The Legal Cheek View
With a claim to being the corporate law firm of the Southwest, Ashfords offers a broad range of quality work, a friendly team and a healthy work/life balance. This national firm is a finely-tuned operation with a commercial focus. Turnover, which now sits just above the £50 million mark, has grown by a whopping 85% in the last decade or so and the firm employs over 500 staff across offices in Bristol, Exeter, London and Plymouth, including nearly 80 partners. There’s also been change at the top as former DAC Beachcroft finance director Nick Wrigley was recently appointed CFO and BCLP IT director Mike Nolan was poached as new chief information officer. Long-term partner Louise Workman was re-elected for a second term as CEO.
Trainees have a choice of either a Bristol or a South West-based training contract – which spans across the Exeter and Plymouth offices – although trainees can also complete a seat in another office, such as the London office, if the opportunity arises.
Ashfords has a particular strength in real estate, but work here stretches from business to individual needs, so expect a decent deal of private wealth and trust work alongside larger departments like commercial and corporate. The firm also has specialist teams in sports law, aviation, intellectual property, employment, litigation, family, and media and technology. Recent deals include advising on the development of a £4 billion battery gigafactory as well as working on the sale of University of Bristol spin off Fathom – a leading provider of climate and water risk intelligence – to Swiss Re. The Bristol office, moreover, does a lot of technology work, such as data security when developing a new app or advising on venture capital investment from Silicon Valley. International clients are advised through Advoc, a network of independent law firms.
Trainees are generally positive about the breadth of the work they are given with one offering this buoyant review: “Given lots of exposure on a variety of matters. Opportunities to run matters and be involved in high value deals.” We’re told this does vary by department with some seats said to have “more opportunities and supervision than others” but the general trend seems to be than rookies are entrusted with higher-level work the further they progress: “As much client contact as I could ask for, with an ability to take on your own caseloads/files under supervision. I’ve got a lot out of the firm trusting me and encouraging me to go into situations I might initially have been unsure of” said one TC vet. The firm also offers a “very high level of exposure including covering senior fee earner’s inboxes when on leave and dealing directly with their matters and clients in their absence”.
Ashfords receives positive reviews on the topic of training, with our insiders informing us they receive “lots of department based training and a good level of induction training also”. Another trainee gave this insight: “I’ve really been able to make the training contract my own, by asking for supervision, explanation and the type of work I want. The partners are very accessible and make a lot of time available to help with your progression should you want it, this has been in multiple departments and appears indicative of the firm.” Training can be seat dependent with the structure said to vary between departments but supervisors always “tend to ask what you would like to have a go at doing”.
One insider offered this personal insight: “I currently have three supervisors all specialising in different areas of Regulatory Law. They are known to be expert lawyers in their field and represent many prominent companies in the Waste, Agriculture, Health and Safety and Maritime sectors. Therefore, the training I receive is extremely varied and thorough”.
Partner approachability is a real stand-out feature with all the trainees we spoke with praising the firm’s “no hierarchy approach” which is supported through the open-plan office spaces. One happy camper told us: “I have never felt uncomfortable or nervous approaching a more senior member of the team. We all sit on the same bank of desks, there are no offices, we all chat and are friendly with one other. It’s very much a ‘no such thing as a stupid question’ approach.” Another added “every fee earner and support staff are always happy to assist. There is a team spirit and no question is too big or too small.” This might explain the firm’s recent 85% trainee retention rate.
The general ethos is one of supportive camaraderie, with trainees feeling comfortable “to approach anyone in the firm if [I] have an issue”. This includes fellow trainees and junior lawyers who are said to have “really great relationships in and out of work”. “We are genuine friends as well as supportive colleagues which is really refreshing,” one newcomer gushed.
Lawyers at Ashfords are “always having office socials for various things e.g., Wimbledon, the Euros, a breakfast social just to catch up, there is something going on at least once a month,” sources told LC. There’s also two team days a year, an office Christmas party, a firmwide summer party, football and netball teams, charity walks and events as well as external clubs such as the Devon and Somerset Junior Lawyers group to join. What’s more, the firm has its own social networking group ‘XYBC’ which organises events for rookies to meet with local professionals and develop their networks, so there’s lots to do over at Ashfords (even if those in Exeter have to travel quite a way from their out of town office to do it!)
Although everybody is incredibly busy, the long hours culture so prevalent at City firms is mercifully absent at Ashfords. “The firm has a real culture of leaving on time, with juniors regularly being asked “why are you still here?” if they stay beyond 5:30pm. It is likely you will have some longer hours as a trainee to effectively get on top of your workload, meet an urgent deadline or allow yourself some more time to learn something, however this is rare and does not go unnoticed” said one trainee. Cancelling plans, weekend work and presenteeism are unheard of here, though there are still departmental discrepancies with litigation said to be unpredictable whilst areas such as residential property is “pretty good with average working hours”. As one recruit summarised: “Very good for a law firm!”
We’re told Ashfords is “very flexible with work from home arrangements,” with rookies expected in the office two days a week, though this varies by team. A common gripe seems to be that the firm does not provide an IT allowance for remote working, with one trainee grumbling that “the firm-provided laptops are very small, so we have to purchase our own extra screens and office chairs”. You are given an iPhone, though. Elsewhere on the technology front, trainees are full of praise for the firm’s new document management system which seems to have made a world of difference for our insiders. There’s also a dedicated legal team constantly looking into new ways to innovate.
The pay is average and your chances of getting a client secondment are slim — one trainee reports on having completed a three month secondment to the Post Office. In fact, you are less likely to do a secondment than you are to see a wagging tail and paws at desks, as Ashfords has an open-door policy on dogs!
In terms of perks, there is a small gym in the office, a cycle-to-work scheme and ‘Calm’ app membership to help employees wind down, as well as money back for some medical and dental treatments, “good” pension contributions, a “pretty good” maternity package and “good” holiday allowance. Trainees get a day’s holiday on their birthday, too. Ashfords also offers a “holiday purchase scheme”, which one trainee describes as “the best perk”, allowing its employees “to buy up to 5 days extra holiday for the following year”.
The Exeter office continues to impress after a refurb a couple of years back. It’s well kitted out with good break-out areas, parking, gym and changing facilities and “just lacking a canteen to be a 10/10” according to one. The “very pleasant” hub in Bristol overlooks the river, and is “really lovely”, with a “nice client space downstairs”, an open plan set-up and lots of vegetation. The London office is said to be a fairly standard commercial office but “could do with a little more colour”. A more cheerful colleague notes that the firm is “very accommodating” and offers the option of standing desks.
On the firm’s efforts to protect mother nature, one rookie reports joining in on some office beach cleans in support of the firm’s dedicated charity this year – the Ocean Conservation Trust. There’s also litter picking sessions, a new recycling system in place and the firmwide summer party has been made waste free.
Overall, the quality of work, range of seats, genuinely supportive environment and generous work/life balance make Ashfords a serious catch for anyone looking for well-rounded training.