Best company I have worked for to date. - Solicitor Simpson Millar Employee Review

5.0
6 July 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I work in the Clinical Negligence Department. I have worked in Clinical Negligence for 7 years, but I qualified on 16 March 2020. I have worked for a number of firms before I joined Simpson Millar. I had two weeks of induction when I joined the firm and feel the phased start was really useful. The Learning and Development Team talked me through the Simpson Millar processes and showed me everything on the system before I was expected to work on any files. I felt equipped with all the knowledge I needed to start working on my cases. My Head of Department Kate Sweeney, is great. She’s approachable, knowledgeable, caring and meticulously organised and efficient. She authorises my work in a timely manner and always provides constructive feedback. She is only ever a phone call away if I need her for anything. I feel well-integrated in my team, despite us all working remotely. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming. We all genuinely want each other to succeed. We have a number of chats on Microsoft Teams where we can ask ask questions, share ideas and plan what lunch we’ll go for when we next attend the office! I am well supported by paralegals and our admin team. I have 63 live files and feel more supported than I’ve ever felt in a role before. This is the highest case load I’ve ever had. It’s great that the firm has recognised the need to be able to delegate tasks that it would be uneconomic for the firm, for a Solicitor to be doing. I have a very high case load but it is manageable with the support available. I am also grateful to be very busy and not out of work. I know other firms are struggling to find work! The firm allows hybrid and flexible working, which is invaluable to me as I have two rescue dogs at home. We are encouraged to attend an office once a month but can work flexibly around our personal commitments. There’s no set working hours. Lots of the offices are actually dog-friendly too. You are treated as an adult, and trusted to get on with your work with as much supervision as you feel is needed. The firm is well organised and targets are easy to understand. There are lots of processes in place to make progressing files simpler, and it works. The firm offers a bonus scheme (financial) and rewards scheme (retail discounts etc)

Cons

High case loads and uncompetitive salaries.

Explore other reviews about Simpson Millar

1.0
16 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Remote working is good and they are very flexible They don’t micro manage

Cons

Ineffective layers of middle management Really low pay compared to other competitor firms Bonuses don’t happen and annual pay reviews are fruitless. You will hardly ever get to do any client facing or active work - clients don’t come in to the office. Truly awful IT system, hard to get anything done. They will have lost so much money to this but feedback is not acted on. Very poor software and case management system. For some reason they will not pay for better software. No AI legal software utilization so there is too much time wasted on administrative work - you will spend most of your time either doing admin, battling with the IT system or case management software, or being harassed when your chargeables drop below 99%. You will feel like an overworked admin assistant as a fee earner. Ineffective billing process - you essentially have to do your own billing, which is nonchargeable of course. Excessively corporate, too much jargon: management like talking about finance and budget to employees who are not management and have no stake in this. A lot of saying and not much doing. ‘Mental health days’ , open rewards and random drinks evenings don’t make up for being paid the lowest in the publicly funded legal sector. Retention is very bad and people leave all the time. Some teams have lost almost the entire workforce in only 12 months. There is a culture of blaming and scapegoating certain employees and favouritism of others. Very petty and pedantic attitudes to file management, to the detriment of clients who hardly ever get to speak to their solicitors except by email.

3.0
7 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Friendly, supportive team with a great culture Approachable management and team leaders Good opportunities for career progression Senior management have recently been making an effort to listen to employees and make improvements, but progress is extremely slow

Cons

Salaries are very low for the market, and salary increases are tiny They struggle with retention so there is a high turnover of colleagues Terrible IT

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