The Legal Cheek View
Few firms have had quite the same glow-up as Broadfield. The name may be new, but the firm behind it certainly isn’t. Broadfield is the new identity of BDB Pitmans, itself formed in 2018 through the merger of Bircham Dyson Bell and Pitmans. The former was a Westminster-based legal player with roots stretching back to the nineteenth century and a long-standing reputation in parliamentary, public law, planning and infrastructure work. The latter was a full-service Berkshire outfit with a history dating back more than two centuries.
Fast forward to the end of 2024: BDB Pitmans rebranded as Broadfield UK, the first member of a new international legal network backed by SHP Legal Services, an affiliate of US consultancy giant Alvarez & Marsal. In short, Broadfield wants to rethink what a law firm looks like. The idea is to bring independent firms across different countries under one name, while giving them shared access to investment in technology, operations, talent and global growth. Since launching, the network has expanded into Hong Kong, New York and São Paulo, giving the firm a footprint that now stretches well beyond its predecessor’s reach.
Back on home turf, Broadfield has offices in London, Reading and Southampton, with more than 400 lawyers across the UK. Its most recently reported UK revenue sits at around £50 million.
The practice mix reflects the firm’s slightly unusual history. Bircham Dyson Bell brought a strong expertise in planning, infrastructure, public law, parliamentary work and complex projects involving government, regulators and public bodies. Pitmans brought a full-service heritage, with corporate, real estate, employment, disputes, private wealth and family work all sitting under the same roof. The result is a firm that doesn’t fit neatly into one box: part commercial practice, part private client outfit, part public law and infrastructure specialist.
That mix gives trainees plenty of variety. Planning, infrastructure and public law remain central to Broadfield’s identity, covering work that sits where business, politics and the built environment overlap: major development projects, transport and infrastructure schemes, compulsory purchase issues, environmental considerations, public sector work and the legal mechanics of getting complex projects off the ground. For students drawn to law with a public-facing edge, this is one of the more distinctive corners of the firm.
Real estate feeds naturally into this. Broadfield advises on development, investment, leasing and private property matters, so work here can range from commercial transactions to issues involving land use, planning and high-net-worth clients, giving the practice a broader feel than simply buying and selling office blocks.
On the corporate side, Broadfield advises businesses, entrepreneurs, investors and management teams on M&A, private equity, venture capital, restructurings, joint ventures and corporate finance. Recent highlights include advising on the multi-hundred-million-pound sale of Westcoast Group, and advising Quantum Design International on the Asia aspects of its acquisition of Oxford Instruments NanoScience. Closer to home, the firm advised the shareholders and management team of Acorns Health Care on a management buyout, drawing in corporate, employment, planning, tax and real estate expertise from across the firm.
The firm is also building out newer growth areas, with the wider network now covering private capital, investment management, venture capital and entrepreneurs, technology and innovation, digital assets, energy and infrastructure, and environmental and corporate governance.
Away from the deal sheet, Broadfield’s private client, family and charities practices set it apart from purely corporate City outfits. The firm advises wealthy individuals, family offices, charities and not-for-profits, often drawing together tax, trusts, real estate, family, corporate and disputes expertise. One day you might be working on a mid-market M&A deal; the next, a trust dispute, a charity governance issue, a family wealth matter or a public law question. Trainees who want broad exposure before deciding where to qualify get plenty of it here.
London rookies are based at Broadfield’s One Bartholomew Close office, a short stroll from St Paul’s and minutes from the Barbican. One insider describes the location as “really good”, adding that “St Paul’s is a buzzing area and feels right in the heart of the City”. The office itself gets a more mixed write-up. “The office space is modern,” one trainee tells us, although “there have been complaints about the actual working space being a bit call-centre-like”. Still, the perks help. Kuniors have access to bike storage, showers and changing areas, complete with GHD hairdryers and straighteners, and posh Dyson Airwraps! We also hear the “free breakfast is pretty good”, though the firm apparently “could do with more forks”.
Training-wise, rookies complete four six-month seats over two years, choosing from commercial real estate, litigation, restructuring and insolvency, private real estate, private wealth, family, planning, infrastructure and public law, corporate, commercial, charities and employment. Trainees work from what the firm calls their “home office” (meaning one of the firm’s UK officse, not their kitchen table), though it says there may be opportunities, subject to business need, to complete a seat elsewhere.
Training quality seems to depend somewhat on the department. “It varies depending on the team,” one insider tells us. “Some teams have structured training and others are more informal. It’s generally good.” Another says they’ve been “given exposure to lots of interesting matters”, though, as at most firms, “sometimes you will have to do more mundane admin tasks too”.
Client secondments are also on offer for those keen to see life from the in-house side. One Broadfield rookie reports a secondment at the Tony Blair Institute, another at ExxonMobil, not a bad way to get a sense of how legal advice lands beyond private practice.
The firm scores particularly well for peer support and approachability, with respondents to the 2026-27 Legal Cheek Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey giving Broadfield a near-perfect rating in this area. “There’s a great supportive group of socially active juniors,” one spy reports, pointing also to the firm’s junior lawyers network. Another tells us: “Trainees usually informally arrange their own drinks and events unless there is a formal Early Talent event taking place. The firm has a yearly summer party organised by a social committee. People are reasonably sociable, to the extent you’d expect at a firm where employees value balance and a life outside of work.”
That last point is worth noting. Broadfield scores strongly for work-life balance, with most juniors clocking on around 9:30am and leaving between 6pm and 7pm, a decent deal by London standards. Some departments are naturally busier than others. “Generally very good, but it definitely depends on the seat you do,” one trainee says. “In corporate or private equity seats, work-life balance is harder to achieve.”
Overall, trainees can expect early responsibility, client exposure and a supportive environment, with juniors treated as valued members of their teams rather than background admin support. The breadth of seats also means this is a solid option for applicants who want to keep both commercial and private client or public law doors open before qualification.
The firm’s international strategy is still in its early chapters, and that’s part of what makes it interesting: old roots, a new identity and ambitions that stretch well beyond its traditional South East heartland. For TC seekers after variety, real responsibility and a close-up view of a firm mid-transformation, Broadfield could certainly be worth a look.