A day in the life of... Alicia Orange, second-year apprentice, Fladgate LLP

9.00am: This is the time I normally arrive at the office; I spend about 30 minutes clearing through my emails and checking for any urgent tasks that I have been assigned.

9.30am: A colleague and I have a call with a member of the employment team – we are assisting them with a tribunal claim. The call clarifies that we must acquire information from barrister’s chambers regarding barrister’s availability, qualification date and fee estimates for the trial date set and then collate this information into a legible document for the client.

11.30am: While waiting to hear back from the barrister’s chambers I have to help onboard new clients. This involves generating new matter conflict check documents, new client request forms and client care letters.

1.00pm: I go to lunch with the other apprentices; this is a good time to catch up with each other and hear about the work that is going on in the other departments.

2.00pm: I finish off onboarding new clients and draft a cover email for the fee-earner to send to the client, containing the client care letter and terms of business.

2.30pm: We hear back from the chambers, and I spend some time liaising with my colleague about the information we have received. We formulate this into the final memorandum document and forward it to the employment team.

3.00pm: I have a quick catch-up with my supervisor and HR contact to discuss how I am getting on so far at the firm.

3.30pm: I finish off the day completing a final few admin tasks such as generating WIP cash reports for partners, account slips for the transfer of monies and sending out a few invoices.

5.30pm: I’m finished for the day and head to the pub for a quick drink with some friends before heading home.

About the firm

Senior partner: Stephen Lewis

Managing partner: Grant Gordon

Who we are: Fladgate LLP is an innovative, progressive and thriving law firm which prides itself on its friendly and professional working environment. We are based in modern, attractive offices in London’s Covent Garden.

What we do: Fladgate has a broad skills base that covers a wide spectrum of legal services across the business lifecycle, and is shaped to operate collaboratively to move fast and flexibly:

  • Dispute resolution: includes regulatory, corporate governance and investigations, banking and financial services litigation, international commercial arbitration, insurance, contentious trusts and family, civil fraud and asset protection.
  • Corporate: including private capital, capital markets, M&A, tax, restructuring and employment.
  • Real estate: including planning, construction, real estate finance and real estate litigation.
  • Funds, finance and regulatory: including investment funds, private equity, fund managers, asset and investment managers, promoters, sponsors and investors; alternative finance providers, banks and debt funds, family offices, owner/manager businesses, private equity funds and corporate borrowers; FCA applications, advice on UK regulatory frameworks, fund-related advice. Our practice is varied and includes the full range of real estate finance, both for investments and developments, and we also have a number of sector specialisms within real estate finance.

What we’re looking for: We value academic ability, relevant extra-curricular activities, and excellent organisation, communication and teamwork skills. We seek candidates who demonstrate commitment to a legal career, and an understanding of the level of commitment required to complete a solicitor apprenticeship. We look for enthusiasm and leadership potential while also understanding the value of teamwork and the importance of culture and inclusion. We value individuality and strive to create an environment where our employees can truly be themselves at work.

What you’ll do: The solicitor apprenticeship is a six-year programme working alongside lawyers in our core fee-earning departments, while simultaneously working towards an LLB with The University of Law. You will start at an administrator level in years one and two, progressing to a paralegal level in years three and four. In year five and six you will join our trainee cohort while attaining your SQE qualification, in order to be admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in England and Wales.

Perks: A generous holiday allowance of 26 days, staff introduction bonus, life assurance, group income protection, private medical insurance, employee assistance programme, free online GP service, contributory pension, season ticket loan, corporate gym membership loan via GymFlex, cycle2work, options for private dental cover, eye test vouchers and free weekly personal training and yoga sessions. We also have a ‘dress for your day’ policy which allows smart-casual wear in the office to suit your schedule when you have no external meetings.

Seat options

Dispute resolution; core corporate; commercial, sports and intellectual property; finance, funds and regulatory; employment; private client; immigration; real estate; real estate – residential; real estate – disputes; real estate – construction. In the first two years, you will be based in the core departments (dispute resolution; corporate; real estate; funds, finance and regulatory).

Diversity and inclusion

Our focus: We know that to achieve our inclusion and diversity objectives we need to focus on a number of areas:

Developing a diverse leadership: We have a mix of different ethnicity and genders on our leadership groups. We are working hard to improve the gender balance of our partner team and in 2023 and 2024 alone, ten of those joining the partnership were women, including three internal promotions.

Attracting a diverse work force: This means adopting a properly personal approach when connecting with those interested in joining our team including: ensuring fairness in our processes; working with those, like recruiters, who help us in this; a commitment that you will always meet male and female talent in our recruitment interviews.

Engaging with everyone in our team to ensure they are heard, supported and understood. Encourage everyone to develop their own voice in shaping our culture, their future and our service to clients. That might be working flexibly or that might be a specific career programme – everyone needs different things at different times.

Helping all our people in all roles to achieve their full potential. We provide training, coaching, internal mentors and buddies, whatever works for each individual and their own personal development path.

Please visit www.fladgate.com/about-us/inclusion-and-diversity.

Percentage of female associates: 67%

Percentage of female partners: 29%

Percentage of BAME associates: 15%

Percentage of BAME partners: 12%