Our training contract is designed to offer you the breadth of experience and training needed to advise on the full range of work within the practice areas you experience during the two years and on qualification.
During your time at the firm, you will spend time in different practice areas, known as ‘seats’. In each seat you will share an office with a partner or associate (your ‘supervisor’) who will guide you and ensure that you are actively involved in their work and the work of the group. You will be given responsibility from an early stage and the opportunity to work alongside partners, who, together with other team members in the firm, provide mentoring and individual support.
All our trainees complete at least two six-month seats in our Corporate and M&A and Financing groups. Subject to gaining some contentious experience, your remaining time can be divided into two or three specialist areas, for example, Disputes and Investigations, Competition, Real Estates and Projects.
Our overseas offices and longstanding relationships with leading law firms around the world mean there are also opportunities for trainees to apply for a secondment in their second year; this can either be an international secondment (to destinations such as Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam, New York and Hong Kong), or a client secondment located in and around London.
We aim to employ the brightest minds regardless of what or where they have studied – you will find graduates from 50+ universities at Slaughter and May.
Our work is intellectually demanding so we are looking for the following minimum academic achievements:
If you do not meet these requirements due to mitigating circumstances which materially impacted your results, please include details of this on your application. All applications are considered on their own merits.
Across all of our opportunities, we are also looking for candidates with:
We use the Rare Contextual Recruitment System for all of our opportunities. The system helps us to identify high potential candidates by putting applicants’ grades and achievements in the context of their social and educational background.
For this vacancy, we are looking for law and non-law finalists and graduates. Applications for our September 2029/March 2023 Law intake for penultimate year law students, law finalists and law graduates will open in June 2027.
We have approximately 80 - 85 vacancies for trainee solicitors each year.
We welcome applications irrespective of race, colour, ethnic or national origin, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, gender reassignment, age, religion/belief or marital status.
To apply, you will be asked to complete an online application form and attach a CV and cover letter.
Applications close on 13 November 2026. We encourage candidates to submit their application as early as possible during an application window – training contract offers are made on a rolling basis.
Slaughter and May is a leading international law firm, recognised for our exceptional legal service, commercial awareness and commitment to clients. We are trusted advisers to some of the world’s largest companies, advising on complex, high-profile and often ground-breaking transactions, and our forward thinking and innovative approach complements the best-in-class advice on which our reputation is built.
Whether you join us as a trainee solicitor or solicitor apprentice, you will be trained to advise on the full range of work within the practice areas you experience during your training and on qualification. Working across a broad variety of matters in each seat, you will develop the deep expertise, commercial judgement and independence of thought needed to deliver the landmark work for which we are known.
From the outset, you will work with leading law firms around the world and will build strong relationships with clients through direct exposure to international and cross-border matters. You will do so in a collaborative and inclusive culture where excellence is achieved through collective effort and shared expertise.
We are a full-service law firm and have leading practitioners across a wide range of areas including Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate and Commercial; Financing; Tax; Competition; Disputes and Investigations; Real Estate and Projects; Pensions, Employment and Incentives; Financial Regulation; and Technology, Digital, Data and Intellectual Property.
There are clear differences between Slaughter and May and other global law firms:
Our culture is built on collaboration, trust and diversity of thought, creating an inclusive environment in which our people achieve excellence through collective effort and shared expertise. Without billing or time targets, our lawyers are encouraged to focus on delivering the best outcomes for clients and supporting each other's development, fostering a strong sense of belonging and teamwork.
Diversity and Inclusion is an integral part of how we do things as a firm. We believe that a supportive and inclusive workplace drives collaboration and helps people perform at their best. We are looking to employ the brightest minds regardless of what or where they studied, and we strive to ensure that people feel comfortable being themselves at work through fostering an inclusive culture which values diversity of experience and perspective.
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We understand that AI tools like ChatGPT can be useful, however, we strongly advise you not to copy and paste AI-generated text into your application.
Your application should be written in your own words. AI-generated responses often lack the personal insight and authenticity that we value. Applications that feel generic and lack originality are less likely to be successful.
