Legal Training Contracts

Expert advice on obtaining Legal Training Contracts

Embark on Your Legal Career Journey with Expert Tuition and The Legal Careers Club

At Expert Tuition, in collaboration with The Legal Careers Club, we specialise in offering comprehensive guidance for legal training contracts. Tailored for aspiring solicitors, our service ensures you stand out in the highly competitive legal field.

Our experts, with their in-depth knowledge and experience, provide personalised advice and training, enhancing your application and interview performance. Whether you’re applying for training contracts or vacation schemes, our joint expertise paves your way to success.

All of our tutors are either former practising lawyers or current offer holders – including with U.S, Magic Circle, and Silver Circle firms – and many of our candidates have received training contracts at top City firms and elsewhere.

Ready to excel in your legal career? Contact us now to begin your journey with the best in the field.

Training Packages

Discover our specialised Legal Training Packages by The Legal Careers Club, meticulously designed to guide you through each critical stage of your legal career journey.

Primary Stage

Training Contract and Vacation Scheme Applications

Personalised Application Review

Receive in-depth, bespoke feedback on your written applications, ensuring every word contributes to a compelling narrative.

Detailed Analysis and Refinement

We offer a line-by-line scrutiny of your essays and applications, enhancing clarity, impact, and alignment with what top law firms seek.

Flexible Consultation Formats

Choose from face-to-face, online, or telephone sessions, accommodating your schedule and learning preferences. Multiple sessions are discounted.

Secondary Stage

Assessment Centre Preparation Workshops

HR Interview Preparation

A dedicated one-hour session focusing on HR interview techniques, enhancing your ability to navigate through typical HR queries with confidence.

Partner Interviews Preparation

An extensive 90-minute training aimed at preparing you for partner interviews, with a special focus on tackling commercial questions effectively.

Boosting Commercial Acumen

Comprehensive training in group exercises and written tasks designed to sharpen your commercial acumen, essential for standing out in group settings.

Written Tests Training

Targeted preparation for a range of written tests, including psychometric and verbal reasoning assessments (e.g., SHL, Watson Glazer, etc.), equipping you with the skills to excel in these critical evaluations.

FAQs

To qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales, you must complete a two-year training period known as a “Training Contract,” during which they perform various professional duties and gain an understanding of the work of a solicitor.

Contracts for training can be completed at a law firm or a large organisation with an in-house legal department.
Anyone interested in completing a Training Contract must first complete a qualifying law degree and the Legal Practice Course (LPC), or a non-law degree, a conversion course such as the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL), and then the LPC.

Trainees will typically complete their Training Contract in a variety of different “seats” in order to gain a broad level of immersion across various areas of practice.

A seat is merely the amount of time spent in a legal department. In most cases, trainee solicitors sit in four six-month seats over the course of their two-year training.

All trainees must receive a mix of litigation and non-litigation seats, according to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Firms may offer a greater number of seats over a shorter period of time in some cases. Seats will be assigned based on the nature and specialisations of work at each law firm or in-house department.

In rare cases, more than one seat can be spent on secondment

A Training Contract Secondment is when a seat is spent working with a law firm’s client, either locally or internationally. Secondments can sometimes be spent in a law firm’s overseas office in the case of larger law firms.

A secondment is intended to provide a trainee solicitor with a better understanding of the working culture and needs of the law firm’s clients, as well as the culture of overseas offices.

The goal of Training Contracts is to help students put theoretical knowledge into practice. Tasks will vary depending on the seat, but typically include: 

  1. carrying out research
  2. attending meetings and writing attendance notes
  3. drafting legal correspondence
  4. reviewing and negotiating legal contracts and other documents
  5. attending court 
  6. general administrative tasks. 

A Vacation Scheme is a period of work experience that most companies offer to current students during the summer. Schemes typically last 1-3 weeks and provide students with an overview of the legal profession and the day-to-day work involved.

Many law firms use vacation schemes as a starting point for Training Contract applications. A Vacation Scheme may end with an assessment for a Training Contract in some cases.

The demand for Training Contracts far outnumbers the supply of students. There are approximately 30,000 potential applicants across the country for 5,000 – 6,000 Training Contracts per year; a chance of approximately 18.5 per cent. This figure is closer to 5% at the most prestigious international firms.

High standards are anticipated. In most cases, this entails a minimum of a 2:1 degree, As and Bs at A-Level, relevant work experience or vacation schemes, and a high level of commercial awareness, depending on the firm.

The application process is multi-layered and involves some or all of the following:

  1. Detailed written application
  2. Psychometric tests
  3. Verbal and numerical reasoning tests
  4. HR interviews
  5. Assessment Centres (involving commercial problem exercises, presentations, group exercises, negotiating exercises etc)
  6. Partner interviews

Expert Tuition Legal Training provides one-to-one guidance at all stages of the Training Contract and Vacation Scheme application process including written applications, test and assessment centre preparation. 

Expert Tuition Legal Training also provides access to a range of online materials – including commercial awareness resources – designed to make the application process clearer and easier to navigate.