About us
There's no secret to our growth over recent years to become a £167m+ turnover firm. Clients, whether individuals or organisations, love working with Shoosmiths people because of the way we work and the results we consistently deliver for them.
You don't have to take our word for it, many of our clients are happy to talk on our behalf - we've never been ones for banging our own drum.
Our commercial client list speaks volumes for the quality of our lawyers and the experience they provide; from Mercedes-Benz, Octopus Ventures and Travelodge to property developers and some of the UK's largest banks, we work with a growing number of the FTSE 250 and some of the world's most exciting and ambitious growth businesses.
We work to a simple formula: a can do ethos, values that are much more than words on paper, and the agility to find the best way for each individual client - whether that's ways of working, pricing structures or just innovative ideas that make a real commercial difference.
Evidencing independent recognition of our national teams’ legal expertise, Shoosmiths is currently ranked by the Legal 500 UK 2021 across 115 practice areas with 31 top tier rankings. Chambers and Partners 2021 UK Guide ranks 65 of Shoosmiths practice areas with 18 as Band 1 and an additional 10 awarded as National Leaders.
For me it’s all about living up to Shoosmiths’ values and how we treat people: both our own people and our clients. Having diversity at the forefront of the agenda is important because it is absolutely the right thing to do for our values and commercially the only thing to do.
The Shoosmiths client experience
To find out more about the way we work, how we're constantly listening to our clients and acting on that feedback through our innovative account management structure visit the Shoosmiths client experience.
Our culture & values
Our culture
There is so much talk about culture and values, but what does it really mean?
For us it means the heartbeat of the firm, the measure against which we conduct ourselves with clients and colleagues in hard times as well as good. And in our case that yardstick is a lack of barriers between departments, a real lack of hierarchy, zero tolerance for arrogance and pomposity, clear thinking and mutual support.
Every partner and senior manager believes in our values and behaves in line with our values. We constantly check this through appraisals, promotion criteria, recruitment criteria, reward and recognition and staff surveys.
We're proud of our culture and we work at keeping it at the heart of all we do. What makes Shoosmiths special is that every person who works in the firm knows why we have values.
What this means for staff
All our colleagues are managed consistently, they know what to expect and are not afraid to tell us if we don't behave in line with our values.
What this means for clients
That they have people working for them who are secure and confident and can focus on getting the job done with colleagues who think like they do, who know the benefit of mutual support and who share a passion for great client service.
It means our clients benefit from people who are relaxed, not afraid to think out of the box and know how to blend seriously hard work with fun and professionalism making them great company.
Our values
Our values guide our behaviour, and our behaviour defines our culture. We have just four values and like all the best and most effective things in life, they are simple:
- pulling together
- talking business sense
- being within reach and responsive
- taking initiative
Our responsibility
We are committed to corporate responsibility; it forms part of our business plan, and in turn shapes our strategic goals. We pride ourselves on not being overly hierarchical and pretentious; we want Shoosmiths to be a place where you can be yourself and do your best work - learn more about our approach to diversity & inclusion.
Senior leadership team
If you would like to learn more about the individuals who drive the vision, values and growth of the firm, you can view Shoosmiths' senior leadership team here.
Latest firm insights
Read the latest articles and commentary from Shoosmiths or you can explore our full insights library.
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