Digby Brown Academy
The Digby Brown Academy brings together both legal and business teams under one unified approach to learning and development. It bridges the gap across all teams by consolidating Digby Brown's high-quality training programmes under one umbrella, supporting collaboration, growth and professional excellence.
The Academy is for everybody - designed for all colleagues across legal and business teams.
From the point of recruitment and throughout every stage of your career with Digby Brown, the Academy will support continuous development, learning and ambition.
What our people say
At Digby Brown, people are at the forefront of everything that we do – this, of course, lead many to think of our clients, but this ethos also extends to our employees or as we call them, ‘our people’.
Catherine Hart, Partner in the Professional Support team, spoke about how important the role of the Digby Brown Academy is to the firm:
“My mission is to make sure that everyone gets the training they need to work effectively and to develop in their role. We welcome feedback from our people on what they would like covered in training sessions and we are always improving what we offer to stay ahead. Digby Brown are fortunate to have some of the most experienced personal injury practitioners in Scotland and can benefit from their expertise through Continuing Professional Development (CPD) sessions.”
Dávid Bali, Trainee Solicitor, reflected on how the firm’s training enables trainees to build deep expertise while exploring a range of specialist areas:
“You get to engage in personal injury civil litigation and even beyond that there are options for further specialisms. You really get to experience civil litigation, I think, at its finest learning from the best experts available in the country for it and this is reflected in the training as I feel I am slowly becoming an expert in personal injury law.”
Ava Thomas, Trainee Solicitor in our Serious Injury team, explained how day-to-day exposure to senior colleagues enhances her learning and supports her interactions with clients:
“I have some of the most specialised people in the field of personal injury that I work with so it’s nice to see all the different cases that are going on and hear all different types of conversations. The office is integrated so I'm sitting next to Partners and Associates and that’s good as I get to hear their conversations and this helps me when I’m speaking to my own clients.”
Natasha Benson, SEO Manager, also spoke about the firm’s approach to training:
“Digby Brown's support for ongoing development has allowed me to attend BrightonSEO and learn from top experts in the industry. Having access to this kind of training has been invaluable, allowing me to expand my knowledge and bring fresh ideas and best practice back into the business.”
Four pillars of Digby Brown
The Digby Brown Academy is built on four key development pillars, designed to strengthen connections across the firm and foster a deeper understanding of the variety of roles within it.
It helps you understand the learning pathways available while identifying opportunities to build new skills and take ownership of your personal and professional growth. These pillars not only support professional development but also help streamline training, encourage collaboration and promote positive workplace culture.
Practice and compliance
Ensuring that our legal team have the right skills and knowledge to maintain the highest professional standards for our clients.
Digby Brown offers all legal professionals across the business the opportunity to join its Legal Education Programme (LEP). As part of this programme the firm hosts monthly in-house training sessions enabling legal professionals to fulfil mandatory CPD training hours.
Our specialist teams are also encouraged to attend bespoke external training and are fully supported by the Digby Brown Academy to nurture their ongoing development.
Training for all legal trainees is provided internally, including mandatory ethics training and TCPD. This removes the need for external provision and ensures the training is bespoke, relevant and tailored specifically to the needs of our trainees.
People, career and culture
We support development, career progression, and a workplace culture where everyone can flourish and thrive.
This includes initiatives such as career coaching and advocacy training. Our advocacy training is delivered in two formats: a week-long programme for trainees, supported by two dedicated advocates, and a one-day in-house refresher course designed to strengthen and maintain advocacy skills. Both consistently receive very positive feedback.
Alongside this the Paralegal Pathway offers further opportunities for growth and progression among a range of initiatives designed to support our people.
You matter
Focusing on wellbeing, recognition and making sure every employee's voice is heard. The firm regularly hosts webinars with external speakers on topics such as mental health in the workplace, autism and menopause awareness. Financial webinars are also available to help our people manage their personal finances confidently.
Essentials
Digby Brown is committed to equipping our people with core skills and tools they need to excel from day one. We offer a variety of practical learning opportunities designed to make colleagues more confident and efficient in their work, including:
- Lunchtime learning: Bite-sized sessions introducing our resources, helping our people get more comfortable while improving day-to-day efficiency.
- Case software training: Hands-on guidance to ensure everyone can use our systems from day one.
- Fundamentals training: A rolling programme of practical sessions covering all essentials of personal injury litigation. These sessions are offered to all new colleagues to ensure a strong foundation.
Digby Brown was the first law firm in the UK to be accredited Platinum by Investors in People, an achievement that highlights the lengths we go to support, nurture and develop our people. It isn’t simply a badge of honour; it is an indicator that our actions speak for themselves.
The Digby Brown Academy is an investment in our people. Putting people at the centre, Digby Brown is ensuring their development is strengthened. This is just the beginning - the Academy will continue to evolve, with new content and initiatives rolled out over time.
We hope that this small change will reinforce the equal value everyone brings to the firm and foster mutual respect for everyone’s contributions in making Digby Brown what it is – a reflection of our commitment to working as One Team.
