Brabners

About the firm

Brabners is a purpose-led independent law firm. Its independence allows it to be objective, principled and provide a service with heart and character. It is on a mission to make the difference for its clients, people and communities. A certified B Corp with award-winning sustainability and social impact credentials, the firm seek to demonstrate that business can bring about positive change.

Proudly anchored in the North since 1815, it serves all of England and Wales. The firm’s multidisciplinary and diverse range of talented individuals think independently yet work collaboratively to achieve the right results for their clients. With over 500 colleagues, Brabners offers the full range of legal services. It’s here for all clients in times of both challenge and opportunity.

They’re multi-award-winning, including featuring in The Legal 500 Hall of Fame and The Times’ Best Law Firms 2025, highly commended in the ‘Independent Law Firm of the Year’ category at The Lawyer Awards 2024 and being recognised as the Best Law Firm to Work For and the sixth Best Large Company to Work For in the UK by Best Companies.

They’ve gained recognition for being leaders in ESG as both Liverpool Law Society and Manchester Law Society’s EDI Champions and receiving the British Legal Awards’ Excellence in ESG Award and The Lawyer’s Sustainability Initiative of the Year award in 2023.

Managing partner: Nik White

Other offices: Liverpool, Manchester, Lancashire and Leeds.

Who we are: Brabners’ mission to make the difference guides everything it does, pushing it to go the extra mile for its clients and empowering its people to do what they do best.

As a B Corp, it’s committed to responsible business. That means high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.

With four modern offices in Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Lancashire, its people have the choice to work remotely and flexibly to best support all clients’ needs.

What we do: Brabners offers the full range of legal support. The firm’s practice areas cover business crime and compliance, commercial, corporate, employment, family, immigration, intellectual property, litigation, pensions, private client, professional conduct, real estate, regulatory and more.

Brabners works with clients across a wide range of sectors including health, manufacturing and supply chain, professional services, property, construction and regeneration, recruitment and workforce solutions, retail and leisure, sport and technology.

It has strong connections with legal advisers around the world. As active members of Eurolegal and the Association of European Lawyers (AEL), the firm offers cross-border support and trusted foreign legal advice.

What we’re looking for in an apprentice: We’re looking for people who can demonstrate our values — showing that they care, can stand together as a team, are ambitious and do what’s right.
We look for something different in our apprentices.

While we want people who are driven and have the tenacity to succeed, we also want those who wish to be part of something much bigger. Those who are eager to learn, innovate and seek out responsibility.

In return, we will devote our time and focus to ensure that each and every one of our apprentices has the opportunity to realise their full potential.

What you’ll do: For the first two years of the apprenticeship, you will grasp the basics of working in a law firm – alongside our paralegals, you will work in teams while undertaking a paralegal apprenticeship.

At the end of year two we will review your progress to date, with the view of progressing you onto our solicitor apprenticeship programme. However, if you would like a year break from study, we are entirely flexible in our approach.

When you progress, in year 3 you will commence a solicitor apprenticeship and join our cohort of trainee solicitors in your final two years, while studying on a 35-week programme towards qualification.

As part of the programme, you will be given the opportunity to rotate around departments on an annual basis; by the end of your apprenticeship, you will have experienced at least five different areas of law.

During your rotation, you will deal directly with clients and assist on complex transactions with close partner support.

Our apprentices also have the opportunity to be involved in our action and affinity groups, which focus on LGBTQ+, gender diversity, physical and mental health, race and ethnicity, and social mobility. The aim of our groups is to create a fair and more equal society through the promotion of equality, diversity and inclusion among our people, clients and the communities within which we live and work.

Perks: 25 days’ holiday, flexible study leave policies, travel loan, fresh fruit delivered to the office, charity and social events, payroll giving, colleague recognition, smart agile working practices, buy and sell holidays, pension scheme, subsidised discounts in retail stores, cycle to work and Medicash.

Sponsorship

Full sponsorship provided for duration of apprenticeship.

Seat options

Commercial and intellectual property; corporate; insolvency and restructuring; employment and pensions; family; private client; charity; litigation; regulatory; business crime; construction; housing and regeneration; investment and property management; real estate development; and real estate litigation.