Burges Salmon

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Overview

Depending on your point of view, Bristol-based Burges Salmon is either a a top-class regional firm or a national player that just happens to have only the one office.

While itself banging the 'single-site national firm' drum with considerable zeal, Burges Salmon undoubtedly holds its own against key regional rival Osborne Clarke (OC) and has a far higher profile than smaller southwest outfits like Bevan Brittan and TLT.

Burges Salmon maintained 42nd position in the 2008 Legal Week Top 50, bringing in total fees of £61.4m (an improvement of 13% on the year before) and partner profits a healthy £470,000 (up by nearly 15% on 2006). And the firm has shown little sign of softening its stance on the one-site philsophy, while OC, by contrast, has branched out as far as Scandinavia and Silicon Valley.

History

Culture

Key departments

The firm is a recognised heavyweight in regional terms across a broad range of practice areas, including corporate finance - where only OC is a serious rival - banking, real estate and IP/IT.

On the national stage, transport and asset finance are major strengths, with the firm a national leader in the rail sector in particular, as evidenced by clients including First Group and Merseyrail. The firm is also highly rated for projects work.

As befitting a firm in the rural idyll of the southwest, Burges Salmon has a top-notch agricultural law team.

National/international coverage

As mentioned above, Burges Salmon talks up its 'national' ambitions but remains in geographic terms firmly rooted in the southwest, with Bristol the location for its sole fee earning centre.

Key clients

Major clients cited by the firm include Orange, the Crown Estate, BAE Systems, Bank of Scotland, the Ministry of Defence and transport giant First Group.

Leading partners

Career prospects

In 2008, the firm announced its largest round of partner promotions in recent years, making up half a dozen new partners. That represented an improvement on the previous year's mark of five - and just four in 2006.

Salaries

Recruitment

For graduate recruitment, your contact is Katy Edge; for legal recruitment, it's Alex Van-Hattum. For more general information on recruitment at Burges Salmon, click here.

Work-life balance

Diversity

You can view Burges Salmon's 2007 diversity stats by clicking here.

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