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WelcomeThis is probably the most important piece of writing that I will prepare this year because this firm’s future, its sustainability, depends upon the people within our business providing the best service for our clients. My challenge is to provide you, a prospective trainee solicitor, with a snapshot of the firm, its culture and ethos, to persuade you that you could have a future and a career at BLM – above all, to read on. This is therefore an important foreword but I hope ultimately mutually rewarding for you and BLM as our goal is to provide a broad and effective training because we know that the partners of the future are likely to be the trainees we are recruiting today.
So I need to tell you, as succinctly as I can, what it is that makes BLM different. Well, firstly, culture – we are known as a friendly firm and we don’t do “pompous lawyer”: knowledgeable, effective, efficient, reputable, approachable, supportive but not stuffy and remote.
Secondly our range of clients – we work for the country’s “blue chip” plc’s for whom claims and litigation is part of doing business but also for individuals who can be faced with a claim, for the first time, itself the result of momentary inattention, mistake or lapse of judgment, which threatens their career, their business or their liberty. We need a range of talents and look to develop the range of skills to assist our clients in all of these situations.
Thirdly because we are a large genuinely national practice, we undertake an incredible breadth of work for our client. You may find yourself working as part of a legal team dealing with multi-party claims of the utmost complexity brought against other professionals, or actions which threaten the reputation of well-known UK and international “brands”. We deal with libel proceedings brought against well-known national politicians and high profile injury related litigation often the subject of press comment and interest. And at the other end of the scale, there are the claims which offer a wry smile during the course of the working day (and perhaps a few column inches in the Daily Mail!). Thus, you might find yourself dealing with the twisted knee of an executive sent on a team building day at “Clown School” (with video!) or the claims of soldiers being chased through Belize by swarms of bees. Or, alternatively, you might find yourself dealing with the opponent who returned an acknowledgment form to the court stating “I don’t live here any more!”.
Fourthly, there is the social side of being a trainee at BLM. I have had the pleasure of attending numerous quiz nights organised by our trainees, bingo, charity walks, cake sales, raffles, competitions and charity auctions. This year our trainees have just completed a project for the Princes Trust and have raised more than £22,000. In April 2008, we are sending a team to Namibia to participate in the Trust’s Desert Challenge. And of course if you want to follow in the footsteps of Dick Whittington, you can dress up (as an owl last year) and take part in the Lord Mayor’s Parade each November in the City of London.
And so those are but four of many reasons why I would apply for a training contract at BLM but you will know from our website and other sources that much of our work originates from the insurance sector : it must be boring? Well, no - insurance is about the allocation of risk. You might think twice about purchasing or driving a car if momentary inadvertence on your part meant that it was written off or that you faced a claim of potentially millions of pounds. Householders would be reluctant to plough their life savings into a property if, because of a fire, it became virtually valueless. Entrepreneurs would be less inclined to set up and run businesses if a momentary lapse of judgment was not covered by insurance and led to potential ruin. Insurance is an integral part of our economy and its success. It impacts on individuals and businesses and provides them with protection and encouragement to innovate and take risk. We work on a daily basis and advise those individuals and companies on issues which are real and important to them, their lives and their businesses.
It is our objective to immerse our trainees in the legal work that we do and the development of our business; to provide them with a stimulating environment to enable them to challenge themselves and develop their careers. We aim to nurture and develop all of your talents, not just your legal skills, so that you are fully equipped to assist the range of clients we advise in dealing with the breadth of claims that are brought against them.
And if you get to this part of the foreword I have at least achieved one of my objectives – to persuade you to read on! Do please read the profiles of my colleagues, the partners, associates and present trainees. I particularly liked Matt’s offering – a great quote about “enough rope”. I am not sure about the source, if original its brilliant – a great creative mind at BLM – if not, a guaranteed interview for the first correct attribution!
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Terry Renouf
National Senior Partner
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