Mills & Reeve

About the firm

In the world of fiction, publishing powerhouse Mills & Boon is the king of old-school romance, with 700 titles issued each year and one sold every 10 seconds. Meanwhile, in the legal world, there’s another Mills-based partnership whose wide commercial reach might also gift you that happy-ever-after feeling. At Mills & Reeve, breadth is the key to finding a career you can fall in love with.

In fact, trying six seats rather than the standard four gives you two extra shots at finding that romantic twist ending; as one trainee put it, “sometimes it’s the ones you don’t think you’ll enjoy that you end up loving.” Finally, they say that home is where the heart is, and a wide spread of offices hosting trainees (Cambridge, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Norwich, and London) means there’s a real chance that, wherever you are, M&R is the firm next door.

“We're a full-service law firm, but unlike many City firms, we’re very heavily represented in private client and family law.”

Of course, a dash of romance doesn’t mean that the firm lacks for hard-edged business skills. This is proven by its strong credentials in the Chambers UK guide, with the firm netting top rankings UK-wide in education: institutions (higher & further education), healthcare: public and third sector, and mental health: providers. Plus, in East Anglia it also has top accolades in banking & finance, construction, employment, corporate/M&A: £5 million and above, intellectual property, real estate and litigation.

Meanwhile, the Chambers High Net Worth guide grades it as a national leader in private wealth law, and its expertise in complex, cross-border divorce cases makes it a top performer in family/matrimonial finance too. So even if the romantic fairytale comes to an end, Mills & Reeve has still got you covered!

Why trainees joined the firm

Range of offices

Trainees praised the availability of M&R offices across the country, valuing how they could stay local but still be part of a national law firm. As one noted, “I like my city so was looking for firms that had an office here, and M&R is the biggest and best firm in the area.”

From the corporate to the personal

“I was looking for a firm that dealt with big commercial clients while also dealing with personal legal areas,” one trainee reported, while another confirmed the appeal of M&R “being a full-service law firm that’s unique as it has family law too.”

6x4 training contract

“I wanted a training contract at a firm where you could do a variety of seat options, and I like how this firm offers six seats instead of four,” ran one typical comment. The chance to sample widely was particularly important, as “one of the main selling points was the breadth of practice areas they offer, and I didn’t want to be shut out from any practice areas.”

Trainee satisfaction rankings

Training contract structure

Seat allocation

Trainees are contacted by the emerging talent team at the firm prior to joining to ask for seat preferences. They can rank three options, and this process is the same each time they move through the six seat rotations. Insiders noted how the firm has a “priority system,” meaning that “second years get their pick over first years, and if you have had your top pick already, you’re less likely to [get it] next rotation.” Ultimately, they highlighted how “business needs come first.”

Client secondments

Trainees told us that client secondments are definitely a possibility at M&R but aren’t super common. As one put it, “there’s not a bunch; out of our cohort of around thirty, around three do a secondment.” In terms of areas you can work in, we heard that “there have been opportunities across the board,” but specifically trainees pointed to the commercial, commercial disputes and employment teams as offering the majority.

Seat Experiences

Trainee life

Culture and environment

Data from our annual trainee survey

M&R’s culture is described as “a selling point of the firm,” with a trainee noting how “they put energy into maintaining the culture in terms of the attitude they foster and people they hire.” Insiders highlighted how the firm is a “welcoming space to come into,” pointing to the firm’s open-door culture and hot desking system. Additionally, juniors told us how “people genuinely care about your development and allow you to do things you’re interested in… you don’t get pigeonholed into something specific.”

“The firm is happy for you to work in different offices and to meet people you frequently work with.”

Of course, it’s not easy to generalise about the environment in a firm with such a broad geographical reach, and trainees described the firm’s seven offices as each “very different.” For example, whereas “people consider the Norwich office as needing a revamp,” the Birmingham space is “newer and flashier with lots of big breakout and event spaces.” Nonetheless, the average standard of facilities was thought to be high, with trainees highlighting how “a lot of them have had refurbishments so they are feeling fancy,” while offices such as Birmingham, Leeds, Norwich, and Cambridge were particularly praised for their subsidised café canteens.

Trainees also praised how “the firm is happy for you to work in different offices and to meet people you frequently work with.” City-hopping in this way is made easy, thanks to subsidised traveland the fact that the offices are “all very accessible from train stations.”

Working patterns

Data from our annual trainee survey

The firm has a 50/50 in-office policy, meaning typically trainees do two days in office one week then three the next. However, we were told that “the expectation is they’d like trainees to come in a bit more,” which received no complaints from our interviewees, with most reporting that they are already in the office more than they’re not, due to the invaluable in-person learning.

When it comes to typical working hours, trainees noted how late nights aren’t often a part of the job. They did note how there are “peaks and troughs depending on the department,” but the majority of our insiders described finishing regularly around 6pm. One exception is the corporate department, where some shifts don’t finish until around 11pm, but those days are few and far between.

Pay

Some trainees in certain offices explicitly stated that their salary could be higher. As one source noted, “the London salary is much higher than Cambridge’s, but we do the same hours and it’s a similar living cost.” Firmwide, some other trainees explained that, as the firm grows and the hours grow as a result, they would like to see their salary matching that growth. Nonetheless, the general consensus was that trainees were happy with their salary.

Supervision and training

Data from our annual trainee survey

“People are great at giving feedback, and it’s not just constructive criticism; if you have done a great job, people will go out of their way to write you a kind email.”

“I’ve had really good relationships with all of my supervisors,” reported one junior, adding that “they are very conscientious about making time to catch up with you, both about your capacity level and also to talk you through things and make sure that you’re able to develop.” We also heard how “people are great at giving feedback, and it’s not just constructive criticism; if you have done a great job, people will go out of their way to write you a kind email.”

When it comes to training, we were told that the firm offers both cohort-specific and department-specific sessions (often involving travel), with the latter usually happening every month.

Inclusion

Trainees told us how there are various initiatives and networks promoting diversity, valuing how colleagues “who don’t necessarily fall into a network’s category still do attend as allies.” When it comes to demographics, trainees did point out that some offices are less diverse than others, but they mostly put this down to the geographic location of those offices rather than the firm itself: “we struggle in some areas where it’s harder to recruit people from diverse backgrounds, but we seem to be doing well in other locations, and it feels like a supportive firm.”

Pro bono & CSR

When it comes to pro bono and CSR, we were told how the amount of work trainees can get involved with truly depends on the office location. For example, one trainee noted how pro bono is “at the forefront of life at Birmingham,” where they highlighted the Flag initiative, which is a free legal advice group run collaboratively with the University of Birmingham. Firmwide, Mills & Reeve offers a day off each year for its employees to undertake volunteering, which trainees described being “encouraged to get involved in.”

Qualification

Insiders stated that the firm is “open and transparent” when it comes to the qualification process, noting that juniors have meetings with graduate recruitment before the process starts to discuss how it will play out. Once the firm publishes its seat list, trainees have a week to apply for the jobs they want. We were told how, “typically if you worked with the team you won’t interview, but if it’s contested it goes to a formal interview process.” The firm encourages those who are competing for contested jobs to apply for multiple options. Insiders praised the firm’s “high retention rate,” highlighting how “they are keen to keep you on.”

From the courtroom to the badminton court…

If you’re the sporty kind, this firm has multiple club options for you to choose from, such as badminton, football, and running. As one junior highlighted: “it’s nice to see colleagues outside of work and you’ll be on the badminton court playing with partners.”