TLT

It’s an approach that is clearly working financially with firmwide revenues growing an impressive 12% to £174 million — well ahead of TLT’s original 2025 revenue target of £140 million. The firm didn’t report its current average profit per equity partner (PEP) figure but the latest available data shows the number sits around £600,000. Managing partner John Wood has attributed the performance to investment in its national network, with the new Birmingham office coinciding with the announcement of 13 new partners, five of which were internally promoted in the firm’s latest all-female promotion round. TLT have previously stated their ambitions to reach a 50/50 male-female partnership split by 2029.

Financials aside, TLT is consistently highly rated for training and quality of work, thanks to an ethos that encourages young lawyers to take on high levels of responsibility. Expect “lots of hands-on work and direct client contact” if you begin your career here, insiders tell us. The programme includes “peer-training, practice group training, virtual training and external training”, all of which is provided to a “high quality”. Rookies tell us they’re “always be given a breakdown of the task and best way to approach it along with a template” and being “actively involved in high-profile matters with appropriate supervision” in their very first seat.

One third-seater details: “Regardless of the department, the levels of responsibility have been very consistent throughout. Your opinion is really valued and members of the team take out time to explain things to you even if they’re busy. I have also had scope to present my own ideas and provide suggestions which is fantastic and gets me into the habit of making decisions at such a junior level which will no doubt help shape me into a well-rounded lawyer.”

All this comes down to the fact that there is “a really encouraging culture within the firm” where trainees “receive as much or as little support as needed no matter what seat you are in”. “Associate level work, on hand supervision and good accessibility to partners” is the consensus across the board. Aided by the absence of private offices, partners are so approachable and friendly that it’s “unnerving”, we are told. “I feel I can talk with any of them, be it about work matters or the results from the football on a weekend,” says one trainee, a sentiment echoed by others: “you can bump into the managing partner at the coffee machine and have a chat to him about his holiday”. This chatty atmosphere among fee earners means rookies can ask “questions you feel a little daft asking of anyone no matter how senior they are” and most are also said to be “happy to invite trainees to client events (drinks and dinners) if an appropriate opportunity arises”.

This all bodes well for the quality of work which is “extremely varied and interesting”. A strong network of paralegals and non-fee earning staff means that trainees can “pick up the meatier things” and, with star clients including Lloyds, Sainsburys, the BBC and Boohoo, work at TLT is only getting meatier. As one sharp-eyed rookie points out, “the firm is landing more high-profile clients and deals”. Another reports that “within the space of one year of my training contract, I can definitely see the calibre of work increasing”. There’s already “sexy work for interesting clients” though, which includes “assisting drafting complex bespoke contracts” and pretty extensive project management, alongside more standard typically trainee-level work.

Luckily, when things do get particularly juicy, trainees can expect to receive support from their cohort. “The other trainees in my intake are great, lovely people to get to know and we’ve definitely helped each other through in the inevitable trickier moments,” reveals one insider. Another explains at length: “Trainees across all cohorts and offices come from a wide variety of backgrounds and are very different in that sense but we all share the same qualities: supportive, ambitious and genuinely nice people to work with. Trainees who have been in the seats you are currently in also regularly offer guidance and tips throughout your rotation which makes navigating the seat a lot more manageable. All trainees are very approachable and there is a real sense of camaraderie.”

All this lends itself to a pretty good social scene at TLT. As one trainee summed it up: “There are a lot of social clubs and activities available if you’re looking for it (sports, arts, reading etc) and the teams I’ve worked with are usually keen to go for a drink (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) after work every few weeks.” One bugbear was the lack of a trainee social budget but trainees are said to be “so sociable inside and outside of work” that this is smoothed over by more informal events.

But with this new momentum has come some damage to TLT’s well-reputed work life balance. One trainee told us: “The firm has definitely become busier, with a lot of high quality work flying around. That has necessitated slightly longer working hours than at the start of my training contract. I still have a good work/life balance compared to my friends at other law firms, but 9-5 seems to be a thing of the past.” Another recruit cites unexpected weekend work creeping in and another still told Legal Cheek “my seats in corporate and FSDI were definitely where my hours were longer and working from home means expectations to work later are there”. That said, many rookies still feel they have it “much better than at other comparable firms” and at least one believes that “trainees are rarely slogging it out at the office after 6:30pm”.

There is also more flexibility than at other firms with “no expectation to be in the office” following the firm’s announcement several years ago that it would implement a ‘fully flexible’ working strategy. In order to make this possible, TLT has invested multi-million sums hiring more than 400 support staff and will provide staff any equipment they need to make their home set-up comfortable: “Got sent the lot! Two monitors, a chair, a desk, docking station, headphones, mouse and keyboard etc. Most teams are very flexible with WFH and have a very collegiate feel, even at a distance. We tend to be in 3 days a week,” one spy told LC.

Helping with this is TLT’s increasing use of legal technology, which the firm is “investing heavily in”. Clients will benefit from the firm’s new AI navigator whilst those on the frontlines say the in-house FutureLaw Team “makes using new legal tech seem really seamless.” Another reports: “The legal tech is integrated very well with our knowledge management teams, so we have been able to automate an impressive amount of the menial tasks, freeing up trainee time for the more interesting work.” What’s more, TLT have also backed the launch of the Barclays Eagle Labs, a London-based incubator that can accommodate up to 100 lawtech-minded entrepreneurs, as well as partnering with US lawtech company LegalSifter, which uses AI to organise and negotiate contracts.

This isn’t the first time the firm has collaborated with Barclays. The firm created the Barclays Joint Training Contract Scheme (BJTCS), offering students who have completed the SQE or LPC the opportunity to split their training contract between the banking giant and the firm.. Chances of other client secondments are also growing, with trainee destinations including Starling Bank, Manchester Airport Group, Financial Reporting Council, NatWest, Santander and Iceland Foods. “It was a great experience and has served me well for the future of my career,” reports one trainee.

“Definitely room for more perks though,” stresses one newbie, which seems to be a weaker area for the firm. There are some decent freebies including free entry to Bristol Zoo, private healthcare (which includes an Apple watch), a subsidised gym membership, free clipper tea, monthly catering services, coffee machine coffee and snacks in the office, team drinks plus a health insurance scheme that awards goodies like cinema tickets and Starbucks coffees to those who meet their step count targets. But this all fails to make up for the fact that many feel the pay is lagging behind market rates, especially in London.

One area where TLT is really ahead of the pack is with their sustainability efforts. And the firm’s nationwide office transformations are taking things up a notch. The Glasgow team have settled into Scotland’s first net zero office building after moving last year, and now those in Manchester get to experience Europe’s biggest living green wall when they bed down into the new Eden building in Salford. The twelve-story tower also comes equipped with completely fossil-fuel free electricity and a rooftop terrace. Rookies in Bristol and London have to make do with beehives on the rooftops as their sustainability contribution but recent facelifts have led to good reviews for the interiors. Bristol’s previously “bland and monolithic” 1970s-style office block at 1 Redcliff Street is now looking very different thanks to its makeover, boasting “incredible” views of the city — especially from the new client suite on the 15th floor which one trainee says “feels like something out of Suits”. The London office on Gresham Street is also “really nice” and reportedly comes with free coffee and contactless payment vending machines.

Elsewhere, we’re told that offices come with “everything you could want” with new coffee machines creating a real buzz across the firm’s various outposts. Caterers also apparently come in for certain days, such as scones for the Jubilee, perhaps a concession to the lack of microwaves that have caused grumbles in the past.