Satisfaction with Work

• "We receive a high level of responsibility here and generally sit with partners whilst working with other members of the department. The quality of work given is good and, depending on the department you are in, you generally have a fair amount of client contact." -- Trainee
• "Always allowed as much responsibility as you want, and allowed to progress your career as fast as desired." -- Mid-level solicitor
• "I have always been given as much responsibility as I can handle at Walker Morris and have run my own files in every one of my six seats. At Walker Morris Trainees are supervised by Partners and share an office with a partner. This is unique for a large commercial firm as trainees usually directly assist partners with their caseload. I therefore get to learn both the technical law as well as how to advise clients directly from my supervising partner who is an expert in his field. This has definitely given me more confidence than my peers at other law firms, and as a sixth seat trainee I am treated like a qualified solicitor and really encouraged to develop my own client relationships and caseload. I have lots of client contact and have attended site visits, court hearings and mediations with clients unsupervised. I advise clients directly both in person and via email on a daily basis. The highlight of my training contract has been assisting a Partner with an urgent freezing injunction, drafting all of the paperwork, attending the application hearing and instructing Counsel and then being asked to attend the return date hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice unsupervised. If you demonstrate that you are able to handle huge amounts of responsibility you will be given it. The firm has high expectations of its Trainees and you are expected to hit the ground running from day one. There is no hand holding or hierarchy as there often is at other large commercial firms, which shelters trainees from real client contact and fee earning work." -- Trainee
• "Before I started someone said Walker Morris is like marmite: you either love it or hate it. I don't necessarily agree with that description. I would describe it in less 'extreme' terms... At Walker Morris you tend to get: a good work/life balance; most of the people are down to earth and there are some grounded managers in charge of the place. If you are after a cut throat City firm where everyone walks around in braces, wearing pink shirts then this isn’t the place for you lad!" -- Mid-level solicitor
• "I am very satisfied working at my firm. The work is varied and challenging with the safety blanket of an open door policy should I have any queries. I feel as though the firm value me with a decent salary and benefits package." -- Mid-level solicitor
• "The job itself is fairly satisfying, though it’s the incentivising which is missing, could do with more of a bonus culture like some other professions." -- Trainee

Quality of Work

• "I’m given a great deal of responsibility, and the work is high quality, with direct contact to both partners and clients alike." -- Trainee
• "I deal with my own case load and regularly speak to clients." -- Newly qualified solicitor
• "Responsibility levels are high and the quality of work is equal to this. I am constantly in direct contact with clients and share an office with my supervisor who is a partner." -- Trainee
• "Exposure to fantastic quality work by assisting on large scale projects. I handle my own case load of matters relating to smaller more straight forward transactions. Best of both worlds really… However we have had less of the large scale projects to work on due to the economic climate in recent months." -- Mid-level solicitor
• "Generally extremely good quality high value and complex work for a range of clients (from SMEs to large nationals and multinationals). Good level of client interaction." -- Mid-level solicitor
• "If you are good and work hard you will be rewarded with good quality work. Trainees are given client contact from the outset and there are lots of opportunities to get involved with the firm as a whole (for example, the charity committee, and the environmental committee)." -- Mid-level solicitor
• "I have been disappointed to deal with small non-commercial disputes during my first year of qualification, and then be sent on secondment. I have however dealt with a number of challenging professional negligence cases, and I have built up a strong relationship with the department's largest client whilst on secondment." -- Junior solicitor

Culture

• "Walker Morris has a great social life within the firm, not just amongst the trainees, but also firm-wide across all departments." -- Trainee
• "We have a one site policy, which is good as all of the trainees are under one roof. We also do 6 seats which are good as you get to experience a wider variety of work. The social life here is very very good, the trainees do socialise a lot, as do departments. There are some organised events, which are paid for by the trainee and departmental budgets, but we do also socialise together after work/on a Friday night etc." -- Trainee
• "Its open; its sometimes blunt and it is supportive. A lot of people stay on after they have trained at Walker Morris so it a close knit firm. Solicitors do socialise and there are lots of opportunities to meet people outside of your department – for example it has lots of sports clubs which all are welcome to join." -- Mid-level solicitor
• "This appears to differ from department to department. My team have quite a good working relationship, with good support particularly from the partners that lead the team. We do all socialise together, but perhaps not as much as we once did, though this tends to reflect people's personal lives rather than anything else." -- Junior solicitor
• "Social life is restricted by long hours." -- Trainee
• "We are immediately supervised and supported by the Head of Department (a partner). Other solicitors in the team assist each other and work well together. The team occasionally socialise outside of the office." -- Newly qualified solicitor
• "Support is given if requested. I don't really work with any other solicitors on my own cases apart from my supervising partner, who is always available to give support when needed. Socialising in our department is fairly good; firm-wide it is non-existent." -- Junior solicitor
• "The working environment is 'open door policy'. Everyone is approachable and willing to help if you have any issues. Trainees socialise regularly, both through events organised by the firm and independently of this i.e. on weekends/evenings." – Trainee
• "Good trainees do very well. There is an open door policy unless too busy. Solicitors very much support each other and do socialise, and there are team days out." -- Junior solicitor
• "The firm's hierarchy is the standard – Partner, Associate, Assistant structure. The solicitors in the firm all support each other, and from what I've seen work well together. The team I work in socialise together with after work drinks and the occasional organised evening out." -- Mid-level solicitor
• "Trainee intake is the largest in Leeds however despite that the Trainees are a close knit bunch and socialise together informally by meeting for lunch or going for after work drinks. Formally the Trainee social committee organises events such as quizzes, days at the races and karaoke nights with a designated budget. The annual Leeds Law Society ball is well attended by Trainees and the firm pays for tickets. Trainees are encouraged to get to know each other before starting at the firm by attending organised trainee events in March and August where current and future trainees all attend. There are netball and football teams which both trainees and solicitors play for weekly. Departments have end of month drinks and 'away days' on a regular basis. We’re encouraged to take part in community projects and pro bono events in work time which is always good fun." -- Trainee

Hours

• "Hours worked really vary according to work load. As a minimum I tend to work 10 or 11 hour days. Obviously, when things are busy this increases. I tend to work one or two weekends a month. I personally have never requested a change to my hours. I don't think there is much flexibility however… It would nice to have flexibility to work from home occasionally." -- Mid-level solicitor
• "I am working as much as I thought I would, I don't mind working long hours due to the quality of the work I’m given." -- Trainee
• "Billable time is about £30k per month. Not very flexible on working hours however very reasonable when personal time is required." -- Mid-level solicitor
• "I have been very lucky in my TC. I have worked some long days (until past midnight etc.) but not very frequently and only when needed. We are not expected to stay here just to show people that we are willing to stay if necessary. I am currently working from around 8am to 6.30pm which I think is reasonable. This varies from department to department." -- Trainee
• "The reality is that certain types of work result in long hours in the office or working at home. The hard work though is recognised. We don't have strict billing targets, we have budgets but these are for departmental planning rather than anything else and other contributions are recognised. Over the course of the last financial year I billed approx £230k, and I would say my working hours averaged 50/60 hours a week." -- Junior solicitor
• "On average I work 45 hours per week and this is what I would expect from a large commercial law firm. You manage your own workload and therefore there is no culture of staying late to look good, most Partners/Supervisors only stay late when there is something urgent that needs doing. High levels of responsibility mean that Trainees will work until 7pm simply because they have lots of work to do, rather than because they feel like they cannot leave any earlier. I have never sat at my desk after 5.30pm twiddling my thumbs with no work to do waiting to be told when I can go home which I have heard happens at other firms in Leeds!" -- Trainee
• "Occasionally I work very late but normally I leave around 6:15." -- Newly qualified solicitor
• "In my team, we mostly do the 9-5.30 and only stay late on the odd occasion. There isn't any scope for flexi-time in my team, but that is the trade off for regular work hours. In teams which work longer hours, the partners employ a more flexible approach. There are not targets at Walker Morris (how refreshing!), we are meant to bill 5 hours a day but you are not hounded if you don't achieve that." -- Mid-level solicitor
• "The firm does not have a target driven culture so I honestly could not tell you how many hours I should be billing and how many hours I do bill… My average day is 8 – 6. If work is demanding I stay later or do the odd day on a weekend. No partner makes this demand of me though, I do it for my own reasons to get on top of work or if I have made promises to clients. On top of work I go to a lot of client events out of hours, usually on a weekday evening. This varies depending on the time of year… They're mostly enjoyable though so it doesn't strictly feel like work... My feeling is that my career would be affected if I had to take maternity leave and come back part time to look after children. However, I have a lot of female friends in a wide range of law firms and they all seem to share that opinion. Overall, law firms are not child friendly!" -- Junior solicitor
• "On average 45-50 hours a week, obviously more when really busy. This is probably slightly less than I expected." -- Trainee

Pay

• (Leeds 2011)
• 1st year trainee: £24,000
• 2nd year trainee: £26,000
• Newly qualified: £37,000
• 1 year PQE: £39,000
• 2 year PQE: £41,000
• 3 year PQE: £44,000
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• "Historically, Walker Morris pays a bit less than the likes of Eversheds & DLA, but it is a less stressful environment. It may look like Walker Morris pays less on paper but when you work out your net pay it is not much difference at all – I say keep your work/life balance for the sake of a bit less cash!" -- Mid-level solicitor
• "Secret bonus scheme, criteria not disclosed." -- Junior solicitor

Interviews & Assessments

• "My interviews were very informal! I had two in total and on both occasions the partners who were scheduled to interview me were called away on urgent jobs. My replacement interviewers hadn't even read my CV. I ended up having two lovely chats over tea and biscuits." -- Mid-level solicitor
• "I attended a vacation placement scheme, following a telephone interview. During this week I sat in a department, carrying out work for fee-earners, and took part in several tasks – negotiation, presentation, and group work etc. The week also provided some socialising consisting of nights out with current trainees. I was offered a training contract following the conclusion of the vacation placement scheme." -- Trainee
• "It is a very selective process, like all good law firms." -- Trainee
• "I was qualified when I had my interview. It was two informal interviews with the partners in the department. Very relaxed." -- Junior solicitor
• "There were 2 interviews but no assessment days. I joined as an NQ, which I think in some ways is easier than trying to get a training contract." -- Junior solicitor
• "The graduate recruitment partner here likes smart dressers. It sounds silly but men – a pointy shoe and a skinny tie will put her right off and keep your suit jacket on! The questions tend to be standard and you will be required to give a presentation. Be prepared but try not to sound stilted. I know the graduate partner get frustrated with hearing the same words over and over – so show your personality and think carefully about what YOU can bring and what examples do you have to illustrate it. Finally, if there interview is going pear shaped my ace card would be to talk about horses/ jockeys – you may just find yourself on the wave length of our beloved recruitment partner!" -- Mid-level solicitor
• "I was a paralegal at my firm for 8 months before I was offered a TC. I then had to apply and was offered an interview. It was slightly different for me as I had worked here and knew the interviewers who asked me about what sort of work I had done here, what sort of cases I had dealt with etc. The interviewers were nice, professional but I wasn’t scared of them, as I think is the case with most interviewers here. We offer 3 vacation schemes on a yearly basis and this is followed by a round of interviews. I also think that we are (new this year) having assessment days to people who haven’t taken part in the vac schemes." -- Trainee

Sample Questions

• "If you were offered a training contract at another firm would you take it? If you could go out for dinner with anyone who would it be?" -- Mid-level solicitor
• "Explain a time when you had to deal with a difficult client." -- Junior solicitor