Will Burnell
I joined Birketts in 2009 shortly after I qualified as a solicitor at another firm in Norwich.
While I was training I had kept a keen eye on Birketts’ progress and expansion across the region. That Birketts has continued to expand in difficult times is testament to its ethos of seeing every situation as an opportunity, and the fact that the firm is not afraid to do things differently.
I initially worked in our trust administration and tax reporting team in Ipswich. My time there was very useful both in developing my technical knowledge and in giving me the opportunity to forge strong working relationships with a number of my colleagues in the Ipswich office.
The plan had always been for me to do a broader range of private client work and over the next nine months I developed my practice to the point where the trust administration aspect of my work was less dominant. It was at that stage that my head of division approached me with the news that there was an opportunity for me to join the Wills and Advisory Team here in Norwich, which I gladly took as the prospect of building a strong practice in an expanding team excited me.
Since then my brief has been to develop my client base here in Norwich. I have a varied workload, including Will writing and estate administration, individual and corporate tax planning, trust advisory work, and the preparation of powers of attorney. Due to Birketts’ size, reputation and the breadth of expertise it offers, the firm attracts a range of clients one would not normally associate with a regional firm. Most of my regular clients – the repeat offenders! – are high net worth families with interests in land or agriculture here in Norfolk for whom I devise and implement (in the form of Wills, trusts, or a combination of the two) tax efficient succession planning strategies. In addition I am frequently instructed by private trustees of family trusts, as well as by some large regional and London based corporate trustee companies. My work includes both domestic and international aspects and affords me the opportunity to work alongside other professionals, such as accountants, land agents and IFAs.
As we are constantly striving to attract and win new clients all fee earners are encouraged to contribute to the ongoing development of Birketts as a business entity. What is comforting is that the firm provides extensive training on all aspects of networking so that, unlike other firms, you are not just thrown into the fray and expected to ‘get on with it’. My highlights from the last twelve months include scuba diving, wine and beer tasting (not on the same night!), and snow tubing. I have played football, netball, rounders, cricket, darts, pool, helped organise the firm’s charity tag rugby tournament, and been ten pin bowling. It’s not all booze and sport, but those are the events I seem to end up going to!
I have been actively encouraged to develop my professional skills since I joined the firm. As well as the seminars offered by independent providers being readily available, the senior lawyers here are committed to developing their more junior counterparts to help them grow within the business. I am yet to come across anyone who is unwilling to give up their time to chat through knotty issues that arise with my files; I am yet to come across anyone who is unwilling to supervise me if I am completing a task for the first time; I am yet to come across anyone who is not willing to listen to my analysis of a problem, no matter how absurd that analysis is; and I am yet to come across anyone who is not friendly.
So if you are interested in joining a forward-thinking, adaptable and modern firm that is – and I hate this expression – going places, somewhere you will be given challenging work and be encouraged to realise your potential in a friendly and supportive environment, then I would encourage you to apply for a training contract at Birketts.