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Foot Anstey

Foot Anstey

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In their own words

Foot Anstey is a quality national firm with bold ambitions.

Snapshot

Firm type

National

UK offices

Bristol, Plymouth, Exeter, Southampton, Taunton, Truro, Oxford, London, Guildford, Manchester, Belfast

International offices

None

Training contract places

15

Vacation scheme places

30

First-year salary

£41,000, except Belfast: £25,000

Second-year salary

£42,500, except Belfast: £27,000

Newly qualified salary

£60,000, except Belfast: £40,000

Trainee retention

70%

SQE support

YES

Visa sponsorship

Yes

International secondment

No

Client secondment

Yes

Guaranteed secondment

No

Holiday allowance

28 days

Office attendance policy

No formal policy (minimum expectation of c. 3 days for trainees)

Typical start time

9:00am

Typical finish time

17:15pm

Average hours worked

37.5

Minimum holiday

28 days

Additional leave

Flexi hours, social impact days

Parental leave

6 months of full pay regardless of gender + other support

Office attendance policy

No formal policy, encourage min 3 days in the office for trainees

Minimum academic requirements

BBB at A-level

Non-law applications

Actively encouraged

Career changer applications

Actively encouraged

Seat structure

4 seats, 6 months each

Salary

Salaries reviewed annually

Solicitor apprenticeship places

4

Typical secondment locations

Client offices across the UK

% Female trainees

50%

% Female partners

47%

% BAME trainees

38%

% BAME partners

6%

% LGBTQ+ trainees

13%

% LGBTQ+ partners

2%

% State school trainees

75%

% First gen trainees

31%
Before you apply

Before you apply, ask yourself:

Are you able to take on the responsibility and pressure of high client contact early in your career?

Is starting your career in the South West where you want to begin your work?

Deep dive

Explore this firm in detail

What makes it different

Refreshingly human

What this could mean for you
The firm's legal professionals, including partners and senior staff, are approachable. Trainees will have the chance to learn from partners, and gain exposure to the deals they are working on, if you have the confidence and are willing to reach out.

The firm is on an exciting growth journey

What this could mean for you
Trainees will need to take on increased responsibility, and teams are likely to change as new talent is acquired. Taking on early responsibility allows you to build your skillset quickly and adapt.

Practice area strengths

Islamic Finance

Working on a range of Islamic Finance matters, Foot Anstey boasts a top-tier Legal500 ranking for this practice. Trainees work on a range of tasks, from typical document drafting and mark-up, to assisting in the Islamic Finance regulatory recommendations.

Energy & Infrastructure

A front-runner in clean energy projects, Foot Anstey’s team is home to experts in specialist projects, such as hydrogen and nuclear. Being a trainee in this practice area means working with an array of stakeholders from sponsors to construction experts.

National Charities

Foot Anstey’s charities sector is a Band 1 Chambers practice. They work on a range of matters from disputes, to governance and structuring. Working with a range of UK charities, this practice grants an opportunity for trainees to work with a diverse client base.

All practice areas

Islamic financeEnergyCharitiesBanking and financeTechnologyData, privacy and cybersecurityFranchisePrivate equityDispute resolutionEmploymentESGIntellectual propertyPrivate clientReal estateRegulatory and governanceRisk advisoryGeneral counsel servicesFull serviceCorporateFinance
Who it may suit

Before you apply, ask yourself

  • Are you able to take on the responsibility and pressure of high client contact early in your career?
  • Is starting your career in the South West where you want to begin your work?

This firm may suit candidates who...

  • Want to work on a range of small to large, often international, deals, but in a firm that is growing at a fast pace.
  • Are looking for early responsibility and client contact, rather than slower-paced training.
  • Is looking to be based primarily in the South West, rather than looking to work in London.

Things to consider

  • You should be aware of the seven practice areas, as they are more varied than many City law firms.
  • The hours may not be as low as you might expect, with several trainees describing them as ‘intense’

An honest reflection

  • "It's a tremendous firm to work for and expectations are high. You'll be required to work hard - but with that there's a balance to be had and you'll really enjoy working with such a great bunch of people!" - Emerging Talent and HR Projects Manager
What trainees do

Commercial property

Example trainee tasks:

Reviewing contracts, attending client meetings, negotiating contracts, dealing with title reports, lease drafting, client calls, reviewing titles, land registry applications, SDLT returns, and handling completions.

Who trainees work with:

Clients, associates and partners.

Early responsibility:

High level - trainees are not typically talking directly to clients or being involved in negotiations.

Commercial

What it involves:

The firm's commercial lawyers provide expert commercial law services, offering support for day-to-day matters and contractual advice that underpins business operations. From brand reputation management to strategic input on business growth.

Example trainee tasks:

Delivering presentations to clients, making submissions and recommendations to government, contract reviews, mark-ups of goods and services agreements, research, supporting due diligence and writing regulatory advice notes.

Who trainees work with:

Partners and clients.

Early responsibility:

High level - tasks include presenting to clients and drafting, reviewing and negotiating contracts.

A first month might involve:

Working on a variety of issues from Islamic finance matters to financial services contract reviews.

Corporate

What it involves:

The first stage of the role focuses on developing fundamental transaction management skills and commercial awareness, with opportunities to progress into wider transactional responsibilities as confidence and experience increase. Team members may attend networking events and present to colleagues, clients or other stakeholders as opportunities arise.

Example trainee tasks:

Drafting ancillaries, doing insolvency searches, updating document lists, collating reports, fixing formatting issues, transferring bits of information from one document to another, drafting documents and due diligence, drafting specific disclosures managing data rooms, first mark-ups and negotiations of agreements.

Early responsibility:

Less than other seats, with trainees seeming to have less client contact.

A first month might involve:

Supporting the progression of ongoing deals by coordinating key activities, attending weekly strategic updates on live transactions and engaging with clients and industry contacts through networking events.

Work-life reality

Work-life balance varies by team, seat and transaction cycle. This section is designed to help you understand the pattern, not reduce the experience to a score.

Predictability

The workload is not the most predictable, as trainees often state they may need to pick up work suddenly, but this is often team and season dependent, with transactional seats being particularly unpredictable.

Busy periods

Busy periods are largely considered challenging but ‘fun’ and ‘engaging’ by most trainees, especially as there is a high degree of team support.

Late finishes

Trainees say they ‘sometimes’ have late finishes after 8pm, with some saying they ‘rarely’ finish that late.

Weekend work

Weekend work is rare across the board for trainees, with many pointing to the effective monitoring and management of work by teams.

Seat variation

4 seats, 6 months long. Seat choices depend on the office you train in.

Support

All trainees reported a high level of team support and workload management by the teams.

Flexibility

While hybrid working is available, individuals are expected to be in the office frequently to support their development, benefit from informal learning and build strong relationships across the team.

Holiday allowance

28 days minimum holiday allowance, plus flexi hours, social impact days.

Office attendance

Most trainees are in office two or three days a week, largely in line with the firm’s expectations.
Culture & support

Supervision style

There is open door access, and trainees feel they can approach senior lawyers whenever they need. This does vary in some offices, where some staff sit with partners and supervisors directly. In some instances, supervisors may be in different offices and contact trainees by video call.

Relationship with partners

Partners are generally ‘human’ and ‘approachable’, often being open to having a chat with trainees.

Upward feedback

Trainees are mostly comfortable raising issues and feel that they are largely taken on board.

Open plan or traditional offices?

Open plan

What surprised trainees?

Trainees are largely surprised by the amount of responsibility they get, and how friendly the firm is.
Application process

Online application form

(1-2 hours)

Online testing

(1-2 hours)

What happens

Tests are provided by Amberjack.

Microsoft Teams interview

(30 mins)

What happens

This is a live interview via Microsoft Teams with a member of the Early Careers team.

Assessment day

(Half-day)

What happens

The assessment day includes a group exercise, an interview and a written exercise.
Reviews
"I was given a lot more responsibility and agency than I expected to get as a trainee. I did very little photocopying!" - Anonymous
"The firm culture is inclusive and drives ambition which is what I was expecting. If anything, the culture is more consistent than I was expecting." - Anonymous
Insights
Our Journey