Overview

Judge & Priestley LLP is a long-established full-service regional solicitors' practice founded in 1889, headquartered in Bromley with additional offices across South East and Central London. The firm retains a strong historic specialism in debt recovery while operating as a broad commercial and private client practice covering family law, property (residential and commercial), dispute resolution, social housing and private wealth disputes. Recent growth has been delivered both organically and through acquisitions, including a significant merger in June 2025 which expanded its headcount and central London presence, and the firm emphasises community engagement, DE&I and investment in people and technology as differentiators.

Headquarters: Bromley, Justin House, 6 West Street
Founded: 1889
Partners: 40
Offices: 5

Values & Culture

Practice Areas

Dispute Resolution & Litigation
Housing & Social Housing
Family Law
Real Estate
Private Client & Wealth
Employment
Commercial Contracts
Corporate & M&A

Geographic Focus: Primary focus across the South East of England and South East London (Bromley, Kent) with a Central London (W1) presence; the firm serves local, regional and national clients and positions itself as a leading South East practice with broader London reach.

Training Contract

Application Deadline: 2025-11-07

Mentorship

Mentoring is emphasised across the firm: the site states "Mentoring throughout the firm is evident" and the DE&I committee launched a company-wide mentoring scheme as part of its objectives. People & Culture functions appear to run pastoral and career support activity.

Programmes & Schemes

Work experience placements

Judge & Priestley runs a programme providing work experience placements for local students and for students proposed by client organisations as part of its school and student engagement activity.

Discover event programme

A Discover event programme aimed at breaking down barriers into the law for pupils from disadvantaged or under-represented backgrounds; part of the firm's DE&I objectives and used to support access to legal careers.

Notable Matters

Merger with Portner Law Limited (Portner Solicitors) — June 2025

Judge & Priestley completed its largest merger to date with the central London practice of Portner Law Limited in June 2025. The deal expanded the firm's central London presence (W1 office) and increased staff headcount to around 300, and contributed to the firm reaching 40 partners.

Corporate & M&A

Ongoing client work in debt recovery and dispute resolution (regional and national clients)

The firm highlights debt recovery as one of its largest and longest-standing fields of expertise and acts for a growing range of local, regional and national clients on SME and larger corporate recoveries and dispute resolution matters.

Dispute Resolution & Litigation

Social housing training and case work for housing management clients

The housing team delivers bespoke training seminars to social housing clients on topics including anti-social behaviour, possession proceedings, disrepair defences, Equality Act defences and tenancy types, and acts for local authority and housing association clients on possession, disrepair and tenancy management disputes.

Housing & Social Housing

Family law and international/children relocation work

Specialist family and children law practitioners advise on complex children matters including international relocation, leave to remove, prohibited steps orders and cross-border disputes; the team is a member of Resolution and handles both domestic and international family litigation.

Family Law

What Judge & Priestley LLP Looks For

Key Competencies

Client-focused professionalism
Commercial awareness (especially for business, property and dispute roles)
Teamwork and collaboration
Attention to detail
Resilience and ability to handle emotionally-charged matters (family and private wealth disputes)
Commitment to community and DE&I objectives
Good communication and interpersonal skills

Evidence Signals

Local work experience placements or volunteering and school outreach participation
Demonstrable interest in social housing, property or debt recovery for relevant roles
Experience of client-facing roles or strong customer-service examples
Participation in mentoring schemes or evidence of benefiting from/engaging with mentoring
Memberships or experience aligned to specialist teams (e.g., Resolution for family lawyers)

Benefits & Wellbeing

Mentoring scheme and People & Culture development activity
Staff involvement in CSR and charity initiatives (staff vote to appoint one local and one national charity each year)
Additional paid leave to support charitable causes (staff are allowed paid leave to support charitable causes of their choosing)
Opportunities for secondments/training seminars for clients (housing training services offered externally)
Flexible meeting locations / home visits for clients (home visit service offered for private client and elderly client work) — demonstrates client-service flexibility embedded in firm practice

Wellbeing

The firm supports charitable partnerships (national charity Campaign Against Living Miserably/CALM; local charity Demelza) and staff fundraising activities; staff have participated in sponsored events and firm supports wider wellbeing-related charity engagement. CSR committee leads environmental and community wellbeing objectives.

Awards & Recognition

Inclusion in the UK Legal 200 (2024)
Inclusion in The Times "Best Law Firms" annual listing (2025)
Upgraded Greenly carbon rating to Gold (date reported in In The Community page)
Legal 500 regional rankings across multiple areas (e.g., South East Debt Recovery Tier 1; additional regional and London rankings)

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

The DE&I committee identified seven core objectives committed to be delivered through 2025 and 2026, including establishing a DE&I Policy and strategy, enhancing DE&I training, establishing a mentoring programme, running a Discover event programme to improve access to the law, increasing DE&I profile online, developing a return to work programme, and enhancing DE&I data collection. The firm has published a 2025 Gender Pay Gap Report (linked on the site).

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee (jointly headed by equity partners Rachel Addai and Nitika Singh)
DE&I Policy (new policy delivered)
Company-wide mentoring scheme (launched by DE&I committee)
Discover event programme (school outreach to disadvantaged or under-represented pupils)
Return to work programme (to assist those away from the office to reintegrate)
Enhanced DE&I training
CSR Committee (headed by equity partner Robert Davis) for environmental and charitable engagement

Pro Bono

The firm and its staff actively support national and local charities including Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), Demelza children’s hospices, Greenwich and Bexley Community Hospice and the London Legal Support Trust; staff regularly take part in fundraising events (e.g., BMW PGA Championship fundraising, Colour Run sponsorship) and are permitted paid leave for charitable activities. The firm runs school engagement, mock interview and work experience programmes to widen access to the profession.

Innovation

The firm maintains a Technology, Innovation and Change team (with a named Senior Manager) and states that it will invest in technology alongside people development to remain experts in its areas. Innovation emphasis is presented as part of the firm's commitment to continuous development rather than as a list of specific proprietary tools; trainees and staff are expected to benefit from firm-wide investment in systems and digital capability.

Technology, Innovation and Change team (in-house team and senior manager listed)
Firm-wide investment in technology referenced in the firm's values and people development statements

Quick Application Angles

Emphasise any practical experience in debt recovery, property (leasehold/lease extensions) or social housing — debt recovery and housing are longstanding strengths of the firm.
Reference the firm's community and DE&I work (Discover event programme, mentoring, CALM and Demelza partnerships) to demonstrate cultural fit and commitment to pro-social activity.
For family law roles, highlight any membership or training in Resolution and experience with children/relocation matters; the firm explicitly references Resolution membership across its family team.
Mention the June 2025 Portner Law merger and the firm's recent growth when discussing interest in its commercial or central London practice — show awareness of the firm's strategic expansion.
Demonstrate a willingness to engage in client-facing, practical work (home visits, school engagement and accessible service delivery) and give examples of strong client communication and empathy.

Judge & Priestley LLP