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When to apply

  • Non-law student
    Apply in your final year
  • Law student
    Apply in your penultimate or final year
  • Graduates
    Apply at any time

Training contract

Our two-year training programme provides you with an unparalleled opportunity to develop skills across a range of practice areas. These include our top tier corporate and dispute resolution practices (strength in both areas is something normally associated with leading New York firms), which provide a training environment of unique breadth and depth.

During your training contract you are likely to spend time in corporate and dispute resolution as well as finance or real estate. For those on the UK training contract, seats are also available in the firm’s specialist practice areas such as the advocacy unit, employment, EU/competition, intellectual property, pensions and incentives, and private wealth and charities.

Many of our trainees also take advantage of the numerous secondment opportunities available. We currently offer secondments to a number of clients, including BSkyB and Credit Suisse. Here you will work as a resident lawyer, gaining an invaluable insight into the client’s business. We also offer placements at the Royal Courts of Justice, where you’ll be sitting with a judge.

There are opportunities to gain international experience through secondments to our network of offices in locations such as Beijing, Brussels, Dubai, Hong Kong, Moscow, Paris, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. Trainees may also take up one of the many opportunities for pro bono work, including secondments to Liberty – something we actively encourage. Wherever you find yourself, as a Herbert Smith trainee you’ll be treated as one of the team, working and training alongside some of the world’s best lawyers. You’ll be contributing directly to the success of our clients, some of the best and biggest companies in the world.

Apply for a London training contract
The deadline for all training contracts is 31 July 2010 for a start date of March 2012 or September 2012. Law students should apply in their penultimate or final year. Non-law students should apply in their final year. Graduates can apply at any time up until the deadline.

Apply for a Hong Kong training contract
There is no deadline for applying for a training contract but students are encouraged to apply as soon as you have the result of your penultimate year. Degree holders can apply at any time.