The Legal Cheek View
Bond Dickinson and US-based Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice combined to form Womble Bond Dickinson some seven years ago. It was the formal cementing of a successful year-long “strategic alliance” that saw the two firms work together increasingly closely.
The duo is still proving to be a good fit, with the historic powerbases of legacy firms Bond Dickinson and Womble Carlyle lying in the regions rather than global financial capitals. The former has sizeable presences in Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds, Newcastle (where it is particularly dominant with two separate offices), Plymouth and Southampton, alongside a base in the City of London. The US firm, meanwhile, is spread across a host of smaller cities including Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh, Nashville, Silicon Valley, Washington DC, and Winston-Salem. Most recently, the firm added a Denver office to this offering, taking its US office tally to 24 and global numbers to 32.
WBD’s latest financial results show a firm back in the ascension after significant investment last year saw a drop in profits. Global revenues went up 7% to $571 million (£446 million) and profit increased 5% to $161 million (£126 million). The vast majority of this growth was US-driven, with UK revenues actually falling 1% this year. Average profit per equity partner (PEP) remained fairly flat, inching up from $702,000 (£548,000) to $706,000 (£551,000), in part due to a growing equity partnership which saw ten new members enter its fold.
In what will be her last year at the helm, chairwoman and CEO Elizabeth Temple has credited the firm’s business litigation, life sciences, manufacturing, capital markets and IP practices, for the strong revenue growth. Global finance partner Merrick Benn will step in as new chair and CEO in 2025 and there’s also change at the top closer to home as private wealth specialist Alexander Dickinson has been appointed new UK chair. Five new partners have been made up in the London office this year, taking the total number of UK partners to over 140.
In recent years there has been an emphasis on innovation at Womble Bond Dickinson, with the firm leveraging Womble’s expertise in technology, biotech, life sciences and healthcare in the UK. What’s more, all that cutting-edge tech has made it to the frontlines as rookies across WBD’s offices boast of an “amazing” legal tech arsenal. The firm has its own generative AI tool, alongside a host of other software systems like Avail – which is said to cut down the time taken reviewing title registers and documents – and Definely, which helps pick up mistakes in contract. As one recruit summarised for us: “the tech is great, and the central team are brilliant at working hard to develop more and roll it out – just the usual issue of encouraging people to take it up!”
Practice area strengths in the UK include transport, energy & natural resources, chemicals & manufacturing, corporate, retail, real estate, financial institutions, insurance, public sector and private wealth. But regardless of where you end up, the level of work at WBD is said to be “the best thing about the training contract”. One rookie offered this assessment: “The firm does really interesting work and the level of responsibility has been great. You’re not thrown in the deep end, it builds up as you get more confident, but there’s a real effort made to involve you in more complex tasks. Plus, if you volunteer to assist on something you’re interested in, they really try and make it happen.” Another recruit in property had this to say when asked about their work: “Excellent! In real estate I was given substantive tasks and even had my own matters to manage myself (with supervision!) In rail, I am 3 months in and have been doing work that a solicitor might do.”
Rookies at Womble Bond even make the more routine tasks sound exciting: “As a trainee not every task you are given is the most exciting but overall the transactions you have the opportunity to work on are. As you progress through your seat and get a better understanding of the area you are given more opportunities to draft longer, more complex documents.”
The training also comes highly rated, albeit there’s slightly more variation between seats: “The training overall has been good. Depending on the seat you are in, some teams give more formal training by leading group training sessions and others less so. Some teams also give you more hands-on experience than others,” details one rookie. These introductory sessions entail your typical legal learning as well as tutelage on the legal tech and other software you’ll be using in that department. A trainee in real estate offered this insight into the training there: “when I started my real estate seat we were given a 2 week induction full of training sessions on how to use the land registry portal, submitting applications and reviewing titles! It was really thorough and set me up to do well in my seat.” Even in seats with a less structured process, we hear there’s “fantastic one-to-one training from supervisors and other senior colleagues (yes, partners too)” and teams encourage newbies “to try and find answers ourselves through research, and time is built into tasks to allow for that”.
The money at the firm might not be at City levels, but not many transatlantic firms can offer an average leave time of early than 6pm. On work life balance, one enthusiastic recruit told us: “You couldn’t ask for more really. Holidays are untouched and supervisors and HR help to make sure you’re taking it! Weekend and late night work is rare, particularly as a trainee — of course there are departments where deadlines play a part and you might be asked, but would never be forced to cancel plans if you let teams know in advance. Equally, it’s a balance, so if you’re enjoying the work and you want to do more and learn more they’ll let you. Finally, no clock-watching at all – if you’re getting the work done no one is going to ask why you’re leaving at 5.” This is, of course, team dependent to some extent, but even when working late, insiders say “teams take care of you and it doesn’t go unnoticed”.
There’s also good work from home flexibility with trainees allowed to work from home two times a week and a “generous allowance” provided for all WFH equipment.
It’s probably no coincidence that the firm’s relatively unfrazzled partners are some of the most approachable in the country. Rookies spoke highly of the firm’s open-door policy with one offering this in-depth insight: “Every team I’ve been in so far has been brilliant when it comes to approaching partners. Teams work in open spaces, there’s no closed doors. I’ve been encouraged to ask questions and I’ve never been told by a partner that they’re too busy to help. It’s not just about partners either, from NQs to MAs and legal directors — there’s a genuine attitude of collaboration.” Another trainee even goes so far as to say that if it wasn’t for their email signature, it would be difficult to identify someone as a senior partner!
Partner approachability is bested only by the support on offer from your fellow Wombles. Trainees are said to talk and grab lunch with their peers everyday — as one particularly happy recruit gushes, “my trainee group is the best! They are a great support network and I am really lucky to have such a friendly and supportive group.” Junior lawyers have also “been amazing to lean on” according to our insiders, with another adding that “the trainees and juniors in the office have formed a tight-knit support network, which is useful when we are having a difficult time on a matter and want someone to talk to”.
All this support has translated into a great social life in some offices. The themed “pop-up pubs in the London office”, which happen one Friday a month, are said to be really fun. Those in the City can also join the office 5-a-side team and there’s always a “good younger group who often socialise together after work”. Typical nights out include bowling, cricket, crazy golf and pub crawls. Bristol is also said to have “a really friendly junior social side” and, firmwide, trainees get together with their compatriots across the country for the firm’s annual Christmas and summer parties.
The firm’s intake of 25 are spread across eight UK offices and one trainee notes that “having a diversity of where you train really knocks the London chip off your shoulder which I think other firms have.” Still, much of what you do depends on where you are – the firm’s Newcastle office is known for its market-leading rail practice, while Bristol and London are recognised for their strength in banking work.
Luckily, there’s not so much variation in the office-spaces as trainees from London to Leeds score their digs highly on the 2024-25 Legal Cheek Junior Lawyer Survey. Those in the City have a “highly impressive office overlooking Tower Bridge and opposite the Tower of London” from its South Bank location. The Newcastle Helix office is also described as “10/10” and a refurb in Leeds has left rookies there satisfied with their “amazing views, great layout and a variety of work spaces which suit everyone”. Skylines seem to be somewhat of a trademark as one trainee in Bristol tells us you can also get “great views” from the office there (depending on where you’re sat) whilst the same was said about the Plymouth office — which has the added benefit of being “well-located”. The subsidised canteens in Newcastle, London and Bristol also impress for being “fairly inexpensive and good quality”.
Currently there are limited international secondments, but Legal Cheek understands that business travel for junior solicitors to the US is becoming more common. The big focus on client secondments remains — according to our survey over one third have done one — at companies including FTSE 100 companies, global retailers and major insurers.
Perk-wise, there is private healthcare, a decent pension, gym discounts, free fruit, and volunteering and wellbeing days. Though one recent gripe among trainees and juniors is “a common feeling that non-published pay hasn’t improved to keep up with benchmark firms in the area, or inflation”.
The transatlantic law firm has taken steps in recent years to improve its green credentials. In 2017 it set a target to reduce emissions by 5% annually, and the following year, was awarded The Planet Mark certification in recognition of its efforts to cut carbon emissions. WBD also has a gold rating for Eco Vadis, ISO 14001 accreditation and aims to be net zero by 2030. No wonder Womble Bond Dickinson is frequently in the running for most eco-friendly at the Legal Cheek Awards!