Training Contracts

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is one of a handful of leading international law firms, with offices across the world.

We are looking for around 100 trainees to start training with us in London in 2014, split between two intakes in February and August. Our training programme is vital to us, because today’s trainees are where most of tomorrow’s associates and partners will come from.

You have the option of doing eight seats
Our lawyers work in eight practice areas:

• Antitrust, competition & trade 
• Corporate 
• Dispute resolution 
• Employment, pensions & benefits 
• Finance 
• Intellectual property & information technology 
• Real estate 
• Tax

You have to complete a minimum of four seats (a seat just means a spell in a particular practice area). But unlike other firms, we offer you the option of doing up to eight seats. This gives you a broader understanding of the different areas of law. It's also a much fairer system as it means you have a better chance of doing three months in a popular seat.

The corporate and finance practices are the core of the firm, so we recommend that you spend at least three months in both of these practice areas.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority also requires that every trainee becomes familiar with dispute resolution work.

We have a pretty good idea of which types of personality suit which area of law, so we'll guide you if you're unsure.

The choice is wider than you think
Within many of the practice areas are a number of specialist groups. For instance, within finance there is banking; energy and infrastructure; structured and asset finance; and restructuring and insolvency. So if you are interested in finance you could opt to do three months in banking and three months in structured finance.

With 27 offices you have a good chance of doing a spell overseas
You may also have the opportunity to do a seat in one of our other offices. And you can also do a seat with one of our clients. In 2011, client secondments included Goldman Sachs, LOCOG, Sony and Liberty, among others.

We monitor your progress
During each seat, you have constant feedback from your supervisor. And at the end of each rotation you have a formal appraisal with a partner.

At the end of your training contract you can take unpaid leave
At the end of your training contract we offer you the option of taking 20 days unpaid holiday before you start work as a qualified lawyer.

When and how to apply for a training contract
You can apply any time between 1 November 2011 and 31 July 2012 for a training contract to begin in 2014. If you are an undergraduate, the earliest you can apply is the summer before you start your final year.ur two-year training contract is the most flexible in the City. Our aim is to help you find the area of the firm that best suits your individual abilities and interests.

Apply online for a place on our vacation scheme or for a training contract.

Just fill in the form (the form is the same for the vacation scheme and a training contract) and submit it to us.

We'll then send you an email and ask you to take an online verbal reasoning test. The test should take you about 20 minutes.

If we don't hear from you within 7 days, we'll assume you don't want to continue with your application. You can take a practice test before you complete the real thing. Find out more about the verbal reasoning test.

If you have a disability, which makes taking the test difficult, contact the Trainee Recruitment team on +44 (0) 207 785 5554.