Working at Bristows - Life at Bristows
The best way to find out what it's like to work at Bristows is to hear from the people who already do. We asked a handful of our people to tell us about their time with us so far.
Rob Burrows - Associate
I remember reading that it is difficult to define quality, even though we are all able to recognise when it is absent. In a similar fashion, it is difficult to say what, exactly, makes Bristows such an enjoyable place to work. However, spend some time chatting with trainee and associate solicitors and you are likely to be struck by the passion and enthusiasm with which they talk about life at the firm. This is something that is widely recognised within the legal profession - for example, the website www.rollonfriday.co.uk notes that: "It's hard to find anyone with a bad word to say for Bristows" and "We probably get more positive comments from assistants at Bristows than from any other firm". So why is this the case?
I'm a solicitor in the IP department and I would have to start off by saying that Bristows is a great place to work because of the quality and diversity of its clients and the work and working relationships those clients provide. However, this tells only part of the story, since interesting and challenging work is not all that Bristows has to offer. In my opinion, what sets Bristows' working environment apart from that of your average law firm is the personality and attitude of its staff throughout the firm. Partners, fee-earners and support staff are all tuned in to the fact that, while there is a professional job to be done and that this is of paramount importance, it can be achieved in a friendly and supportive environment in which each individual's personal development and well-being is also important to the future of the firm. That's not to say that you won't ever be under the cosh or have to work late into the night every once in a while. It's more that you know that your efforts will be appreciated and that others at the firm will also go out of their way to assist you in getting the job done as efficiently as possible. The firm definitely has a collective approach to work, something that is inevitably aided by the lack of chargeable hours targets. Its culture is therefore a long way removed from the competitive and potentially divisive environments that can exist at larger law firms and long may that continue to be the case.
Ruth Dabbs - Deputy Information Centre Manager
I came to Bristows on an initial 12 month contract and 12 years later, I am still here! This is due to the fact that Bristows provides employees with the best of both worlds. It is a law firm with international appeal, and yet it has a home grown feel to it.
I completed a law degree and the LPC, but soon realised that my interests lay in the world of information retrieval and research, so I looked to the London law firms, to see what opportunities there were for people with my background in the legal information sector.
Bristows appealed because it was a prominent firm in the Intellectual Property area, which at the time, this was still a relatively new area and one where I felt that broad-based research was likely to play a major role. This focus on IP set it apart from other larger law firms' Information Centres, where the work may have been of more of a traditional legal nature.
Working in the Information Centre enables me to utilise my legal education and background in a supporting role. It has given me the opportunity to develop my research skills in a dynamic and commercial sector, whilst dealing with a regular client base - I work with a broad range of Partners, Fee Earners, Trainees and Support Staff.
The research I am asked to do is very varied, ranging from looking into legislative changes in UK and EU data protection field, to checking the status of a company's patents or trade marks, to obtaining financial and credit checks for a company. You can feel like a private investigator sometimes!
When I first came to Bristows I was struck by how pleasantly different it was to other law firms. At all levels, the people were down to earth and approachable. Over the years, this impression has remained. Bristows gives employees the chance to be respected as individuals, both at work and outside.
Sally Dunstan - Associate
Having trained in a large national law firm in Australia, upon moving to London I was keen to work at a firm that was a market leader yet which allowed me to enjoy my experiences here. I was lucky enough to find such a firm in Bristows.
I have been impressed by the calibre of work that I get at Bristows, and I have been given the opportunity to take on a wide variety of commercial IP and trade mark related matters. I find the range of issues that I deal with day to day both challenging and interesting, and I enjoy the fact that IP issues are usually the focus of the advice sought from me, rather than an just afterthought in the context of a corporate transaction.
I work for a wide range of high profile clients across various industry sectors and have a lot of direct client contact every day.
Culturally, I have felt at home at Bristows right from the start. It's often a cliché to say that a firm is friendly, but here it really is true, being of a size that allows one to get to know everyone right across the firm. The calibre and dedication of the partners and associates is impressive, and Bristows not only allows but encourages a human side as well - it is a supportive, open door environment without any artificial "face time" culture. Our move to 100VE presents an exciting new stage in the history of Bristows and it's great to be a part of that.