Norton Rose Fulbright - True Picture

Norton Rose Fulbright training contract review 2026

The Firm

Those in the know will be aware that projects can run for years and will more than likely involve a ton of multidisciplinary legal work. As a result, any firm that makes a name for itself in areas like projects and energy will need two things: longevity and a breadth of practice. Nowhere is this more true than at Norton Rose Fulbright.

The firm has passed half a decade of consecutive revenue growth, and is known to offer plenty of room to specialise as a trainee. “The teams are niche,” one told us, “there are two broad corporate teams and four banking teams, and you’re able to pick what you want to do within them. For example, if you wanted to spend time in a corporate team that is just focused on energy, you can do that.”

The firm bags a host of top-tier Chambers UK-ranked practices in the likes of asset finance (aviation and shipping), aviation, derivatives and energy trading, trade finance and energy and natural resources (mining and power, renewables and alternative energy). Chambers Global also hands the firm its flowers in projects and energy work (mining and power).

"...it's such a small thing, but none of the other vac schemes did that. They really made an effort to make it less intimidating."

We heard that, for those on the vac scheme at NRF, the tone was clear from the off: "All the partners who gave a talk would take the time to say your name – it's such a small thing, but none of the other vac schemes did that. They really made an effort to make it less intimidating."

The Seats

Four six-month seats make up NRF’s training contract. Before seat changes, trainees are given a presentation on what each department consists of, before then selecting their top four choices on the firm’s internal intranet. This uses the increasingly popular OptiSeat tool “to try and make allocation fairer.”

Newbies are generally expected to take seats in banking and corporate which, fortunately, doesn’t limit your options too significantly. To help newbies maximise their rankings, the firm uses a traffic light system to show what seats were more or less subscribed in the last round. While it does vary from year to year, we heard that commercial disputes, corporate energy and competition are generally the most popular.

There are a number of secondment options  at NRF; so many in fact, that: “you might be required to go on a client secondment, which gives you fewer options, but it can shape your career.” That said, the vast majority of trainees do get their top preference. For both client and international secondments trainees do still rank them in their four preferences, but for the former they also need to submit a CV. For international secondments, you also submit a cover letter, sometimes followed by an interview. Previous destinations have included Tokyo, Singapore, Sydney, Dubai, Brisbane, Frankfurt and Paris.

Banking at NRF is a pretty hefty practice encompassing asset-backed lending, real estate, leveraged finance, trade and restructuring teams, among others. For the most part, trainees here play more of an administrative role as, “when first starting there’s a lot of proofreading, doing CP checklists and making sure documents are ready for signings,” but as time goes on newbies get to lean a little more into the drafting of smaller documents and things like security documents in financings.

“…it gets you used to the volume of emails you get as a solicitor.”

Working within the banking department, asset finance is one of the firm’s most significant practices. Rail, shipping and aviation work are all covered by the group. “They’re fast paced transactions that you see from start to finish,” one trainee told us of their six-month stint in the seat. For newbies, the work itself is “really process-driven; it gets you used to the volume of emails you get as a solicitor,” and involves sending out documents for signings, as well as drafting signing instructions and small ancillaries.

Capital markets similarly involves plenty of overlap with bankingand is split mainly into regular bond issues on one side, and projects-based work on the other, where a bond is a part of a larger plan to build something. Trainees start on admin tasks because “you need to be able to build that trust,” but by the end of the seat they’re generally helping with drafting “some really interesting notes on the application of enforcement of security if a bond issuance fails, for example.” Newbies are also tasked with collecting signatures and chasing different parties, so “there’s a lot of client contact. It’s good experience.”

Project finance is separated into finance on one side and construction on the other, with trainees typically leading the project management side of things – “keeping track of where everything is, including the documents, and tracking who has responded.” As a leader in the energy space, it should come as no surprise that the group works on a number of large-scale energy infrastructure projects. On top of helping with project management, responsibilities can include helping with drafting, corresponding with lenders on calls and even running disclosure.

“…you can work across all three of technology, insurance and funds – you just need to put your head above the parapet!”

The corporate practice is split into energy on one side, and technology, insurance and funds on the other. Trainees in the corporate seat aren’t able to work across both sides of the practice, with a requirement of specialising in one or the other, but “you can work across all three of technology, insurance and funds – you just need to put your head above the parapet!”

The day-to-day for newbies is “similar to banking,” with a lot of organisational tasks including due diligence reports, helping with billing and liaising with clients. We heard that legal research and client research were a part of the day to day for trainees too, on things like SPAs and SHAs, and the international nature of the work means insiders work with fee earners across the firm’s offices.

The litigation practice at NRF is divided into dispute resolution and commercial litigation, energy, infrastructure and arbitration and transport.The typical trainee role in the seat tends to revolve around bundling – “dealing with tons of documents!” – and legal research, but they also get the opportunity to draft things like emails to clients and applications to tribunal. Many of these are intertwined with letters to the other side, consisting of “clients coming in with a query. You do the research, write up the advice and send it to the partner.”

Trainees can also get contentious experience in NRF’s energy, infrastructure and arbitration subgroup,generally working on arbitrations “with other offices across the NRF network, so it has that international element.” Here, newbies spend “a lot of time dealing with witnesses,” sitting in on witness interviews which “are long, but you get to understand the case,” and drafting witness statements. Although “it’s unavoidable that you’re managing the filing and doing the organisational work” as a trainee, those we spoke with were all positive about the level of responsibility in the seat. Much of the work also includes corresponding with clerks and dealing with experts, doing “a lot of drafting and getting experience with senior associates.”

Trainee Life

Across the seats, insiders cautioned that, like any full-service outfit, “there isn’t really a uniform firm culture.” On the working side of things though, we got the impression that across the board, “the support has definitely been there,” particularly in high pressure situations like closings, or preparations for hearings. Trainees also have meetings with resource management at least once or twice a month “who are good with helping us manage our workload or to ask for more work – they let people know what your capacity is like.”

Like at any high tier city firm though, hours can still become intense for trainees at crunch times; several interviewees pointed out disputes as a seat that can become particularly heavy, “because there’s so much going on… with the sheer volume of documents you need to be familiar with there is a never-ending to-do list, so I struggled having so many outstanding items.” We heard that the banking department could also feature “consistently late finishes,” but insiders did note that part of this was due to newbies having to learn how to balance their workload – “I now appreciate that if you’re not closing a deal tomorrow you can step back and deal with it the next day!”

Our interviewees stressed that, though “they do expect a lot hours-wise,” 7-8pm finishes was the average, with “the odd late night.” Working from home was similarly flexible. Trainees usually work between three and four days in the office, “but some partners will say to be in five days a week.”

“You are expected to have tried to work things out yourself, but people are receptive to questions and will take the time to sit down and draw diagrams with you to help you understand.”

Although “every team has its own vibe,” those we spoke to were quick to highlight that in most groups “people are generally really nice! You are expected to have tried to work things out yourself, but people are receptive to questions and will take the time to sit down and draw diagrams with you to help you understand.” A few insiders did highlight some banking teams and corporate as having a bit more of a serious atmosphere, but their interactions with fellow trainees, associates and partners were overwhelmingly positive.

Alongside the formal mid- and end-of-seat appraisal, “the feedback process is good, with regular check-ins,” even when supervisors are busy. Structured training can differ significantly between seats as “some have a lot of training,” while others have less, which one trainee did say “makes a massive difference.” That said, “I was rarely in a situation where I didn’t feel supported.”

All departments have a dedicated knowledge team who arrange tailored departmental training sessions; in particular, most departments have structured training at the beginning of the seat, introducing trainees to the most important aspects of the practice, so much so that one interviewee even felt that in a banking seat “the first two weeks felt like I was back at uni, so you don’t feel like you’re going in blind.”

When it came to the social life of the firm, we heard that some teams like in transport are “very social,” with joint summer parties and team drinks every Thursday, but others like corporate have team drinks “every month, although not everyone shows up.” Ultimately, “the trainee cohort is fantastic – they hire trainees who are very sound people,” which lends itself to a good cohort atmosphere.

Affinity groups also play “a massive part” in the firm’s social fabric with the social mobility network having a lot of backing from seniors – “they’re probably the most active” – and groups generally getting an increase in budget for particularly active periods. For example, the minority ethnic network, Originsputs on more events during Black History Month and South Asian Heritage Month; this included a Bridgerton-inspired event for the latter where an orchestra performed, and people were able to go to talks on black history in Britain. The Pride and women’s network were also active, and the firm also has active religious groups like the Christian and Muslim networks.

Pro bono plays a big part in life at the firm, and it is compulsory for trainees.Newbies typically take part in a pro bono clinic on housing issues with the Southwest London Law Centres through a rotation, which is “a good opportunity to work on yourself. You shadow an associate, but you are an advisor. You speak to clients, take notes, speak to your supervisor and then write a letter of advice.”

Beyond the clinic, “you can take on extra work depending on what you’re interested in!” NRF does a lot of work with Save the Children, so trainees can get involved in helping asylum seekers, but they can also ask to do work in a certain area of interest.

As trainees approach qualification,“the partners do expect a bit of a coffee chat before you put in an application, because they want a heads up,” one insider outlined, which is followed by trainees submitting cover letters to up to three teams they want to apply for. In 2025, the firm did not disclose its retention statistics.

How to get a Norton Rose Fulbright training contract

Winter vacation scheme deadline: 28 September 2025

Summer vacation scheme deadline: 7 December 2025

Solicitor Apprenticeship Programme (London) deadline: 22 February 2026

Trainee profile

Norton Rose Fulbright requires prospective trainees to have obtained a minimum AAB at A-level and a 2:1 degree, though like many firms it takes extenuating circumstances into consideration, and also utilises a contextualised recruitment tool.

The vacation scheme

The firm runs three vacation schemes each year: a two-week programme in winter and two programmes in the summer. There are up to 60 places available across the three schemes, and candidates are paid £500 per week. Around 2,000 people apply for the vacation scheme every year. We're told 80% of the most recent trainee intake have completed the scheme.

All candidates are invited to complete an online task-based assessment. Those who pass this then have their applications screened. The candidates with the best applications will be invited to a video interview, with the strongest candidates then being invited to assessment day.

Vac schemers spend their visit in one department, sharing an office with an associate or a partner. They're also assigned a trainee buddy. In the past, attendees have completed drafting assignments, attended meetings, sat in on conference calls and undertaken research tasks. “Get to know as many people as you can here – the partners in particular,” advised one of the firm's current trainees.