Regional focus: Birmingham
Thanks to its location, transport links and size, Birmingham has long been one of the UK’s most important legal hubs outside London.
And, with the 2015 launch of the much-vaunted high-speed rail link, Birmingham will be just a stone’s throw from the capital, with journey times slashed to a handy 46 minutes.
City central
Arriving in Birmingham, it is striking how close it is to other must-see cities such as Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds. Even Bristol or Cardiff are only a short train ride away.
New Street Station itself is on the doorstep of the main shopping, entertainment and nightlife areas, while just a short walk takes me to Colmore Row, traditionally a dynamic hub of business.
A good few Victorian buildings give the street its character, stretching from Victoria Square to just beyond Birmingham’s second railway link, Snow Hill Station. The only eyesore is the 23-storey building at number 103, but thankfully this is set to be replaced with a 523ft tower that will compete for architectural glory with London landmarks such as the Gherkin and the Shard.
In the past decade Birmingham’s legal market has changed as much as the city’s skyline. In the late 1990s the then big four – Edge & Ellison, Eversheds, Pinsent Curtis Biddle (now Pinsent Masons) and Wragge & Co dominated.
But thanks to a spate of mergers that saw Edge & Ellison get into bed with Hammonds –the firm that subsequently tied the knot with US heavyweight Squire Sanders & Dempsey –the picture is now very different.
DLA Piper also entered the Birmingham legal market. With offices in Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Sheffield, not to mention its extensive list of offices around the globe, DLA Piper is now one of the largest firms in the world, boasting a firmwide turnover of $1.96bn (£1.26bn).
With its growing legal market and attempts to distance itself from its heavy industrial image, Birmingham is indeed on course to become into a vibrant playground for young professionals in search of an attractive alternative to working in the capital.
Working in Birmingham
Pinsent Masons graduate recruitment manager Edward Walker, who is based primarily in the Leeds office, describes Birmingham as “a close-knit community”, claiming it to be by far the most sociable location of all Pinsents’ offices.
“Birmingham seems to be a lot friendlier than other locations,” says trainee solicitor Beth O’Neill, who is in her third seat at the firm. “There’s more of a community feel – even the firm’s security guard knows my name.”
She says she simply did not feel the pull of London as others do, adding that “financially, the lower pay here is feasible and there’s still the chance to get your hands on some very interesting work”.
This view is echoed by Wragges second-year trainee solicitor Pamela Freeland, who comments: “There’ll always be a draw to London. This is largely because many law students still think they can’t get high-quality work elsewhere.”
Freeland insists it is easier to find a better work-life balance in Birmingham despite the hours in the transactional departments often being comparable to those in the City.
“One of the main advantages is that you can live five minutes from the office in a great apartment for a reasonable rent and at the same time work for top-quality clients on international projects,” she adds.
There is no doubt that trainees’ back pockets will feel lighter if they plump for
the regions over the City, but luckily the compensation for your toil is enough to provide a comfortable lifestyle. After all, average rent is around £400 per month compared with around £650 in London.
But DLA Piper trainee Rowena Crew says that “remuneration is probably the only gripe among trainees”.
“Our salary is competitive for the area,” adds Crew. “But it doesn’t really feel justified. The reasoning is that London is more expensive to live and commute in but I don’t think it’s that much more expensive. People outside London can also have high commuting costs, as I do.”
Her decision to train in the region was due to family ties and the recognition she would not get any higher quality work in London than in Birmingham.
“Each office has its own work and clients, but we still work closely with all teams and offices,” Crew says. “There’s no hierarchy between those who work in the regions and in London – we’re all equals. London isn’t regarded as ‘head office’.”
One advantage stressed by each trainee is the Birmingham Trainee Solicitors Society (BTSS), an organisation made up of more than 500 trainee solicitors, paralegals, newly qualified solicitors and postgraduate law students across the city.
According to Eversheds trainee solicitor Jennifer Jones, the BTSS was originally an offshoot of the Birmingham Law Society and is a valuable part of training
in the city.
“The BTSS is brilliant as it brings all trainees from all law firms in the area together for events,” enthuses Jones. “I’m the rep for Eversheds and feel it’s a brilliant tool, and one that just couldn’t be implemented as effectively in London because of its size of intake and the distance of many law firms from one another.”
Big deals
Jones says that Birmingham’s culture was a key influence on her decision to stay in
the area.
“It’s really nice being in a big city that is somehow such a small community, a place where you bump into everyone you know all the time,” she says. “I think people don’t
realise they’ll be completing just as big work and working on just as important deals. They think if you work in the sticks, you don’t get the clients.”
O’Neill says she has worked with some large clients since beginning her training contract, recalling work with Cadbury and Jack Wills in her second seat in employment.
“I get loads of great client contact,” she says. “My work in employment was brilliant, as the department [in Birmingham] is much bigger than in London.”
Revving up in Brum
Looking beyond the four large Birmingham legal players, the city offers many alternatives to get your teeth into. These include Shoosmiths, Martineau and Gateley.
Shoosmiths has maintained its recent upward spiral of profitability and is currently in the throes of expanding the Manchester office it opened last year.
Martineau had a steady year, with growth in its corporate and property teams despite poor market conditions. The firm is also looking to ramp up in London via a merger with Sprecher Grier Halberstam.
Meanwhile, Gateley has also boosted its size as a result of the acquisition of
a significant chunk of failed firm Halliwells.
And with The Lawyer UK 200 Annual Report showing the Midlands firms edging ahead of their Southern counterparts, it is hardly surprising that the state of the Birmingham legal market has inspired both Manchester-based DWF and London-headquartered Trowers & Hamlins to expand into the city.
Study options
For aspiring lawyers there are plenty of places to choose to study, too. England’s second city is home to three universities: the University of Birmingham, Birmingham City University and the University of Aston.
Law school giants the College of Law (CoL) and BPP Law School also have sites in the city, and the Legal Practice Course (LPC) can also be studied at Birmingham City University.
A short walk from the city centre leads to the CoL’s Birmingham base, situated in the historic Jewellery Quarter. This part of town dates back more than 250 years and is home to unique shops, fascinating museums and, as the name suggests, more than 400 jewellers.
Courses at the CoL Birmingham branch are considerably cheaper than in London. They start at £7,160 for the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) and £10,560 for the LPC, compared with £8,870 and £12,550 respectively in London. The Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) will set you back £11,740 compared with £15,375 at the CoL’s London Bloomsbury centre.
BPP’s courses sit at a similar level to the CoL, with its GDL and LPC costing £7,250 and £10,150 respectively. BPP is situated in the heart of the city centre and hosts a unique programme called High Street Extra, which allows LPC students to focus their skills on areas of practice that are key to High Street or smaller firms that provide legal services to individuals and local businesses.
So, if you want to join a thriving legal market working for a top-tier firm and enjoy the hustle and bustle of city life without resigning yourself to life in the Smoke, carving out a career in Birmingham could be right up your street.
Click image below to view a larger version of Birmigham firms in the UK200
DLA Piper
Total number of lawyers: 99
Birmingham trainees: 32
First-year salary: £25,000
Second-year salary: £27,000
NQ salary: £38,000
Eversheds
Total number of lawyers: n/a
Birmingham trainees: 22
First-year salary: £24,500
Second-year salary: £26,500
NQ salary: £37,000
Gateley
Total number of lawyers: 99
Birmingham trainees: 13
First-year salary: £20,000
Second-year salary: £22,000
NQ salary: £34,000
Martineau
Total number of lawyers: 100
Birmingham trainees: 20
First-year salary: £21,000
Second-year salary: £22,500
NQ salary: £36,000
Mills & Reeve
Total number of lawyers: 128
Birmingham trainees: 12
First-year salary: £23,000
Second-year salary: £24,000
NQ salary: £38,000
Pinsent Masons
Total number of lawyers: 168
Birmingham trainees: 28
First-year salary: £26,000
Second-year salary: £28,000
NQ salary: £38,000
Shoosmiths
Total number of lawyers: 90
Birmingham trainees: 6
First-year salary: £24,000
Second-year salary: £25,000
NQ salary: £35,000
Squire Sanders Hammonds
Total number of lawyers: 107
Birmingham trainees: 12
First-year salary: £22,000*
Second-year salary: £25,000*
NQ salary: £36,000*
(*2010 figure, subject to review)
Wragge & Co
Total number of lawyers: 315
Birmingham trainees: 46
First-year salary: £26,250
Second-year salary: £29,250
NQ salary: £38,000
