Chambers UK-ranked for banking & finance, construction, energy and very finance-related areas. Ex-Bingham lawyers are chiefly finance/restructuring specialists. Trainees had lots to say about CSR and pro bono opportunities available. “We offer pro bono legal advice on various climate change issues, given our sector areas,” said one. “I have worked with an NGO giving advice to countries in the lead-up to big global meetings such as the COP27.” On the CSR side, Mancunians told us, “We collected for the Central Foodbank, and an organisation called Place2Be” – a children’s charity. Trainees up in Scotland had got involved with a community youth project in Edinburgh, and worked with Cash For Kids, an NGO to help children living in poverty. The firm has a couple of programmes working with students, including TutorMate to support students with reading and writing ( “I read with someone every Friday!”) and the Schools Consent Project, whereby “you get training on teaching about sexual consent, and provide presentations on it” in schools. Mississippi-headquartered firm with a 23 US locations in addition to London, Hong Kong and Singapore. Pros: New firm has ready-made UK client base and established reputation; culture of legacy English firm usually remains post-merger. For those who don’t mind taking home a slightly more modest payslip in exchange for better hours, these firms are a great choice. After all, money isn’t everything.

About 110 lawyers across ten offices: NY, DC, Miami, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, the Caymans, BVI and London.

Chambers Reports

Since the 1970s, there has been a steady stream of US firms crossing the Atlantic to take their place in the UK market. Currently around 50 of them offer training contracts to would-be UK solicitors, with new schemes popping up all the time. We’d suggest staying eagle-eyed if you’ve got a thing for stars and stripes. Unlike the full course that is/was the LPC, the SQE is only a set of two exams, snappily titled SQE1 and SQE2. Anyone with a degree that can pass both exams, complete 24 months of legal work experience and meet ‘character and suitability requirements’ will be able to qualify as a solicitor. Nearly 1,000 lawyers in this Texas-founded but Washington DC-headquartered firm. Ten US offices plus ten outside the US.

The GDL is being replaced by equivalent courses such as the Postgraduate Diploma in Law (PGDL) for non-law graduates who want to go on to sit the Bar Course. Finance, investment management, private equity, oil & gas, natural resources and international arbitration. We have a Race Action Plan to continue to improve our ethnicity diversity representation within our workforce. Internally, we have an ethnic diversity reverse mentoring programme for key senior leaders, to ensure they continue to build inclusive and representative departments and processes. In theory you could show up to sit the exams with no preparation, but we’d strongly recommend against that. Current LPC course providers including University of Law, BPP and many more offer preparatory courses for both exams, and each one individually.Candidates that are successful will be invited to a face-to-face assessment day, details of which will be provided nearer to the time. Inevitably, research and knowledge of the firm and the broader commercial landscape, as well as an understanding of a candidates own skillset will prove invaluable throughout the assessment process. “We want to see how candidates think in practice, how they interact with one another and how they are able to demonstrate their skills. We are not looking for an in-depth knowledge of the law, but for individuals who are adaptable and can flex their skills across multiple problem-solving tasks and who have good learning agility.” It’s not just a one-way street, however, as they explain “We want candidates to get a feel for the culture of the firm and walk away feeling like this is the firm for them.” It’s unlikely that large law firms will stop their usual tried-and-tested trainee programmes. Many people will continue to qualify as a solicitor after two years of training at one firm. The new route opens the possibility of completing legal work experience at multiple different employers, which can all count towards your recognised training.

Peter Crisp, Pro Vice Chancellor at University of Law, explains what is changing (and staying the same) with the introduction of the SQE. lawyers and 38 offices offices worldwide, 29 in the US. Known in the US for being highly entrepreneurial and giving its partners ('shareholders' in Greenberg-speak) lots of freedom to manage their own affairs. Vacation scheme students have the chance to apply for a training programme during their placement. Those who opt to do this attend an application interview and undertake ‘application blind’ assessments, which include a written exercise and a business case study exercise. With diversity and inclusion an important priority, the firm partners with Rare Recruitment. In the last three recruitment rounds, 60% of successful applicants were female and 30% were BME. Stephenson Harwood runs four placement schemes: a week-long placement in the winter, a two-week scheme in the spring, and two two-week placements over June and July. There's room for twelve candidates on each, and participants are automatically considered for a training contract. Virtual open days are taking place in November and December, with open days in the London office planned for January and March. DC-based IP firm with five US offices and outposts in Seoul, Shanghai, Tokyo, Taipei, plus London. More than 350 lawyers.

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In times of such far-reaching and profound change we want to be the law firm that enables our clients - and our own people - to shape the world's possibilities. We are here to help our clients benefit from new economies, new geographic centres of wealth, the new global movement of people and capital, and the impact of new technologies and new knowledge.