Leathes Prior

The Legal 500 Future Lawyers verdict on Leathes Prior

At Leathes Prior, trainees find serious legal work with a distinctly personal touch. The Norwich firm is ‘large enough to get an exciting client base and small enough to know all of your colleagues and have a real support network’. Recruits were drawn to its ‘family and community feel’ and ‘supportive and social culture’, while assessment-day partners came across as ‘very personable and approachable’. Leathes Prior is a firm that ‘appreciates individuals for who they are’.

That approachability carries into day-to-day training. Trainees describe a culture where support is available ‘no matter the seniority’ and colleagues often become friends. The firm’s size is a repeated strength: small enough to feel like ‘a family and community working environment’, but big enough for work ‘on par with larger and more commercial firms’. For trainees, this brings genuine responsibility, including being ‘heavily involved in matters from start to finish’ and having opportunities ‘to network and build our own personal brands’.

Best moments reflect this early trust. Trainees spoke of finding an area they ‘really enjoy’ and want to qualify into, leading client meetings and completing transactions from beginning to end. One recruit recalled becoming ‘an integral member of the team’ on a company sale, getting to know the clients and their business before completion around the client’s kitchen table, which was ‘very rewarding’.

Challenges include ‘balancing workload from competing partners’, adjusting to new seats and managing personal pressures alongside training. Trainees consider pay, benefits and hybrid working as areas for improvement.

For high-quality work and hands-on responsibility in a firm where trainees are valued as people as well as future lawyers, take a closer look at Leathes Prior.

A day in the life of... Rose Woolterton, Trainee

Departments to date: Wills, trusts and probate team (first seat); Family team (second seat).

University: University of East Anglia

Degree: LLB Law

I started my training contract with Leathes Prior in September 2024. I have recently moved to the employment team, having previously sat with both the family team and wills, trusts and probate team.  

The work in the employment team is varied as we represent both businesses and employees in Employment Tribunal proceedings, as well as offering ongoing specialist employment law advice and support to our Employmentor clients. This makes for a very interesting and diverse workload.  

My day starts with a short walk up to the office from the car park, taking in the glorious cathedral surroundings.  

I arrive at my desk for 8.30. My workday usually starts with a catch-up with my colleagues, talking about what we got up to the evening before and checking what is in everyone’s diaries for the day ahead. I then log on and check my emails. I draft my to-do list at the end of each workday in order of priority, and so when I check my emails, I check whether anything has come in that means I need to amend my current plan of action. Given the fast-paced nature of employment law and the upcoming changes that will be brought by the Employment Rights Bill, ensuring we are all up to date is extremely important.  

My first task of the day is to finish my review of a drug and alcohol policy. This involves ensuring that it contains the relevant provisions and that it is ultimately enforceable. I review the policy and make my amendments before sending this to my supervisor for review. Being new to the team and the world of employment law, I have found that policy review tasks are a good way to build my knowledge in a specific area. My supervisor later reviews my amended policy and provides me with constructive feedback from which to amend the policy further. I make the additional amendments and once approved, we send this off to the client with our suggestions.  

Later that morning I sit in on a meeting led by one of the solicitors in the team who is seeing a new client. The client has been offered a settlement agreement and so the solicitor explains the terms and effect of the agreement and advises on additional points that could be negotiated. After the meeting, the solicitor takes some time to go through any queries I have from the meeting, and she clarifies any points I have raised.  

At around 1.00 I pop out of the office for my lunch break. It is a nice, sunny, September day and so I walk down past the cathedral and sit by the river to eat my lunch and refresh myself.  

When I return from lunch my next task is to draft a letter to the Employment Tribunal regarding an anonymity order. These are quite uncommon and so I begin the task by researching the subject. In order to ensure that I am aware of the various rules and regulations that govern these, I spend over an hour researching. I then draft the letter, referring to the relevant legislation and supporting evidence. Once I am happy with my draft, I send it to my supervisor for review.  

The team have a fortnightly legal update meeting, which alternates with the general team meeting. This week, we have the legal update meeting. As the trainee, I am responsible for researching any recent changes to legislation or notable case outcomes and pulling these together ahead of the meeting. At the moment, as the new Employment Rights Bill makes its way through government, there are lots of changes happening.  

Having researched the legal updates ahead of the meeting today, I now take the time to go through my notes and prepare a handout document for the team. At 4.30, we all meet, and I discuss the recent updates. We also discuss the upcoming Modern Employer seminar that the team are delivering in October, confirming our plans for the content we wish to cover. As well as being helpful for the team, this meeting is also a nice time to check in with my colleagues as we approach the end of the week.  

When I return to my desk, I tidy up the last of my day’s work and organise myself for tomorrow. This includes updating my ‘trainee tasks’ board and drafting my to-do list. Tomorrow is Friday which means we will go to a nearby pub for the firm’s Friday drinks. This provides a nice opportunity to catch up with colleagues, including those I don’t run into on a day-to-day basis, and this always ends the week on a positive note. 

About the firm

The firm: Leathes Prior is a leading East Anglian full-service law firm providing a comprehensive legal service to a variety of organisations and private clients, both locally and nationwide. We are a traditional law firm (established over 140 years ago) with a very modern and collaborative approach to our work. We are growing and currently have over 120 staff in total. 

The clients: CVS (UK) Ltd; Angling Direct; Suffolk New College; Rainbird Technologies; The Great Hospital; Norwich University of the Arts; Alex Albon; Hitech Grand Prix Limited; Norfolk Broads Direct; British Horseracing Authority. 

Senior partner: Mike Barlow 

Managing partners: Dan Chapman, Richard Guthrie, Darren Bowen 

Other offices: Four offices in central Norwich, either in the Cathedral Close or Tombland, with a fifth small office hub in Ipswich. 

Who we are: Leathes Prior is a traditional full-service law firm with a modern and collaborative approach to our work. 

What we do: Employment, corporate and commercial, litigation and dispute resolution, family, commercial property, residential conveyancing, wills, trusts and estates. 

What we’re looking for in a trainee: Our trainees are self-motivated and proactive with their learning. While academic qualifications are important to us, we also ensure the right fit with the firm. 

What you’ll do: We aim to design training contracts according to the individual trainee solicitor. Our trainees normally complete four seats across the firm, spending six months in each seat. 

Perks: Healthcare cash plan, firm-wide bonus scheme, wellbeing support in-house and via an employee assistance programme, annual flu vaccination, free eye tests, free breakfast and fruit, free railcard, enhanced parental leave, discounted bus travel, subsidised city centre parking, pension based on full salary, corporate discounts, interest-free SQE loan. 

Sponsorship

All our future trainees are offered financial support for their SQE studies. This comes in one of two ways (or as a combination): 

• Interest-free loan repayable during the training contract. 
• Contribution payment with no requirement to repay unless certain circumstances arise. 

Seat options

Employment, corporate and commercial, litigation and dispute resolution, family, commercial property, residential conveyancing, wills, trusts and estates. 

Tips from the recruiter

1. Problem solving - our trainee solicitors are expected to learn how to identify appropriate advice for our clients’ needs. 
2. Organisation - ability to prioritise work and the ability to speak up when more support is needed is crucial. 
3. Self-motivation - we seek candidates who will take a very proactive and driven approach to their development.