Dan Chapman
Partner and Head of Employment
I joined Leathes Prior as a trainee solicitor in 2000, and what I found was in many ways the best of both worlds; a firm proud of its long history and picturesque location, but determined to move forward with the times and expand with the growing commercial needs of the local client base.
My training contract was everything I had been looking for, and completely validated my decision to join Leathes Prior rather than a City firm or larger regional firm. Within days I was meeting clients, researching real law and, to put it bluntly, getting stuck in! As a trainee I was responsible for obtaining an ex parte injunction that required me to run to the Court and persuade the ushers to allow me access to the sitting High Court judge; experience such as that has proved invaluable - all at a time when my peers in other firms were still getting to grips with the coffee machine!
Socially I threw myself into the Norwich scene (and as a Leathes Prior trainee one has no shortage of opportunities in this respect!) and grew to love the trainee life (if not the salary!). When my qualification date arrived, I had no doubts about where my future lay. I wanted to be an employment lawyer, and the firm backed me unequivocally; three years’ later I was heading up a successful and expanding team and was rewarded with early partnership. I often wonder whether any other firms in the UK would have afforded me these same opportunities so early in my career; I suspect very few indeed. And it does not end there. When, a year or two ago, I told my Partners that I wanted to set up a Sports Law practice as well, they backed that too. There is an expression you will hear a lot at Leathes Prior, and it remains as true today as it was when I joined; we are looking for people who will pick up the ball and run with it!
Life is never dull at Leathes Prior. I have experienced the delights of being chased out of an Employment Tribunal by an unsuccessful Claimant threatening to kill me; the embarrassment of appearing on morning TV with Philip Schofield; the joy of winning cases that I had no right to win … and it is with a great sense of pride that now, in conjunction with Martin Plowman, I am the Partner responsible for the recruitment of our trainee solicitors. I take my part in that responsibility extremely seriously; not least because, one day, I hope to be sitting round the partnership table with some of the applicants I recruited as trainee solicitors.
What would I say to someone considering applying for a training contract at Leathes Prior? If you want a real challenge, early responsibility, to work hard but to enjoy the rewards of success and all within a beautiful, thriving city where living within walking distance of the office is a realistic possibility, then APPLY! It won’t always be easy. It is hard work. But for someone who wants a real career, it will be the best decision you have ever made.
