Burges Salmon LLP - True Picture

Burges Salmon training contract review 2026

The Firm

In the world of fashion, there’s no accounting for taste. You’ve got to be on top of the trends, styled for success, and fitted for the future. Law firms are no different, which is why with this Salmon, you can be pretty in pink. “It’s probably not an original answer, but I just love the London quality work while getting to be in Bristol,” revealed one of our interviewees, “it’s such a lovely city and just a really nice place to work.”

It’s true, the calibre of work for the area (and don’t forget the firm’s other trainee-based office in Edinburgh) was one of the most prominent reasons juniors wanted to join, but don’t just take our word for it. Our colleagues over at Chambers UK has the firm ranked in almost 40 departments with standouts coming from transport, competition, real estate, restructuring/insolvency, planning, pensions, litigation, corporate M&A, IP, and more.

“Everyone takes an interest and care in your personal life, everyone is class, everyone is lovely.”

Outside of the locale and work, culture seemed to be the biggest draw with one junior pointing out “it can be quite a big ambiguous word generally, but it’s a really attractive quality of the firm.” What does that translate to exactly? Well, one source put it simply: “Everyone takes an interest and care in your personal life, everyone is class, everyone is lovely.” We’re sold on this Salmon!

The Seats

The firm has got itself on the AI train, in terms of seat allocation at least. Trainees use the Ruth software to rank all seat options from one to ten (ten being a yes please, one being a no thanks) and interviewees were fans of the new system: “It’s made the process more straight forward. Everything I’ve been allocated thus far has been ranked above a seven.”

Burges Salmon is one of the rare firms in our guide that offers a six-seat training contract, with that final sixth seat usually allocated for one of three options. The first option, and most common, is a return to the seat they plan to qualify into with sources saying, “it helps you transition to NQ life a bit easier.” The second is a complimentary seat to where the trainee is qualifying, and the third option is a secondment.

On that front, the secondment opportunities vary and are open to both cohorts across offices, a longstanding stint with EDF being the most familiar as “it really fits with Burges Salmon’s ethos.”

If you make the real estate department your home, you’ll find yourself in the biggest department in the firm. The group is made up of a selection of subgroups, but trainees aren’t to worry about such things as they act as a generalist, picking up any available work wherever it comes from. As such, “It was a really busy seat,” explained one source, “which was a great opportunity because I could take on other responsibilities that other people did.”

GLA has been a longstanding client for the firm for many years with several active projects in play. One of which is the development on Albert Island of the first boatyard built on the Thames in over 300 years. The matter is worth several billions of pounds.

Typical trainee tasks include drafting reports on title, working with the land registry, preparing stamp duty returns, research, client contact, option agreements, working on offshore wind farms, proof reading, contacting insurers, getting quotes, and ancillary documents. “I ran a couple of matters more or less by myself,” one proud newbie exclaimed, “if you put your hand up for something, they’ll get you involved.”

Dispute resolution is the second biggest department in the firm and a favourite amongst our interviewees. “They strike the balance of responsibility really well,” one newbie divulged, “I really appreciate the opportunity to weigh in and participate within the team.” There are a variety of subgroups that make up the disputes practice including real estate disputes, IP litigation, general commercial litigation, private client and more.

One source explained the process of work allocation in a bit more detail: “You’re allocated one quadrant within the practice but you do get the chance to get work from the whole team so there is a wide-ranging experience.” Recently, the firm represented the special purpose energy company URE Energy Limited against Notting Hill Genesis over the termination of a long-term electricity supply agreement. The matter was valued at £4.5 million.

The breadth of trainee tasks varied widely and included drafting of letters and notices, attendance notes for clients, working on legislative structure, transport work, asset recovery, contacting chambers, research tasks, business development, and bundling. “Everyone is more than happy to let you get involved in as much as you want,” one junior beamed, “they made a real effort to welcome me to the team.”

“We’re really adding value and it’s a great seat in terms of opportunity.”

The advisory heavy seat of pensions was described as “really fascinating work and really enjoyable” by our sources. “It was quite varied as seats go,” one junior described, “it’s a very technical area and there’s good quality training that comes from that.” A significant client for the firm that most trainees were exposed to was the trustees of the Honda-Group UK pension scheme which has assets nearing £1 billion. Recent work on the scheme has included supporting the trustees with the company’s proposal to close the scheme to future accrual, as well as advisory work on technical aspects of the scheme.

Other streams of work newbies got to tackle were defined benefit pension schemes, business development, public and private sector work, and trustee work. One junior highlighted that there was a bit of autonomy in this team as “a lot of this is up to you; You can go and seek out what you want to do in the group.” Standard tasks include attending client meetings, drafting letters to members and regulators, research tasks, DocuSign, bespoke technical questions, and client contact.

“In some ways it felt like going back to uni days because it was a lot of researching the law,” one interviewee admitted. Juniors also had a lot of praise for the team itself, touting that “everyone was really passionate about the work they do here” which trickled down to the trainees themselves who felt that “we’re really adding value and it’s a great seat in terms of opportunity.”

A stint in the banking and finance seat will see trainees assigned to one of four buckets: real estate finance, corporate finance, project finance, and restructuring and insolvency. A junior will be given a supervisor who is a specialist in one of those four branches which is where the majority of their work will filter in from. Due to the nature of the work in the group, juniors reported that “you do get quite a lot of responsibility because there’s a lot more structured work that a trainee does compared to other seats.”

An example of recent work would be that of the firm’s longstanding client FirstGroup plc on two interconnected projects with a combined debt size of over £200 million. One focused on the acquisition of batteries for EV buses, and the second focused on the funding of electric buses bodies. The two financings were linked through inter-creditor cooperation arrangements.

Rookies will find themselves drafting a great deal of documents and board minutes, as well as managing projects and conditions precedents. For those keen to get stuck in, juniors praised the seat for “being quite fast paced in general.”

Trainee Life

Supervision was overall praised by our interviewees, but the degree to which supervisors were hands-on seemed to fluctuate individual to individual. One source speculated it depended on their seniority which brought with it its own pros and cons: “If you have the most senior supervisor then you have slightly less attention I think, but they also have the most experience and knowledge to pass on.”

Training seemed to be an ever-evolving practice at the firm, largely due to the SQE and the relatively new Edinburgh cohort. Juniors pointed out that overall, the firm is erring on the side of caution as “they’ve thrown a lot of training at us because they don’t want any gaps!” Some newbies commented that occasionally a training session will come too late as they’ll have done that task multiple times by the time the session comes around. The one exception being the banking department: “It’s one of the best training programs out of all the departments, it’s very structured and frontloaded at the start.”

The Bristol office is in the “heart of the city” and is currently going floor by floor for a full office refurbishment. The new improvements are going down a treat with newbies, who pointed out that “it’s fully open plan which is great for juniors. We’ve got a nice cafeteria as well.” While also enjoying the great networking opportunities and great working environment, the Bristolian cohort also took the opportunity to take a playful jab at us London commuters by stating “we don’t have any issues around train strikes, I know that much!”

Those in the Edinburgh office are also being treated to some office construction thanks to the fact “we just keep growing so quickly.” Insiders up north also felt the need to highlight their free coffee machine which was described as “the best perk of the office and one everyone talks about.”

Trainees are expected in the office three days a week (though the Edinburgh crowd saw most people opting for five days in for full attendance!) and most finish times averaged around the 6pm mark with interviewees, signaling “you don’t have to stay super late unless it’s really pressured for deadlines.”Compensation also got the thumbs up, with rookies noting second years were eligible for the bonus scheme and Edinburgh trainees beamed that “I think we’re the highest paid trainees in Scotland.”

“I feel included and that I belong here…”

Of the general firm culture, we heard it all comes back to the trainee cohort where “there’s no competition with other people, and I know a lot of these people are my lifelong friends.” This kind of positivity spread throughout our interviewees who all singled out the culture as a true standout for Burges Salmon: “People make an effort to integrate you from day one in every seat, it’s just a really nice place to be.”

Part of that effort is the number of socials and events put on to bring newbies into the fold, such as the prolific Burges Salmon’s Got Talent charity competition. Outside of that, there are Christmas parties, summer parties, volunteering days, charity dinners, ad hoc drinks, and department specific fests which are “a mix between networking, strategy, and team building.” One interviewee quipped “there’s always things going on” and the firm provides travel and accommodation to the Edinburgh cohort down to Bristol, so they won’t miss out on the big shindigs.

On diversity, sources acknowledged the affinity groups as a plus as well as the celebration of cultural events such as for Chinese New Year and Ramadan. “I can see the firm is driving it a lot,” explained one junior, “I feel included and that I belong here, so I think they take it seriously.”

Trainees were pleased to report that the qualification process was “informal and relaxed” which eased any pre-existing stress. Generally speaking, trainees are advised to have discussions with departments they’re interested in as early as possible. This process was seen very positively by sources, one of whom told us that “some of the partners give up a lot of their time to talk it through with you.”

After that, trainees submit a CV and cover letter sometime during their fifth seat. Juniors breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that interviews weren’t necessary either, as one rookie astutely observed that “the training contract itself is the interview.” Sources were excited at the prospect of a future at the firm, with one exclaiming “I like being part of one firm and a firm that’s growing!” In 2025, the firm retained 89% qualifiers.

How to get a Burges Salmon training contract 

All applications open 29 September 2025

Vacation scheme deadlines (2025/2026)

Bristol:

• 27 October 2025 (winter) 
• 5 January 2026 (spring and summer) 

Edinburgh:

• 5 January 2026 (spring and summer)

Open days (Bristol: 16 & 18 March 2026

Training contract deadline 2027: 22 June 2026

Application and assessment 

This should go without saying but remember to pay close attention to spelling and grammar when submitting your online application, and to leave plenty of time to take the assessment. "We reject a lot of forms instantly because they haven't been checked properly,” says a resourcing business partner, who adds: “The forms that stand out come from people who have done research into the firm beyond what can be found on the recruitment page, and who demonstrate a good understanding of our culture." 

Both vac scheme and direct training contract applicants who nail the application stage are invited to an assessment centre, complete with a written exercise, group exercise and interview. 

At this point, vac scheme applicants who score highly enough go on to complete their vac scheme (see below). Applicants that are successful after the vacation scheme will be invited back for a training contract interview.

At the interview, candidates are also likely to be asked why they want to live and work in Bristol, but you don't need to have a local connection to be successful. 

Vacation scheme 

Burges Salmon runs winter (one week), spring (two weeks) and two summer (two weeks each) schemes across the year in their Bristol office. Excitingly, the firm now runs spring and summer vacation schemes based in their Edinburgh office for those wanting to apply for an Edinburgh-based training contract. The firm takes on just 60 candidates in total, spread out across the schemes, in an effort to closely mentor and give enough work to each attendee. 

Vac schemers normally visit two departments during their placement and have a trainee buddy on hand to assist throughout. In addition to learning sessions, the firm holds talks that give participants the chance to learn more about specific practice areas. Vac schemers are also taken out for an informal social with their trainee buddies and the graduate recruitment team. Recent trainees gave the programme a big thumbs up: "It's a well-planned scheme, and the work is meaningful.” Indeed, one told of drafting an article for a weekly publication, while another mentioned “writing something that ended up going to the partners,” and a third reported attending court with an associate and helping out on a pro bono project. 

The ideal candidate 

You'll need at least a 2:1 degree and 136 UCAS points to get a training contract here. In the past the firm has made exceptions, but the vast majority of applicants who don't have the above requirements face the chop. 

According to a resourcing business partner, work experience in a commercial environment is something recruiters look out for. “That could come from a law firm or any business really – for example, a part-time job in a shop, an internship in a bank or a stint in sales. Anything that involves providing a service and seeing how that makes money will stand applicants in good stead." Past trainees we've spoken with have beefed up their applications with administrative jobs, paralegal work and time spent with a local Citizens Advice Bureau.