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Training Principal Rachael Spalton – Partner and Head of Commercial Property

Hours Full Time

Location Hertford

About Longmores

Longmores is a progressive firm of specialist solicitors renowned for its professional yet

personal service that has been advising businesses and individuals in Hertfordshire and

across the country since 1819. All our solicitors and fee earners are specialists in their

respective areas of law acting for a wide range of commercial, private, and public sector

clients.

We are ranked in the legal directories Chambers UK and The Legal 500 and hold many

accreditations including Lexcel, Customer Service Excellence, ISO9001 and Cyber

Essentials. Everything we do is underpinned by our core values:

• Open and honest

• Working together

• Valuing people

• Taking pride in what we do

Find out more about the firm at www.longmores.law

Recruitment Opportunities

We are pleased to announce that applications for training contracts to start in September 2023

are now open and will close on 26th May 2023.

We have been offering training contracts for many years, often having two trainee solicitors

employed within the firm at any one time. We view trainees as an investment for the future.

Several of our partners and assistant solicitors trained at Longmores. We are looking for

people who would like to have a long-term future with us.

Our policy is to ensure that, as a trainee solicitor, you are fully integrated into our firm gaining

a good understanding in several areas of law in line with Solicitors’ Regulation Authority

requirements. Supporting solicitors and other staff, you will gain the benefit of their experience

working in a fully supervised environment, whilst expanding your own experience and

knowledge and honing your skills.

We encourage our trainees to get fully involved in marketing activities and business

development, in addition to dealing with the day-to-day aspects of legal work.

Our Ideal Candidate

We look for applications from well rounded, commercially minded individuals. Success here

means having the skills to apply knowledge creatively for our clients. We recruit based on

potential. In our experience key indicators of a trainee’s potential are:

• A strong academic background (2:1 degree level not necessarily in law).

• Good written and oral communication skills

• Ability to assimilate information, analyse it, and translate that understanding

• Experience of working with others to achieve a task

• Willingness to accept feedback and learn from experiences
  

Preference is given to candidates who have demonstrated their enthusiasm for becoming a

solicitor through relevant work experience and who have or who are willing to make local

connections.

Structure Of The Training Programme

Your training contract will consist of 4 seats of around 6 months each, giving you the

opportunity to gain experience in varied areas of law within our main practice areas of:

• Dispute Resolution

• Employment

• Commercial Property

• Private Client (wills, trusts, probate, tax planning and the law relating to the elderly

client)

• Family law

• Company Commercial
  

For each seat you will have a training supervisor who is a partner or a solicitor within that

practice area. The nature of each seat is different, but you can expect a range of experiences

from assisting on large, complex transactions, taking clients’ instructions, drafting documents

and legal research and you will be given more responsibility as you progress and build up your

skills.

Throughout your training contract, you will be treated in the same way as a qualified solicitor

in that you will have targets to achieve and systems to learn and follow. You will gain a

thorough understanding of the law and practice of the seat you are in and to react quickly and

responsively to clients.

Our Selection Process

We create a short list of candidates to invite to a first stage assessment interview which will

take place either on the 12th or 15th June 2023.

Final stage interviews will take place on the 13th July 2023

Offers will be made to successful candidates by the end of July 2023.

Please note that due to the expected high volume of applications, we are unable to provide

any feedback to unsuccessful applicants. If you have not received a response by 7th June

2023, please assume that your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.

How to apply

To apply for a training contract to start in September 2023 please email Su Turley, Head of

Operations, at [email protected] with your CV and a covering letter by the 26th May

2023. Applicants who are shortlisted for interview will be notified as soon as possible after

that date.

What our staff say about Training with us

Jessica Few

I joined Longmores in September 2019 as a trainee solicitor. Prior to joining Longmores I

worked as a paralegal in a large law firm. What attracted me to Longmores was the sense of

community and this has only become more apparent since I have started working here.

The atmosphere in the office is companionable, and as a trainee you feel comfortable to ask

anyone a question. You work closely with your team, and there is the perfect balance between

receiving guidance from the partner or solicitor you are shadowing and having the confidence,

and freedom, to work independently.

Your progress as a trainee is monitored at Longmores, and you continuously receive feedback

to ensure that you are achieving your full potential. You are also kept up to date with any

training programmes that are available to you. Within my first month I attended a time

management and time recording training session in London. Longmores encourage you to

attend training as they want you to fully utilise your two years as a trainee. It is apparent that

Longmores invest heavily in their trainees, and you are very much made to feel part of the

Longmores team.

There is also a great work life balance at Longmores. On many occasions, my team check in

on me that I am not being delegated an unmanageable amount of work and any extra time

that you do put in is made to feel appreciated.

Miranda Nixon

I joined Longmores in 2020 as a paralegal in the family department before starting my training

contract in July 2021. During my training, I worked in four different practice areas, gaining a

wide range of experience in both contentious and non-contentious work. Longmores ensures

you are receiving proper training, and, from the start, you are given engaging work which

increases your skills. Your day-to-day workload will involve a mixture of drafting documents,

communicating with clients, and attending meetings to take notes. Whilst the structure of each

department differs slightly, you will find yourself working closely with partners and assisting in

large complex matters. As your confidence increases, you will start managing smaller cases

under direct supervision of a fee earner which gives an insight into how to properly manage

casefiles. The environment at Longmores is open and friendly, you are encouraged to ask

questions and properly understand the work you are undertaking. Each practice area is very

supportive, and you are made to feel welcome from day one. Longmores has a hybrid working

model meaning that almost everyone works in the office part time, with at least one or two

days spent working from home. Despite this, I was able to get to know everyone in each

practice area and felt comfortable assisting on matters or discussing various topics with

multiple fee earners.

Outside of work, you are given opportunities to engage in business development events to

increase your commercial awareness, a skill that is increasingly important in the legal world.

There are also ample internal social events which allow you to get to know people in different

practice areas, for example I recently attended a pottery painting session at a local studio. The

culture at Longmores emphasises having a life outside of work, you are checked on to make

sure you’re being properly supported by the team and the level of work given to you is within

a manageable range.

Kirsty Adamson

I joined Longmores in 2021 as a paralegal in the Dispute Resolution team prior to starting my

training contract in April 2022. One of the best things about training at Longmores is the

friendly atmosphere and everyone is on hand to answer your questions. As a trainee, you also

can work on a variety of private and commercial matters. For example, I’ve had the opportunity

to attend a two-day trial with one of the partners and counsel which gave me first-hand

experience of the civil court system. I have also been able to attend a case management

hearing on behalf of a client with counsel. Throughout your training contract, you receive

constructive feedback from your supervising solicitor or partner on how you can improve your

skills. The work you are allocated as a trainee is varied and suited to what is expected of you

as a trainee.

As a Longmores trainee, you are encouraged to attend business development events and

other training courses to help develop your soft skills. Many of the solicitors and partners

started off as trainees so it is clear that Longmores invest in its trainees and there is room to

progress at the firm after qualification. The firm also has its own social committee that arranges

different activities such as cocktail-making or bowling so you can get to know everyone on a

more personal level at the firm.