Sports and Social
Sports and social activities are a great way to meet people from across the firm and include everyone from trainees to partners and support departments. There’s everything from regular sporting fixtures such as football, mixed hockey, netball, cricket, rugby and softball to the annual events such as sailing in the Manches Cup, the charity cycle tour and the tennis tournament. With an emphasis on the social rather than the competitive you don’t need to be an ex-county player to get involved!
In addition to the sporting activities there’s the chance to get involved in the firm’s internal magazine, Disclosure, or to help with the firm’s charity fund raising committee.
Hockey
“We play 1 or 2 competitive but chilled games each month against other lawyers and professional firms. The matches are mixed and all levels of players are welcome. After each match we head to the nearest pub for food and drinks provided by the firm. We also play in the annual Solicitors
Charity Hockey Tournament, although generally only fairly briefly... The team is a great mix of trainees, associates and partners, the latter proving very useful in securing funding for the 'AGM' curry night.” - Nick McDonald, Newly Qualified Solicitor in the Planning Department
Netball
"We play in the Central London Netball League and have matches once a week against other City firms. We play on outdoor courts in Southwark, ten minutes from the office. The matches are competitive but really good fun and there is a real mixture of ability within the team. Newcomers are welcomed all the time and it's 
an excellent way to meet people from other departments in the firm. It has a good social side too - be it a drink after the match, a firm sponsored sports evening with the LPC+ students, or the end of season dinner. Last season we won our league and hope to do so again this year!" - Ruth Badrick, Trainee 2006-2008
Football
“There is a lot of opportunity to play football at BLP. We currently enter a team in a seven-a-side league every week, organise 11-a-side friendlies every fortnight against other law firms and barristers' chambers and frequently have departmental seven-a-side games against clients. Last year, we staged our first match against our LPC+ students as part of the "sports evening" 
which it is envisaged will become a yearly social event. There is always an opportunity to play if you want to, whatever your standard, and line-ups include a range of staff from partners through trainees to support staff. The highlight of the football calendar is the annual BLP tour, which has seen us play in Italy, Germany and Ireland in recent years.” - Roger Milburn, Trainee 2006-2008
Softball
"The softball season runs from May to August. There are weekly matches against other firms, which take place in Regent's Park and Primrose Hill as part of the London Legal Softball League. It's an incredibly sociable sport - there's no requirement for having played it before and enthusiasm is welcomed as much as skill! A healthy amount of competition 
exists between the law firms (usually relating to some obscure rule which is cited by one or other of the teams) and the season culminates in an all-day tournament on a Saturday. Sadly no silverware was brought home for BLP this year but we had a great day." - Caroline Corish, Newly Qualified Solicitor in the Banking Department.
Disclosure
The firm has its own internal magazine - ‘Disclosure’. Written and edited by the trainees it provides an update on all sports and social matters and provides the all important introductions to the new trainees each September and March.
Charity Fundraising Committee
The Charity Fundraising Committee is very active across the firm and includes a number of trainees. The committee has a role in a number of events put on to raise money for the firm’s charity, which changes from year to year, such as the firm’s quiz night, the tennis tournament and the cycle tour.
Pro-Bono and CSR
There are numerous opportunities for trainees to get involved in Pro-Bono and CSR. Please look at the "Community" page of our website for more info.