Express Solicitors reviews about "colleague"

63% positive business outlook

Reviews by job title

14 reviews
2.0
2 Aug 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Great colleagues - Supervisors can be very supportive and take the time to teach you - Surrounded by great Personal Injury lawyers who take the time to teach you things - Work events are fun - You learn a lot very quickly - Can get a training contract if you do a decent job

Cons

- Tough work load from the start - The firm is PI law only, so you don't learn about other legal areas. - Office building is ugly and in an industrial estate - Can feel like you're just a cog in a machine - Feels very much like you are working in a business with the sole intention of maximising profits and little else. Management are obsessed with monthly targets etc. There is a spreadsheet showing how much money every other employee is bringing in. - Working there can get very depressing, it put me off becoming a lawyer. - I slacked off work during my notice period and was shown the cold shoulder by my supervisor and manger, seemed overly harsh as I had known them for over a year. - A lot of people openly admit they are just there to get a training contract and will leave as soon as they can. - They have a high drop out rate for staff - There is a new intake of 5-10 paralegals every 2-3 months and you cannot keep track of who is new to the department etc. - Management can track how much you're working and run reports on you. - HR can be a bit over the top sometimes - Office gossip and cliques - There are a lot of paralegals from BAME backgrounds but almost all the partners are white. - Pay for newly qualified solicitors is poor

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Express Solicitors Response
1y
Thank you for your feedback. We very much appreciate you taking the time and that you highlight the training, support and development that Express offer. In regards to some of the negatives you mentioned, it can difficult transition for graduates into the world of work. All law firms have monthly targets that fee earners need to meet, and will monitor fee earners in regards to their performance, this is the nature of the legal business. Supervisors cannot look to support fee earners in reaching their targets if they do not know any potential areas of issue. As you mentioned yourself our more senior lawyers will always take time to offer development and guidance. Many law firms also publish fee earner figures. One of the big differences is that Express includes the Partner figures, which in other firms are withheld from employees. Express do this, so all staff can be reassured that the partners are not asking for anything that they themselves are not doing; that everyone is being treated equally and that others are reaching those targets regularly. Our graduate scheme provides 3 months of initial training, with 6 weeks before you even move into your own team. It is pretty unique in the industry, with most law firms providing targets to be met from day 1. We look to ensure that every law graduate who joins us is equipped with the right skills before they take on workload responsibilities. Our regular intakes are due to the firm expansion we have grown steadily over the years and now have 700 staff. In regards to these cohorts, our rate of resignation averages at 15% within the first 6 months. A high proportion of these is due to the fact that people decide that Personal Injury is not for them. We recognise that it will not be for everyone, but we are always clear from the outset that personal injury is all we do and look to take on people who wish to pursue a career in this area. Of course, this is can change with the actual practice of the area, just like any other. Our trainee retention rate for last year was 82%. If you look at the Legal Cheek firm listings for trainee retention rates you can see this is the same rate as firms like Eversheds, Taylor Wessing and Linklaters.
3.0
3 Apr 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Lovely colleagues and office space

Cons

Supervisors cannot supervise and micromanage. Also can be rude and condescending

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Express Solicitors Response
1y
Thank you for your comments and we are pleased you are happy with colleagues and office space. Sorry to hear your comments about your supervisor. We have carefully developed policies and procedures so it might be the double checking was to assure ourselves about client care rather than micro-managing. If you would like to contact the HR team they would be pleased to understand any issues identified.
1.0
17 Jun 2024

Very hostile environment

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Nice colleagues and free snacks occasionally

Cons

Hostile supervisor who gets off on mistreating team members. Extreme favoritism and condescending tone when being spoken to.

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Express Solicitors Response
1y
Thank you for your feedback, we are sorry that you did not enjoy your time working at Express. We are pleased that you enjoyed working with your colleagues but disappointed you did not feel you had the support of your supervisor. We know that having a good working relationship with your supervisor is key to a happy working environment. We have no record of having any internal complaints about any of our NCT Team Manager, so please do contact us, allhr@expresssolicitors.co.uk, as we will always look to address any issued raised with the parties involved. We work hard to ensure that we provide a good working environment for all of our employees and we are ranked in the top Best 100 companies to work for. This is based on feedback provided directly and anonymously to Best Companies, who give an impartial rating.
4.0
21 Sept 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Lovely colleagues, great opportunities for progression, helpful supervisors and colleagues, great hybrid working, alright bonuses for fee earners

Cons

Low salary for the work expected, no pay increases, salary of file handlers barely worth the promotion, long hours not worth the salary, poor benefits

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Express Solicitors Response
2y
Thank you for taking the time to leave us feedback, we are delighted that you found our working environment & culture positive. That’s is hugely important to us, as we strive to ensure that all employees feel supported and enjoy working here. Our culture of training and progression means most of our junior lawyers do progress quickly and obtain training contracts within 6 to 18 months. In regards to the salary we have a clear open salary structure with a spine to ensure parity. When you get promoted to handling client files there is the opportunity to earn commission. This commission has no minimum threshold unlike other law firms. This means that as long as people are progressing their clients cases, they have opportunity to earn extra.
2.0
20 Sept 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Lovely colleagues (at fee earning level) Good commission Home working

Cons

Frankly, the cons outweigh the pros here. The staff turnover is very high. It's like a revolving door which caused poor moral. Workloads are also all over the place and "targets" are just a joke. Some employees have been told they aren't doing well enough for not achieving 10-20% above target. It's not the kind of place you can just do your job and go home, be prepared for late nights and weekend working which is the norm. There's a lot of hypocrisy and favoritism too. Some junior staff are allowed to wfh fulltime where as others have to beg to wfh an extra day for personal reasons and then make it up. Managers are held at different standards to everyone else even when others are fired for less. If you are thinking about working here, just consider whether you are doing yourself justice. Likely you aren't.

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Express Solicitors Response
2y
Thank you for your comments. We are very proud of our low attrition, we invest 5 weeks of Academy training into all our emerging talent hires before they are placed in departments and we believe this unique investment approach pays forward in terms of loyalty and commitment, not to mention excellent client service. I am sorry you had a bad experience. On the salary, we have a clear open salary structure with a spine, available on the intranet to all, which means there is no favouritism, people are paid according to the spine until qualification. Working from home is the “3-2” for the very vast majority of our staff, a 50/50 blend after probation. This fairness is extremely important to us at Express Solicitors Ltd.
3.0
4 Jul 2021

Average

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- good work colleagues - plenty of work

Cons

- lack of communication from management - poor pay - lack of supervision

4.0
6 Oct 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Having worked for Express Solicitors & Ontime Reports for almost 7 years, I thoroughly enjoy my experience here. Plenty of career progression, support from management, approachable staff across all levels and friendly working environment. Opportunity to become involved in social committees, charity work, diversity and inclusion committee where you can get to know other colleagues within the firm. Organized sports such as football/netball and annual 10K run for Forever Manchester . Benefit of personal appointments allow flexibility to attend appointments during the working day. I feel my work is valued and enjoy feedback, whether it be positive or constructive to improve myself. Introduction of hybrid working has been a benefit. Exciting things are happening which I am excited to be a part of!

Cons

I have experienced no cons during my tenure with with the company. The workload is fast paced and demanding but the rewards outweigh this for me.

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Express Solicitors Response
2y
Thank you for your feedback. It is great to hear from our employees from the wider business. We want everyone at Express to feel valued and supported in the role they do. Each and everyone's contribution has played a part in Express' ongoing growth and success.
4.0
24 Mar 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Very good chance of progression and very supportive colleagues

Cons

The work itself can be quite repetitive

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Express Solicitors Response
2y
Thank you for taking the time to leave us such positive feedback. We are please to know that our employees are enjoying working here.
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