Penningtons Manches Cooper

In the UK, the firm has seven offices: London, Basingstoke, Birmingham, Reading, Cambridge, Guildford and Oxford. Trainees can choose to train in most of these locations but must choose wisely as the available seats differ across offices. For example, IP/IT and employment are offered in Oxford, Cambridge, London and Reading.

In addition to its private client practice, Penningtons Manches Cooper has a strong M&A team focusing on deals up to £50 million in value. The firm has handled transactions within the real estate, technology, life sciences and retail sectors, notably advising US owned extreme sports challenge organiser Tough Mudder on their commercial contracts. Rookies in the IP team also have the opportunity to work with brand names such as Jimmy Choo and Ikea, both of which Penningtons has advised on infringement claims. On the commercial real estate side, the firm’s London team recently acted for the investor behind the Paddington Square development — a new retail and dining space seated at the entrance to Paddington station.

The firm may not be known for an abundance of perks, but it stands out for its excellent work-life balance, high-quality work, and top-notch training. While the office atmosphere is simple, with some greenery, trainees can expect a supportive environment with approachable partners and peers, along with a strong commitment to environmental sustainability.

Due to the relatively small intake — around 14 across all UK offices — trainees have significant exposure to matters. “I have been afforded an amazing amount of responsibility in each of my seats, from completing the first draft of contracts or pleadings, as well as leading contract negotiations with the other side and clients,” says one trainee. “Each time I have done so I have received constructive feedback and my skills have developed considerably as a result.” However, as is the case at many law firms, there are also more basic trainee tasks such as bundling. Another rookie told Legal Cheek: “Often client facing work, where you do bundles you are rewarded by being able to go to the hearing. Partners and senior staff are approachable and listen if you have something you specifically want to do.”

Another trainee reports that the work is generally “very stimulating as the level of responsibility given to those that want it is very high. I am regularly drafting documents, engaging with clients and leading on calls”.

Helpfully, support is on hand if needed. A rookie describes it thus: “I feel like I can approach people, ask questions and I receive helpful and constructive feedback”. As with many firms, some partners are often “too busy” to give detailed feedback, but the general consensus amongst trainees is that there is “good supervision of work and people take the time to explain things to you”.

However, a common thread from our surveys is a discrepancy between departments. While one newbie reports on having “excellent access to partners” who have given “responsibility to lead” with appropriate “one to one supervision”, another described their experience quite differently: “some good exposure to associate level work but a lot of the work is smaller and lacking complexity”. While real estate, litigation and private wealth reportedly offer “very interesting and meaningful work for trainees”, a larger proportion of the work in commercial disputes involves “less interesting jobs like bundling”.

Trainees are allocated a mentor (a partner or senior associate) to support them during their training period and help them with any questions they have, with PA and floor support generally meaning that “trainee tasks are ‘proper’ work”.

Additionally, the firm provides an induction week, training days and in-house courses which cover a range of legal and developmental topics including presentation skills and personal impact. These courses combined with the firm’s mentor system help to explain the strong grades that Penningtons Manches Cooper received for training in our most recent Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey.

Penningtons Manches Cooper’s small intake fosters a close bond between newbies. Insiders say, “one of the best things in the firm is the culture, people really support each other at every level” and “my colleagues are incredibly helpful and provide the support needed to tackle tasks that are out of my comfort zone. This has allowed me to push my development to its limits without much fear of failing”. Another adds: “very supportive and genuinely care about you if you are having a hard time”.

Most partners and senior associates are “approachable and happy to help”. The firm operates a flat structure with trainees often working directly on matters alongside partners early on in their training contracts. One trainee told us that they have “always found the lawyers supervising [their] work approachable and easy to work with”, allowing them to feel “comfortable asking questions”. One insider doesn’t stop there, praising the “fantastic partners” in their team who take an interest in life “outside of work” (including this particular rookie’s love of Taylor Swift).

In London, where most trainees are located, there is a lively atmosphere. The hours are generally a nine to six affair. Some days can be unpredictably longer — making it difficult to organise plans, but on the whole insiders report a good work/life balance with very little disturbance of weekends and holidays. An insider states, “One of the biggest positives of the firm is the lack of presenteeism”, though we’re told this can vary between departments. One insider had this to say: “only worked a weekend a couple of times. Latest finish has been 9.30pm, and that only happened once so far”. What’s more, trainees are reportedly “encouraged to get involved in diversity initiatives”, even when these take place during the working day.

Each of the firm’s offices have different characters. The London head office is located among many other law firms, near St Paul’s and Liverpool Street tube stations. The building is shared with a number of businesses — including a ground floor coffee shop— although unfortunately this doesn’t seem to make up for the lack of canteen. However, the social space has recently been updated. In Reading, the office is next to the train station in the funky Apex Plaza. Cambridge’s office is also near the city’s station but in a more residential area and only a five-minute walk from the botanical gardens. The hub in Guildford is beside a green space, Allen House Grounds, which contains sports facilities for those who need a quick re-energising over lunch, though one trainee tells us it’s “in need of modernisation”. Oxford’s office is quite far out from the city centre (about a 30-minute bus ride) in an industrial area. One rookie comments: “Oxford office was recently renovated and is very nice inside. Shame it’s miles from the station!”. Last but not least, the Basingstoke office in Matrix House is said to be “very modern” and even has a small gym in the basement!

The social life at the firm can be a bit underwhelming, we are told. There is not much social interaction between offices — apart from the annual summer party — which is a particular shame for the smaller offices with only one or two trainees. However, trainees are encouraged to join “PennFuture”, a group making a “concerted effort” to organise “picnics, curry nights and drinks”. The firm also has an “active sports and social committee”. According to a number of respondents, people are “generally not interested in socialising outside office hours”, which is perhaps why Penningtons doesn’t achieve a higher score on this front. Nonetheless, the firm does engage in regular pro bono and corporate social responsibility work outside the office, including volunteering at soup kitchens.

Where the firm fails to impress is its perks. While there is a “junior’s networking group with social and career events” and an “ability to buy annual leave”, as well as free tea and coffee (and Weetabix!), that’s about it. This is a source of complaint among some rookies, one of whom moaned: “The firm doesn’t even have a Christmas party and the ‘big’ summer party they hang their hat on for all social interaction, you only got three drinks, had to pay for your own train (anything above £11.50) to the venue which was not local to any office. Trying to get any form of budget for socialisation out of the HR team is like pulling teeth.”

Having got that off their chest, the rookie did concede the “PennFuture” team try to organise “fun events like gin tasting” and you “can also opt into private health and dental plans”.

Enthusiasm returns, however, when it comes to the subject of working from home, an area in which the firm excelled — “the main perk is the very relaxed work from home policy” says one insider. “Two screens and a desk chair were delivered to my door,” reminisces another rookie. “There is a ‘team charter’ for days in the office, but this roughly translates (for my team) to ‘work from home when you want but be in the office for client meetings’. Mondays and Fridays are definitely for WFH.” Moreover, “the teams are flexible in their approach to working from home. Generally each department has a team day where everyone is expected to be in the office, but if you cannot make that day it is not frowned upon. Other than that people can come in or stay at home whenever they want, provided they don’t need to be in the office for meetings etc”.

In terms of tech, the firm is developing AI and automation tools, there’s a six-session “Legal Tech” course for trainees and an in-house team has been set up to consider how legal tech at the firm can improve its offering. One rookie even reported being involved in an “AI trial for legal research”. Trainees assure us that there’s “a lot of updates in the pipeline for the next few months”.

The offices are “fairly standard” although they “try to make it more welcoming with plants and flowers”. The firm received praise from rookies for “regularly considering its environmental impact”, its environmental committees and “regular internal talks” on the subject. The firm has apparently gone “entirely vegan for any catering events”. One green-fingered rookie also highlighted an initiative where individuals measured their carbon footprint before creating a pledge on how to reduce it. In exchange for completing the survey, participants could “select a tree sapling from the Woodland Trust” to be delivered to their homes.

International and client secondments were not available at the time of the survey, although last year one rookie spent three months with the British Athletes Commission and six months at Evox Therapeutics.