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Our two year training contract differs from many other firms. With us you will gain valuable insight from six four month seats – one of these will be in one of our international offices. Current locations where London trainees do their overseas seat are Athens, Bangkok, Dubai, Hamburg, Paris and Singapore.
In each you’ll join a team led by a partner and see complex and high value transactions first hand.
Your training contract will be hands-on, with as much experience of clients and real, high-profile work as possible. You’ll also benefit from plenty of exposure to senior lawyers; many acknowledged leaders in their field.
The firm has a reputation for challenging work and we believe that only total immersion can provide you with the experience you require to excel. We give you plenty of responsibility early on but we also offer support and feedback.
Wherever you are in the world and whatever the practice area, you’ll quickly feel part of the whole organisation both in the office and socially.
Six Seat Rotation
In contrast to many firms, we offer a six seat programme during the training contract. This allows our trainees to develop a breadth of skills and build their understanding of the firm as a whole.
Each trainee can expect to spend time in our Finance and Dispute Resolution practices alongside Corporate or Energy & Projects. In addition to the guaranteed international secondment trainees are likely to spend time in one of the Employment, Real Estate, Tax or Capital Markets teams.
There is no set path or sequence to each trainee’s seat plan. Each rotation is planned with the interests of the trainees and the firm in mind. We are not interested in producing clones so each trainee’s journey looks a little different, responding to their individual aims and career objectives.
International Secondment
A guaranteed international secondment, to one of our offices with an English law practice, is an integral part of our six seat training contract. We are one of only a small number of firms to offer this opportunity to each and every trainee. Four months is spent in Athens, Bangkok, Dubai, Hamburg, Paris, or Singapore.
The experience our trainees gain by undertaking this secondment is invaluable for their own development as is the opportunity to network across the firm, building contacts for the rest of their careers.
Trainees usually undertake their secondment in their third, fourth or fifth seat after a period settling into life at the Firm.
What are we looking for?
We recruit 18 trainees each year. Although there is no typical WFW trainee, there are certain qualifications, skills and traits that we look for.
You will need a 2.1 or above (predicted if you have yet to graduate) or equivalent, and a commendation or higher in the GDL if you have completed it. We also look for at least ABB from A-level results, 34 points from IB or the equivalent if you have taken other qualifications.
If you have not achieved these academic grades, there is an opportunity to explain individual circumstances, and applications are read as a whole.
We use Rare contextual recruitment software which allows us to understand individual academics in the context of how they were achieved.
