Articles From the Team

Bristol – Quality Not Quantity

For any mid level associate or senior associate lawyer working at a Top 200 law firm in the City of London right now, you may be thinking of leaving the City to set up home somewhere pleasant, with good schools, great restaurants, open countryside, the coast on your door step, somewhere ‘safe’ to bring up your children (that may or may not have been born yet). Well, that’s fine but don’t leave it too late!

You might be thinking of leaving the move until you are six or seven plus PQE but the best opportunities are at the two plus mark. Their isn’t an abundance of partner designate roles, Bristol firms aren’t crying out for senior associates that don’t have a client following who want immediate partnership!

There isn’t a huge amount of choice in Bristol for a London transactional lawyer, not like Manchester or Birmingham where there is a higher number of commercial firms and thus a higher volume of vacancies and thus more choice. But business confidence is soaring in the area. The media sector is expecting make higher profits and take on more staff this year compared to 2015 (http://www.bristol-business.net/survey-shows-bristols-media-sector-creating-a-bright-future-with-higher-profits-and-more-jobs). A survey by Bristol Media reveals widespread optimism, Bristol Media CEO Fraser Bradshaw said: “The key selling points of this area were reported as being built environment and culture, easy access to rest of the country and – most interestingly – the collaborative business culture.”

If you are thinking about moving to Bristol or somewhere close by and would like to know what your options are within the legal sector then please get in touch. Whilst there might not be a high volume of vacancies that are suitable for stellar City lawyers, there are some good ones out there and in fact the quality of the work available is very good and the pay rates are surprisingly high for the regions.

For more information please contact BCL Legal or call 0845 241 0933.