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Want to find out more about life as a Trainee at the firm? Find answers to our most commonly asked questions below.
We recruit 65 trainees associates each year.
Our Trainee Associate Programme consists of four, six-month seats.
Yes. You can tailor your Trainee Associate Programme by sector interest, and we offer flexibility around seat selection. You’ll submit your preferences before each seat rotation along with supporting comments. You'll complete at least six months of contentious experience and complete the other seats in any of the London practice groups and can do either an international or client secondment.
HSF Kramer offers a large amount of compulsory and non-compulsory training depending on your seniority and practice area. You’ll undergo a week-long induction course on HSF Kramer and trainee life. You’ll then participate in training sessions, courses covering soft skills such as presenting and time management, and legal workshops tailored to where you're sitting.
Our Business Skills Academy helps you develop the knowledge, skills and mindset to thrive throughout your career. You’ll attend level one of the Academy, Launch, which is designed for trainee associates. The five modules cover active listening and effective questioning; emotional intelligence and self-awareness; time management; creating, developing and evidencing objectives; and personal resilience and wellbeing. Launch also includes sessions on commerciality and key business skills, such as financial management, business development, client experience, legal operations and other critical topics supporting innovation and efficiency.
Training continues once you qualify, with inductions for junior associates into their respective groups. These are followed by mid- and senior-level courses, which include days away from the office. You’ll also attend further Academy levels as a newly-qualified lawyer, mid-level associate and senior associate. We also hold regular lectures with external speakers, including refreshers on key aspects of contract law.
We offer various pro bono initiatives to develop your skills while helping a good cause, such as the Whitechapel Legal Advice Clinic. As well as helping a good cause, these initiatives enable you to further develop your key legal skills.
You can also join our diversity networks and attend their regular events, such as workshops and discussion panels. These networks include the Multiculturalism network, the Black network (for lawyers and business services colleagues), the Women Trainee Lawyers network, the Trainee Social Mobility Committee, and the Inclusion Respecting Identity and Sexuality (IRIS) network (LGBT+).
Our Trainee Business Development Committee (TBDC) focuses on increasing your exposure to business development activities. The TBDC also holds client-facing events allowing you to practice networking in a safe environment.
We also offer plenty of social opportunities, including football and netball teams, and our choir, aptly named Choral Testimony.
During the six months of a client secondment, you’ll aim to become an embedded team member and a key resource. Working within a business that doesn’t specialise in legal advice is rewarding as you’ll be able to see the impact of your legal knowledge. You’ll also gain more responsibility as part of a smaller team, similar to that of a newly-qualified solicitor.
You’ll remain a HSF Kramer team member and continue to receive updates and social invites from the group responsible for your secondment. This group is often one you will have sat in for one of your seats.
Thanks to your growing relationship with the client, you’ll also be a key member of our client relationship team. Partners and senior associates will value your insight into how to win work from the client.
After your first three months, you’ll be evaluated as part of a mid-seat review. We’ll also ask how you’re settling in and give you the opportunity to highlight any areas you’re interested in working on. You’ll then have a mid-seat review and end-of-seat review for each of your seats.
The most important traits for this stage of your career are:
While they’re not always easy to master, honing these qualities will prime you for a successful career as a lawyer.
