Kingsley Napley

About the firm

There aren’t many firms that can claim to have represented both senior politicians and Rolling Stones, but Kingsley Napley can. This one-office London firm has a formidable reputation for a wide range of work, from high-profile criminal cases to immigration matters and commercial disputes, as reflected in its ten top-tier rankings in Chambers UK guide. For trainees, Kingsley Napley offers the ‘feel’ of a specialist firm with the breadth and quality of work you might expect from a much larger international outfit.

“Very often people come to us, and they've not had any legal experience before, but that's okay. We don't just want people that have only been through a particular route.”

Kingsley Napley’s trainees have academic backgrounds as diverse as the firm’s practice areas. The firm’s training principal, Shanett Thompson, tells us that the firm is on the lookout for those who demonstrate dedication and competence, but an undergraduate law degree is not necessarily a prerequisite. She says: “although a law degree is fun (and I did a law degree because that's really what I wanted to study), actually all of the practice will get taught to you later. It's not fundamental. What's fundamental is that this profession is only getting more competitive and to stand out, you have to start from a premise of having worked hard and got good grades.”

Kingsley Napley takes on a mix of those who have just finished their studies and career changers. Thompson explains that “very often people come to us and they've not had any legal experience before, but that's okay. We don't just want people that have been through a particular route, who have been a paralegal before, etcetera. There are people here that have worked as a book editor before, or as a social worker or teacher.”

Why trainees joined the firm

Reputation

The firm bears the name of one of the highest-profile solicitors of the late 20^th Century, the late Sir David Napley. A number of trainees had heard praise for the firm’s reputation from inside and outside the legal profession. The firm has done much to cement its reputation in recent years, nearly doubling in size since 2011 and moving to a modern office.

Practice breadth

Many trainees were attracted to the range of practice areas at Kingsley Napley. One trainee recalled that they were “really big” on the fact that Kingsley Napley was a full-service law firm and said that if they had been given a seat in any of the firm’s twelve practice areas, “they wouldn’t have been upset.”

A focus on people

Trainees reported that Kingsley Napley puts an emphasis on creating an inviting, nice culture that fostered pro bono, charity work and inclusion. Trainees also felt encouraged to see that women and people of colour were heavily represented in the firm’s senior ranks.

Trainee satisfaction rankings

Training contract structure

Seat allocation

Kingsley Napley’s training contract consists of four six-month seats, one of which must be in a non-contentious practice area. The firm does not offer international secondments but occasionally allows for client secondments. Trainees select their top five seats and the firm does its best to give everyone their top choices, but generally, most will have one seat that they did not select.

Seat Experiences

Trainee life

Culture and environment

Data from our annual trainee survey

Kingsley Napley trainees praised the firm for its pleasant and welcoming atmosphere, reporting that partners and heads of department were happy for them to stop by for a chat. As one said: “Everyone at the firm feels accessible and approachable. It feels like you can ask them questions and it doesn’t feel hierarchical.”

Trainees were also keen to praise the firm’s programme of social activities. One trainee argued that “Kingsley Napley is very good at ensuring the firm has a social life. Every department is big on the social side: they appreciate that this is where teams truly bond.” Ad hoc drinks take place most Thursdays, but drinks aren’t the only socials on offer. First and second year trainees are allocated a budget for organising socials. Trainees told us that they had got involved in Secret Santa, shuffleboard evening, Scavenger hunt, pasta making classes, sports social activities and ‘Traitors’ themed evenings. There was also an event for incoming trainees to meet existing trainees.

Working patterns

Data from our annual trainee survey

Kingsley Napley trainees are expected to work in the office two to three days a week, but most trainees reported that they came in three or four times a week. Trainees found that being present in the office helped them find more work; one said that “being in the office can really help show that you’re enthusiastic and can also help you meet more people.”

The Kingsley Napley offices are on Bonhill Street, a short walk from Liverpool Street Station, Old Street Station and Shoreditch High Street on the Windrush overground line. Trainees described the office as a “really nice place to be”, noting the airy, open plan feel. To help you power through your seats, the firm’s in house cafe ensures that there is free continental breakfast, coffee machines on each floor, fruit and occasional food and drink pop ups.

The firm’s office, Thompson says, has “really allowed us to be much more collaborative between the teams, because you can literally pick up your laptop now and go down to the criminal team, for example, and sit next to someone and work on something. It gives the feel of open collaboration.”

Assuming a 9am start, trainees reckoned that they typically leave the office at 6-6.30pm, although as with any firm this can ebb and flow and during peak times the hours may be more strenuous. One source reported, though, that firm believes trainees “shouldn’t focus on billing targets; you should focus more learning.”

Pay

Kingsley Napley trainees had mixed feelings on the subject of their salaries. Some trainees felt the salary was below the market rate, but others felt that this was a fair trade for working fewer hours than trainees at other firms. One told us they had “no issues with it… For what trainees are expected to do, it’s fair.”

Supervision and training

Trainees can generally expect to meet with their supervisors every week. One source reported that “I feel like I can talk about lots of things with my supervisor: the cases, marketing, politics at work, anything that I am struggling with… my supervisors have always been good.”

The firm runs training at a department level, so training will vary from department to department. Some seats, such as immigration and family, put on more organised and formalised training, whereas seats with fewer trainees such as private client take a more informal approach to training. The firm also occasionally puts on internal knowhow sessions for trainees, arranging for accountants and barristers to come in and share their sector expertise.

One trainee recalled joining Kingsley Napley in search of “better training, and more exposure.” Reflecting on this, they said that “I do think it holds up: every trainee has good quality work.”

Pro bono & CSR

Trainees reported that Kingsley Napley encourages them to get involved in pro bono work from day one and places real emphasis on the skills that it can help develop. The firm’s trainee principal said that “when I joined the firm, we weren't really doing much pro bono – it was very ad hoc – and now we've exploded.”

Other opportunities include

• Volunteering with children from disadvantaged backgrounds

• Working with the QMUL legal advice clinic

• Undertaking work to support the AMICUS project

Inclusion

Trainees firmly believed that Kingsley Napley is “genuine about inclusion,” with initiatives staffed by a “passionate and involved” group of people. The firm was praised for its well-attended inclusion talks and its distribution of inclusion-related materials such as books and flyers. There are a number of inclusion network groups for trainees to involve themselves with, including a race, ethnicity and cultural heritage group (REACH), a group that aims raise awareness of different types of disabilities (Enable), an LGBTQ+ and allies group, a social mobility group, and a KN families group.

The firm also offers support for trainees’ mental wellbeing in its benefits package, providing free access to counsellors. One trainee told us that “if you are actively looking for mental health support, you will find it,” but noted that it “could be spoken about more.”

Qualification

Trainees at Kingsley Napley all agreed that the firm’s qualification process was on the lengthier side, and during qualification, trainees reported feeling like they were “treated as strangers.” The qualification process involves an extensive written application and a case study interview.

However, trainees unanimously described Kingsley Napley as a great place to stay long-term, including those who were initially unsure of their long-term career goals and those who did not receive an NQ offer.

King of the small screen…

The firm’s late founder, Sir David Napley, was portrayed in BBC’s 2018 A Very English Scandal.