Boodle Hatfield LLP - True Picture

Boodle Hatfield training contract review 2024

The Firm

As the old saying goes, good things come in small packages. As one of the smaller firms in our guide, Boodle Hatfield keeps to cosier dimensions, and quite deliberately. “Clients go across the departments,” one trainee explained, “so they might buy a house, and then come in and get married and get a pre-nup, then they might sort their will out. So they will use the firm for all these different things, and it really brings everything together.” For trainees at the firm, this was precisely the draw: “The benefit of Boodle Hatfield is that the well-rounded seat options are all quite interconnected.”

With a total headcount of around 100 fee earners between two offices in London and one in Oxford, Boodles’ family feel on the inside is reflected in its core areas of strength – private client, real estate and business. In fact, the firm bags Chambers High Net Worth rankings in London crossing all three areas. It stands out among the best for private wealth disputes, high-value residential real estate, and work with family offices and fund structuring. Nationwide, the firm is particularly strong in art and cultural property law. 

Keeping it small, just four or five trainees join the ranks each year. While there is the option for trainees to undertake a private client and tax seat at the firm’s Oxford office, “most of us are based at the Blackfriars office” in London, one trainees explained. “We do have an office in Mayfair too, but that’s mostly used to meet with clients.”

“They aren’t resting on the history of the firm.”

At 300 years old, Boodle Hatfield is on the more venerable side. but “while it’s a traditional firm with one half of the client base a relatively traditional client base, they aren’t resting on the history of the firm.” Trainees pointed to the firm’s strong gender diversity by way of example, not just at the trainee level but among the firm’s senior positions too. Women make up almost half of the partnership, including the firm’s new senior partner Andrea Zavos, who took over from Sara Maccallum in 2023 (Maccallum held the position for 8 years!). “The representation of women is fantastic,” praised one. “I have a lot of female role models here.”

Find out more about Boodle Hatfield's upcoming open day here.

The Seats

When it comes to seat allocation, it’s a relatively informal affair, made up of a conversation with HR prior to joining to chat through seat preferences. “Because it’s not a massive firm and there are only five departments, you can sit in as a trainee, it’s quite an open conversation throughout your two years,” one source told us. While not strictly compulsory, a lot of trainees begin life at Boodle in a property seat, “just given the size of the department, which is our largest.” Chances are trainees will sit in private client too, with contentious options limited to litigation and family.

“…the sorts of things you don’t really learn about at law school.”

As Boodle Hatfield’s largest department, private client & tax (PCT) is one of the more popular seat options for trainees drawn to the firm’s reputation for this kind of work. PCT is split into a contentious and non-contentious team, and trainees are likely to get a taste of both at some stage: “It’s quite hard to describe a normal day in private client because it’s always very different. The clients are an incredibly diverse bunch that have a whole host of issues that they need advice on,” one told us.Typical trainee tasks included drafting wills, attending client meetings, and assisting with tax and succession advice. “A lot of the advice on these sorts of issues can be very intricate, and you can spend a lot of time with your head in a book trying to find specific rules,” one source explained. “There’s more of the rule-based academic work than there is in property, which is much more transaction-driven. It’s more a case of asking, ‘What is the law, and how does it apply to this case?’”

As the second largest department at the firm, the work in the property team is split into three areas: residential, commercial, and agricultural. “On the residential side, we act for the landlord in landlord/tenant disputes and manage property sales for clients,” one trainee explained. “The commercial side covers some of the larger transactions, from small retail properties all the way up to multimillion office blocks in London.” While trainees can get involved with drafting leases and Land Registry applications on these high-value properties, it’s likely that you’ll start on a slightly smaller scale. “A lot of the work they get you doing as a trainee is garage leases,” one trainee recalled, “it’s actually a really great place to start, because the principles are more or less the same for any other lease. You learn the process, so that when it comes to a multimillion property in London, you know the foundations.” In fact, the freedom for trainees to run with these smaller files (under appropriate supervision) was a big selling point of the seat for the current cohort: “Obviously it’s small numbers, but you learn very quickly about things like getting the invoices, the sorts of things you don’t really learn about at law school.”

The familydepartment at Boodle handles “some finance work, children’s work, divorce and prenuptial arrangements.” The firm is particularly well known for its expertise in matrimonial law, but also areas of children’s law such as leave to remove cases, child abduction, financial remedy and financial support work, and advising on disputes involving children on the autism spectrum. “At the start of the seat there will be lots of admin work, creating quite standard documents and note taking,” one trainee told us, “but as you move through the seat you’ll come across some quite complex financial problems, and there is the chance to go to court to sit in on some hearings too.” Another recalled that “you can get a lot of responsibility in family. It’s a busy team, and you are straight in there dealing with matters and liaising with counsel.” If you’re interested in this area of law, you can hear directly from the experts at Boodle in the firm’s Surrogacy Landscape Podcast, which looks at how surrogacy has historically been seen as a taboo subject, and delves deeper into how attitudes are changing.

Trainees that had sat in litigation described the team as covering a mix of work, from property litigation to contentious art law. “I spent some time working in property litigation, which is acting for some of the same clients you might come across in the property seat,” one trainee told us. “One example would be working with the big estates on landlord/tenant disputes, whether that’s someone not paying their rent or not complying with their obligations under the lease.” As you might expect in a litigious seat, there’s plenty of the bread-and-butter research and bundling tasks, but trainees were quick to tell us that there was always plenty of room for involvement in a case: “We would often be emailing people ourselves, and it felt really good to be playing a part on the ground.”

“…it underpins a lot of the work that we do in all other areas.”

When it comes to corporatework at Boodle, “it underpins a lot of the work that we do in all other areas, particularly private client,” one source remarked. “If you’re putting structures in place for clients, a lot of the time a company will be involved,” they explained, “so it really helps to get an idea of things like board minutes and filings. It just helps to paint that picture in the background.” Whether it’s the incorporation of companies or research into overseas entities, trainees in the seat can get exposure to a variety of work. Trainees also told us that there is a small employment team that falls under the corporate banner that some of the firm’s current cohort were able to dip into too.

Trainee Life

“I wouldn’t say you are let off the leash,” one trainee commented, reflecting on their time across seats, “but you are allowed to get on with it. There’s a great reciprocal trust there that you will do things properly, and in turn, your supervisor will be more than happy for you to come to them if you need help with something.”

In that regard, sources found “one thing that’s been great is that the partners are very open to helping where they can, so it’s a good environment to work in.” The rule for trainees is four days a week in the office, moving down to three at an associate level: “We are sat with a partner, so they are quite keen on us being in the office to see them work and learn from that. If they can just swivel their chair and say something, it’s a lot more effective than calling or emailing.”

There’s also a formalised training programme on offer. “In each department, there will be once or twice weekly refresher sessions,” one source explained. “These are held in a meeting room and they function like lessons, where a professional support lawyer will walk you through how something works, and how to navigate it.” This is supplemented by a general encouragement to make use of library resources to catch up and do some extra reading where you can.

“There’s an atmosphere of people being relieved to be here!”

The firm also has a name for a more palatable pace of life. “People come from magic and silver circle firms for the work/life balance,” one observed, “so there’s an atmosphere of people being relieved to be here!” Hours at the firm are certainly at the more reasonable end of the industry average, particularly for a London firm: “I’m usually in between 9 and 9.30am, and out between 6 and 7pm,” was the general consensus. “The firm has delivered on its culture of working hard while you’re here, but not sticking around too late,” one elaborated. “The latest I’ve ever worked is 9pm, you never work at the weekend, and if a partner emails you late, there’s never the expectation that you will respond before the morning.”

Trainees felt that while the salary was “decent given the hours that we work and the time we are expected to be online,” what's more, the firm recently bumped up its NQ salary to £83,000.

Come qualification time, sources emphasised the informality of the process: “It’s a discussion with HR, a conversation about where you would like to qualify, before the firm goes away and decides where its business needs are.” In 2023 the firm retained four of five qualifiers.

How to get a Boodle Hatfield training contract 

APPLY HERE 

Vacation scheme deadline: 31 January 2024

Training contract deadline: 19 June 2024

Application and assessment 

Boodle receives around 400 applications a year for its vacation scheme and training contract combined. Both direct training contract and vacation scheme applications begin with an online form. Once it's submitted, applicants can add updates until the submission deadline – for example, further work experience placements or exam results. 

Vac scheme applicants face a Zoom interview with HR to land a spot. Once on the scheme, they have another two interviews for the training contract: one with HR and another with a pair of partners. These take place on the same day, either during or after their placement, and there is a verbal reasoning assessment involved. Direct training contract applicants also face these latter interviews and test during an Assessment Day. 

How to wow 

When it comes to selecting future trainees, “academics are very important,” HR director Katie Kirkhope tells us, “particularly as a solicitor progresses and becomes more senior. The work we do is complicated, and clients expect the highest quality.” This is a point that is echoed by Training Principal Graham Winkley. When asked what sort of person would thrive at Boodle Hatfield, he added that those with "academic ability and the intelligence to process some complicated issues that will come across their desk." Indeed, the firm maintains relationships with some long-established clients, so a potential Boodelian also needs “good interpersonal skills to gain the confidence of clients,” we're told. As one put it: “Trainees in the property seat in particular run a lot of their own files with the appropriate supervision and support, and they've got to be able to ring up a client or the other side, and be confident in what they're doing.” 

Winkley goes on to say: "The key thing as a trainee from day one is the way you connect with clients… What we are looking for is a person who can articulate complex ideas and an opinion in a user-friendly manner for their client." 

The interviewers at Boodle Hatfield are always keen to find out why the individual wants to train at the firm. Questions aren’t designed to catch candidates out, but do be prepared to have a sensible discussion on a question or point rather than giving a pre-prepared answer. Kirkhope also recommends "doing your research, knowing the firm you're coming to, and understanding the types of work it does.” At the same time, she reminds us: “You can't be someone who's afraid to seek guidance, advice or clarification when necessary.” 

Vacation scheme 

The firm usually offers six spots on its fortnight-long vac scheme. During their placement vac schemers visit two departments, though those keen to sample another one can request to spend an afternoon shadowing a lawyer there. “We aim to give them exposure to as much work as possible,” says Kirkhope. “We want to bring vac schemers into the day-to-day life of a lawyer here. Joining a law firm is a big decision, and we want to find people who'll join and stay for a long time.”