Amy Leech, employment law associate and Shoosmiths’ mental health and wellbeing champion, considers the benefits of having an employee led mental health champion network within your business. As an employer, you will have lots of opportunities to look after your employees’ mental health. However, many organisations are still just paying lip service to it. Lots of businesses are sending employees to mental health talks or providing employees with an additional “wellbeing” day off. But do short term activities such as these really go to the root of the problem? I am not suggesting that a business’s approach to mental health can be changed overnight...
Shoosmiths LLP
Main Contacts

Gary Assim
Partner
Crispin Bridges Webb
PartnerOffices
Overview
Shoosmiths LLP is unusual among its UK law firm peer group for steering its path to a £128million turnover largely through organic growth, rather than by mega-merger.
For clients, this translates into a slick operation where teams are well integrated, and the right skills for a requirement can be focused on or scaled up easily. This impression of strong relationships of trust and teamwork at Shoosmiths is underpinned by a 20 year commitment to diversity and shared values.
Against this background is a sharp ambition to step into the vacuum that international competitors have left behind, and the firm has rapidly expanded its UK footprint to become one of today's most 'national' firms, with a series of successful office openings in Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, the acquisition of the Scottish firm ACH in 2012 and an opening in Belfast three years later. These extensions have been built on a historic base in the East Midlands dating back to 1845, together with the firm's 30-year status as a regional heavyweight in the South-East. The firm may be onto something - their clients include a wide number of blue-chip names who clearly like a firm on their panels which is 'not too small, and not too large.'
Client focus and commerciality are at the heart of the Shoosmiths service promise - the firm views itself as a service business and its lawyers and front line staff are genuinely encouraged to make a difference in a way that is relevant to each client.
The cultural imperative to "take initiative" (one of the firm's 4 core values) has helped the firm to score many innovative firsts - "it's something we just do, rather than something we talk about". Shoosmiths was the first UK law firm to publish its fee income (1994), and the first law firm to be on twitter (2008). It has pioneered an innovative Risk & Reward pricing structure in collaboration with a major client, was the first UK law firm to publish its Gender Pay Gap figures (2017), has introduced a flexible 'resource solutions' suite for clients and in-house legal teams seeking a more tailored approach to contract legal services, and is likely to be 'one to watch' when it comes to delivering the new solutions enabled by legal tech.
Shoosmiths' commitment to diversity is well-evidenced - a female CEO presided over its recent decade of growth, and the firm is regularly recognised in Diversity League Tables.
Whilst its own agile office network is centred in the UK, Shoosmiths regularly works with law firms with a similarly client-focused outlook in the jurisdictions where our clients do business - "where they go, we go".
National awards from the last 12 months include: Legal Business National/Regional Firm of the Year 2018; EG Legal Team of the Year (2018); and Winner of the Legal 500 Corporate & Commercial Specialism of the year (Venture Capital).
In a rapidly changing legal environment, where markets, technology and new global risks continually re-set the client agenda, Shoosmiths is a law firm which combines innovation and resilience, in tune with the times.
Year this Office was Established: 1985
Lawyers Worldwide: 1600
Notable
Areas of Practice
Professionals
Partners

Crispin Bridges Webb
Partner
Michael Briggs
Partner
Helen Burgess
Partner
Sean Burke
Partner
Michelle Craven-Faulkner
Partner
Peter Duff
Chairman
Ellis Gardner-Browne
Partner
Deborah Gordon Brown
Partner
Su Kemp
Partner
Matthew Kenwood
PartnerPrincipal Associates

Natalie Aldread
Principal Associate
Rachel Beard
Senior Associate
Claire Byrne
Professional Support Lawyer
Victoria Chan
Senior Associate
Gregg Harris
Senior Associate
Charley Hemming
Principal Associate
Ian Lawton
Senior Associate
Helen Parrott
Principal Associate
Charlotte Staples
Senior Associate
Will Thomas
Principal Associate
Marcus-Adam Tuck
Senior Associate
Ania Vernon
Principal AssociateAssociates
Legal Directors and Key Support Personnel
Articles
Bonuses for absent employees: To pay or not to pay?
As organisations start to rebuild post pandemic, many will be considering the introduction or reintroduction of bonuses to their employees. However, when it comes to payment of bonus to those who have had time away from work, employers need to take care. Bonuses can either be contractual, where the employer is obliged to pay the bonus if the relevant conditions are met, or discretionary, where the employer can decide whether to pay the bonus, as long as that decision is made in good faith...
Press
Shoosmiths experts react to Queen’s Speech
The State opening of parliament began with the Queen’s Speech and was delivered by Prince of Wales this year. Our experts respond below to the speech at large.Alex Bishop, co-head of the Shoosmiths Birmingham office, said: “We were delighted to see Birmingham and the Commonwealth Games specifically mentioned in the Queen’s Speech, marking this pivotal year for the city. It is imperative we leverage the opportunity the Games will bring to propel the city forwards and to take advantage of the levelling up agenda. Any support Government can give to further this objective is most welcome - giving greater autonomy to the regions has to be a move in the right direction”...
Application window for Shoosmiths Foundation grant allocation opens
Leading UK law firm Shoosmiths has announced the opening of its latest application window for funding grant allocations from the Shoosmiths Foundation.The Shoosmiths Foundation is a grant-making body working to help address societal issues, empower sustainable change and improve the lives of the people and the environment in the UK. Grants are available for UK registered charities undertaking work in the UK...