Pros
There is a fairly good work / life balance and pay is acceptable but not fantastic. Summer party is excellent. Jonathan Agar is a very pleasant guy.
Cons
Your experience at Birketts will depend a huge amount on which team you are in. Plenty of teams have fantastic, friendly and supportive partners and there are some genuinely wonderful people and decent lawyers in the firm. Sadly I'm not in one of those teams. The juniors in my team are micromanaged to near death and are amongst the least content lawyers I have worked with in my career. The partners are abrasive, do not support their staff when any difficulties arise and are frankly terrible managers. As a result, turnover is very high. Any attempts to try anything new or innovative are quickly squashed. It is a genuine shame as staff in other parts of the business seem much happier.