Ben Hoare Bell Solicitors LLP
Overview
Ben Hoare Bell is a long-established regional law firm based across the North East of England with a strong public‑law and legal aid pedigree. The firm was established in 1979 and describes itself as one of the largest North East practices still specialising in Legal Aid, is Lexcel accredited and operates specialist teams in areas such as family, mental health/Court of Protection, personal injury/clinical negligence and actions against public authorities. The firm operates multiple offices across the North East and emphasises community, pro bono work and access to justice as central to its identity.
- Founded: 1979
- Lawyers: 60 (people, including 10 partners)
- Partners: 10
- Trainees: 11 (trainee headcount reported 01-03-2023)
- Offices: 3
Values & Culture
Practice Areas
- Family Law
- Personal Injury & Clinical Negligence
- Public Law
- Healthcare & Life Sciences
- Dispute Resolution & Litigation
- Data Protection & Privacy
- Housing & Social Housing
- Private Client & Wealth
- Criminal Law
- Regulatory & Compliance
Geographic Focus: Primary strength and presence across the North of England / North East (Sunderland, Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead) with growing presence into Cumbria (Carlisle). The firm delivers both privately funded and publicly funded (legal aid) work and accepts instructions nationally where relevant to its specialist public interest and personal‑injury practices.
Training Contract
The firm delivers a two‑year Period of Recognised Training (formerly called a Training Contract) with seat rotations across several specialist departments. Seat lengths vary (examples on the site show trainees spending 12 months in some departments and other rotations of shorter duration, with trainees moving departments during their second year; trainees undertake project work linked to access to justice where applicable). The firm supports vocational qualifications and professional accreditations and uses mentoring and supervision to support trainee development.
- Application Deadline: 30 November 2025
Seat Options
- Family
- International Family
- Personal Injury (including clinical and dental negligence)
- Mental Health & Court of Protection
- Actions Against Public Authorities / Police Misconduct
- Crime / Criminal Law
- Housing
- Health & Social Care
- Childcare / Public Law (care proceedings)
- Data Protection / Information Law
Mentorship
Friendly and supportive mentoring/supervision/management system with an open door policy across the firm; trainees are supported through training and professional accreditations and receive internal supervision and buddying.
Programmes & Schemes
Ben Hoare Bell participates in the North East Solicitor Apprenticeship (NESA) programme in partnership with other regional firms and Northumbria University. The scheme offers a Higher Apprenticeship (Level 7) route to qualify as a solicitor combining paid employment and study at Northumbria University.
- Duration: 6 years
- Deadline: 2026-02-13
The firm runs short work‑experience placements for school and college students; examples include A‑level students assisting partners with research for UN reports. The firm has historically offered one‑week placements via competitions/raffles at university career fairs and accepts occasional work experience applications.
- Duration: 1 week (typical / varies)
Ben Hoare Bell attends university careers fairs (eg. Newcastle University, Northumbria University events) and information events (including NESA information events) where prospective trainees, apprentices and students can meet solicitors, trainees and paralegals and learn about training and work experience opportunities. The firm has run raffles and on‑site information sessions at these events.
- Duration: 1 day / event
- Deadline: TBC
Notable Matters
Ben Hoare Bell was one of the claimants in a successful judicial review challenge to the Civil Legal Aid (Remuneration) (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2014 which cut funding for judicial review work. The firm collaborated with three other law firms and Shelter; the Divisional Court found the regulations unlawful, preserving funding protections for legal aid judicial review work.
Public Law
The firm hosted a bespoke two‑year training contract under the Justice First Fellowship scheme (Legal Education Foundation) focused on social welfare law (health & social care, mental health and housing). The contract required the trainee to manage a project to further access to justice for disadvantaged individuals.
Public Law
The firm acts for claimants in complaints and compensation claims against public authorities, including police misconduct and use‑of‑force investigations and judicial review challenges, pursuing many hundreds of misconduct matters and civil claims arising from public body actions.
Dispute Resolution & Litigation
What Ben Hoare Bell Solicitors LLP Looks For
Key Competencies
- Commitment to public interest and access to justice
- Experience working with vulnerable clients and in legal aid/publicly funded matters
- Commercial awareness in client-facing roles where relevant
- Teamwork and effective communication
- Resilience and ability to manage emotionally demanding caseloads
- Willingness to learn and obtain professional accreditations
Evidence Signals
- Previous paralegal or trainee experience at the firm or in similar practices
- Pro bono or voluntary work (eg. community charities, youth organisations)
- Experience with legal aid/public law or social welfare law projects
- University careers fair engagement or attendance at firm events
- Relevant panel accreditations or progress towards Law Society panels (eg. Children Panel, Mental Health panel)
Benefits & Wellbeing
- Generous holiday entitlement of 26 days plus bank holidays (pro rata for part time employees)
- Additional holiday entitlement of up to 5 days awarded for continued service
- Training and development support including funding for relevant accreditations/qualifications (fee earners & non‑fee earners)
- Friendly and supportive mentoring/supervision and open door policy
- Flexibility for home working for solicitors
- Tea/coffee/milk provided
- Weekly fresh fruit provided
- Option to join firm netball team and access to table tennis
- Team building/bonding days (eg. Ouseburn Farm)
- Social events and option to attend external events and dinners
- Involvement with charities and fundraising supported (eg. food bank donations, Macmillan coffee mornings)
- Maternity pay for employees with two years continuous service (10 weeks at full pay and 16 weeks at half pay)
- Paternity pay for employees with 26 weeks continuous service (2 weeks) and shared parental pay
- Adoption pay for employees with two years continuous service (10 weeks full pay and 16 weeks half pay)
- Contractual sick pay of up to 10 days in a 12 month period
- Paid and unpaid bereavement leave
- Pension scheme
- Proven record of career progression in fee earning and non‑fee earning roles
Wellbeing
Weekly fresh fruit, team building and social events, encouragement of involvement with charitable activities, and firm participation in Mental Health Awareness Week and related initiatives.
Awards & Recognition
- Legal Aid Firm of the Year (awarded prior to 2015)
- Northern Law Awards – Trainee of the Year (Ronagh Craddock) (2016)
- Northern Law Awards – Family Team of the Year (2016)
- Shortlisted for multiple Northern Law Awards categories (2016)
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Ben Hoare Bell LLP is committed to recruiting, retaining and developing a workforce that reflects the diverse communities that it serves and asks applicants to complete equality monitoring to help the firm improve equality of opportunity.
- Equality and Diversity Monitoring (internal monitoring form and monitoring mailbox monitoring@benhoarebell.co.uk)
- Pro bono services (eg. pro bono deed poll/name-change work for transgender young people led by partner Cris McCurley)
- Support for Traveller Movement and community outreach projects
- Charity and community support activity (eg. Washington Community Food Project donations)
Pro Bono
The firm undertakes pro bono work (examples include assisting 15 transgender young people with deed poll name changes, volunteer work on UN shadow reporting and support for access to justice projects). The firm has also partnered with Justice First Fellowship to host a training contract focusing on social welfare law and requires trainees on that scheme to run an access to justice project.
Innovation
Quick Application Angles
- Emphasise commitment to legal aid and access to justice — reference the firm’s long history of publicly funded work, its Lexcel accreditation and involvement in judicial review challenges when explaining motivation.
- If applying for family, public law or mental health roles, cite relevant practical experience (paralegal, care proceedings, Mental Health Act matters) and any Law Society panel training or similar accreditation.
- Mention apprenticeship and trainee pathways (Justice First Fellowship, NESA) where relevant — show interest in alternative qualification routes and in the firm’s community/outreach projects.
- Highlight pro bono, charity or community work on your CV (eg. work with vulnerable groups, evidence of campaigning or volunteering) — the firm publicly promotes such activity and funds trainee projects that improve access to justice.
- At interviews reference the firm’s regional focus and specific offices (Newcastle/Gateshead/Sunderland) and be prepared to discuss willingness to work across offices and to undertake work under publicly funded/legal aid arrangements.
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