Survey Results - Trainee feedback on TLT LLP

The lowdown - Trainees (in their own words) on TLT LLP

Why did you choose this firm over any others? ‘I liked that it was forward thinking and prioritised clean energy’, ‘everyone I met on the vacation scheme and during the interview process was friendly and approachable’, ‘the type of work (I am interested in financial services) and the culture’, ‘the strategy and ambition of the firm was very clear and I felt it would be a rewarding environment to work in because of this’, ‘it has become a strong market player in the last ten years’, ‘TLT pays for your SQE/diploma fees and provides a £6,000 maintenance grant (in England and Scotland)’, ‘the Bristol HQ’

Best thing about the firm? ‘The culture and the ambitious, driven nature of the firm’, ‘the flexibility, diversity and culture’, ‘the work/life balance’, ‘the people’, ‘our amazing office in Glasgow is a wonderful place to work.  While the firm actively encourages home working, it is often hard to keep people away from the barista coffee machine or free snacks!’, ‘it has a national offering so opportunities to get involved in a range of work and visit different offices’, ‘it keeps sustainability at the forefront’, ‘it is rapidly expanding in a lot of different sectors and becoming a big player’

Worst thing about the firm? ‘The salary could be better – especially for trainees’, ‘the remuneration and the lack of awareness about it’, ‘the IT offering could be better’, ‘there could be more office-wide activities/social events in Manchester but I can’t speak for other offices’, ‘the pay and benefits’, ‘lack of cohesion/dismissive nature of offices outside of England (Scotland, Northern Ireland)’, ‘there is a high level of low-value public sector churn work’

Best moment? ‘My secondment to a large international bank’, ‘a solo trip to our Bristol office (from Belfast) for training with the corporate team, attending a departmental social and meeting the various teams’, ‘completing a transaction for my supervisor and being the first line of communication with the other side’, ‘receiving excellent feedback from clients’, ‘closing my own deal on a completion call’, ‘attending the High Court’, ‘the genuine engagement from supervisors at all levels in your progress, even when you are no longer in the seat’

Worst moment? ‘I think I could have used more training in my first seat’, ‘I felt a little lost at the start, coping with the life change’, ‘getting things wrong (albeit the support is there when you do as this is a normal part of the training contract)’, ‘some busy evenings and missing some personal events as a result, but this is to be expected on occasion from such a high-calibre firm’, ‘I was given filing jobs which took a very long time and I do not feel that they advanced my knowledge of law’

The Legal 500 Future Lawyers verdict on TLT LLP

TLT is a ‘modern firm’ and ‘has seen vast growth in recent years’, which ‘gives it a real buzz’. Trainees found the national firm’s strategy and ambition ‘very clear’, which in turn made them feel it ‘would be a rewarding environment to work in’. TLT ‘really practises what it preaches with regards to culture and sustainability’ and has earned a Future Lawyers Winner medal for the latter – ‘sustainability is at the forefront’ of the firm. Two further medals have been awarded for legal tech and for flexible working – the firm offers an ‘excellent remote working policy’, and this was considered by many to be one of the best things about TLT. Training is ‘supported and encouraging’, and trainees are given ‘hands-on, client-facing experience from the start’, as well as ‘substantive legal work and client contact’. A ‘work/life balance is definitely prioritised’, and the firm is ‘incredibly people-focused and team-centred’. Trainees feel ‘included and welcomed into each team and given real work so that we can become a valuable member of the team quickly’. The trainee pay is a ‘constant sore point, especially as we grow in revenue and panel appointments’. This is ‘particularly jarring when you look at the PEP (profit per equity partner)’. Some respondents also consider the NQ salary ‘not competitive’. For one respondent, the worst experience of their training so far was when ‘one of my supervisors was difficult to reach on the phone, so you were often sat waiting for work or answers to your questions for days. That was frustrating’. ‘Being shouted at in an open office by my supervisor and feeling embarrassed afterwards’ and ‘karaoke at the Christmas party’ weren’t great either. Much more exciting was ‘settling my first case which I ran pretty much on my own. Very satisfying!’ and ‘leading my first completion of a £5.5m facility in the banking team and having to support the firm on the other side as they were not as experienced as TLT’. If you want to work with ‘ambitious yet approachable people’ in a ‘collegiate’ firm with a ‘strong focus on clean energy work and clients’ and on an ‘exciting growth trajectory’, then TLT could be the place for you.

About the firm

The firm: Going beyond expectations, challenging conventions and creating lasting value for clients. This is what we are known for. It’s what you could be known for too. Operating in all UK jurisdictions and across seven sectors, it combines traditional legal practices with a commercially agile mindset to create successful solutions for clients.

The clients: Innova, Santander, WHSmith, Sainsburys, Barclays, Town & Country Housing, EDF, Boohoo, Savills, Aardman Animations.

Senior partner: Andrew Glynn

Managing partner: John Wood

Other offices: London, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast, Piraeus

Who we are: Going beyond expectations, challenging conventions and creating lasting value for clients. This is what we are known for. It’s what you could be known for too.

TLT is a place where ambition and drive really matter. We want lawyers that push boundaries, ask questions and can solve complex problems.

But what matters to you? Train with us and you can voice your ideas, get stuck into client work and have input on where and how you work. You’ll join an open and collaborative culture where you can approach anyone for a conversation and get involved in causes that you care about.

Our training programme gives you the opportunity to grow your legal knowledge and business development experience. It puts you right at the heart of the action and is all about giving you real work, creating real results and getting real recognition for your achievements.

What we do: TLT is a full-service commercial law firm with proven and award-winning expertise working in the clean energy; financial services; retail and consumer goods; digital; leisure, food and drink; public sector; and real estate sectors for a range of start-ups through to high-profile clients.

What we’re looking for: We look for applicants that are commercially aware and business-savvy as well as academically bright. Our trainee solicitors are free-thinkers, not just process-drivers. Applicants should have a minimum of 120 UCAS points and a 2(1) degree.

What you’ll do: We combine expertise with open-mindedness and an entrepreneurial culture to deliver the best training contract for our future talent. You will get responsibility and be able to challenge yourself, with the support to help you develop. You will have a tailored training programme incorporating technical legal aspects and business development skills, giving you the best start in your legal career.

Perks: Private health and medical schemes, retail vouchers, 25 days’ holiday with the option to buy or sell more, reduced-rate gym membership, season ticket loan, TLT pension plan, life assurance and the opportunity to do community support work, pro bono legal advice, environmental initiatives and fundraising – a full, flexible benefits scheme.

Sponsorship: We sponsor GDL, LPC, Scottish Diploma of Legal Practice and Northern Ireland Institute fees, and pay a £6,500 maintenance grant for GDL, LPC and Scottish Diploma as well.

Diversity and inclusion

At TLT we know that the key to our success is our people and being at TLT involves being client-centred, it involves being outstanding and future ready. Finally, being part of TLT means being progressive and a large part of this is our proactive approach to creating an inclusive environment for all; we strive to create diversity of experience, diversity of background and diversity of thought in all of our teams. We work collectively to ensure that TLT is a place where our people can truly be themselves, where they are at their best; at TLT we work to create a space where each individual is treated with dignity and respect. We promote this by taking every opportunity to celebrate difference and diversity, we empower our people to be active allies, to challenge behaviours which are at odds with our culture of inclusivity.

We truly value diversity and actively seek to promote it at all levels of the organisation. We seek to ensure that everyone has the same opportunity to succeed irrespective of any differing or defining characteristic.

We work continually to ensure we are meeting the needs of our employees and have committed substantial resources to ensure we are driving the agenda forward across multiple diversity strands, including sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, neuro-diversity, social mobility, disability and religion. Our efforts are reflected in the ongoing success of our employee inclusion networks, which we continue to grow and build. These networks are a critical part of our firm, supporting across LGBTQ+ and Black, Asian and minority ethnic inclusion, as well as gender equality, social mobility and neuro-diversity; our networks are helping to ensure that our employees have a voice, but also work to connect people. Supported by leaders across the organisation their mission is to partner with our dedicated ED&I function and the wider organisation, to instill the sense of belonging for everyone who works at TLT. Our networks are partners in supporting the development of our progressive plans for the future.

Furthermore, as an organisation, we work with a range of external partners and as part of wide-reaching initiatives across the UK. To ensure that we attract the best, most diverse talent possible we have continued to be involved in a variety of attraction initiatives which are focused on improving diversity and inclusion in professional service. This includes our work alongside the Social Mobility Business Project (SMBP) – a multi-award-winning social mobility scheme, as well as our longstanding partnership with Aspiring Solicitors, which has continued to strengthen over the years.

While we are always proud of what we have achieved, we continue to strive to be better, to push further and to evolve for the benefit of our employees, the firm, our clients and the wider legal sector.

Percentage of female associates: 68.3%

Percentage of female partners: 31.9%

Percentage of BAME associates: 15.7%

Percentage of BAME partners: 5.6%