Not just a job; but a career, and a vocation: a guide to a lawyers’ life at Wilsons: ‘The staff are all amazing and very friendly, which really makes the firm unique. ’ Legal 500 2021 Our staff are our greatest asset. Often said, but so true. Our solicitors and caseworkers are at the heart of our legal practice. As our greatest asset we look after you and support your growth. When you join Wilsons you join a community. One hundred people based in Tottenham and believing in justice for all. Founded 32 years ago by the late Andrew Wilson, we have grown from a small practice to one of the UK’s leading small to medium sized firms. We have a national reputation for excellence in our three areas of expertise: immigration law, family law and civil liberties and human rights. So what can you expect if you join us? In this guide, we hope to give you an insight into a lawyer’s life at Wilsons. Not just a job; but a career, and a vocation. The Firm We are a Limited Liability Partnership. The business is owned by the seven members who are all solicitors and partners in the firm. All but one of the seven joined the firm as trainee solicitor or junior solicitor. They all actively work in the business. They joined the firm, they believed in it, they stayed and they grew it. Our strong management ethos means that we are a financially stable business with a mixed legal aid and privately funded income We have the Specialist Quality Mark with all the procedures and policies that the mark guarantees. We are audited every three years and are proud to always pass with excellent feedback. The lawyer career We encourage solicitors, apprentices, caseworkers, and legal executives to have a long term career at Wilsons and see it as their legal home. Caseworkers usually become trainee or apprentice solicitors who become solicitors. In the early stages of your solicitor career, from newly qualified to 3 year qualified, we encourage you to find your niche of interest and expertise and develop your skills as a lawyer. 1 For those with an interest and aptitude for supervision we encourage you to become an accredited supervisor and we partner with LAPG to deliver supervision training. We will encourage you to apply for membership of Law Society panels and accreditation schemes and provide you with all the support and training you need. The more senior you become the more we will encourage you to contribute and share your legal expertise within the firm and outside. For those with an interest and aptitude for people management and leadership we will develop you with a view to becoming a partner. 35% of our solicitors are partners. We encourage solicitors to network and broaden their horizons outside of the firm. Many of our solicitors deliver training, write articles, sit on management committees of charities and NGOs, mentor young professionals and students, represent the firm at user groups, and speak at events and conferences. We are also supportive of senior solicitors who wish to become part-time members of the Judiciary. We currently have three Judges amongst the team. Pay We have a pay scale for solicitors in their first three years of qualification - £32,000 - £38,000. Thereafter pay is performance related taking into account the meeting of targets and contribution to the firm. Once you are four years qualified you will become an Associate Solicitor and can expect to be paid £40,000 plus. Apprentices, caseworkers and trainees are paid in a range from £20,750 - £28,000. There is an annual pay review each July and discretionary bonuses are paid for meeting targets and other contributions. You will be enrolled in our pension scheme and we make an employer’s contribution towards it. We are proud to be a London Living Wage employer. Targets All lawyers are set a billing target and a chargeable hours target. The billing target is 1.5 times your salary in the first full financial year, 2 times your salary in the second full financial year, and 2.7 times your salary in the third (unless you do purely private client work in which case the target is 2.7 times salary from the start). Once upon a time it was 3 times salary but we reduced it when the legal aid rates were cut by 10% and we thought it wasn’t fair to make solicitors work 10% harder for no additional reward. The chargeable hours target is 6 chargeable hours a day based on a 42 week year – an annual target of 1,260. 2 We do not have a long hours culture. Once you have done your 6 hours,