Training contract at Herbert Smith Freehills

Read the Legal Cheek Herbert Smith Freehills profile here.

Become a brilliant lawyer

You don’t need to study law to be a brilliant lawyer. In fact, we recruit from a whole range of academic backgrounds. But wherever you join us from, our two-year training contract offers you a wealth of choice without compromising on quality. You will benefit from an individually-tailored seat allocation and development plan to help you gain the skills and knowledge you need to build a fulfilling career with us. As a trainee, you’ll be a valued member of the team straightaway, working alongside some of the world’s best lawyers and directly contributing to the success of our clients.

Life as a future joiner

Once you have accepted your offer, you'll be invited to lots of events and networking days at the firm. You'll be able to apply for a discretionary grant, which you may choose to use to complete further study or as support for a language course or voluntary work. And, if it interests you, you may even decide to paralegal here.

Experience an international law firm

We know that the transition from university or another career to life in a commercial law firm can be daunting. That’s why we give you lots of support, including regular conversations with HR about your seat choices, a two week firm induction when you join, department inductions at the start of each seat, dedicated trainee and partner mentors, regular feedback plus extensive on-the-job support from associates and partners. Once you’ve got to know your way around, you can start to look further afield and apply to spend time at one of our international offices or with a client - over 90% of our trainees go on secondment during their training. We also hope you’ll make the most of the many opportunities we provide for pro bono work, which include secondments to Liberty.

Be a part of everything

Our two-year training programme gives you the opportunity to develop skills across a range of practice areas - rotating through four six month seats. All trainees spend time in corporate and dispute resolution. You may also choose to sit in finance, real estate or a specialist practice area like employment, pensions and incentives, competition, regulation & trade, tax or intellectual property. You’ll discuss your seat interests with our HR team before you join and then throughout your training contract, so we can make sure we give you a training contract that’s tailored to your particular career aspirations. You will also hear from existing trainees about what each of the options really mean prior to starting to help you with seat selection.

Salary and benefits

£42,000 in first year, £46,000 in second year, £69,000 upon qualification All GDL and LPC course fees, Maintenance grants of £7,000 on the LPC, £8,000 on the GDL in London and £7,000 on the GDL outside of London. Social and sports clubs; Challenging pro bono opportunities; 25 days’ annual leave (with the ability to buy or sell up to 5 days); Subsidised gym membership; Private medical insurance; Interest-free season ticket loan; Corporate GP service; Travel insurance; Cycle to work scheme; Subsidised staff restaurant and café; Confidential employee assistance programme.