Whilst our work, by its very nature, can be challenging at times, it is intellectually satisfying (e.g. when you successfully overcome a set of complex objections raised by a Patent Office Examiner, or successfully defend a patent under opposition).
We only recruit the best. This means that all around you there are like minded, committed, hardworking, ambitious and highly capable colleagues to learn from and work alongside. We attribute our success to the quality of our people, the variety of their strengths and skills and their ability to share their knowledge with both colleagues and clients alike.
From their first days as graduate trainees, our fee earners do 'real work' and have direct client contact. Of course, in order to maintain our high standards, you will have a supervisor to guide and support you, however experienced you are, but we are keen that you should have real responsibility from an early stage. You can expect to participate in conference calls and meetings so you are fully involved in the cases you are working on.
We act for global corporations such as Procter & Gamble, BP and Cisco, but there is also plenty of scope to work on behalf of smaller organisations, universities and startups. In addition, we have a steady diet of agency work which, especially when you are more junior, is great for 'cutting your teeth on'. However, what all the work you will do has in common is that we focus on excellence – there is no 'handle turning' work where you are not required to use your brain. We expect all our fee earners to think laterally and add value from day one.
As a large and highly successful firm, we have the luxury of a well-resourced back office function. Our records department, accounts department and paralegal support team all run smoothly, and allow our fee earners to focus on what they do best and enjoy most – client work. We also have exceptional IT infrastructure (which, amongst other things, gives us full access to our systems from anywhere in the world), and the equipment and software we use is reliable and up to date.
Flexible working
We acknowledge the pressures of juggling work, home, family and social lives. Many of our fee earners, especially once they become qualified, are operating autonomously and choose to work flexibly – for example in terms of adjusting their core hours in the office, or spending time working from home.
Our IT systems are designed to support flexible working, and so, if you are able to work productively and keep clients happy, we’re not too concerned where you do it.
Work-life balance
In common with most of the IP profession we have a system of billing targets which, for most fee earners, equate to around 4.5 billed hours per day (1,000 hours per year). Our Junior Trainees have lower targets in recognition of their lack of experience and exam commitments. We are fortunate that our workflow enables a fee earner to meet their annual targets without regularly having to work long days or over weekends. We monitor fee earners’ hours on a monthly basis to ensure that workload is spread appropriately across the firm, so no one should be struggling to cope while others have capacity to assist.
We have fun. Our staff survey reflected that our team is happy with their work-life balance and that we have a good range of social activities, both formal and informal.
We take pride in having a diverse working environment which represents a variety of cultures, languages, backgrounds and interests. Our profession is all about embracing and encouraging forward thinking, so we reflect this in our management of the firm. We are active members of IP Inclusive and aim to ensure that our approach to professional matters, social events, benefits and people management policies reflects best practice and encourages people to feel they can 'be themselves'. You can read more about Diversity & Inclusion at Mathys & Squire here.
As a firm, we believe that it is our responsibility to always act ethically, with integrity, and to make a positive impact. We have three core corporate social responsibility commitments:
You can read more about Corporate Social Responsibility here.
We encourage staff at all levels to get involved in business development (BD) and marketing activities, whether through writing articles, attending events, networking or developing relationships with existing clients. The team is always on hand to advise and guide fee earners with research, identifying new opportunities and assisting with pitches, tenders and the like. We also have a comprehensive suite of BD tool kits that help to develop your networking skills, target new clients, and improve your client management and cross-selling skills.
