The Legal Cheek View
Liverpool’s largest global law firm — and, more importantly, the namesake of Everton FC’s new football ground — has developed strong footholds in areas including healthcare, real estate, and banking, as well as continuing to grow its highly rated shipping practice.
First established as a maritime law specialist in 1810, Hill Dickinson now boasts an expansive offering of over 1000 lawyers and business staff across London, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle and Birmingham. The firm also has overseas bases in major shipping strongholds such as Monaco, Piraeus, Singapore and Limassol.
Back in Blighty, the firm has been undergoing somewhat of a growth spurt. A new corporate team in Newcastle bolsters the recent addition of a seven-strong marine team poached from shipping competitor Clyde & Co. In London, the firm has been building out its real estate and construction practice by snapping up partners from the likes of Taylor Wessing and Maples Teesdale, and Birmingham are still building out their practice since opening last year — recently adding a commercial dispute resolution team from Shakespeare Martineau. New digs in Leeds and Manchester have been the consequence of significant growth in these regions, with the firm taking up 18,200 square feet of footballer Gary Neville’s St Michael’s development in Spinningfields. The football theme doesn’t stop there either, as the firm have also shown commitment to their roots by penning a rumoured £10 million per year deal to be the namesake for Everton Football Club’s new stadium, the ‘Hill Dickinson Stadium’!
Evidently, Hill Dick have got money to splash, so it might not come as a surprise to learn that firmwide reached a record £172 million in the past financial year — an 18% boost on the year before. Whilst HD doesn’t disclose its profit per equity partner (PEP), its highest earning partner draws over £1 million each year.
The mood within Hill Dickinson is pretty good, with the firm again scoring well in the Legal Cheek Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey 2025-26. Expect to be working with “some of the most down-to-earth, approachable, friendly and outgoing peers” and partners who are “very willing to offer insight into the work they do and eager to get you involved.” As one source enthuses, “There is a really supportive trainee network at Hill Dickinson. You know that you can reach out to any trainee and they will make time to answer any of your questions.” The firmwide open-door policy leaves newbies feeling comfortable approaching partners and higher ups with questions or just general chat. As one junior tells us, “You can have the same relaxed conversations with the CEO as you would with a paralegal. No one is off-limits.”
Firm newbies benefit from the firm’s thorough trainee development programme, which brings together trainees from different UK offices every four months to take modules on a range of topics including communication techniques and receiving feedback. Teams also provide practice area specific training including monthly seminars from industry figures.
This focus on development also extends to other qualification pathways. “The firm has a good record of promoting paralegals to trainees,” one insider tells us, “which really shows how keen the firm is to grow internal talent and help everyone keep progressing.” There’s also a “trainee away day” each year to strengthen bonds and lots of social events on offer, such as evening painting sessions, scavenger hunts, pizza days and payday drinks, alongside a fortnightly drinks trolley in London. As another puts it: “The social aspect of the firm is really good, they make an effort to get us together at least once or twice a month and there is often a healthy budget. There is also a good mix of non-drinking socials which are inclusive.”
This flexibility and supportive culture make Hill Dickinson’s work/life balance “perfect”: “Credit where credit’s due, the firm generally has an excellent work life balance” notes one trainee, “besides corporate of course, who get their vitamin D from window-refracted sunlight.” Another spy offered this: “Hill Dickinson really supports flexible working hours, for example, I am allowed to leave to get a more off-peak train and am entrusted to fit my work in around this which I really appreciate.” This relaxed approach was felt across the board, with another insider telling us there is “no culture of presenteeism: as long as the work gets done, partners are happy for you to leave at a decent time to make commitments during the week.” A usual day isn’t far off a 9-5, with trainees reporting heading home at around 6pm/6:30pm in London. In the regions, another well rested junior adds: “It is very rare that I leave later than 5:40 pm.”
When you are undergoing a more intense period of work, it’s normally pretty interesting stuff. “Individual teams and supervisors are excellent at involving trainees in high quality work, a feature that is consistent across all the teams I have worked in,” says one spy. Another remarked “the teams get trainees involved in as wide a range of tasks as possible, to give us varied experience within each seat. This includes involvement in high-profile and complex matters.” Trainees report being given associate-level work from day one with one telling us: “My supervisor allows me to run matters on my own (with supervision) which has given me the opportunity to complete mandates from start to finish. My supervisor also doesn’t believe in giving trainees admin tasks so everything I have been involved in has been real legal work.”
All this translates into some good scores for Hill Dickinson’s training programme, which boasts internal training sessions by professional support lawyers and regular sessions with the learning and development team. Informally, solicitors at all levels are said to “take the time to explain tasks and the relevancy of the task in the context of the matter as a whole. They also provide detailed feedback and are always very supportive.” As another rookie puts it “the training is excellent. I have been given 1:1 support and input by partners who are experts in their fields. I feel as though they genuinely have an interest in ensuring that my skills as a lawyer are developed.”
Trainees are expected in the office at least four days a week, which has provoked a range of responses. Some crave “more flexibility,” whilst others find it “really beneficial to both training experience and relationships within the firm”. A £200 budget to spend on home office equipment is appreciated nonetheless, though as one trainee pointed out the new office attendance requirement means “it doesn’t get used much.”
The consensus is that the legal tech “could do with some work.” Despite rumours that Hill Dick has implemented a firmwide AI ban, our sources tell us that they do in fact use Microsoft Co-Pilot – though this is the extent of the tech offering for now. Another spy divulged that “the recent, well-publicised, sponsorship of Everton FC’s football stadium has raised considerable eyebrows. Given our integration of AI tools and automated software has been painfully slow, many are questioning the wisdom of spending huge sums on a vanity project before getting the house in order.”
Perks include private healthcare, a £250 gym subsidy, cycle to work scheme, tickets to Lancashire Cricket and (soon) Everton games, and a day off for your birthday. Not quite the highs of some City firms but as one sage trainee says “we don’t have many perks, but you do get the weekends!”
Reviews on the office spaces vary quite drastically across the country. The Leeds team’s brand new energy efficient space in Wellington Place has gone down a treat whilst rookies in the London office love the “James Bond escalators” in their Broadgate Tower abode right by the delicacies of Spitalfields. The Liverpool HQ has a well-rated new “social space” which has become the go-to place for trainee lunches and catch-ups, though none of the offices have a canteen. At the other end of the spectrum, we’re told that “Charles Dickens would feel at home” in the firm’s current Manchester hub, with recruits telling LC that they currently feel like they’re “working in a 70s police station” — seems like a move can’t come soon enough!
Luckily, for those wanting a temporary escape from the office, the firm offers small number of pretty good client secondments to the NHS and easyJet, among others.