Researching law firms – where to start

Tips from Oxford University offer-holders

25 November 2022

Researching a law firm can be a daunting task and we are often asked by students how they can differentiate one law firm from another. Only looking at the “headlines” on a firm’s website can make them appear somewhat similar, which is why deeper research is needed to get behind those headlines to discover more and to build a clear picture of a firm. This will help you decide if you might want to work there and use the information in the application and interview stages. 

Questions to consider

In a recent panel discussion, Oxford University students and graduates with training contract offers, Safi (History), Julien (History) and Rhys (Law), created a list of questions to help elicit this key information around five topics. 

Industry position

  • Where does your firm sit in the legal market?
  • What are its practice areas and what are its specialisms?
  • What are the percentages of work in each of the main practice areas?
  • Who are the clients?
  • What are the notable deals?
  • Have there been any new major hires or a new office opened?

Trainee experience

  • What is the culture, and will it suit you?
  • How many trainees are there and what is the retention rate on qualification?
  • How much responsibility is given to trainees?
  • What kind of post graduate legal education do they offer (PGDL/LPC/SQE) and to what extent do they fund this?
  • How many seats do the trainees do?
  • Are there secondments to clients/ to an international office?
  • Are there any mandatory seats?
  • What is the starting salary and the salary on qualification?

Business approach

  • What are the firm’s values and goals?
  • Who are their competitors and how do they see themselves versus them?
  • Has the firm ever merged with another – has this affected their position in the market or a new market?
  • How to they intend to grow in the future?
  • Do they have an international strategy?
  • What are the big trends in the legal market and how is the firm handling this?
  • What are their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and/or Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policies or initiatives?
  • To what extent have they adopted legal tech?

Statistics

  • How big is the firm in term of practicing lawyers, partners and support staff vs other firms? 
  • How many offices does it have and where are they?
  • How many UK female and BAME associates and partners are there?

Firm’s financials

  • What practice areas are doing well?
  • Is the firm hitting its targets?
  • Which offices are doing well? 

Further resources

There are a great many resources freely available to you to help you complete this research. We recommend that you read the Solicitor briefing written by Oxford careers advisers, which lists many of them along with hints and tips about becoming a solicitor. Our panelists also found the following very useful:

Many thanks to Safi, Julien and Rhys!

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