The Legal Cheek View
As major London law firms go, there are few more delightful places to work than Bristows. The firm, which is well known for its market-leading intellectual property practice, once again scored highly in the Legal Cheek Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey 2025-26.
“Best firm in the UK for tech work” rave insiders, enamoured by the quality of work at Bristows. IP isn’t the only thing on offer, places on some flashy teams such as data, cyber & libel, and media & marketing, are also up for grabs, alongside more common practice areas like real estate, tax and corporate. The “very cool and interesting” clients at Bristows include the likes of Sony, Google, The Guardian and the BBC. Plus insiders say they are able to get stuck into “really interesting” work for these clients and “where we have smaller clients, there is opportunity to take on more responsibility”.
“I have been lucky during my TC so far and I have been given plenty of responsibility and interesting work,” one source tells LC, “all areas have a certain amount of admin but we are encouraged to make use of PAs and paralegals to deal with the brunt of that where possible.” Trainees here describe being involved in “complex legal research questions” and taking ownership of tasks from their first day on the job. Another details their experience as this: “Once you can demonstrate being able to do the basic tasks to a high level, most associates are very happy to give you more complex tasks or there are plenty of opportunities for some more stimulating tasks if you are proactive and volunteer for them.”
The training contract itself is a little idiosyncratic, with the firm offering a mixture of three and six month seats in different areas, meaning trainees will usually sit in five or six seats throughout their TC. One of these seats is guaranteed to be in IP litigation but other potential areas include corporate, real estate, commercial disputes, EU and competition, commercial IP/IT and regulatory.
The firm’s latest financial results paint a healthy picture. Revenues leaped 14%, from £52.7 million to £60.4 million in what has been back-to-back years of growth for the firm. Profit per equity partner (PEP) meanwhile is understood to sit around the £500,000 mark. Certainly, Bristows’ top dogs, who enjoy some of the best work/life balance in the legal world, have a rather nice set-up.
The same can be said for the firm’s trainees who are “very happy” with their work/life balance. “The work life balance is certainly excellent –– I leave before 6 most days. Late nights certainly aren’t unheard of, especially in the classic busier periods leading up to completion/trial (depending on the seat). Weekend work also can’t be entirely ruled out either –– but it is rare” explains one. “I consistently finish between 6:30 and 7:30pm, subject to a handful of late nights for urgent matters” added another. Be warned, there is some variation between departments –– patent litigation has gained a reputation for being more of a slog –– but on the whole, trainees describe their workloads as “very manageable –– especially in comparison to other law firms.” This spy sums up the worst case scenario: “Sometimes late nights can’t be avoided (e.g. a deal, a call with counsel in the US, or ahead of a trial or hearing), but these have been relatively infrequent.” In the words of one wise trainee: “As far as city law goes, it can’t be much better.”
Pay is on the lower side for BigLaw, with NQs earning £95,000, but again that doesn’t seem a problem for some: “The best perks are the nice colleagues and the decent salary given the hours worked”. The occasional free breakfast is also greatly appreciated whilst the standard package of private healthcare, a gym subsidy and cycle to work scheme make up the rest of the offering. “Nothing flashy,” says one, “but what else could I really want?”
A mood of happiness pervades the firm, with Magic Circle-style backstabbing notably absent among the trainees, and senior lawyers maintaining the most open of open door policies. “Cut-throats would not fit in here,” one source tells us. “People come for the friendly culture and the interesting and techy legal work.” Another describes their fellow trainees as “infallibly kind and supportive”.
As for the more senior members of the firm, one source tells us: “I have never felt unable to raise a question or issue with partners and feel that my input is genuinely respected and valued.” Partners are said to have a sense of humour and are “happy to be mocked mercilessly” or, if you’re feeling less devilish, “happy for you to walk up to them and ask questions or have a chat about things you find interesting”.
“There’s a real open door policy, meaning that if I leave the door to my office open, my superiors are likely to stop by for a chat,” says another. Also contributing to the utopian vibes may be Bristows’ policy of paying associates entirely on the basis of seniority rather than perceived merit, and the lack of billable target hours.
A social scene that is positively pumping (by corporate law standards) further deepens bonds. This is facilitated by the partners who often plan social activities for their departments, or even just send around a Friday work drinks email to whoever has come into the office on Fridays. On top of that, there’s also a firm-wide drinks event on the last Friday of every month, departmental Christmas celebrations, softball games, the Bristows Trainee Quiz, a lunchtime board game club, a “big all-out glitzy dinner dance” in the spring and an autumn party. We are told that there are also loads of sporting and charity events that get a very good turnout, including an annual cycle challenge.
“Awesome” three-month secondments to Google DeepMind are also common. In fact, client secondments are a major selling point, with a good chunk of respondents doing one. Other destinations include Capgemini, GSK and a “clinical AI company”. “Ultimately, every firm has work that pays the bills and work that’s genuinely interesting and exciting,” one insider says. “Luckily we get a lot more of the latter.”
Still, not everything is perfect. As you might imagine for a firm with just three offices in London, Brussels and Dublin, international secondment opportunities are rare (although trainees and junior lawyers do get the odd business trip).
Tech has improved significantly in recent years –– “from the basics of ‘the printing is now reliable’ to the development of advanced AI tools” as one trainee puts it. Nowadays, Bristows even has its own in-house GPT and trainees also get “everything you need to work from home” with Bristows’ budget stretching to a screen or two, keyboard, mouse and a decent chair. A flexible three days in two days out policy gets thumbs-up all around from rookies we spoke with.
The London office is said to be “a little cramped”, though the grade II listed 100 Victoria Embankment gaff has an “amazing” exterior and “a great view” over Blackfriars Bridge and the Tate Modern. “Outside looks amazing, splendid, grand, wonderful. Inside is a normal office with a small selection of biscuits” as one puts it. “Sitting in an open plan area is very much the exception and most of the internal offices are pretty comfortable,” mentioned another recruit. “The client meeting rooms are nice and light with reasonable snacks and coffee facilities. The internal meeting rooms and social areas are a bit ropey and there’s some very bizarre artwork in places.” Luckily, the firm is in talks to lease some 70k sq footage at Bow Bells House on Bread Street with a move pending in the near future –– so watch this space!
For now, Bristow toilers have to make do with admiring their abode’s exterior –– not least because they don’t have access to its gym or roof terrace (a major bugbear for some)! There’s also no canteen but there is a café in the building’s atrium which serves up a selection of coffees, pastries, cakes and sandwiches.
If you can tolerate such horrors, then this could be the place for you. The only problem is bagging a training contract: the firm offers around ten annually and, with IP work in mind, several of those often go to candidates with science PhDs.