paralegal

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Womble-Bond-Dickinson

In January 2014 I moved to Bond Dickinson Law firm as a part time travel advisor working within a very intimate team alongside two other colleagues. Although I am still booking all aspects of travel this is a very different role to everything I did so far. Working for Bond Dickinson has given me that experience of working on the other side of Business Travel so I feel fortunate in that I can see the booking from both the perspective of the client and the travel agent.
 
Although we have appointed Business Travel Company that we use to help us with our bookings we do most of the booking ourselves via the internet whilst strictly controlling the budget. We have about 1200 employees and partners that we look after. Although some of the bookings can be done in advance a lot of the bookings are last minute urgent bookings so speed and accuracy is important.  
With our offices mainly based in the UK I mainly book Domestic rail using Evolve system, domestic flights and hotels although we do also get to book flights and hotels around Europe and occasionally long haul flights. We have preferred hotels and rates.
This role is challenging in that as our clients are fellow employees we must deal with them on a face to face basis as well as via phone and email.  I also had the responsibility and freedom of negotiating my own hotel rates and meting the suppliers which I enjoyed greatly.

Initially the company was okay to work for, however, very quickly I learnt you receive very little support from the Managing Paralegals, who show very little empathy towards you learning the job role, even if you are within your probation and still learning. The Managing Paralegals have no prior managing people experience and quite frankly treat you like something off the bottom of their shoes. One particular Managing Paralegal will have a go at you for no reason especially if they have had a bad time at home, not very professional.  The firm work you very hard with almost no encouragement. In this firm your face certainly has to fit! A horrible office environment, no one talks to each other, heads are down all day, the moment you do look up and talk to someone, it is almost frowned upon. I sat at my desk for weeks with no work to do, no one cares, they are too busy trying to advance their own careers! A very corporate environment, which left me feeling very anxious to the point I felt I had no other option but to quit. I wouldn't recommend this law firm to anyone, they seem to have lost sight of how to look after their people, instead they are all about the bottom line. There won't be a bottom line without people to carry out the work! I assume the new American partner has had a massive influence on how they now go about their business. A very disappointing experience.

Computer all day - 7 hours has to be recorded everyday no matter what happens. Before you leave if you do not have 7 hours time recorded you are questioned.
I believed that I learned cooperate companies are not humane. 
Management were horrendous. Particularly the higher ups.
Hardest part was wanting to turn up. Very little support. They rave about mental health but have no consideration for it. They tick boxes and then if you don’t fit convince you that’s your fault. 
Meeting some of the staff and free coffee. 

Pros:
Varied tasks to undertake, no day is the same.
6 month staff briefings and updates through office emails.
Yearly appraisals.
Good catering facilities.
Mostly friendly staff and a warm welcoming atmosphere.
Free tea, coffee and milk.
Parking Facilities.

Cons:
Very bad management at times.

my one week work experience at bond Dickinson was very worth while as it gave me a good insight into working within an office environment.

Full of bullies.  If your face doesnt fit! Bullied out of work. Treated bad for being a hard working man. I would not recommend working here. Horrible atmosphere. 

Initially good idea.  Not good.  Ended up being ill working there.  Treat their staff like dogs.  Good salary, horrible working practices and conditions

It's a good place to work and you are a valued member of the team. Everyone is friendly and management is on the whole experienced and effective. I'd recommend to anyone.

A busy and challenging role with tight deadlines to adhere to.  Meeting the highest expectations of clients' requests.  Accuracy is key.  A rewarding company to work for.

If you show commitment to this company they will show commitment to you.  Very hot on training staff appropriately.  Management are approachable.  Value your opinion.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Paralegal 6 salaries reported	£23,388 per year
Solicitor 6 salaries reported	£62,833 per year
Associate 3 salaries reported	£74,667 per year
It apprentice 2 salaries reported	£18,020 per year
Apprentice 1 salary reported	£18,020 per year

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