How to decode a law firm’s website

My colleagues set me a challenge this week: show how to conduct research into a firm prior to submitting a training contract application and do it by way of a case study. "Easy," I said, "name the firm!" They gave me DLA Piper - one of the UK's (and the world's) largest firms. For the sake of brevity, I have had to limit myself to decoding the firm's website.

First up, I note that DLA Piper has a UK website nestled within its global website. It also has a separate graduate recruitment website. I'm going to start with the biggest picture possible and then refine my understanding bit by bit. Along the way I will be looking for things that match with my existing ideas about who I want to be as a lawyer. Unless I can express why it is that DLA Piper and I would be a great fit, I am unlikely to get far in the recruitment process. The purpose of this research is to allow me to write a great application form that will demonstrate my suitability and convey my genuine interest in DLA Piper's business.

Global site

The Facts and Figures page is a good place to start. It reveals that 4,200 lawyers work in 31 countries and 77 offices. I don't care about total lawyer numbers, but I am interested in the nature and location of the firm's 77 offices as I'm likely to be involved with work that is shared with or referred from colleagues in these other offices.

The website tells me there are >20 offices in 'key US markets'; >20 across continental Europe; eight in the UK; 11 in the Asia Pacific region and seven in the Middle East.

The words 'key US markets' catch my eye. The site has some often-repeated wording about lawyers servicing clients that are local, national and global. This suggests that DLA Piper is interested in working on regional business matters as well as multimillion-dollar international deals. That appeals to me because I'm not entirely sure I want to spend all my time as a tiny cog in a huge mechanism. If there are also smaller clients with smaller legal issues then maybe I will have more involvement, more responsibility and more opportunity to get to know clients.

The United States is dot-to-dot with DLA Piper offices and the firm is also present in South America. While I do speak fluent Spanish (not really), I am already aware that Latin American business is dominated by firms on that side of the pond. I won't get my hopes up, but it's good to see that there's an office in Brazil - one of the prospering BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries. Soon enough I spot that this office carries the name of a separate firm called Campos Mello Advogados that works in close association with DLA Piper. I want to know what that's all about, particularly as the website indicates that this type of arrangement can be found in approximately 20 countries.

I jump onto Google and read that DLA Piper is actually two separate partnerships (DLA Piper International and DLA Piper US) that share a single management board but aren't financially integrated. Back on the firm's website, the Leadership page introduces me to DLA Piper's chair, a very experienced guy called Tony Angel, who was once in the top job at Linklaters. I also come across joint CEO Sir Nigel Knowles, whose biography is revealing and effectively tells the firm's tale from the UK perspective. I bookmark this page. Knowles, who is a Sheffield Uni grad, seems to have conquered the world, having started as a trainee in a fairly ordinary northern firm.  Words like 'rapid expansion' and 'passion' imply that this is no sluggish firm and no ordinary lawyer. Do I have the dynamism required within this organisation? I think so.

Back to that global footprint. DLA Piper's many offices in continental Europe are located in the prospering nations (Germany has five) as well as the basket-case economies. As someone who has lived abroad for a year during my degree (not really), working in an international firm is absolutely my goal. I'm reassured that the firm has a presence in flourishing economies like Turkey, Russia and Norway.

UK site

Time to move my research focus to the UK. After all, this is where I will complete my training contract (though I am hoping to get an overseas seat). As I sit here in Sheffield (not really), I have a nagging doubt about whether to stay in the north or move to London. I assume a London training contract will give me more scope to work on international matters, rather than regional business, but I should check whether this is indeed the case.

I also want to understand the trade off: I reckon I can establish myself as a fully functioning adult quicker up here - cheaper houses for one thing, and maybe I'll also have a work schedule that allows more life in my work/life balance. Several of my friends are staying north, so it's something to think carefully about. Is there some way of splitting my training between London and Yorkshire, I wonder? I head over to the UK grad recruitment pages to see what I can discover…

Graduate recruitment site

The recruitment website is useful: it tells me that the firm has won a bunch of awards and emphasises the volume of corporate deals it handles. There are references to rankings in legal directories and I will take a look at some of these later to try and establish where the firm sits in relation to the other firms I have put on my shortlist.

The Vision and Culture page has some cute graphics and the firm attempts to explain its DNA from inside a coffee cup. Other pages suggest I can expect City-quality work in any of the regional offices, and there's mention of residential get-togethers between the trainees in the different offices. I also learn that I have a one in 30 or 40 chance of landing a training contract with the firm. All this research should improve my odds, and already a cogent argument is developing as to why DLA Piper and I are a match made in legal heaven. It doesn't sound stuffy; it doesn't pretend it won't work me hard; its website highlights pro bono and CSR commitments; and I really like the emphasis on lawyers as business people. That's how I want to work and I realise that my application form will need to demonstrate this in some measurable way.

Oooh! The firm is on Twitter and Facebook (big thumbs-up from me), so later I will take a look at what sort of messages it wants me to understand about itself.

The recruitment site refers me back to the firm's main UK website to read about the areas in which the UK arm practices. I know it's weird, but I am most interested in real estate, and it's brilliant that I can read up on the firm's key clients and deals in some detail. I'm looking for themes, sectors and trends in the firm's caseload rather than aiming to memorise specific deals and clients. While on the UK website, I crawl over the News and Insights pages and find some interesting stuff, including a few useful articles on real estate.

Back on the grad rec site, a link takes me to reviews written by legal careers guides and legal directories, which is all useful for getting a flavour of what DLA Piper does workwise and how its trainees feel about working there. I also find clear instructions about application deadlines and minimum A-level/university grades, and I learn that I should apply to one office only. The firm does offer some overseas seats and client secondments so there's definitely scope for variation during the training. There are additionally clear answers to plenty of other practical questions on the FAQ page.

The phrase 'Everything Matters' is everywhere on the websites and I am interpreting it to mean that DLA Piper wants me to be more than a good technical lawyer. It's a signal that I must demonstrate other skills and attributes when I apply - things like good communication, team working and commerciality in my approach to problems.

All things considered, my time spent on the DLA Piper websites has been extremely useful. There are various ideas and topics I will now explore in more detail before filling in my application (which is via Apply4Law so I can use the MyLocker tool to save time when inputting my academic grades). I feel confident that I can create an application that stands out as well researched, and this should make it easier to show that I am i.dla.suited*.

*For the purposes of this blog I have assumed an alter ego. If you would like to set me a research challenge, email me via LC.N's Oracle at [email protected].