If you’re looking for a career where you can develop and fulfil your potential, where you can have a great quality of life in and out of work and where you will find challenges and rewards in equal measure, then this is the place for you, but don’t just take our word for it, read the experiences of some of our people.
I joined Aarons on 1st August 1999 as a trainee solicitor having just completed the LPC. In those days they published the LPC results in the Times and 1st August was the day they came out so as I sat in reception waiting to be collected for my induction I checked the results in the copy of the Times that was on the reception coffee table. Fortunately, I passed and avoided what would otherwise have been a pretty embarrassing conversation!
I qualified in September 2001 and became a partner in 2006. I took over running the Dispute Resolution and Insolvency team in 2015 and became senior partner in 2019. Over the years I had numerous opportunities to go elsewhere but never entertained the idea of leaving for long because I realise that at Aarons I had found a pretty rare thing. A place where I always felt valued; where there was a clear path ahead in terms of career progression with no limits on that progression (as has subsequently been proved to be the case); where the work was always high quality; where I was encouraged to think and take responsibility; and where I really liked the people I was working with.
No job is perfect and there are always difficult days or periods in any career. What matters at those times is that you know you have the support of the people around you and that you’re working with nice people. That has always been the case at Aarons.
Now I’m in the privileged position of being involved in the management of the firm, my ambition for everyone that works at Aarons is that everyone has the same experience as I’ve had, feeling valued and supported in your career ambitions.
I started my career with Aaron and Partners in 1992 fresh from college. Having progressed through various roles in the firm as my career advanced, I commenced studying with the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives and qualified as a Graduate Member in 2015, specialising in family law.
Working, studying and caring for two young children at the time, of course, had its challenges. However, Aarons were flexible and committed to ensuring that I found the perfect balance between my work, study and childcare commitments to ensure that I succeeded.
I can honestly say that Aarons have been nothing but fully supportive throughout my career development. I have always felt that my career ambitions matter and that I am a valued member of the firm, which continues to push me to strive to reach my goals. I feel extremely lucky to be part of such a fantastic team.
We aim to recruit and develop the best lawyers who are not just technically excellent in their areas of expertise, but who will make the effort to understand your business and objectives and work with you to achieve your goals.
Our approach is simple. We want to recruit and retain the best people because by doing this we deliver excellent service to our clients and that in turn drives our financial success. To ensure we retain our people, we work hard at making Aarons an excellent place to be. This is as much about ensuring you have a good quality of life outside work as it is about enjoying your time at work.
Our standard fee earner billing target is 1,000 hours billed and paid, though our bonus scheme starts to pay out at 80% of the target, with the higher rewards being for those who exceed 100% of target. Compared to most of the firms you’ll be dealing with on the other side of matters, this isn’t a big target and by setting a realistic target that doesn’t require you to regularly work late and at weekends, you can enjoy the time when you’re not at work as well as the time that you are there.
We want our people to develop their careers with us. The case studies in the section below show how people have done this. It’s this focus on development that we think is the biggest advantage to being at Aarons. People are able to develop and progress in a way that isn’t possible at larger firms where you are at risk of being regarded as a unit of production. Because we believe in continuous personal and career development we remain committed to our people spending some time in the offices, achieving a balance between time spent in person with colleagues, which we believe is vital to the development of more junior fee earners in particular, and time spent working from home.
Our commitment to development is also reflected in our Personal Development Plan process which involves continuous supervision and feedback from together with two more formal reviews each year where career ambitions and development plans to achieve the are discussed.We believe that spending time together outside of work is also important. We have an extremely active social committee that organises our annual summer and Christmas parties. We have Friday drinks once a month too, paid for by the firm, and other events through the year to show our appreciation for our people. The Social Committee isn’t managed by the firm’s general management. It has its own budget and the committee, which consists of people from across the firm and is typically chaired by trainee solicitors, decides how to spend it.
Once a year we close the office for an afternoon and take everyone off site for an annual general meeting where we spend a couple of hours provide updates on performance and other key firm wide issues but mainly the day is about spending time with colleagues and enjoying ourselves.
And we’ve done some pretty unusual things together too, such as our own rowing Regatta on the River Dee where teams of colleagues took an 8 week learn to row course, then competed against each other for the chance to win the much coveted ‘Aarons Teapot Trophy’.
We’re a strong supporter of the Arts in our core areas with links to Storyhouse, Theatr Clywd and Shropshire Festivals among others. Arts organisations bring significant benefits to the communities they operate in and through sponsorship and other support we can be part of that support to our local communities. We also believe in supporting charities and causes that matter to our communities and our environment, and are active in taking part in charity fundraising activities (individually and collectively) as well as signing up to environmentally supportive activity, for example taking responsibility for our energy usage and committing to Chester Zoo’s sustainable Palm Oil project
Our core practice areas are fairly self explanatory and cover the work you would expect to see in those teams at any commercially focussed practice. In relation to most of our work the lawyers engaged by other parties tend to be larger firms, which indicates the quality of our work.
In our core practice areas we have a number of sector specialisms where we offer out-of-the-ordinary expertise to a national client base. Our PEER team advises on significant renewable energy projects; we have extensive expertise in the logistics sector including being the honorary legal advisers to the UK Warehousing Association; we work for clients in the food and education sectors and have UK-renowned expertise in mines, minerals and waste management.
We are a member of the Integrated Advisory Group, known as IAG International, which is an international group of lawyers and accountants. We meet three times a year and this network not only provides us with opportunities to act for overseas clients of other members who have legal requirements in England and Wales but also enables us to refer our clients who need assistance in other jurisdictions to people we know and trust.
Our people hold various board positions for clients and other organisations, including the company secretary role at Chester Zoo, the Chair of Theatr Clwyd and membership of the Board of the British Hydropower Association.
Our work is challenging but rewarding. We set high standards and by achieving them we deliver on our clients’ objectives.
We have two main offices in Chester and Shrewsbury. Both are excellent places to live and work offering enviable quality of life with first class housing, schools, bars, restaurants and other leisure opportunities. Both Chester and Shrewsbury also enjoy the benefit of being within easy reach of larger centres with excellent transport links. For instance, Chester offers a train to London every hour that will have you in Euston in just over 2 hours.
We also have a satellite office in Altrincham to support businesses and individuals across Greater Manchester in addition to a support office on The Wirral.
All of our offices are strategically placed to provide seamless legal services for businesses and individuals across the region in addition to supporting the growth of our international work.
We work closely with bodies such as the Chambers of Commerce and the LEP in other geographical areas close by, including North Wales and the Wirral.
I wanted to thank you for your help in my recent case. You have shown the utmost professionalism in every way. Your skill in being “one step ahead” of the other side and client care is excellent. I have and will continue to recommend your superb service to friends and clients.Client
