Our Commitment to You Begins Now

Hear from our trainee Anthony Otobo-Martins about life at Willkie:

From autumn 2023, we are recruiting trainee solicitors who can start their training contract in September 2026. We recruit our future trainee solicitors from our spring and summer vacation schemes only.

Our training contract provides an environment where junior lawyers can excel and be challenged, in a supportive environment. You will sit in four different practice areas, with a mix of partners and associates. You will spend six months in Litigation, Compliance, Investigations & Enforcement and six months in Private Equity or Insurance M&A.

In addition to the full programme of formal training, you will work alongside our partners and associates in small teams on real matters from day one. Our people work in small, nimble teams on high-quality matters, so it is important that you are motivated, collaborative and able to pick things up quickly as you will receive a great breadth of work from the outset.

We were delighted to be named winner of ‘Best law firm for quality of work’ at The Legal Cheek Awards 2022. We were also finalists in the following categories in 2023: Best Law Firm for Training, Best Law Firm for Quality of Work and Best Law Firm for WFH 

Salary and benefits

Our trainees will be paid £55,000 in their first year and £60,000 in the second year. Our qualification salary is £150,000 per annum. We offer a full suite of benefits.

Learn about our approach to graduate recruitment from our Training Principal, Jane Scobie.

We are proud of our vacation scheme, which fully integrates candidates into working life in the London office.  

We have up to 20 places (in total) on our paid spring and summer schemes. During your two weeks with us, you will share an office with a partner and an associate. You will undertake real, meaningful work and we will provide training that will enable you to showcase your potential. We hope that by the end of the two weeks, you will have met most of our people at our vacation scheme-specific workshops, seminars and social events.

You will be supported throughout your time with us, both by a partner mentor, your supervisors, a trainee buddy and our graduate recruitment team. You will be paid £550 per week.

Our vacation schemes dates will be confirmed by the end of September 2023. We offer places on both schemes to penultimate year Law undergraduates, all final year undergraduates (both Law and non-Law), all graduates, post-graduates and career changers.

Application information

We recruit our trainee solicitors via our vacation schemes only.  Applications are open from 1 September 2023 to midday on 20 December 2023.

We recruit our trainee solicitors via our vacation schemes only. You will hear from us within ten to fifteen working days as to the outcome of your application. We will not fill up places before the deadline. It is our strong recommendation that you only submit your application when you feel it is ready rather than submitting it as early as possible.

Our application process takes place in four stages.  Please note only those successful at each stage go forward to the subsequent stage:

• Online application form;
• Video interview;
• Written analytical exercise: to ensure fairness, the written exercise is marked by at least two different people (associates/partners) from Willkie’s London office.  Neither ‘marker’ would have seen, and will not see, any applications or video interviews and each exercise is marked on a name-blind basis; and
• CV-blind interview with partners and/or senior associates: our interviews are conducted on a CV-blind basis.

We welcome applicants from all universities and degree disciplines. We are looking for consistently strong academic achievement, with a 2.1 at undergraduate level. Willkie is proud to use Rare’s Contextual Recruitment System. Partnering with Rare means social mobility measures and educational data are embedded into our recruitment process. This means we will better understand your academic achievements.

Our people work in small, nimble teams on high quality matters, so it is important that you are motivated, collaborative and able to pick things up quickly as you will receive a great breadth of work from the outset. Willkie London has grown by 161% since 2017, and over 51 per cent from 2020 alone. With this in mind, we are looking for self-starters who want to contribute to a dynamic, growing workplace, and who have a genuine interest in Willkie and our clients.

To make an application, please click here.

Should you have any further questions, please contact Gemma Baker, graduate recruitment manager, at graduaterecruitment@willkie.com

Open events at Willkie (all virtual)

Applications Workshop
How to make a successful application, hosted by Gemma Baker, graduate recruitment manager. This webinar is 90 minutes long, including time for questions. To register your interest, please click on the links below.

9 October 2023, 7.00 pm to 8.30 pm: click here to register

6 November 2023, 3.00 pm to 4.30 pm: click here to register 

Open Day
Our open day takes place on 14 November 2023 from 2 pm to 5 pm. You will hear from partners, associates and trainees about our practice areas at Willkie, our hands-on approach to training, working in small teams and the opportunities you will be given. You will also learn about pro bono and community work in London. Our open day provides a fantastic opportunity to learn more about life at Willkie. Please click here to register. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis and will close when the open day is full.  

Affinity Groups
We will be holding panels with our LGBTQIA and Minority Ethnic Affinity Groups.  Details and dates will be posted shortly. 

Non university-specific events

All the below events are virtual.  Should you wish to attend any of the below, and for more information, please click on the hyperlink provided.    

03 October 2023, 2 to 4 pm, Legal Cheek: Market Trends with Willkie

10 October 2023, 2 to 5 pm, Legal Cheek: Law Fair

11 October 2023, 12 to 1 pm, TCLA: The Most Common Mistakes on Law Firm Application Forms

18 October 2023, 12 to 1 pm, All About Law: Trainee Panel ‘The best of both worlds - life at a US law firm’ 

19 October, 950 to 11 am, All About Law: Trainee Panel ‘Trainee Tales - Your Questions Answered’

25 October 2023, 1 to 2 pm, Vantage, Wednesday Webinar: Strategise for Success: an applications workshop with graduate recruitment manager Gemma Baker 

26 October 2023, 1 to 2 pm, Vantage, Winter Graduate Recruitment Panel

01 November 2023, 3.50 to 5 pm, All About Law: Panel ‘Building Your Commercial Awareness’  

06 November 2023, 12 pm to 1 pm, All About Law: Private Equity Workshop

08 November 2023, 4.50 to 6 pm, All About Law: Panel: Life at a US law firm

15 November 2023, 2 to 3 pm, All About Law: Workshop ‘How to make effective applications: refine your technique’

21 November 2023, 2 to 5 pm, Legal Cheek: Law Fair

22 November 2023, 2 to 3 pm, All About Law: Life in Litigation: A Workshop

07 December 2023, 1 to 2 pm, Vantage: First Years Workshop

12 December 2023, 6 pm to 7 pm, TCLA: How to stand out in law firm interviews

University-specific events

Should you wish to attend any of the below, and for more information, please contact the university society directly.    

27 September 2023, 4 to 5 pm, Bristol Commercial Awareness Society: commercial case study 
02 October 2023, 7 to 9 pm, UCL Law Society, Careers Primer 
03 October 2023, 6 to 8 pm, QMUL Law Society Open Evening 
04 October 2023, 5 to 6 pm, Durham Law Society: commercial case study 
09 October 2023, 12 to 12.45 pm, Durham University Careers Service: applications workshop
11 October 2023, 3 to 4 pm, Cambridge University Law Society, Private Equity Workshop 
11 October 2023, 5 to 6 pm, University of Liverpool Solicitors Society, Workshop 
12 October 2023, 9 am to 11 am, LSE Careers Service, Careers in law and legal services coffee morning 
19 October 2023, 12 to 1 pm, Exeter Law Society: Life at Willkie, the fastest growing US law firm in London: demystifying the myths 
24 October 2023, 4 to 5 pm, Oxford Society for Commercial Law: Asset Management Workshop
25 October 2023, 4 to 5.30 pm, Warwick BASE Law Society: Applications Workshop 
25 October 2023, 2 to 3 pm, Warwick Law Society: Meet the Vac Schemers Panel
26 October 2023, 5 to 7 pm, QMUL Commercial Awareness Society: Open Evening 
02 November 2023, 2 to 3 pm, Warwick Law Society: Applications Workshop 
07 November 2023, 2 pm to 3 pm, Bristol Unity and Diversity In Law Society: commercial case study
08 November 2023, 4.30 pm to 5.30 pm, St Andrews Law Society: commercial case study
10 November 2023, 4 to 6 pm, LSESU Law Society: Know the City Panel
15 November 2023, 3.30 to 4.30 pm, Leicester Law Society: Life at Willkie, the fastest growing US law firm in London: demystifying the myths
15 November 2023, 4.30 to 6 pm, Manchester Law Society: commercial case study
21 November 2023, 6 to 7 pm, The Holdsworth Club: commercial case study 
21 November 2023, 6.30 to 7.30 pm, KCL Law Society: US Law Firms Panel
29 November 2023, 1 pm to 6 pm, York Law Society: York Goes Met 
01 December 2023, 4 to 6 pm, LSESU Law Society: Legal Pathways

Dates to be confirmed
Cambridge University Law Society: Diversity & Inclusion Panel 
KCL Law Society: Open Evening
KCL Negotiation Society
Leeds Law Society: applications workshop
UCL Law Society: Open Evening 

Pro Bono & Community Work at Willkie London

Rare Recruitment & Vantage

Willkie is proud to partner with Rare Recruitment on two initiatives: Rare’s Contextual Recruitment System and Vantage. Partnering with Rare means social mobility measures and educational data are embedded into our recruitment process. This means we will better understand your academic achievements.

10000 Black Interns
We welcomed two interns in both 2022 and 2023 and look forward to our continued partnership with 10,000 Black Interns in 2024.

GROW
Willkie London is delighted to work with GROW, a registered charity which works with aspiring lawyers (67% of whom are socially mobile and 51% from an ethic minority background) through one-to-one mentoring. Some 20 per cent of our London partners, associates and trainees have volunteered to mentor one or two GROW candidates.

Affinity Groups
In London, we have an active LGBTQ+ Affinity Group and Diversity & Inclusion Committee, as well as the London Chapter of the Women’s Professional Development Committee (WPDC). The WPDC was established more than a decade ago to offer professional development programmes and guidance to ensure that Willkie provides a rewarding and empowering experience to women at the firm.

• In London, we have an active LGBTQ+ Affinity Group and Diversity & Inclusion Committee, as well as the London Chapter of the Women’s Professional Development Committee (WPDC). The WPDC was established more than a decade ago to offer professional development programmes and guidance to ensure that Willkie provides a rewarding and empowering experience to women at the firm.
• Our lawyers and business service staff are also members of Willkie’s firm-wide Diversity and Inclusion Committee, established approximately thirty years ago. The Diversity and Inclusion Committee continues to host its highly successful Diversity Speaker Series, with external speakers including Dr Angela Neal-Barnett and Dr Tyrone Howard. Topics covered have included strategies for handling the impact of racism, trauma, stress, and anxiety; inclusion and anti-racism (including rules of equity, allyship and building an inclusive workplace); and race and immigration in the UK.

Pro Bono
Willkie regularly partners with a number of clients to support myriad nonprofit organisations. These organisations are dedicated to a wide array of causes, including education, immigration and providing support to underprivileged communities. Our London office encourages our lawyers to introduce new pro bono matters to the firm. Partnerships include:

• Rainbow Migration;
• Imperial College/Bloomberg Cleantech Accelerator Programme, for which Willkie was shortlisted in the “Most Effective Pro Bono Partnership” category for the LawWorks 2021 UK Pro Bono Awards;
• Stop Hate UK; A4ID; and
• The QMUL Legal Advice Centre.

Sustainability
Our London graduate recruitment team partners with Willkie Green, our firm-wide social impact group for all things sustainable, to look for new ways to both reduce our environmental impact and improve our graduate recruitment process sustainably. Our efforts have recently been recognised at the TargetJob Awards 2022 as the winner of the Sustainability in Early Talent Recruitment Award.

In London, we rethought each stage of our graduate recruitment strategy, developing transformative changes that align with Willkie’s sustainability commitment and create a better experience for applicants.

Informal Work Experience for students in Years 12 and 13

The London office offers work experience placements of one week in duration in the summer school holidays to those in Year 12 or 13 (or equivalent) aspiring to a career in the legal profession. The work experience candidate will sit with a partner or an associate and obtain experience of day-to-day life within a busy international law firm. Travel and other expenses are paid.

If you would like to apply for work experience in 2024, please email a copy of your CV and a covering letter to Gemma Baker at londonworkexperience@willkie.com. Applications will close on 31 January 2024.

Please note that Informal Work Experience placements operate separately to our graduate recruitment process and we do not have any informal work experience or placements for undergraduates or postgraduates outside of our graduate recruitment process. Applications for 2023 have now closed.

Willkie is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from candidates from all backgrounds. In particular, we encourage applications from candidates who do not have existing connections within the legal community.

Applications

How do I make an application for a vacation scheme and a training contract?
The application process will open on 1 September each year and the deadline for both our spring and summer scheme is midday on 20 December 2023. We do not accept any applications after the deadline. Please note that we only recruit via our vacation schemes and do not accept direct training contract applications.

Do you recruit on a rolling basis? 
Yes and no.  We review applications and video interviews as they arrive, meaning you will hear from us within ten to fifteen working days as to the outcome of your application. However, two of our application stages will not take place until after the deadline, meaning we won't make any offers at all until after the deadline and will not fill up places before the deadline. 

It is our strong recommendation that you only submit your application when you feel it is ready rather than submitting it as early as possible . 

Yes, we run virtual open days and webinars. Please see our Meet Us! tab for information.

What are your academic criteria?
We welcome applicants from all universities and degree disciplines. We do not have an A Level (or equivalent) grade requirement, but we are looking for consistently strong academic achievement, with a 2.1 at undergraduate level. Willkie is proud to use Rare’s Contextual Recruitment System. Partnering with Rare means social mobility measures and educational data are embedded into our recruitment process. This means we will better understand your academic achievements.

I studied a non-Law degree, does this put me at a disadvantage?
Not at all. We welcome applications from all degree disciplines.

What adjustments can be made to the application process if I have a disability or long term health condition?
We are happy to make adjustments to a candidate’s individual requirements, in regards to any part of our application process. Please contact Gemma Baker, our Graduate Recruitment Manager at graduaterecruitment@willkie.com to discuss, in confidence, your individual circumstances.

I have mitigating circumstances. Where can I include them?
There is a mitigating circumstances section on the application form. If you prefer, you can email Gemma Baker, our Graduate Recruitment Manager at graduaterecruitment@willkie.com instead.

Interviews and assessment centres

What is your application process?
Our application process takes place in four stages. Please note only those successful at each stage go forward to the subsequent stage:

• Online application form
• Video interview
• Written analytical exercise: to ensure fairness, the written exercise is marked by at least two different people (associates/partners) from Willkie’s London office.  Neither ‘marker’ would have seen, and will not see, any applications or video interviews and each exercise is marked on a name-blind basis; and
• Interview with partners and/or senior associates: our interviews are conducted on a CV-blind basis.

What is CV-blind interviewing? It means that during the interview, you are assessed solely on your performance on the day. Interviewers will not know anything about you, other than your name. This includes which university or school you attended, or the subject of your degree.

Will you reimburse my expenses for travelling to an interview? Yes, we will send you details of reimbursement claims once you’ve been invited.

Vacation Schemes

What are the dates of your spring and summer schemes?
Our vacation schemes will be confirmed in due course. We offer places on both schemes to penultimate year Law undergraduates, all final year undergraduates (both Law and non-Law), all graduates, post-graduates and career changers.

How much will I be paid on the vacation scheme?
You will be paid £550 per week. We can provide additional funds if there is a financial need.

Do you offer any other work experience, other than the vacation schemes?
We run informal work experience to those in Years 12 or 13. Please see the Work Experience tab for details.

The Training Contract

SQE/LPC/GDL

SQE
For those who have accepted a training contract with us, we offer full sponsorship of the GDL and SQE (as appropriate) which covers course fees in full and a £17,500 maintenance grant, pro-rated.

We will ask future trainees onwards to complete the SQE (if they have not already completed the LPC). We are partnering with University of Law to deliver market-leading qualifications that we believe will prepare our future trainees for practice. All future trainees will study the LLM Legal Practice, which incorporates preparation for SQE 1 & 2 as well as the SQE Plus, an enhanced programmed designed to go beyond the standard SQE syllabus to ensure our trainees can be confident in their ability to hit the ground running.

Future trainees who have not studied law in England and Wales will take the nine-month Postgraduate Diploma in Law, before the LLM Legal Practice, to ensure they have a solid academic foundation in law.  

Do you provide a maintenance grant for the GDL or SQE?
Yes, if you accept an offer of a training contact with us, we will pay for your course fees in full and provide a maintenance grant of £17,500 per annum (pro-rated) in each year of study.  

How many trainees are in each intake? When do they start?
We take up to six trainees each year and our trainees start in September of each year.

Can I contact the graduate recruitment team?
Yes, please email Gemma Baker, our Graduate Recruitment Manager at graduaterecruitment@willkie.com.

Will I be able to go on secondment to client or to another Willkie office?
We currently do not offer international or client secondments.  

Can I get involved with pro bono work?
Yes, absolutely! There are many ways to get involved, please see the DEI section for more details.