DLA Piper Leeds office
Our view....    After watching their rapid expansion over the last five years, it's hard to believe that DLA started life as a humble firm in Leeds.  Although there's no clear leader amongst the big firms in the region, DLA looks like a sound bet, especially as they win an unusually high proportion of their work (over 50% compared with other firms' 30-ish%) from outside the area.    The Leeds office has particular experience in transport and infrastructure and IT - hence its involvement with the huge NHS IT Programme and the London congestion charge. It also has Northern-based companies like JD Sports and Boots as clients, and recently secured a five year appointment by Leeds City Council. And it's also recently enjoyed acting in a spate of high-profile insolvency cases whose largely positive outcomes have done the firm's reputation no harm - they include the sale of Leicester City FC, Ipswich Town FC and Daisytek Group.    As a firm, DLA were ranked number 8 out of the 50 companies listed by the Financial Times in its 2003 annual survey of the best places to work in the UK. It followed happily on the heels of the firm's 16th-out-of-a-hundred placing in a similar survey in the Sunday Times a few weeks before. However, niceties aside, don't forget this is a firm with a major national presence, who will expect the lawyers in its Leeds office to work as hard as those in London. Without the financial rewards...    The firm as a whole saw a 18% increase in turnover to £275m in 2003-04, although profits per partner have remained fairly static over the past few years at around £475,000. Which is quite surprising as the firm tend to be quite stingy with letting new initiates into the equity (the current ratio is about eight lawyers per equity partner). Still, for a variety of quality work they're tough to beat.     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 insurance, discretionary car parking, Life Works' concierge service, Life Works' staff assistance scheme
	Number of training places per year	11
	% of trainees retained	100%
	24 hour photocopying support	Yes
	24 hour secretarial support	Yes