Jessica Brickley - Senior Product Services Engineer - Birmingham

I’ve been at Pinsent Masons twice now, and funnily enough it’s the only place I’ve worked where that’s fairly common! I originally spent a couple of years at the firm as an in-house lawyer, and very much enjoyed my time here. After that, I wanted to try something else, and so I left and spent a few years elsewhere, but I always thought Pinsent Masons was somewhere I could come back to. When I was looking to return to in-house lawyering, my old team at Pinsent Masons happened to be recruiting, so I returned to my previous role and had just as much fun the second time round.

The people here are excellent at what they do and a pleasure to work with, and I’ve made many friends. I also particularly appreciate that the firm has a real commitment to diversity of all types; I’m now co-chairing our Neurodiversity Network, and I’m really pleased that the firm supports this kind of initiative.

Career flexibility is really part of the culture, and there’s a sense that people need to develop, progress, and move on, rather than the expectation being that once you’re in a role you’ll do that forever. That’s reflected not just in the fact that previous employees are welcomed back, but in the ability to move sideways within the firm. I’ve just made the move out of lawyering into an entirely different team and I’m now building software applications for the client-facing teams to use. My understanding of the lawyer job is still useful, but the role is very different, and I feel fortunate to work within a firm that’s open-minded and can see my potential, rather than just what’s on my CV.