Payne Hicks Beach

The Legal 500 Future Lawyers verdict on Payne Hicks Beach

The appeal of Payne Hicks Beach’s training contract is the opportunity to do ‘high-end private client work in a full-service environment’. The historic firm, based in London’s Lincoln’s Inn, is renowned for its work with ‘high-net-worth clients of an interesting nature’ across family law, private client services, media law and other niche specialisms not easily found elsewhere. For trainees interested in the more human areas of law, PHB’s training contract offering is unparalleled. 

For those who want to learn by doing, PHB delivers. Recruits value ‘working closely with very experienced solicitors on the core of matters’, which helps them to ‘learn a lot very quickly’ and feel ready for qualification when the time comes. Also invaluable is being trusted ‘to meet clients and undertake substantive, complex, and stimulating work’ with support from colleagues who are ‘understanding, empathetic, and excellent’. ‘Lots of early client exposure’ is another defining feature, as is the chance to work directly with senior lawyers rather than in a junior silo. 

Standout moments include ‘attending client meetings’, ‘watching a final hearing in the High Court’ and ‘liaising directly with a client to draft a key witness statement for an important hearing’. 

Trainees found ‘balancing the workload’, ‘working across multiple sub teams’ and managing the ‘demands of international/cross jurisdictional work’ challenging. More formal trainee-focused training would be welcome, as would additional paralegal support and better IT systems, with one respondent noting that the technology is ‘quite slow and unreliable’. Some trainees think that the salary could be raised to be ‘more in line with similar firms’, though the significant trade-off is the ‘good work/life balance’. 

For self-starters who want plenty of private client experience, meaningful responsibility, direct client contact and a supportive culture from day one, Payne Hicks Beach is the perfect place to train. 

About the firm

The firm: 

Payne Hicks Beach is a Lincoln’s Inn firm established in 1730 providing a full range of legal services to domestic and international private and commercial clients.

Chairman of the management board: Lucas Moore.

Who we are: 

Payne Hicks Beach is a medium-size London law firm with a global reach, a 300-year history at the same location in Lincoln’s Inn and a thoroughly 21st-century approach to client service. The firm provides solution-led advice and legal services to domestic and international private and commercial clients including individuals, families, businesses and trustees. Much of the firm’s work has an international element, building on strong links with the US, Canada, Scandinavia, the Middle East and Far East, the main offshore centres, Switzerland and other European countries. Work is regularly handled in French, Italian, Danish and Arabic. The firm consistently ‘punches above its weight’ in the complexity of the clients it serves and matters it handles, and specialist advisers work in close-knit teams to deliver a seamless service across all its practice areas. Trainees invariably feel part of the team from the moment they arrive.

What we do: 

The firm’s reputation has been built on family and private client work as one of the few UK firms that provides these services at the highest level. Its commanding position in these areas is complemented by an excellent reputation for contentious trusts, dispute resolution, privacy and media law, company and commercial law, employment, residential and commercial property, and citizenship and immigration work. Despite its position in the market, Payne Hicks Beach’s lawyers pride themselves on the confidentiality and discretion with which they conduct their work, not least because the firm’s clients include many household names, as a result of which the firm is one of London’s best kept secrets.

What we’re looking for: 

Applicants should have an excellent academic record (a 2(1) degree is a minimum), a high degree of drive and determination, and will need to demonstrate an ability to analyse problems accurately, to be creative in finding practical commercial solutions and communicating these clearly, as well as a flair for building relationships.

What you’ll do: 

Trainees spend time in each of four departments, with their preferences being taken into account in this rotation so far as possible. With only one trainee per department, they play an important role, with a high level of responsibility, real work and supervised client contact from the outset.

Trainees are subject to regular assessment, and engage in the required Professional Skills courses, as well as in-house training. However, with the firm’s team outlook and open-door policy they also have access to help and support from colleagues who are acknowledged experts in their fields.

Perks: 

Private medical insurance; permanent health insurance; dental cover; life assurance scheme; health assessment; contributory pension scheme; cycle to work scheme; season ticket loan; Gymflex; staff introduction bonus; holiday purchase scheme.

Sponsorship

Full GDL, LPC and SQE funding and a maintenance grant each year of study. BPP Law School is the firm’s preferred provider.

Seat options

Dispute resolution; family; employment; private client; property; citizenship and immigration; and corporate.

Tips from the recruiter

1. Steer clear of the generic; keep your responses concise; and make sure that you proofread them.
2. Take the time to research the firm: demonstrate that you understand its profile and ethos and why these appeal to you.
3. If you are selected to come for an assessment day, please be yourself: authenticity is very important at PHB.

Diversity/inclusion