STEM in Law

We’re a tech-driven and innovative international law firm working with clients disrupting the digital sphere or being challenged by these changes. We’ve been at the forefront of legal developments in the sector for many decades and have unrivalled expertise in advising on matters ranging from smaller innovative projects to some of the largest, most complex, and ground-breaking transactions and disputes of recent years.

We’re looking for solicitors who can deliver efficient digital solutions to clients, grasp the developments of AI and new technologies, and understand the complex opportunities and risks for clients in an everchanging digital world. 

Bring your understanding of complex subject matter and specific technical know-how to the legal sector. Our clients want to be advised by experts in their field – your expertise from your STEM background may be just what our clients are looking for when seeking advice on a particular area of the law or within one of our sectors. For example, a client within our Lifesciences & Healthcare sector seeking advice from our intellectual property lawyers in relation to a patent case requires a solicitor with the legal expertise, as well as technical knowledge and creative thinking.

Your STEM degree equips you with the technical knowledge, analytical thinking skills, an ability to express yourself succinctly and logically, and excellent attention to detail – all of which are the skills we look for in our solicitors. A STEM degree can be beneficial to a law firm like Bird & Bird, by offering a diversity of thought to problem solving and challenging tasks.

50% of our trainee solicitor cohorts are from non-law or STEM background, including Biological Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics and Medicine. Some of our solicitors were previously doctors, chemists, engineers, mathematicians, and nurses. Our STEM solicitors use their experience in their work every day. Click on ‘Our People’ to find out more.

Your route to qualification as a STEM solicitor

Prior to admission to the Roll of Solicitors, all aspiring solicitors qualifying through the Solicitors Qualifying Examinations (SQE) route must:

• have a UK awarded degree or equivalent Level 6 qualification;
• pass both stages of the SQE assessment (SQE1 and SQE2);
• undertake two years’ full time (or equivalent) Qualifying Work Experience (QWE); and
• pass the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) character and suitability requirements.

We typically recruit our trainee solicitors two-years in advance to allow for our future trainee solicitors to study the PgDL and SQE before commencing their two-year training contract, otherwise known as QWE. 

For example, if you’re currently in your final year of a STEM degree at university graduating in Summer 2025 or earlier, you’re eligible to apply for a training contract commencing in September 2027. If you’re successful in securing a training contract, you’ll commence the PgDL in September 2025 for one year, and then the SQE the following year in September 2026, so that your studies are completed before starting your legal training in September 2027.