Let’s start with the basics:

We are a medium-sized law firm based in Reading. We have approximately 100 lawyers (from paralegal to partner).

We offer a broad range of commercial and private legal services to organisations and individuals alike. We pride ourselves on providing a client-centred, high-quality service. That means we are approachable, responsive, pragmatic, constructive and commercially astute – obviously in addition to giving technically accurate advice.

While most of our work is focussed on the UK, we have a growing international client base and lawyers with significant cross-border expertise. We are the sole English law firm member of an award winning international network of independent law firms, Globaladvocaten. The network has been established since 1990 and has over 800 lawyers based across 20 countries worldwide.

Culture

We are particularly well known for our friendly and supportive culture, which has been a core part of our philosophy since we were founded over 30 years ago. Joining our ‘Family FSP’ you can be confident you’ll be looked after and supported throughout your career. We also have working practices to help you get that essential balance of work and personal interests; including opportunities for working from home and flexible working under a ‘core hours’ approach.

We have a strong social ethos. We value face to face interaction, team meetings and regular social events. We also like to get involved in the local community. Not only are we heavily involved in the local legal and business networks, we support many charitable local initiatives through our own charity, the FSP Foundation, and beyond.

Office and location

We have one office in the centre of Reading. Although it is a listed building with an interesting history, inside is modern, bright and well appointed. Lawyers work in shared rooms within teams, creating an easy balance between the communication and learning benefits of an open plan environment with a degree of privacy. We also have shared spaces for internal meetings and collaborative working. Being based under one roof makes it easier for us to communicate with each other and share ideas and advice.

Our office is situated by the bank of the river Kennet and is very close to the shops, restaurants and riverside leisure facilities based in The Oracle shopping complex. It is less than a 10-minute walk to the train station.

Reading is at the heart of the thriving Thames Valley business district. Being close to London we can attract a wide client base looking for sensibly-priced quality advice and our proximity to Heathrow, combined with our international network, gives us an international reach beyond most firms of our size.

If you are thinking of applying to Field Seymour Parkes for a training contract or apprenticeship, we encourage you to apply for work experience here.

Our work experience programme gives participants an opportunity to spend time with four teams across our firm; involving a variety of interactive exercises, additional talks and career advice all designed to help their career choices and development. We love having people visit us, so the work experience programme takes place at our office.

The training programme will depend on which route you are taking to qualification. We are currently open to LPC graduates, those who have or will have completed the SQE1 and 2, and anyone looking to undertake a graduate solicitor apprenticeship (which encompasses the SQE). 

Our trainee solicitors will usually undertake four seats of six months each before qualifying. We try to reflect the interests of each trainee in their seat rotations, giving priority to second year trainees to put them in the best place as they approach qualification. 

As an apprentice solicitor, your apprenticeship will take around two and a half years (slightly longer for non-law graduates). You are likely to spend the first year in one team, building up your technical expertise through your day release legal studies before moving to a rotational seat programme alongside our other trainee solicitors.

We ensure all our trainees have a mid-seat and end of seat review, plenty of contact with supervisors, partners and others. They enjoy lots of additional training opportunities, including in-house and external training sessions. 

While we supervise our trainees carefully, we also encourage them to take on early responsibility and have plenty of direct client contact. They are also strongly encouraged to get involved in local networking events and activities. 

As a firm, developing all our people is extremely important to us, as our Gold accreditation with ‘Investors in People’ testifies. We take particular care in ensuring our trainees get the support and encouragement they need to reach their potential. The training you will receive ensures you develop a broad spectrum of skills as well as developing your technical legal knowledge.

We are currently adopting the graduate apprenticeship route as the most appropriate method for our next generation of lawyers to qualify with us as solicitors, though we are open to applications from individuals who will have completed their SQE1 exams already. 

As a graduate apprentice solcitor, you will spend one day per week studying towards the SQE1 and SQE2 examinations. Your apprenticeship will last approximately two and a half years for law/GDL graduates (slightly longer for non-law graduates) and your studies and examination costs will be covered by the apprenticeship scheme.

https://www.fsp-law.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Diversity-Report-2021.pdf

Apprentice solicitors (see below) will have their SQE studies and exams fully funded under the apprenticeship scheme.

We do not provide sponsorship for LPC or SQE studies.

• Corporate
• Commercial
• Employment
• Dispute resolution
• Commercial property
• Family
• Wills
• Trusts & estates
• Residential property

• Corporate & Commercial
• General Commercial
• General Practice

• Reading