Training Contract 2023
A training contract at Latham & Watkins is designed to help you get the most out of a demanding role, whilst truly enjoying your first steps on a valuable and exciting career path. You will be one of a select group of new trainees and will get the opportunity to make an important contribution almost immediately.
Before you start
Like most leading law firms, we recruit the majority of our trainees two years in advance of their start date, and as a future trainee you’ll be paired with a mentor to keep in touch with during this time. You’ll also be invited to a number of social events with Latham, so you’ll see some familiar faces when you join.
We also offer full sponsorship/reimbursement for the GDL and/or LPC for all our future trainees, as well as a maintenance grant and a £500 bonus for achieving a distinction.
The Training Contract
Our training contract starts with a comprehensive three-week induction programme, to enable you to hit the ground running from the first day in your seat. During this time you will complete part of the PSC (Professional Skills Course), attend firm-specific induction sessions, technical training and skills workshops, along with a variety of networking and social events.
In each seat of the training contract you will be given real responsibility and will make a meaningful contribution to the client work product. As you progress through your training contract your confidence will grow, as will your skills. The work will depend on the seat, but it will be varied, fast-paced and exciting. Much of the work you do will be international, for example, more than 70% of the transactions we work on involve at least five of our offices.
Support
Before joining the firm you will be assigned a trainee mentor. Mentoring is a key part of the support system at Latham and the firmwide program will be an essential component of your career development. As a trainee you will be matched with an associate who will be your mentor throughout your training contract and your first year after qualification.
In each seat, you will be part of a small team, so will have high levels of responsibility coupled with a strong support network. On a day-to-day basis you will be supervised by an associate or a partner who will provide you with feedback and guidance.
Rotations
You’ll rotate through four six-month seats, two of which will be in our Corporate and Finance groups, both of which sit at the heart of our London practice. We encourage all trainees to complete a contentious seat in our Litigation department if possible, however a litigation course is available to those who do not have this opportunity. You will have the opportunity to apply for a secondment in either your third or fourth seat. This will either be to one of our international offices or to one of our clients.
Your Application
We value our culture at Latham and reflect this in our recruitment process; we do not use any psychometric testing or trick questions, but want to find out about you, and your drive and motivation. Our online application form opens in May, and if you’re successful at this stage we will invite you for a video interview, and finally a half day assessment day.
Requirements: We expect a minimum 2:1 degree in any discipline and grades of at least AAB at A-level or equivalent.