The Legal Cheek View
Launched in 1987, Fletchers Solicitors initially specialised in motorbike accidents, before expanding into other areas of medical negligence and personal injury law. It remained a relatively small firm, in the Merseyside town of Southport, until the civil justice reforms began ten years later which Fletchers took as an opportunity to level up. Now, the firm boasts four offices in Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, alongside its HQ in Southport, and employs over 670 lawyers and staff.
In 2021, Fletchers Solicitors was acquired by private equity investors. Fletchers Group has since gone on to acquire a string of personal injury and claims firms, including Cycle SOS, Minton Morrill, Blume and — TV show Judge Rinder sponsors — Patient Claim Line. It seems variety really is the spice of life, or at least the source to good revenues, as Fletchers have reported a 26% increase in revenues, up from £34 million to £43 million this financial year.
Aside from acquisitions and new offices, CEO Peter Haden has cited Fletchers’ investment in tech as a key driver of its recent growth, in particular in AI and machine learning. The firm recently renewed its partnership with the University of Liverpool and Innovate UK to continue work on a landmark project designed to develop artificial intelligence in the legal sector — one example of the work is a machine learning tool that extracts information from negligence cases to help process medical records at a faster rate.
In-house, it seems some of this investment is also reaching juniors on the frontlines, as rookies praise the “really good tech resources” on offer at Fletchers, whilst others recognise that the firm has “improved significantly on legal tech in the last few years.” There’s also a dedicated team, FletcherTech, on hand to offer inspiring new solutions when facing problems (uninspired as the name might be). Solid technical support continues at home as the firm provides “everything you need to work from home, both in terms of hardware and infrastructure” according to one source LC spoke with. In fact, the firm is set up so that its lawyers are predominantly home-working with most juniors we spoke to only going into the office once a week to meet up with their team. That isn’t to say that you’re not allowed in more, as one recruit puts it, “flexibility to go into an office whenever you want means you can determine how much time you spend at home/in the office i.e. the employee is in control of their own work/life balance.”
It might be just as well that those in the Southport HQ only have to be in one day a week as the historic base is said to be a “bit gloomy” and “run down” compared to its newer counterparts in Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds. Liverpool gets high praise for being “modern and luxurious” whilst one trainee in Leeds kept it short but sweet with their review: “great office with cycling/shower facilities and located in the city centre.”
Fletchers takes on up to ten trainees each year, with many of them completing their solicitor exams part time alongside their training. The firm also takes on a number of solicitor apprentices which enables participants to gain hands-on experience in law, whilst completing an undergraduate degree (LLB, Hons), and post-graduate qualifications as well as a period of recognised training. Based in Southport, apprentices work four days per week with one day being dedicated to study. After six years, participants become qualified solicitors. Recruitment is via Fletchers Solicitors’ annual summer vacation scheme, shorter work experience placements and direct application. Fletchers Solicitors also recommends applying for junior legal roles to gain qualifying work experience and then applying for qualification opportunities internally.
Trainees speak highly of the “variety” and “range of exposure” they receive during their training, alongside the mixture of opportunities “to work on more complex cases” and “to handle my own smaller cases”. One tells us: “The work is interesting and every case is different and therefore you never feel like the work is repetitive”. Another adds that rookies are not given the “busy-work” that you might expect with trainees, but instead enjoy “a full caseload of live cases and the responsibility to do the role of an actual fee earner (with supervision)”. Cases include everything from multi-million-pound claims across the spectrum of medical negligence to Court of Protection cases and serious injury matters.
Fletchers Solicitors also has its own academy that helps bolster newbies’ knowledge. One rookie told us, “the academy has monthly catch ups with me to check in on how I am doing with my apprenticeship overall which I find really useful”. Cohorts are also said to be a happy place. One notes, “I have a great team who are all knowledgeable, friendly and want me to do well”, whilst another lauds the “great community of trainees”.
Supervisors are notably down-to-earth. “I always feel I can approach my supervisors and be honest with them about how I am coping. I don’t feel concerned about going to them when I have issues or queries which is very reassuring when you’re moving around and constantly working for new people,” one Fletchers Solicitors rookie reports. Another added, “my immediate head of department and director are both very approachable with both work-related and personal issues.”
There is a nice, “mutually supportive” vibe among trainees and junior lawyers, who enjoy a lively social life. “Always social events going on, ran by a very dedicated social team,” explains an insider. These include an annual Chinese, bowling, nights out, family fun day, summer ball and a Christmas party.
When it comes to perks, Fletchers Solicitors may not seek to compete with the glamour freebies of Magic Circle firms, but it has some benefits such as free beauty therapy provided by licensed beauticians including massages and nails, private healthcare, holiday buyback, enhanced maternity leave, plus the occasional free meal and a pretty great 35 days of holiday including bank holidays.
One area where the firm definitely beats the Magic Circle is work/life balance, with a very respectable average leave the office time of around 5:30pm. Whilst there are occasions where recruits still have to “work late to deliver a specific piece of work”, one insider said they “never work past 5pm provided their work is completed throughout the day.”