DLA Piper Birmingham office
Our view....    Three years ago DLA professed far and wide their ambition to become "dominant in the regions". They certainly managed to establish themselves as a major player in Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool but they have found it rather trickier in Birmingham. Although they've been in the city for over a decade now, the historical stranglehold of Hammonds / Wragges / Eversheds / Pinsents is pretty much intact. Even the Hammonds' inevitable post-merger problems in the last few years did not provide sufficient cracks for DLA to get a proper foothold.     That said, they're working on some good deals and making decent profits. The office is now the fourth largest in DLA's 12-strong national network and provides about 10% of the firm's total income. With long term clients such as Barclays, Bank of Scotland and the Royal Bank of Scotland their banking work is particularly well regarded, and the office has handled some substantial deals over the last couple of years. Recently, they've acted for long-time client HSBC in a £220m buy-out of Dignity Funerals and for T&S Stores in its £530m sale of 862 stores to Tesco. They are also doing an increasing amount of transport work for the railways industry in the UK, Europe and Asia, and recently poached a Richards Butler partner to help bolster the practice.     DLA took home the Birmingham Law Society's Law Firm of the Year 2003 prize, and won the legal section of the Birmingham Young Professional of the Year award (thanks to 34 year old employment partner Sandra Wallace) the same year. As Chris Rawstrom, managing partner in Birmingham, said at the time, "we must be doing something right".     And so they are. The office's reputation is on the increase, profits for the firm as a whole continue to sky-rocket, and the firm came 16th in The Sunday Times' 2004 100 Best Companies to Work For survey - the highest ranked law firm. But the downside of more and more big ticket work piling into the office is a corresponding increase in hours. Lawyers who think that they're making a lifestyle decision by moving to Birmingham are misguided, and the deal looks even less attractive when you consider that a newly qualified in London earns appreciably more than a lawyer with five years' experience in Brum. Still, at least it gets points for home made Mars bar cakes...     Email your comments	Salary, new trainee	26000
	Salary, newly qualified	41500
	Salary, 1 PQE	42500
	Salary, 2 PQE	44000
	Salary, 3 PQE	47000
	Salary, 4 PQE	51000
	Target hours	1500
	Holiday	25 days plus 10 'earned' additional days to be taken over 2 year period after 3 years' continuous service
	Pension	6% firm contribution triggered by 5% individual contribution
	Healthcare	Yes
	Maternity policy	Enhanced
	Gym	No
	Restaurant	Yes, subsidised
	Other	Life insurance, Permanent Health, discretionary car parking, Life Works concierge service, Life Works staff assistance scheme.
	Number of training places per year	24
	% of trainees retained	82%
	24 hour photocopying support	Yes
	24 hour secretarial support	Yes