Holmes & Hills Solicitors has grown significantly in recent years and continues to pursue an ambitious growth strategy. Underpinning this growth strategy is recruiting excellent people for positions across the business, including senior and junior lawyers, trainees, support staff and management. As a firm offering legal jobs in Essex and Suffolk, we regularly recruit for solicitor, paralegal and legal support roles across our offices.
Lawyers and support staff at Holmes & Hills work in partnership with clients and professional contacts when providing legal services. When you join Holmes & Hills, you will find that the Partners, your direct managers and your colleagues will work with you to lend support, offer guidance, give you a sounding board and help you to develop your career.
Holmes & Hills is recognised as a leading supplier of legal advice and representation in the region across several areas of law including Commercial Property, Family Law, Planning Law and medical negligence. Holmes & Hills is ranked in both The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners. The firm and its legal teams are also on panels for, or are accredited by:
A full service law firm with its heart in Essex and Suffolk, we are legal specialists providing regional services to East Anglia. We excel in creating long standing partnerships with our clients, protecting their interests and supporting their growth and development. Our large team of specialists work in partnership with individuals and organisations to provide them with truly proactive legal services through personal relationships. Acting as a trusted advisor to our clients, we take the time to understand each client's needs and objectives before delivering practical advice through a personal and accessible approach.
Born out of our Mission Statement and taken from in-depth feedback and comments that clients have provided in relation to what they really value about dealing with Holmes & Hills, come Holmes & Hills' five Firm Values:
To be professional is to work in partnership with our clients to understand their needs, to enable us to provide specialist advice and to act with integrity.
To be proactive is to actively progress matters and work as promptly as possible through preemptive communication, organisation and prioritisation, as well as contributing to the development of your team and the firm.
To be accessible is to be readily contactable and to provide timely responses to communications from colleagues, clients and professional contacts.
To be personable is to be pleasant for clients, contacts and colleagues to deal with, be it in person, over the phone, or via email and to leave others feeling like they are dealing with a person as opposed to a faceless company.
To understand the circumstances, motivations and emotions of clients, colleagues and contacts and to tailor your service delivery and communication appropriately.
Holmes & Hills has grown significantly over recent years, from 70 staff to 200 and from two offices to seven. The firm's growth continued in 2020 with the opening of its sixth and new regional head office, the A12 Commercial Hub, at Junction 25 of the A12 (Marks Tey, Essex).
The location of the office will provide convenience for clients, staff and professional contacts alike. With ample and free on site parking, as well as being based just a short walk from Marks Tey train station.
Colleagues using the new A12 Commercial Hub will find a modern, agile workspace designed for focused work, team collaboration, and client meetings. The hub offers a mix of private and open areas, formal and informal meeting rooms, and a large dedicated coffee lounge.
45% of colleagues at Holmes & Hills were working flexibly in some form prior to the Coronavirus pandemic. From working part-time to working from home. Your career and working week in the legal industry can look different as part of the ambitious and growing team of legal industry professionals at Holmes & Hills Solicitors.
In addition to a great remuneration package, a career at Holmes & Hills also provides a number of additional benefits.
After 1 years service all employees receive Unum Dental Cover and Medicash Health Plan.
We also feel it is important to recognise the hard work and performance of our employees. So, we also offer a monthly reward programme, encouraging employees to nominate colleagues that have gone over and above their duty. As well as regular after work drinks and team building events.
Our September 2027 intake will be recruited through a summer vacation scheme.
Details for this scheme and how to apply will be confirmed by the end of 2025. Please check this page for updates.
At Holmes & Hills, we’re committed to developing the next generation of lawyers who will grow with us long after qualification. Our goal is to recruit trainees who are invested in building a career here in East Anglia. We look for ambitious individuals who want to contribute to our continued success as one of the region’s leading law firms.
We work closely with our trainees to make sure they receive the best possible training, gain exposure to a variety of practice areas, and develop the confidence and commercial awareness needed for qualification. Many of our current Solicitors, Associates and Partners began their careers with us as trainees - a reflection of our long-standing commitment to progression from within.
Beyond legal work, we’ll support your wider development. You’ll be invited to participate in marketing initiatives, networking and training events, and our Junior Lawyers Network. This is designed to connect trainees and junior lawyers, build professional confidence, and offer non-legal training in areas such as commercial awareness, marketing and client development.
Applicants should hold a law degree (or law conversion course, e.g. PGDL) and have passed SQE 1 & 2 prior to commencing their training contract, or be studying the SQE alongside their Qualifying Work Experience.
You don’t need to have completed your degree or begun your SQE before applying as we recruit at least 18 months in advance.
We also welcome applications from candidates who have already completed the LPC or SQE and are looking to undertake their Training Contract or QWE.
All trainee recruitment now takes place through our Summer Vacation Scheme. We recruit around 18 months in advance - for example:
Trainees starting in September 2027 will apply between December 2025 and February 2026, and complete their vacation scheme in June or July 2026.
For most candidates, the ideal time to apply is during the final year of your law degree, before commencing SQE study the following September.
We recruit our trainees solely through the Holmes & Hills Summer Vacation Scheme. The best way to gain real insight into our people, culture and the quality of work you’ll experience here. Applications for our 2026 Vacation Scheme (for September 2027 start) will open in December 2025 and close in February 2026.
Who better to ask than our current Trainees. What do our current Trainees say about a day in the life of a Trainee at Holmes & Hills?
“A day in the life of a Trainee Solicitor at H&H varies and is largely dependent upon the department you are assisting at the time. As a Trainee in the [Dispute Resolution Department/Contentious Probate Division], much of my time is spent sitting in on client meetings, conferences with counsel, assisting with new enquiries and liaising with experts, third parties and clients. I also spend a lot of my time drafting letters, including letters before claim and without prejudice offers. On occasion I am asked to carry out some legal research, perhaps to locate legal precedent which we can attempt to rely on in our cases, or regarding court procedures and applications. Finally, outside of assisting with legal work I may be attending internal get-togethers with other H&H staff as well as attending external events to meet other professionals in the region. Overall, life as a Trainee at Holmes & Hills is varied, sociable and supportive.”
“It is difficult to pinpoint what a day in the life of a trainee solicitor at Holmes & Hills entails as not one day is the same. Every morning, I arrive at the office, I make myself a large cup of coffee and catch up with my colleagues. The day usually starts with checking my emails and to-do list, which will dictate what my daily tasks will entail. I then move on to complete a range of tasks, ranging from drafting a variety of legal documents, to investigating title and raising enquiries to sellers’ solicitors. At the end of the day after completing a range of tasks, I update my trainee diary and reflect on each task that I have completed. I like to use this time to reflect on the tasks that I have completed throughout the day to determine what I have done well and what I would like to improve upon. I update my to-do list and another rewarding day as a trainee at Holmes & Hills is complete. “
“I’m currently sitting in the Construction Division, so no two days ever look the same! Workload fluctuates between contentious and non-contentious work. It can range from resolving a dispute on behalf of a sub-contractor over non-payment or delay notices, or on the other hand, I may conduct contract reviews or provide standalone commercial/legal advice to clients. It’s hands-on from day one, so I often get asked to draft various letters of advice and/or demand letters to either go to the client or the other party in the dispute. A Trainee in the Construction Division also gets heavily involved in marketing activities like attending The Scaffolding Association Conference and writing articles."
Speculative CV’s should not be sent for roles advertised on our career page. We only accept agency CV’s for specific roles. Where we require an agency to provide us with CV’s, a member of the HR Team will contact the specific recruiter directly to request CV’s for that specific role. In no other circumstances should unsolicited CV’s be sent to our employees or partners.
No agency fee will apply to speculative CV’s sent by agencies. Where an agency submits unsolicited CV’s no commission or other fees will be due if we subsequently employ that candidate, even where an agency’s correspondence contains a disclaimer indicating otherwise.
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