Our training contracts demonstrate that being a lawyer with us is more than just law. It's about offering exceptional care to our clients, no matter what their situation.

As the UK's leading full-service law firm, we believe we have something genuinely different to offer our trainee solicitors. We offer training contacts in 12 offices throughout the UK.

Last year, we retained 87% of our trainees on qualification and welcomed another 54 trainee solicitors in August 2023 – we're committed to your future.

Every year, we welcome applications from all backgrounds and subjects. Our 84 current trainees come from over 40 different universities, and 34% from Non-Russell group universities. 

Register your Interest in our 2025 Legal Work Placement and/or 2026 Training Contracts

Our Client Service Teams

As the UK's leading full-service law firm, we believe we have something genuinely different to offer our trainee solicitors. Our Client Services team is our legal and operations engine. It delivers a wide range of outstanding legal services to clients across different sectors. We have a strong reputation, and experts within their field, who adopt a client centric approach in all they do. Our range of legal services covers seven practice areas:

1. Commercial, Advisory & Disputes

2. Complex Personal Injury

3. Corporate & Finance

4. Court of Protection and Public Law

5. Family Law

6. Private Client Services

7. Property

Clients can gain legal advice from multiple areas which means teams often work together on a case or deal.

The information below shows a video of someone from within each of our seven practice areas to help you understand the work they do and the clients they help.

As a trainee, you'll be completing seats within our seven Client Services teams:

Training Contract Seats

As a national firm, we operate out of 17 offices across the UK and we currently recruit for trainees at 12 locations – Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Chichester, Gatwick, Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Reading, Sheffield, and Southampton.

As a full-service law firm, we have a wide range of seats available for you to train in. You'll undertake three seats and a repeat seat over two years, giving you a breadth of experience.

As a trainee you’ll need to decide if you wish to train across Legal Services for Businesses or Legal Services for Individuals.

This allows you to complete seats that complement each other and develop your knowledge and skills regarding your particular client base.

The following practice areas are aligned as follows:

Legal Services for Businesses (14 teams)

Commercial, Advisory & Disputes – Commercial, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Employment, Regulatory & Investigations Group, Pensions

Corporate & Finance – Corporate, Restructuring & Insolvency, Banking & Finance

Property – Real Estate, Construction, Planning, Real Estate Disputes, Residential Property

Legal Services for Individuals (11 teams)

Complex Personal Injury – Medical Negligence, Serious Injury, Workplace Illness, International Serious Injury, Ministry of Defence team

Court of Protection and Public Law

Family

Private Client Services – Lifetime & Estate Planning, International & High Net Worth, and Wills, Trust & Estate Disputes.

By choosing either Legal Services for Businesses or Legal Services for Individuals your three seats may cross over any of the teams within that area, within your office, that have a proposed Newly Qualified position for when you qualify.

To understand which Legal Services and which departments are available in your chosen location please see the list of training seats available within each office in our FAQs section at the bottom of this page.

Please be aware that not all departments in your chosen office will be available for every trainee cohort. The availability of seats is always dependent on the demand from the team which is reviewed on a continuous basis.

Please note, when applying for a Training Contract you must select which office you want to work in. We can't consider applications against multiple offices. See the list of departments available at each office below.

Your Development

Your training contract journey begins as soon as you accept your offer. You'll receive a welcome pack inviting you to future trainee events where you'll meet your buddy and get to know your fellow trainees. Whether you're still studying or working before you begin, you’ll feel a part of the Irwin Mitchell team.

If successful, you'll attend a two-week induction before you start your first seat. It’s a great way to get to know the firm and your fellow trainees. With 50 training contracts spread across 12 locations, you’ll have a strong support network of other trainees, but still have room to grow and make your mark.

As a trainee solicitor, no two days are ever the same. One day you may be drafting witness statements, while the next you may be attending court hearings and instructing barristers and experts on case-critical information. There are also opportunities to get involved in business development projects, networking events and our community programmes. Listen to a special episode of the 'Irwin Mitchell Podcast' where Training Principal Emma Rush is joined by two of our trainees to discuss their ‘normal day’, the skills they feel are most important to their roles and tips for the application process.

Our dedicated Early Careers team will ensure that your training contract journey is a positive experience from start to finish. That's why we have consistently high retention rates year after year.

Solicitors Qualifying Exam

The SQE is the new assessment for all aspiring solicitors in England and Wales, which was introduced in September 2021. Your training contract duration and structure will differ dependent on the qualifications you have attained at the point of receiving a training contract offer with us:

Non-Law undergraduate, Completed GDL, Law Graduate

We welcome applications from all graduates and undergraduates. If you are a non-law graduate, we'll fund your Postgraduate Diploma in Law (PGDL) and give you a maintenance grant of £10,000 if you haven't started the course when you're offered a training contract.

At the end of your PGDL, you'll begin your journey as a trainee solicitor at the firm. Four days a week will be spent on-the-job training and one day will be for your studies. We'll pay your tuition and examination fees for the SQE. You'll also complete the 'SQE Plus', an additional four-month course in areas of law not examined by the SQE.

You'll experience a rotational training contract with three six-month seats across the business. You'll return to one area for your fourth seat, which is where you'll hopefully qualify. During your third seat, you'll undertake SQE 1. Your fourth seat will be a slightly longer seat and you'll have time out in that seat to complete SQE 2 and SQE Plus.

Throughout the programme you will receive a trainee salary whilst completing your SQE studies. You will also benefit from qualifying as a Solicitor quicker, as this programme will take 27 months up to qualification, instead of the previous route of 36 months (1 year for you to complete your LPC and then a 2 year training contract).

Completing or Completed LPC

If you've already completed, or are in the process of completing your LPC, there's a 10-year grace period where we'll continue to accept applications.

When you join, you'll complete a two-year training contract and experience three six-month seats across the business. You'll return to one area for your fourth seat, which is where you'll hopefully qualify.

From the academic year 2024/25, all candidates will undertake the SQE and we’ll no longer fund the LPC.

What To Expect When You Apply

 Applications open 1 November 2023 and close 2 January 2024.

1. Application & Online Assessment

The first stage of the recruitment process involves a short online form where you’ll give your basic personal information and academic record.

Don’t worry, this is for reporting purposes only. We have a blind screening approach throughout our recruitment process which means your personal and academic information isn’t shared with any of our assessors at any stage.

We’ll then invite you to complete a strengths-based assessment. This will take about 90 minutes to two hours.

It’s important to us that everybody has an equal chance to succeed. The strengths approach explores what motivates and energises you, rather than placing too much emphasis on what experience you might have in any certain area.

2. Video Interview

All candidates undertaking the online assessment will receive a feedback report outlining their key strengths. We'll then invite candidates that meet our benchmark to complete a strengths-based video interview.

3. Virtual Assessment Centre

If successful at the video interview stage, we’ll invite you to attend one of our virtual assessment centres. You will be assessed by members of the early careers team, associates and partners, who have all been through unconscious bias training.

Assessment centres will take place across February and March.

We’ll inform all candidates who attend our assessment centres of the outcome of their application. You'll get feedback from our Early Careers team if you aren't successful at this stage.

4. Final Assessment

The final stage assessment of our recruitment process takes place in June with our Early Careers Regional Representatives, ahead of final training contract offers being made in July.

If you'd like to discuss any reasonable adjustments for any part of the application process, please feel free to email earlycareers@irwinmitchell.com (in confidence) and we can discuss your needs.

Awards and Accreditations

We're proud to have our hard work recognised by leading industry organisations, both as a law firm and as an employer.