Graduate Brochure BeLikeMe_05final

#BeLikeMeLove your career Kick start your career at a firm that is going places...

Hello!YOU.YES YOU. ARE YOU LOOKING TO KICKSTART YOUR CAREER AT A FIRM THAT ISGOING PLACES? WE HAVE BEEN THROUGHAN IMMENSE PHASE OF CHANGE;WE HAVECONTINUED TO EVOLVE AND GROWACROSS THE UK AND IRELAND AND THEREARE NO SIGNS OF STANDING STILL.We have ambitious plans to position ourselvesinternationally and we know that having the rightpeople in place to help us reach our goals isfundamental.That’s why we are seeking ambitioustrainees; the future partners of this firm. Dynamic,innovative and exciting people – just like you.Thosewho feel excited by our goal to be recognised asone of the leading global risk and insurance lawspecialists by 2020 and real stars who can bring ourvalues to life. If you fit the bill and want to be partof our future, we would love to hear from you.”Mike Brown, senior partner, BLM



About us Key FactsBLM IS THE LEADING 800INSURANCE AND RISK LAWSPECIALIST IN THE UK & lawyersIRELAND A ND WE AIM TOBE RECOGNISED AS ONE £100m TopGLOBALLY BY 2020 TURNOVER 50The firm is now a £100m business and has BUSINESSthe strength and breadth to work with morecustomers across more lines of business and inmore locations.We have an established and deep-rootedpresence in the insurance sector, the LondonMarket and the broker community and we alsohave expertise in working with clients in theCorporate, Healthcare and the Public Sector. Law Firm

200 OUR CHARITY PARTNER, MACMILLANpar tner s CANCER SUPPORT 1,650 13OFFICES IN THE UK AND employees IRELANDCOMMITTED TOREDUCING OURIMPACT ON THEENVIRONMENT

Vacation schemesTHE BEST WAY TO UNDERSTAND BLM’SUNIQUE CULTURE, AND THE WAY THAT WEWORK, IS TO GAIN FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE BYWORKING WITH US!Our brand new vacation scheme will be launched for 2016, giving youthe opportunity to spend a week in either our Manchester or Londonoffice.You’ll be paired up with one of our current trainees and will havethe opportunity to really get to grips with what we do ‘day to day’.You’ll also work with our partners and associates too, contributing tolive cases and be given real responsibility.During your vacation scheme you will also have the opportunity tonetwork with colleagues outside of your team so you can start buildingrelationships and start to get to know our people. We will provideyou with a blend of practice group presentations, training and otherdevelopment opportunities. It’s not all work though – we will alsoarrange a number of social events.The vacation scheme isn’t just about you impressing us… it’s alsoabout you deciding if we’re the right firm for you.BLM aims to recruit a high proportion of our trainees from thevacation scheme. At the end of your week, we will be hosting our finalstage of the recruitment process for these opportunities.





Training contractsBLM IS AN EXCITING PLACE TO EMBARK UPONYOUR LEGAL CAREER,WE VALUE WORKING INPARTNERSHIP AND WE KNOW THE IMPORTANCEOF NURTURING AND GROWING OUR PEOPLETO CREATE LEADERS OF THE FUTURE.Our two-year trainee solicitor programme has been designed tomaximise your potential.You’ll complete four six-month seats, giving youexposure to a variety of teams across the business and the experiencesneeded to develop the skills you’ll need as a qualified solicitor withininsurance law.You may also have the opportunity to spend time on secondment withone of our clients or with the Association of British Insurers.Throughoutyour programme you will work with our partners and associates ona variety of cases from low to complex, high-value claims, from initialinvestigation through to trial.You will have all of the support that youneed from your assigned supervisor and the graduate team.Partners encourage early responsibility and expect trainees to manageworkloads autonomously and as part of a team.We will provide asupportive and friendly working environment and you can expect clearopportunities for career progression and a broad scope of challengingand interesting work.We recruit a small number of high-quality trainees each year to ensurethat we can provide the best possible training and developmentopportunities – you can be a big fish in a big pond.

#BeLikeMe…and don’t dreadMonday mornings

Ellie WardManchester traineeI went to the University of Manchester and WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR HIGHLIGHT SINCEstudied Law (LLB), I graduated in Summer 2012 STARTING YOUR TRAINING CONTRACT?before starting my LPC at the College of Law During my time in the Prison team I assisted on severalManchester in September 2012. inquests into deaths in custody. Although it could be a little morbid I found it fascinating and enjoyed visiting staff atA list of the seats that you have sat in so far some of the prison’s owned by our clients for conferences in preparation for the inquests. Inquests work quite differentlyCasualty / Prison from trials and having previously had civil litigation experience,Catastrophic Injury it was really interesting to see the more inquisitorial approachCommercial (current seat, only just started) led by the coroners and the multiple parties that are often represented.The inquest work can also require a moreWHY DID BLM STAND OUT TO YOU? sensitive approach due to often very personal details of theBLM stood out to me as a broad service law firm which was deceased being relevant to the events leading up to theirhighly rated on resources like the Legal 500 across multiple death.business sectors. Although BLM is predominantly a defendantinsurance firm they cover a huge amount of practice areas WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGEwithin that bracket.When I was looking for which law firms to SINCE STARTING YOUR TRAINING CONTRACT?apply to I had a particular practice area in mind but wanted My biggest challenge so far has been balancing my own case-to avoid pigeon-holing myself so early on in my career; BLM load with assisting several partners and other members of theoffered both a wide variety of work and a wealth of expertise. team on business-critical work. As a trainee, you can be asked to drop what you are doing to help on an urgent matter, for example, attending trial or client meetings. It’s really important to be organised and develop your time management skills.This is something that gets a lot easier with practice and there is always support from supervisors and other colleagues within the team.

Nick BensonLondon traineeWHERE DID YOU STUDY? insurance law business in the UK and Ireland, having recentlyI studied History at The University of Nottingham. consolidated its presence in these areas through a series of mergers and lateral hires, and aims to be recognised as one ofWHICH SEATS HAVE YOU COMPLETED SO FAR? the leading global insurance and risk legal specialists by 2020.•Healthcare•Secondment at the Association of British Insurers WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR HIGHLIGHT SINCE•Occupational Disease STARTING YOUR TRAINING CONTRACT?•Proper ty For me, the high level of responsibility and client contact I have been given has definitely been the highlight and hasWHY DID BLM STAND OUT TO YOU? proven to be a fantastic learning curve. My experience hasFor me, BLM was different for several reasons: ranged from attending regulatory hearings in Healthcare, attending conferences with counsel in Occupational Disease,The first was that BLM is a market leader in insurance and running my own case files (with supervision) in Propertylitigation, which was an area I was really interested in gaining Damage.some experience. Also, being a national firm with so manypractice areas, I was presented with the opportunity to WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGEexperience high quality work across a broad range of sectors SINCE STARTING YOUR TRAINING CONTRACT? I attended a site visit at our insured client’s premises whilstI also liked that BLM only recruited a small trainee intake and working on an occupational disease case.The visit was tooffered an excellent mentor structure within each department. facilitate an engineer reporting on our client’s system ofThis ensures that trainees are entrusted with high levels of work. As well as the insured and engineer, the claimantresponsibility and the right level of support from day one of and his solicitors were also in attendance.Throughout thetheir training contract. investigation, the claimant’s solicitors behaved in an extremely aggressive manner towards the insured and engineer in anFinally, BLM has an excellent trainee retention rate, and so attempt to influence the engineer’s findings. As the sole BLMdemonstrates their commitment to their trainees and provides representative present, I had to assertively counter theseme with an opportunity to build a career at the firm attempts in order to protect the interests of our client and ensure that the investigations were not compromised.It’s an exciting time to join BLM.The firm is the leading risk and

#BeLikeMe…demand a challengingand rewarding career

What we look forTRAINEES REPRESENT A SIGNIFICANTINVESTMENT FOR THE BUSINESS AND SO WENEED TO ENSURE THAT OUR TRAINEES ARE UPFOR THE CHALLENGE.You should be able to demonstrate high academic ability, with at least a2:1, or expected 2:1 in any degree, plus AAB at A-Level (or equivalent).You should be confident and resilient in your approach and demonstrateexemplary interpersonal written and verbal communication skills; youshould look forward to assuming real responsibility in a supportiveenvironment from an early stage.Working with BLM’s prestigious clients, you will have strong commercialawareness and will need to develop your expertise in a relevant field ofwork to understand the context of our customers’ industries.

+=AIM HARD WORK SUCCESS!



Training andDevelopmentAS TRAINEES ARE THE PARTNERS OF THE FUTURE,WE BELIEVE THAT YOUR DEVELOPMENT ISESSENTIAL FOR THE FIRM’S ORGANIC GROWTH.BLM SUPPORTS ITS TRAINEES AND FUTUREJOINERS THROUGH THE LPC AND PSC,WORKINGWITH EXTERNAL PROVIDERS TO OFFER YOU THEBEST POSSIBLE TRAINING.Once you’ve started we will pair you with a training supervisor whowill be responsible for your day-to-day supervision.The supervisor willalso provide support through coaching and mentoring.There is an activeinterest in encouraging career development so that you can feel fullyprepared in making the transition from trainee to newly qualified solicitor.We recruit to retain. Many of our current partners trained at BLM andthis is something that we are very proud of. As you approach the end ofyour training contract, our training principal will discuss your qualificationpreferences with you.

What we’ll YEAR YEARoffer you 1 2SALARY STRUCTURE £22,000 £23,000 REGIONAL OFFICES £31,000 £32,000 LONDONBENEFITSContribution towards the costs of the LPC25 days’ holiday per annumPrivate medical insurancePermanent health insuranceAccident insuranceLife assuranceGroup personal pension plan (withcontributions by BLM)Employee assistance programmeSeason ticket loan

How to applyPlease note all applications need to be submitted via the graduatecareers page on our website blmlaw.com/graduatecareers DEADLINES Summer Vacation Scheme 2016 -18 January 2016 Training Contract to commence in 2016 or 2017 - 04 April 2016 Training Contract to commence in 2018 - 30 June 2016 RECRUITMENT PROCESS 1. On-line application form 2. Video Interviews 3. Assessment centre 4. Complete vacation scheme (if applicable) 5. Final interview with senior partners for training contracts

For further details of our recruitment processor if you need further information, you cancontact our graduate recruitment team [email protected] orthrough our social media channels. @BLM_Law LinkedIn.com/company/blm