The training contract and vacation scheme at Penningtons Solicitors LLP

• Penningtons Solicitors LLP

  Penningtons is a thriving modern law firm with a 300-year history and a deep commitment to providing innovative legal solutions that precisely match clients' needs.   The firm, which provides a broad range of services for businesses and individuals, operates out of London, Hampshire and Surrey.  The employee base comprises 64 partners and 345 staff in total.

  The firm manages overseas work and clients through membership in two international networks - Multilaw and the European Law Group, of which it is also a founder-member.

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  Penningtons offers new employees a mixed City and regional practice, a broad based training contract with real work and real responsibility with client and partner interaction.  The workplace culture encourages dynamism, creativity, teamwork and an interesting variety of clients and legal work.

  The firm’s bread-and-butter work is in the areas of dispute resolution, private client, commercial/corporate and property. The practice structure consists of three functional divisions—Business Services, Private Individuals and Commercial Property. Each of these divisions is further split into the following departments:

  • Business Services: Commercial; corporate; intellectual property and IT, corporate tax, employment, immigration; professional regulation; travel and commercial dispute resolution. The travel practice is operated out of Godalming alone, while dispute resolution, immigration and professional self-regulation are practiced in the London office only.
  • Private Individuals: Comprised of private client, residential property, personal injury/clinical negligence and family. The latter department is based in the London office only.
  • Commercial Property: covers banking and finance, construction and development, property investors, property litigation, landlord and tenant issues, and social housing (which is not practised in Godalming).

  Penningtons also focuses on various sector groups including hotels and leisure, technology, charities, agriculture and education.

  Clients range from professional bodies such as the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and the Solicitors Regulation Authority and large corporate enterprises such as The Tata Group, Twentieth Century Fox and GMTV to charities such as the Fire Fighters Charity and the Dame Vera Lynn Trust.  The Private Individuals Division advises many high profile and/or wealthy families, and in high profile personal injury, clinical negligence and contentious trusts and probate cases.

  The firm recruits around 10 trainee solicitors each year, spread across the three offices in London, Basingstoke and Godalming. Candidates should have secured three or more good A-level grades and an earned or anticipated 2:1 degree. The ideal Penningtons trainee is self-confident without being brash; intellectually agile, commercially aware and creative.

  The training contract begins with a formal induction, covering an overview of Penningtons, areas of work, general office and accounting procedures and training in drafting letters and legal reports. In-house seminars on specific and relevant subjects, lectures and monthly Trainee Thursdays, which are sessions on current topics of interest or skills’ training and the PSC, form the formal training programme.

  Trainees complete four seats across dispute resolution, private client, property and company/commercial. A seat supervisor ensures allocation of adequate and challenging work and monitors performance.

  Additionally trainees are paired up with a mentor (a second-year trainee) and a training principal (one of the partners). Regular appraisals and feedback sessions ensure that the trainee is aware of their progress and areas which require improvement, future objectives and work/training plans.

  A one week paid placement programme is offered at all the three offices during July. Interns spend time in two practice areas to get an idea of life as a trainee at the firm. The programmes are open to only those candidates who are planning to take up a training contract in two years’ time.

  Five Information Days are also conducted in the month of July; three events in London and one each in Basingstoke and Godalming. The day is spent meeting with the graduate recruitment team, understanding the firm’s areas of practice and speaking with current trainees on their reasons for choosing the firm and the training experience. Each event is limited to 12 participants.

  The firm pays full fees for the LPC course and provides a grant of £5,000. Trainee solicitors receive a competitive salary starting at £31,000 in London and £26,000 in Basingstoke and Godalming.

  Other benefits include a pension, life assurance, critical illness cover, a minimum of 23 days of holidays, an interest-free season ticket loan, private health insurance and multiple organised sports and social activities.

  Applications can be accessed via the Penningtons website and the submission deadlines are 31 July for training contracts and 31 March for vacation placements and Information Days. The selection process for training contracts is comprised of a formal interview conducted during August. Additional information on recruitment and selection can be obtained from Lorna Hector or Rebecca Philpott at 01483 791800 or by sending an email to trainingpost@penningtons.co.uk.

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