracts in Exeter and Bristol, with the option of a fully-funded secondment to the firm’s London office too. Those who aren’t tempted by a stint in the capital still benefit from training at ‘one of the biggest firms in the south west, but with access to London-based work’. Michelmores boasts an ideal mix of ‘high-quality work but with a healthier work/life balance than that of some larger firms’. What’s more, the firm ‘makes a real effort to consider each trainee’s aspirations and allocate them to the seat that best matches their preferences’ – a practice which is helped by ‘close and regular contact with members of HR and the training principal’. Throughout the training contract, ‘supervisors actively seek out ways to get trainees involved in different things’; there’s no doubt that ‘everyone wants you to succeed’ here! The culture at Michelmores is ‘second to none’; ‘you feel valued, the work and benefits are great, and everyone is talented, fun to be around and nice’. Some trainees complained about the salary, explaining that ‘while the remuneration is reasonable, it could be better when considering the quality of work we handle, and the firms that we compete against, particularly in Bristol and London’. It’s also frustrating that there are ‘inconsistencies between team cultures and policies’. Trainee highlights included ‘preparing for and attending a two-week patent trial in the High Court in London’. Much more tedious was having to ‘conducting a disclosure review for several weeks straight’. For an ‘open-minded, friendly firm with a huge variety of practice areas’, research Michelmores.

A day in the life of... Sena Guvercin, second-year trainee, Michelmores

Departments to date: Contentious probate

I am currently a second-seat trainee in the contentious probate team, based in the Exeter office. Although each day is very different, below is a preview of what can be expected in a day in the contentious probate team.

8.30am: I typically like arriving at the office a little earlier so that I can plan my day ahead and organise anything that is urgent to be dealt with by my supervisor and to finish off any filing/administration tasks from the day before. Once this is all done, I head over to the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee to drink while preparing my to-do list for the day.

9.00am: I start on an attendance note for a client meeting I attended the previous day. We will be meeting with the clients again in two weeks to provide a plan going forward, so I want to get the note down while it is still fresh in my mind.

10.00am: We have our weekly team meetings each Wednesday where we typically discuss our current work load and if anyone has the capacity to take on new jobs or assist each other. We also chat about new clients or any business development opportunities.

10.40am: After a quick catch up with my supervisor regarding one of our matters, I am asked to draft a settlement agreement. I start off by reviewing a settlement agreement that was prepared for a similar matter and I use this as a precedent since this is the first time I am drafting one!

12.40pm: My supervisor calls me over to her desk to go over the draft agreement together. This is really helpful as I am able to see what I did correctly and where I could improve. I am glad to hear that it is a good first draft and after taking careful notes, I head to the kitchen to grab my lunch and prepare for the lunchtime session.

1.00pm: There is a lunchtime training session on capital markets for anyone who may be interested and since my next seat is going to be in the corporate team, I think this is a great opportunity to gain some knowledge so I go along with a couple of other trainees. Michelmores holds frequent lunchtime training sessions on different areas of law and I find these to be very helpful for future seat choices and to get to know people across the firm.

2.10pm: I receive an email from one of our colleagues in the tax, trusts and succession team who would like me to carry out an urgent research task for her. She is dealing with an estate where a car has been abandoned on the drive of the property. The DVLA have confirmed the owner of the vehicle and my task is to investigate how we can remove the car from the drive and the procedure for doing so. I prepare a research report and schedule a call with her to discuss my findings.

4.30pm: I finally find time to finish off the draft letter I had started on the previous day. After reviewing the matter WIP report, I set out the different payment options for the client: fixed fee or hourly rate. I send this off to the matter partner for review and approval before sending it out to the client.

5.00pm: I am trying to stay on top of my training record so I dedicate 30 minutes at the end of each day to update this by noting down the different types of work I have experienced and the skills I have developed. This will be submitted to the Solicitors Regulation Authority when I apply to be admitted to the roll of solicitors.

5.30pm: Since I am participating in the South West Coast Path Challenge in support of FearLess (our charity partner), I go for a short walk with a fellow trainee before heading home.

About the firm

The firm: A leading full-service UK law firm that has grown organically since beginning in 1887. Our people thrive on delivering high-quality, complex work for our private and business clients. We have offices in Exeter, Bristol and London and have both national and international clients.

The clients: The Forestry Commission; Freshways Dairy; Soros Economic Development Fund; The Mayor’s Office For Policing And Crime; Exeter Rugby Group plc (Exeter Chiefs); Haynes Publishing Group plc; DMGT plc/Landmark Information Group; Lendlease; CG Fry & Son; Cancer Research UK; Mindful Chef; Sea Salt; Natwest; plus many more national and international clients.

The deals: Advising a ground-breaking partnership between WWF and Tesco as part of a consortium headed by agricultural ADAS; a cross-sector team of Michelmores’ lawyers assisted in developing a roadmap to accelerate the use of insect protein in UK animal feeds; advising recipe box specialist Mindful Chef on its successful crowdfunding on the Seedrs and Crowdcube platforms, a subsequent investment by Piper Private Equity, and recently, on its sale of a majority stake to Nestlé; appointed to provide niche rural business and public law expertise to the Forestry Commission across the firm’s agriculture, employment and commercial teams; advising long-standing client Haynes on three strategic acquisitions, as well as on the sale of Haynes Publishing Group plc to French buyer Infopro Digital; advising Freshways Dairy, the largest independent family-run dairy product supplier in the UK, on its merger with Medina Dairy to establish a c£400m turnover sustainable and progressive dairy business which will promote the best interests of its combined staff, customers and the British dairy farmers that supply them.

Senior partner: Richard Cobb

Managing partner: Tim Richards (managing partner)

Other offices: Bristol, London, Sidmouth and Cheltenham

Who we are: We are an ambitious and growing firm, with our people being central to driving us forward. Therefore, we focus on recruiting to retain, as demonstrated by our recent retention rate of 7 out of 8 of our NQs.

We encourage our trainees to bring their individuality, challenge how we do things and bring in their diversity of thought to help us succeed and grow as a firm.

Trainees are given a high degree of responsibility from the beginning, are supported by senior partners and other trainees, receive training and development, and are encouraged to flourish and grow a career with us at Michelmores. Our trainees are well rounded, and we believe that makes for the best solicitors.

What we do: We offer specialist legal advice to businesses and private clients over a broad range of work, so as a trainee you will be able to experience a variety of types of client and sectors across your two years. We are a full-service law firm, with over 15 teams and offer clients a full-service experience. We go above and beyond for our clients and strive to build long-lasting relationships with both our national and international clients.

What we’re looking for: We are looking for individuality; we want people to join our organisation and make a difference. Our trainees are central to challenging our thinking, bringing in diversity of thought and driving Michelmores forwards.

We want people who are ambitious and want to build a long-lasting career with us.

Alongside this, we want people who work well in a team, are collaborative, have a strong ability to problem solve, think independently, and offer an outstanding client service. We want people who are keen to be part of our cross-office and collaborative culture from day one. We recruit to retain. We are looking for our future leaders.

What you’ll do: We run a structured training and development programme, which aims to equip trainees with the key skills needed to be a successful solicitor, both technically and personally.

You’ll spend six months in four different teams, working closely with a designated supervisor and receiving high levels of responsibility and client contact from an early stage. Every day will be different, and no trainee journey is the same.

You will also have the opportunity to support Michelmores in our initiatives outside of the day-to-day role, including supporting on our MainStream programme, getting involved in diversity and inclusion initiatives such as our Momentum programme, and other firmwide projects. We encourage our trainees to take up every opportunity they can and get the most from their time with us.

Perks: 32 days’ holiday (including bank holidays) with an additional day off for your birthday and a day off to volunteer each year, group personal pension, private medical insurance, cycle to work scheme and a range of social events and special interest groups including our book club and choir.

We encourage our colleagues to have an active lifestyle, so we offer gym schemes, yoga and relaxation classes, running club, as well as a Cycle to Work scheme. We proactively support mental wellbeing and promote a culture of openness about mental health. This year, all Michelmores colleagues were given an additional day off to focus on our individual wellbeing.

You will have access to a range of resources and activities across the year, including subscription to Headspace, guest speakers and wellbeing apps. Should you or your loved ones need extra support, you will have access to qualified counsellors and behavioural therapists. For those trainees who choose to do a secondment to our London office, we cover the cost of accommodation and travel to support you with the higher cost of living.

Sponsorship

We fully fund the SQE with the University of Law and offer a £7,000 bursary. We also reimburse students who have already completed the LPC/SQE prior to being offered a training contract by us.

If you need to complete the GDL we will fund this and provide you with a £5,000 bursary to support you while you are studying.

Seat options

Business teams: banking, restructuring and insolvency, employment, commercial, corporate, corporate with corporate tax, commercial regulatory disputes.

Private client: agriculture, asset protection, contentious probate, family, private property and landed estates, tax, trusts and succession.

Real estate: transactional real estate, projects, planning, construction, property litigation.

Tips from the recruiter

1. Be yourself – we want people who are going to join us and not just fit in but add to our culture, challenge our thinking and help us on our growth journey.
2. Show us what you can do – we only know what you tell us or show us so make sure you’re showcasing what you can bring to the firm.
3. Demonstrate you’ve done your research about MM and have a genuine enthusiasm to work here.

Diversity and inclusion