Summer Vacation Scheme 2026

Your career in London

If you are excited by the idea of practising international law, but crave the teamwork, mentoring and direct client contact that a smaller office offers, we may be the firm for you. Our 100 lawyers in London work closely with our teams in markets worldwide, from Paris to New York, Silicon Valley to Singapore.

We focus globally on four key sectors: Technology & Innovation, Energy & Infrastructure, Finance and Life Sciences & Healthtech. We also have teams focused on antitrust & competition; banking & finance; capital markets; cyber, privacy & data innovation; employment; financial & securities litigation; international arbitration; M&A and private equity; restructuring; structured finance and tax and incentives.

Whether you're looking to start your law career or join us from another firm, our London office offers a dynamic, collaborative environment. We offer a comprehensive training programme, including academies focused on developing business skills as you advance. And we will ensure you connect with mentors and have opportunities to make a social impact through a world-renowned pro bono programme.

Our Training Programme

Our training programme, which commences in August, is designed to provide you with everything you will need to succeed:

• Exposure to a variety of practice areas To help you explore all the different areas in which we practice and gain the critical skills necessary to qualify, you will sit six, four-month seats to include both contentious and transactional seats. You will be supervised by a partner for each seat, and also receive coaching and mentoring from our entire team.
• Support from a dedicated trainee partner London Partner Peter Sugden heads our UK trainee programme. He will help ensure you have a varied set of assignments and skill-building opportunities. He will also work with you on an individual basis to understand your interests, identify your strengths and help you address any challenges that come up.
• Extensive feedback You will receive regular appraisals across the two-year training experience to help you gain the most from your training.

What We Look For in Trainee Candidates

We welcome candidates with different experiences and backgrounds. We look for a commitment to excellence. Applicants for our graduate trainee programme should have achieved or be on track for a 2:1 degree (in any discipline). Undergraduates can apply from their penultimate year onward.

As part of our graduate recruitment process, we are using the Rare Contextual Recruitment System. This is a specially developed system which allows us to measure candidates' achievements in the context of their socioeconomic background. Using this system means we can better understand candidates' achievements and identify those that have performed exceptionally well from a range of diverse backgrounds.

Vacation Scheme

The primary route to applying for a training contract with us is to apply for a space on our vacation scheme programme which will take place from 29 June – 10 July 2026. Our vacation scheme offers participants an opportunity to see the London office of a US law firm in action and get an insight into what life as a trainee would be like here.

During the two-week scheme you'll spend time in two of our London practices, working on real work alongside our trainees, associates and partners. There will also be a variety of social events and networking opportunities that run throughout the scheme, giving you the chance to really get to know our team.

The application window for our vacation scheme route is open from
1 October 2025 until 31 January 2026
. To apply for a vacation scheme please submit an online application form by 11.59pm on 31 January 2026. If your application is shortlisted you will be invited to take part in an assessment centre, which typically includes a written exercise based on a hypothetical legal scenario, an interview, and a group exercise.