Bond Pearce (Bristol)

Our view....

From humble beginnings in Plymouth, Bond Pearce has grown to become a serious commercial contender. The Bristol office in particular has gone from strength to strength since its launch in 1998. Originally set up as a local base for the employment and insurance teams working with the Post Office, the office has grown incrementally through a series of small mergers and lateral hires. It took over Eversheds' entire Bristol property team and Cartwright's 11-partner corporate department in 2001, as well as setting up a clinical negligence team in 2004. Now the firm boasts offices in Bristol, Southampton, London, Plymouth and Aberdeen.

Despite a drop in turnover in the 2009/10 period, from £48m to £46m, underlying net profit increased by 2.7% from £7.3m to £7.5m. A focus on the firm's key departments of energy, insurance and retail has helped it grow steadily over the years - even through the recession - and net profit has increased by 10.3% from 2006/07 figures.

Equity partners at Bond Pearce can expect to pocket between £158k to £306k, although don't expect the path to equity partnership to be quick. While PEP is increasing the number of equity partners has remained at 32 since 2009/10 (which is two fewer than the 34 equity partners the firm had in 2007/08).

Litigation makes up nearly half of the firm's revenue (£22m) and Bond Pearce has one of the largest professional indemnity departments in the UK, representing big cheese insurers such as Aon and Chartis in negligence claims. The firm also has a healthy corporate practice, which managed to boost the firm's coffers last year by £12m (26% of total revenue).

Bond Pearce does not suffer from a lack of quality clients - with the likes of Royal Mail, Sainsbury, Marks & Spencer and B&Q on its books. Although it still does seem to struggle to attract the real headline deals. But its relatively new London office (set up in 2003) seems to be doing well and has recently been bulked up with a few high profile hires - most notably former BLG senior partner Richard Dedman. Plus with an ever-expanding client list - including clients such as the Eden Project and the Virgin Group - there are certainly things to be smug about.

Pay wise, there are a few grumbles with some lawyers complaining that the firm "overworks and underpays you". But whilst salaries may be a little lower than its main rivals, this may reflect the very decent 9:00am-5:30pm working culture. The firm has tried to improve things - at least for partners anyway. It introduced a merit-based pay structure for partners as of April 2007, so its star performers could be properly rewarded and hopefully less likely to jump ship to more profitable rivals. Plus there's a bonus scheme for fee-earners who meet their targets as well as a cryptically-named values scheme.

Assistants tell us that it's a friendly office and praise the firm for being "very switched on to the importance of developing good people" and "ambitious" although there may be a "danger that the firm is expanding too fast without a clear sense of the direction it's heading in". Staff also grumble that they "don't get biscuits at internal meetings". But if you can look past the lack of sweet treats and can cope with getting paid less than local rivals in exchange for nice hours and a friendly atmosphere - this firm may be a decent choice.