Satisfaction with Work

• "I have now been here 2 years, coming from an American firm. The difference couldn't be greater, and I couldn't be happier. Well run, well resourced, minimum of politics, and a real drive to please clients in innovative ways." -- Partner, Intellectual Property
• "Great colleagues and interesting work make working at Simmons fulfilling." -- Junior solicitor, Technology
• "I think you get the level of responsibility you seek. I have received good quality work and have direct contact with partners, solicitors and clients." -- Trainee
• "I get daily contact with partners who show a genuine interest in what I say. Whilst there is a fair bit of typical trainee work, there are also opportunities to take on more interesting tasks such as drafting and attending meetings." -- Trainee
• "Good work, good clients and good colleagues, an enjoyable place to work." -- Partner, Litigation
• "I am currently on secondment and the level of responsibility I receive is very high – essentially I control the amount of work I do and have gained a lot of experience in independently managing my workload. Back at the firm, the responsibility is a little more restricted, as the hierarchy is more apparent. However, we are encouraged to take as much initiative as possible and have daily direct contact with partners and solicitors. Clients – less so, but it does depend on the department." -- Trainee
• "I have been entrusted with a high level of responsibility, while still getting the support and supervision I required during the course of my training contract. It was extremely fulfilling when you know people trust you to carry out tasks, and certainly not being nannied about made me feel that I was respected. I always felt respected during my training contract. Regardless of whether I was a first seat trainee, or a fourth-seater, my views were always asked for and considered. I certainly was not made to "feel small" or "insignificant". In terms of professional growth and fulfilment, I certainly could not have asked for more. My ranking would have been a ten but for the firm slightly lagging behind in the remuneration scales. The firm certainly does not underpay its employees, but I feel that we could do slightly better without hurting the firm's overall financial performance." -- Newly qualified solicitor
• "In general I have had a very positive experience at Simmons. My own local management is very good, but I think sometimes communication of firm strategy and things affecting the firm generally and central management could be more transparent." -- Mid-level solicitor
• "I like my job. I like my colleagues. I feel valued. I would like to be paid more given the extra effort that I put in." -- Mid-level solicitor
• "Very good indeed. Top work, top clients and a great variety of work and challenges. Good office atmosphere, collegiate" -- Partner, Litigation

Quality of Work

• "The work that we do at Simmons rivals any law firm in terms of complexity, challenge and quality of clients. There is also great variety which makes for a stimulating environment" -- Partner, Technology
• "Some departments provide a good range of work for trainees; other departments don't do this as effectively" -- Trainee
• "As a trainee I was given plenty of responsibility and contact with clients, especially once I had gained the trust of the supervising associate/partner. I was working on a range of transactions from the leading deals, relating to hedge funds, that the firm was working on to commercial contracts for an investment bank that I dealt with and negotiated with only minimal supervision from associates/partners." -- Newly qualified solicitor
• "In the Tax group we do not specialise early on, so I do a full range of work. In particular, much of my most interesting work originates from our market-leading Funds practice and is thus very good quality." -- Mid-level solicitor
• "Client exposure from the outset, opportunities to take on a lot of responsibility and handle all aspects of a deal (subject to supervision of course!), a wide variety of work across the different areas of our practice area from outsourcing negotiations to pre-emptive telecoms and data protection advisory work." -- Junior solicitor, Technology
• "I have been assigned tasks which are of the very highest quality – certainly not the fare which trainees are traditionally assigned to do. I do my fair share of "trainee" tasks, but I also do work which are normally performed by 2-3 year qualified solicitors. Particularly rewarding are times when I am entrusted with recommending a strategy for the client, tasks I have been given while doing my corporate and litigation seats. This made me feel that my views certainly mattered, and that partners are open to suggestions from their team, rather than going solely on what they view as "the way". I do feel that I have been given quality work for quality clients, and I am particularly pleased about having direct contact with senior counsel at some of our clients. I certainly was not "hidden away in some cubbyhole" while other members of the team dealt with clients – I was given a good opportunity to meet and interact with clients, build my own relationships with them, as well as genuinely feel part of a team." -- Newly qualified solicitor
• "Even as a junior partner, I am given lots of opportunity to run my practice as I need to. There are always going to be some parts of a job that are a little rubbish (bills spring to mind) but by and large, I'm getting to do the sort of work I want, in the right mix of contentious and non-contentious, with good support, and lots of autonomy." -- Partner
• "I have a very high level of client contact which I enjoy. I also have a varied work load and a good balance between my own transactions and team based transactions." -- Mid-level solicitor
• "We have a roster of very high quality clients across a number of sectors. They use us for challenging, difficult work rather than less valuable, less demanding work and as a result the quality of work is high" -- Partner, Technology

Culture

• "A genuine open-door policy with very few unapproachable partners" -- Junior solicitor, Litigation
• "The structure of the departments at S&S is fairly typical of a City law firm with partners, associates and trainees. Though there is a new initiative to move away from the traditional PQE hierarchy and allow strong individuals to move up the ranks more quickly by becoming "supervising associates" or "managing associates". My team is quite big so apart from organised department social activities we don't all socialise together. However, within the wider associate group there are smaller groups that socialise together – going out for lunch, drinks after work etc." -- Junior solicitor, Litigation
• "The structure of the firm is typically traditional – the boundaries between partners, associates and trainees are clear, but not uncrossable! The culture is very open and trainees are encouraged to approach all members of staff and work together with the partners, rather than just for them. Trainees do socialise together regularly, both informally through drinks/small group gatherings as well as firm organised events (e.g. evening "soirées" and Christmas parties)." -- Trainee
• "You are most likely to socialise with your intake and with the other trainees within your department. This will mostly be informal. There are not many firm-wide trainee social events, but there are lots of department events." -- Trainee
• "In the ICT group, which is a relatively small specialist practice area (around 12/13 fee earners) there is a fairly flat structure and junior members of the group are always able to call upon the senior members of the group for support and guidance. In a work context trainees and junior associates are supervised by partners and support each other both formally (e.g. through training sessions) and informally (e.g. through regular departmental lunches). In a social context the whole team gets together for tea and cakes each Friday afternoon, as well as for regular departmental evening socials, and there are often impromptu Friday evening drinks after work." -- Junior solicitor, Technology
• "The culture is very supportive and our team works well together." -- Mid-level solicitor, Capital Markets
• "There is a very flat structure at Simmons & Simmons with no rigid sense of hierarchy. The culture is open and supportive and both staff and clients feel and appreciate this. There is a good community/ team spirit within teams and more broadly around the firm" -- Partner, Technology
• "Collegiate. We support, cajole and encourage. We do socialise though in my case I seek a balance between family, clients and colleagues." -- Partner, Litigation
• "In general Simmons has a very open and inclusive culture, and this is especially true of the Tax group, where there is no knowledge hoarding and the atmosphere is very collegiate. Some of my colleagues have become good friends. Partners are generally very approachable across the firm. If I have a criticism, it is that central management can sometimes seem rather remote from the rest of the firm, certainly from the perspective of an associate." -- Mid-level solicitor
• "It is pretty much an open-door culture at Simmons – in fact, we may be about to do away with doors altogether (herald the open plan working concept). Colleagues of all seniorities are extremely approachable, there certainly isn't a "you may only meet me if you have made an appointment" culture. Unlike other law firms, partners actually know your names as juniors, which is actually quite rare. In terms of work, partners have no qualms about working directly with trainees, rather than the usual partner – senior associate – junior associate – trainee hierarchy. Indeed, it is not unusual to find partner – trainee teams working on deals… As far as socialising go, we make an effort to organise departmental and firm drinks. However, there is plenty of encouragement for employees (not just solicitors) to interact outside engineered social events." -- Newly qualified solicitor
• "The department in which I work socialises well together and encourages interaction on many aspects of the department's development from all levels of lawyer. This extends beyond the fee-earners to include the marketing and business support service staff as well." -- Newly qualified solicitor
• "Simmons & Simmons is a progressive firm, with a supportive culture. It offers trainees the chance to gain experience of the highest quality legal work" -- Partner, Litigation
• "Generally trainees try to socialise with trainees in other departments but this is often difficult to coordinate given the hours worked." -- Trainee
• "The firm is largely non-hierarchical, with all staff members and partners mixing well together. Groups often eat lunch together in the staff canteen, and all members of staff appear to feel free to raise issues of concern to them. I feel that the solicitors support each other well, and I feel well supported. People get on, and get on with the job. This is also a very easy firm at which to be a gay man – the firm's diversity and CR culture is very strong, with a strong LGBT Network." -- Partner
• "The whole firm runs an open door policy that means partners and associates are always available if you have questions." – Trainee

Hours

• "I work hard as I do a lot additional stuff on top of the billable hours. There are flexible policies and I intend to avail myself of them more." -- Mid-level solicitor
• "I bill comfortably in excess of 100 hours a month, from a basis of working approximately 8-10 hours a day. I certainly am not one to stay in the office to clock up face time, and have not been treated worse for it. I have never been refused time off work. In fact, partners and colleagues alike go out of their way to ensure that I can take time off work. In fact, people always ask me whether I want to take time off work and encourage me to do so. As a matter of comparison, a client meeting was postponed because I was due to go on holiday." -- Newly qualified solicitor
• "My billings have been low because of the financial crisis – on average I am probably running at 100 hours a month at present. I am usually in the office 9.30 – 7.30. We can buy and sell holiday at the start of each holiday year, and trainees who qualify at the firm are entitled to some unpaid qualification leave." -- Mid-level solicitor
• "I perhaps work on average around 60 hours per week. This isn't necessarily good but is broadly as expected in a City law firm." -- Trainee
• "It all depends on the department, with corporate and capital markets working the longest hours. The smaller departments offer the shortest hours." -- Trainee
• "The hours can be long, but there is no requirement to stay late just to be seen to be late – if you are able to leave the office at 6pm you are encouraged to do so!" -- Junior solicitor
• "Billable hours vary but a rough average is somewhere between 120 and 150. Total weekly hours, including non-billable work, are around 45 – 50 hours a week. The firm offers some flexibility around hours – you can purchase up to 5 days unpaid leave each year in addition to the standard 25-day holiday allocation." -- Junior solicitor
• "As I work at a City firm, I expect to work long hours at times. The only time I would be frustrated with this fact is when a lack of organisation or a failure in communication causes me to work longer hours. Generally, these causes have not forced me to work long hours and therefore I am generally happy with the hours I work. My firm is very flexible should I need to have time off to deal with more personal issues (recent personal experiences include burglaries and flight cancellations due to volcanic ash)." -- Newly qualified solicitor
• "Average monthly billable hours – 120; average weekly hours – 55. There are a number of people who work flexible hours on an official basis and generally there is a good level of tolerance of ad hoc flexible/remote working arrangements." -- Partner, Technology
• "100 billed; 200 in the office. Flexible working available" -- Partner, Litigation
• "The firm is very flexible with the long hours I work. I work a day a month from one of the firm's overseas offices, which helps me broaden my skills, as well as helping build cohesion between London and that foreign office. I work too hard – recording on average 3,000 hours a year – but I enjoy what I do." -- Partner
• "Average hours billed per month: 120. In the office – 180. I have never had any issues when seeking flexibility relating to working practices etc." -- Junior solicitor, Litigation
• "On my current secondment I work between 40 – 50 hours a week. This is more than I expected from a secondment, but about the same as when I was back at the firm." -- Trainee

Pay

• (London 2010)
• 1st year trainee: £36,000
• 2nd year trainee: £40,000
• Newly qualified: £59,000
• "£71,000" -- Mid-level solicitor, Tax
• "£59,000" -- Newly qualified solicitor, Technology
• "£59,000" -- Newly qualified solicitor, Corporate
• "£68,250" -- Junior solicitor, Litigation
• "£66,000" -- Junior solicitor, Technology
• "£64,000" -- Junior solicitor, Litigation
• "The bonus programme will change this current financial year – the target billable hours have been lowered from 1700 to 1500, and more account will be taken of business development activities. The new system will introduce much more partner discretion, but it remains to be seen how this will impact on the level of bonus in practice." -- Junior solicitor, Litigation
• "I don't think our pay is shabby, but it certainly isn't close to market-leading. I will note though, for my secondment and only in my particular case, the firm gave me an extremely generous overseas allowance which fairly reflects the cost of living in another country for work." -- Newly qualified solicitor
• "To be honest, I think my pay is fine – I'm still employed, and the freeze only lasted one year." -- Mid-level solicitor
• "The firm is moving more towards a performance culture, where a greater share of everyone's rewards will be performance related – as against agreed criteria. This frightens some under-performers, but it does appropriately reward and promote good performers, allowing the best to be promoted rapidly, without having to wait for PQE." -- Partner, Intellectual Property
• "As a partner I am very well paid, but our firm's profitability needs to improve." -- Partner

Interviews & Assessments

• "If the application/CV passes through the first filter there are then two rounds of assessment. The interviewers are all either senior associates or partners." -- Partner, Technology
• "It has changed since I applied, but there is a contract review, interview and drafting exercise. Don’t forget they ask current trainees for feedback!" -- Trainee
• "I attended an open day which featured a negotiation exercise. I was then invited back for a series of exercises and interviews." -- Trainee
• "It was a long time ago now, but it was so much less painful than some other firms, and the application form was less painful too." -- Mid-level solicitor
• "I was considering 10 very different firms – Simmons was my clear choice." -- Partner
• "…It is relatively painless, but if you really don't like talking about yourself, this could be a problem (not just our firm but for others too I would have thought). Interview questions vary, but we are very interested in finding out about each individual and what they think they can contribute to the firm, and vice versa. Questions such as those will always feature in an interview." -- Newly qualified solicitor
• "The case study is extensive and can be quite daunting as it includes some detailed information about financing and running a deal. Keep calm – nobody knows all the answers and the test is as much about keeping your head under pressure as it is about what you know." -- Trainee