Fladgate LLP - True Picture

Fladgate training contract review 2026

The Firm

Talk to any coach, in almost any sport, and they’ll all tell you the same thing: Ignore the competition. The best progress happens when you concentrate on being better than youwere the day before, and in time, the competition will be worrying about you. Fladgate has taken self-improvement to the extreme, setting personal best after personal best in both headcount and revenue.

The full-service outfit has pumped up its revenue by 17% over the past year, along with record growth “in terms of head count and practice areas,”  according to training principal Matt Williams. As part of this growth, what has historically been more of a corporate focus has shifted with big increases and investment in disputes and specialised areas like venture capital. Williams highlights real estate disputes as a particular point of growth, with the firm acquiring a number of partners from Memery Crystal earlier in the year, along with family and private wealth.

The firm’s rankings over in Chambers UK  are, as a result, pretty varied, including nods in practices like private equity (venture capital investment), insurance, art and cultural property law, hotels an leisure and infrastructure nationwide. Here in the capital, the firm receives particularly high praise for its real estate and family/matrimonial finance offerings, and the highest possible recognition in corporate M&A.

For trainees however, it was as much about the setup of the firm as it was practice area prowess: “I didn’t want to be with a swathe of people” with an eleven-strong trainee intake a solid selling point for trainees: “You get to work directly with partners, with good responsibility.”

Changes coming to the training contract from September 2025 mean that trainees will get an even broader range, as Williams tells us: “We’ll be moving to six four-month seats in the training contract. This will give trainees more exposure in specialist departments and will give the business more exposure to trainees! It does raise the question of how we will get trainees up to speed quickly, but all departments run training to ensure that trainees are ready to get started as soon as possible…”

The Seats

Up until the switch happens, trainees sit in four seats over the two-year training contract, with the first seat being allocated purely by business need. After this, trainees put three preferences into the firm’s ‘OptiSeat’ system – a tool that takes into account every trainees’ preferences when allocating seats. “It’s supposed to be the fairest way to allocate them,” one trainee mused, but “You can still chat with HR to give an indication of where you want to be.”

Insiders told us that the firm asks you to sit in a contentious seat and a core department, which includes funds finance and regulatory, corporate and real estate.Trainees don’t necessarily have to take on disputes for their contentious seat, they can also do real estate disputes, family or construction. 

The dispute resolution group is one of the larger teams at the firm, with around 22 partners and 35 associates working on a numberof distinct workstreams. Trainees similarly have to navigate these workstreams and manage their capacity over a range of matters with large and small cases alike. The practice as a whole covers the likes of commercial and private client dispute, so it’s a broad brush – and, importantly for newbies, “is not restrictive – you can mostly do what you want to do.”

In one recent case, the firm acted for Loudwater Trade and Finance in connection with litigation stemming from a £122 million contract to provide PPE to the Department of Health and Social Care during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the larger cases in the commercial courts, trainees’ roles might be a little less client-facing, consisting mostly of bundling and research. On smaller matters, however, newcomers can get a fair bit of client contact, going to court hearings, on conference with counsel, and even drafting letters, witness statements and attendance notes.

“There is oversight with the drafting, but not everything needs to be checked before it goes out, so you can run things very independently.”

Real estate is a similarly big team with a broad practice, which means there’s plenty on offer for trainees: “They are good at making sure you do lots of things – partners love it when you reach out and express interest!” The firm’s work revolves around individuals and businesses acquiring all types of residential real estate in the UK, including agricultural properties. In one recent deal, the firm advised clients of Capreon UK, and private real estate investment firm, on a transaction involving the simultaneous exchange and completion of acquisition of freehold and the new letting of vacant part to a third party.

Much like in dispute resolution, it’s the smaller value matters where trainees can get the most ownership over their work. “There is oversight with the drafting,” one insider outlined, “but not everything needs to be checked before it goes out, so you can run things very independently.” Trainees are tasked with emailing other lawyers and clients, working on licences to alter and assign, lower value leases, drafting, negotiating, arranging signings and completion calls, among other things.

Because the finance department is heavily focused on real estate finance, the group also jumps onto a lot of refinancings. Trainees can also take on contentious real estate matters in the rapidly growing real estate litigation team – a seat separate from pure real estate. “You’re typically working with a partner,” one trainee explained, typically on the process side of things, like the serving of notices.

In the  corporate  department, “because it’s a larger one, you are in some ways handheld by your supervisor when you start out,” one trainee explained, “but there is work around so you can seek people out – you have good autonomy to get interesting work.” The team mainly works on mid-market deals in industries like technology, recruitment, real estate, and leisure and hospitality on public and private M&A, private equity and venture capital matters.

In one recent deal, Fladgate acted for UK and Ireland-based noodle restaurant chain Chopstix Group and its founders on its strategic investment partnership with QSRP. At the trainee level, this kind of work translates to drafting ancillaries, research, and due diligence on the daily, accompanied by work on corporate governance, general meeting attendance and leading filings.

“…it’s a steep learning curve, but once you’ve gotten over that hurdle the team is really, really fantastic!”

“It’s well known that private client is quite intense, so it’s a steep learning curve, but once you’ve gotten over that hurdle the team is really, really fantastic!” Across the “extremely broad” practice sits a lot of tax work, a little charities work, and estate planning work, where the firm will be providing income tax advice, working closely with the real estate and corporate team on tax-related matters. They also help to set up charities for clients, and work with the family team on things like probate, “so we work on a whole breadth of things that people need,” (generally high net worth clients), “so it’s a lot of client meetings and direct emails.”

Commercial, sports and intellectual property, or the CSI team, is one of the more popular for trainees given its headline-grabbing clientele. The firm works for big-name football clubs like Watford and Nottingham Forest on player contracts, and has similarly advised Formula E racing team, Mahindra Racing, on matters including supply agreements with Xtrac and Mercedes and various driver contracts. Trainees in the seat are brought in to do “a lot” of due diligence, which they felt was “a helpful thing for trainees to do and learn from.”

Newbies get to put their hands on services contracts on the commercial side, getting involved in distribution, supply and management agreements for clients like GSK, but from an IP perspective, they work mainly on the trademark side on things like registrations and advice on trademark infringement. Then, in sports, there are opportunities to work on financings for football deals and sponsorship agreements. Insiders told us they could lean into the work that interested them with “a really good amount of responsibility, working on negotiations and seeing what you can push back on.”

Trainee Life

To support trainees over the two years, each department puts on training sessions “on average once a week,” where external speakers will come go into the firm to give presentations on topics. For trainees specifically, one-hour long department-specific sessions will go through things like venture capital, or how an IPO works. We heard that this does differ depending on the department though. In real estate, for example, trainees have sessions “sometimes twice a week,” while in private client they have monthly ‘education sessions’ where everyone is assigned a topic and gives a presentation on it.

The level of supervision on offer was also praised: “It’s what you make of it,” one insider mused, “so if you want weekly meetings, you can ask for them. Most partners are very good with that.” One trainee highlighted that “your supervisor deals with everything for you,” even ensuring that newbies have a respectable work-life balance. Beyond the more formal supervision, those we spoke with told us that “most people will take the time to talk you through a task or walk you through a document or walk you through a document – even if it’s just proof reading.”  

“…most people will take the time to talk you through a task or walk you through a document – even if it’s just proof reading.” 

Trainees typically sit with their partner mentor in Fladgate’s Covent Garden office on one of the firm’s six floors.The firm is currently moving towards more of an open plan layout, which has been met with mixed response. Nevertheless, trainees are expected to be in the office at least four days a week which our interviewees raised no issues with, particularly given the good work-life balance and the “very friendly, casual environment.”

We did hear that groups like private client are “a bit less social,” and “disputes a bit more studious.” Real estate “is very chill, people laugh constantly – walk onto the floor and it’s loud!” Despite the differences in practice, all of our interviewees felt “happy to be going in to work because I work with nice, normal people!” 

Alongside Christmas and summer parties, trainees get a budget for socials too, which they typically organise themselves. On top of this, Fladgate also has diversity networks providing a platform for support, mentoring and socialising: amongst these are Without Prejudice, for the LGBTQ+ community; Gender, to improve the development of female talent; Enable, for disabilities; and the Families and Carers network. 

Salary was something our interviewees were generally satisfied with (helped by the recent jump to £50k for second years and £88k for NQs): “We’re not as high as some of the bigger firms,” one trainee caveated, “but I’m willing to take that salary hit for the work-life balance.” It wasn’t something that hindered trainees’ intentions to qualify at any rate, a process which trainees felt was straightforward. “They announce the seats available, you say which department you’re interested in and hand in your CV,” one told us, which is followed by an interview. In 2025, the firm retained 8 of 9  qualifiers.

How to get a Fladgate training contract

Vacation scheme deadline:  1 January 2026

Fladgate recruits trainees solely through its vacation scheme: APPLY HERE

Initial application

Candidates complete an online application form which includes brief competency-based, essay-style questions. If selected for the next round, candidates then complete an online test(s) and may be invited to undertake a short pre-recorded video interview. The next stage is the in-person assessment day with both individual and group exercises. The final stage of the application process will be a face-to-face interview.

The firm receives around 400-500 applications for the vacation scheme.

How to make your application stand out

To stand out, candidates are advised to be themselves above all. Aside from this, Fladgate values academic ability, previous work experience and relevant extra-curricular activities. Legal work experience is advantageous but not essential. The firm is looking for experience that demonstrates a commitment to a career in law and highlights the skills and qualities you will bring to a training contract at Fladgate.

The firm seeks out candidates who demonstrate high levels of commercial awareness and business acumen, enthusiasm and leadership potential while also understanding the value of teamwork and the importance of culture and inclusion. Ideal applicants are also curious and creative.

Assessment days and interviews

There are two assessment days in March. 30-40 candidates are invited to each assessment day.

The assessment day includes a combination of individual and group exercises, which will test your document drafting, communication and negotiation, and verbal and numerical reasoning skills. There are also opportunities for networking with the firm’s partners and a Q&A session with current trainee solicitors.

Those who are successful at the assessment day will be invited to attend a face-to-face interview. Interviews last around one hour and are with a partner and a member of the HR/recruitment team. All candidates are asked the same questions to ensure consistency and fairness throughout the process. 

The vacation scheme

Fladgate runs two one-week-long vacation schemes over late June/early July and typically invites up to 10 candidates per week.

A large portion of the week will be spent working alongside solicitors in three of the firm’s different departments, completing a variety of legal tasks. There is also a group exercise, with time allocated to work on it. Fladgate runs various learning sessions for vac schemers and the social is often the highlight of everyone’s week! Candidates will meet many people at all levels and in various different departments to give vac schemers a glimpse into life at Fladgate!