Join our flagship graduate scheme supporting you through to qualification as a solicitor.
Our training contract is structured to not only refine your legal expertise but also to cultivate outstanding client care abilities, guaranteeing that our clients experience exceptional service.
As the UK's leading full-service law firm, we believe we have something genuinely different to offer our trainee solicitors due to our wide range of legal teams. You will have the opportunity to specialise in legal services tailored for individuals or businesses, while simultaneously gaining exposure to our comprehensive suite of teams. This integrated approach ensures that clients can fulfil all their legal requirements with us, while allowing you to broaden your legal expertise across a spectrum of interrelated service areas throughout a client’s journey.
We offer training contacts in 12 offices throughout the UK and last year we retained 91% of our trainees on qualification and welcomed another 51 trainee solicitors in August 2025 – we're committed to your future. This year we're not holding our Legal Work Placement and instead we are inviting all candidates, who are successful after our virtual assessment centre, to attend a one-day in-person insight day to see the office, meet the people you could be working with, hear about the teams available in the office, have lunch with trainees, and network with colleagues at the end of the day. Find out more on our recruitment process page.
Every year, we welcome applications from all backgrounds and subjects. Our 99 current trainees come from 39 different universities (22 were non-Russell). We also welcome students from a Law and non-law background, and our new 2025 trainee cohort have 43% non-law students.
Applications for 2026 Training Contracts have now closed.
Please register your interest for 2027 & 2028 Training Contracts which will open on Monday 13 October 2025.
What are the benefits?
First year salary:
Regional: £31,500
London: £43,500
Second year salary:
Regional: £33,500
London: £45,500
NQ salary:
Regional: £45,000 - £57,000 (dependent on practice area)
London: £59,500 - £78,000 (dependent on practice area)
When you apply for a training contract, you’ll need to decide on two key pieces of information that suit you:
1. Which stream – individual or business?
2. Which location?
Our Streams - Client Service Teams
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 five practice areas:
Medical Negligence
Legal Services for Individuals (LSI)
Personal Injury
Court of Protection and Public Law & Human Rights
Private Client Group
Business Services Group
Legal Services for Businesses (LSB)
You'll undertake three seats within LSI or within LSB, and a repeat seat, all within your location, over two years, giving you a breadth of experience.
By completing seats in one stream only allows you to complete seats that complement each other and develop your knowledge and skills regarding your particular client base.
Practice areas
Some of the practice areas can be broken down into further departments:
Legal Services for Individuals (nine teams)
Medical Negligence
Personal Injury - Serious Injury, Asbestos & Occupational Disease
Court of Protection, and Public Law & Human Rights
Private Client Group – Family, Private Client Advisory, International & High Net Worth, and Wills, Trust & Estate Disputes.
Legal Services for Businesses (12 teams)
Banking & Finance
Commercial
Construction
Corporate
Employment
Intellectual Property
Litigation
Pensions
Planning & Environmental
Real Estate Transactional
Real Estate Disputes
Regulatory & Compliance
Restructuring & Insolvency.
By choosing either Legal Services for Businesses or Legal Services for Individuals your seats will cross over any of the teams within that stream and within your office. Seats will be aligned to business need, teams that are busy, and with the potential to offer a newly qualified solicitor position at the end of your training contract.
Our locations
When you apply for a solicitor training contract you'll need to pick one location.
Each office is different in the number of colleagues and teams available but client work, wherever you are, is always engaging, challenging, and interesting.
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 solicitor training contract, we can't consider applications against multiple offices. See the list of departments available at each office below.
Keep an eye on our Instagram feed for information regarding the different streams from colleagues within different teams and different locations.
Offices and departments
LSB - Commercial
LSB - Employment
LSB - Litigation
LSB - Restructuring & Insolvency.
LSI - Asbestos & Occupational Disease
LSI - Court of Protection
LSI - Family Law
LSI - Private Client Advisory
LSI - Medical Negligence
LSI - Public Law
LSI - Serious Injury
LSI - Wills, Trust & Estate Disputes.
Asbestos & Occupational Disease
Court of Protection
Family Law
Medical Negligence
Public Law
Serious Injury
Wills, Trust & Estate Disputes.
LSI - Asbestos & Occupational Disease
LSI - Court of Protection
LSI - Medical Negligence
LSI - Public Law
LSI - Serious Injury
LSI - Family
LSI - Private Client Advisory
LSI - Wills, Trust & Estate Disputes.
LSB - Construction
LSB - Corporate
LSB - Litigation
LSB - Planning
LSB - Real Estate
LSB - Restructuring & Insolvency
LSI - Private Client Advisory
LSI - Public Law
LSI - Wills, Trust & Estate Disputes.
LSB - Banking & Finance
LSB - Commercial
LSB – Corporate
LSB – Employment
LSB – Litigation
LSB - Pensions
LSB - Real Estate
LSB - Restructuring & Insolvency.
LSI - Asbestos & Occupational Disease
LSI - Court of Protection
LSI - Family Law
LSI - Private Client Advisory
LSI - Medical Negligence
LSI - Public Law
LSI - Serious Injury
LSI - Wills, Trust & Estate Disputes.
LSB - Banking & Finance
LSB - Commercial
LSB - Construction
LSB - Corporate
LSB - Employment
LSB - Intellectual Property
LSB - Litigation
LSB - Pensions
LSB - Real Estate
LSB - Real Estate Disputes
LSB - Regulatory & Compliance Group
LSB - Restructuring & Insolvency.
LSI - Asbestos & Occupational Disease
LSI - Court of Protection
LSI - Family Law
LSI - International High Net Worth
LSI - Private Client Advisory
LSI - Medical Negligence
LSI - Public Law
LSI - Serious Injury
LSI - Wills, Trust & Estate Disputes.
LSB - Construction
LSB – Corporate
LSB - Employment
LSB - Litigation
LSB – Planning & Environmental
LSB - Real Estate
LSB - Real Estate Disputes.
LSI - Asbestos & Occupational Disease
LSI - Court of Protection
LSI - Family Law
LSI - Private Client Advisory
LSI - Medical Negligence
LSI - Public Law
LSI - Serious Injury
LSI - Wills, Trust & Estate Disputes
LSI - Asbestos & Occupational Disease
LSI - Court of Protection
LSI - Family Law
LSI - Private Client Advisory
LSI - Medical Negligence
LSI - Public Law
LSI - Serious Injury.
LSI - Private Client Advisory
LSI - Wills, Trusts, and Estate Disputes.
LSB - Employment
LSB - Real Estate
LSB - Real Estate Disputes
LSB - Regulatory & Compliance Group
LSB - Restructuring & Insolvency.
LSI - Asbestos & Occupational Disease
LSI - Court of Protection
LSI - Family Law
LSI - Medical Negligence
LSI - Private Client Advisory
LSI - Public Law
LSI - Serious Injury
LSI - Wills, Trust & Estate Disputes.
LSI - Asbestos & Occupational Disease
LSI - Court of Protection
LSI - Family Law
LSI - Medical Negligence
LSI - Public Law
LSI - Serious Injury.
Solicitors Qualifying Exam
The SQE, introduced in September 2021, is now the assessment for all aspiring solicitors in England and Wales. As of August 2024, we had our first cohort of trainees going through this pathway.
As an inclusive employer committed to bringing in the best possible talent, we accept applications from all graduates and undergraduates. This includes those who need to complete the SQE, those who may be partway through it, and those who have already completed it or passed their LPC.
The duration and structure of your training contract and SQE study with us will vary based on the qualifications you hold at the time you receive a training contract offer.
We will pay for SQE 1 & 2, if you haven’t already started at the time of offer, and support you to complete this course of study.
Non-law graduates
If you're a non-law graduate, we will fund your Postgraduate Diploma in Law (PGDL) if you haven’t already started at the time of offer. If you choose to study full-time, we will provide you with a maintenance grant of £1,000 per month of study if you haven't already started the course when you're offered a training contract.
Completing or Completed LPC
If you've already completed, or are in the process of completing your LPC, we will continue to accept applications.
All candidates will undertake the SQE, and we’ll no longer fund the LPC.
Started and/or completed SQE1/SQE2
If you've already started some aspect of SQE study and/or passed SQE 1 then we will discuss with you the best pathway for you to complete before your training contract starts.
We do not pay SQE fees retrospectively.
Your development
Your training contract journey begins as soon as you accept your offer. You will receive a welcome pack inviting you to future trainee events where you will meet your buddy and get to know your fellow trainees. Whether you're still studying or working before you begin, you will feel a part of the Irwin Mitchell team.
If successful, you will attend a two-day induction in Birmingham and continue with further in-person and virtual induction sessions over a three-week period. It’s a great way to get to know the firm and your fellow trainees. With approximately 45 training contracts spread across 12 locations, you will 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. Our dedicated Early Careers team will discuss your progress during each seat to ensure that your training contract journey is a positive experience from start to finish.
What are the entry requirements for a training contract?
The first stage of the recruitment process involves a short online form where you will give your basic personal information and academic record. You will then automatically receive a link to complete our online strengths-based questionnaire (which takes approximately 90 minutes to complete) and you will have seven days to complete the questionnaire so don’t register until you feel ready.
The data we collect is for reporting purposes only, which means your personal and academic information isn’t shared with any of our assessors at any stage and we don’t recruit based on academic results or university attended.
You must be studying towards a degree and be available to start your training contract in August 2027 or 2028 and be one of the following:
A law or non-law graduate
An undergraduate who's in at least their penultimate year of a law degree
An undergraduate in their final year of a non-law degree.
As a general principle, we don't defer training contract start dates.
We welcome applications from all kinds of graduates and undergraduates, not just those who have studied law.
Lots – we have three main charity partners across the UK
that colleagues raise money for and work with. Each office also gets
involved in local charities and trainees are often involved in projects to
support them.
Lots - each office has excellent relationships with local charities and we give both time and money in support of nominated organisations. The Irwin Mitchell Charities Foundation is an independent registered charity that each year receives a lump sum donation from the partners and regular contributions from employees via the Give As You Earn scheme (GAYE). Each office also has a charity of the year that benefits from 12 months of our fundraising efforts. As a trainee you'll have the opportunity (and be encouraged) to get involved in the community and help local charities.
We’re currently partnered with the University of Law to provide
this course, if you haven’t already started it when your offer is made.
We pay the fees for the PGDL, plus a maintenance grant of
£1000 per month of study if you haven’t started the course when offered a
training contract. From the academic year 2024/25, all candidates will
undertake the SQE within their training contract, which we will pay for. We
will no longer offer funding for the LPC. We don’t pay fees
retrospectively.
During your training contract you will undertake three ‘training’ seats and one ‘qualification’ seat. The fourth and final seat will most likely be in the department that you, and we, expect you to qualify into.
Trainees are an investment for the future. Over the last five years we've consistently offered qualification roles to more than 80% of our trainees.
Each year we have around 45 - 50 vacancies across 12
offices. These are: Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Chichester, Gatwick,
Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Reading, Sheffield, and Southampton.
Yes, we're happy to receive applications from previous applicants.
We'll discuss your preference with you and try to meet any requests. However, the exact number of seats available at any given time is driven by the needs of the business and our focus in placing trainees is on where there are likely to be roles on qualification.
Absolutely not! We encourage applications from graduates and undergraduates of all ages.
Please refer to the Solicitors Regulation Authority where you'll be able to find out more information about what steps you are required to take in order to qualify as an English solicitor.
We look for creative thinkers, innovators and people with ambition, focus and determination. You'll also need to be meticulous, with a good eye for detail and have the ability to build strong relationships with your colleagues and clients.
The closing date for 2027 and 2028 training contracts is 1 December 2025.
We operate a blind screening process, so there's no
minimum requirement. You'll need to give your academic details at
the beginning of the process, but this is only for reporting purposes. Your details aren't shared with assessors.
In 2020, we moved to virtual assessment centres which meant you could complete the assessment from the comfort of your own home. We recognise that people also like to meet face-to-face and therefore the first stage of our assessment centre is still online, but we also have a second stage called an Insight Day whereby candidates can get to see their office, meet trainees and Partners, and hear about the teams they might be a part of.
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.
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