Ashurst - True Picture

Ashurst training contract review 2025

The Firm

With a storied legacy dating back to the cobbled streets of Victorian London, Ashurst may be an old hand in the legal scene, but it’s certainly not old hat. Nay, this is a firm that’s been embracing change throughout its history; today’s Ashurst boasts an almighty collection of international offices, spanning from Seoul to Riyadh, and from New York to Sydney. It’s a firm that carries global clout across legal markets and has equally noteworthy clients to match. Such clout is evidenced by the firm’s front-running Chambers UK rankings across its national projects (PFI/PPP), telecommunications and transport (rail) practices. Ashurst’s nationwide capital markets, energy & natural resources, contentious regulatory financial services and infrastructure teams also receive tips of the hat, while down in London it’s the mid-market banking and finance, competition law, non-contentious construction, IT and outsourcing, planning and real estate expertise which shines.

“…bigger flavour of work…”

The international nature of the firm and the “bigger flavour of work” this offers certainly didn’t go unnoticed by prospective trainees. As Ruth Buchanan, Ashurst’s training principal, explains: “Trainees often see us as an attractive firm for the ability to work on an international basis and on matters with a transatlantic focus to them, whilst striving to be as forward-thinking and innovative a firm as we can be, particularly with the expansion of our risk advisory and digital practices.” Indeed, our sources cited the firm’s “international offices and international clientele,” coupled with “well-known, household-name clients” as a major pull factor. On home turf, Ashurst operates from two offices – London and Glasgow. Each year, all 40 or so trainees join the firm’s London office.

The Seats

Trainees must complete a finance seat and a transactional seat during their training contract; thereafter, seat allocation is based on a combination of individual preference and business need. “They do try and allocate seats based on actual preference,” we heard, though business need can mean that not everyone is ‘in preference’ each time. “It’s quite transparent,” one source noted of the process. “We’re given the option to attend a town hall meeting to ask any questions, and they’ll offer individual calls as well, so they’re very up for explaining and helping if things do or don’t go your way.”

Fancy yourself as a bit of a jetsetter? You’re in luck: secondments are aplenty at the firm. Client destinations include Goldman Sachs and BP, while international options extend to Singapore, Tokyo, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Paris, Madrid and Brussels. Trainees can apply for a secondment during any seat; the process involves sending in a work CV including all the deals they’ve worked on while at the firm, and filling out an application form explaining why they want to go and why that particular office.

Ashurst’s projects & energy transitiondepartment “encapsulates everything of a project’s nature,” including a project finance, public and private rail, energy and renewables, carbon capture and infrastructure. The firm’s expertise in this area is so great so that it’s called upon by the UK government to assist with programmes that seek to place the UK as a leader in low-carbon energy production and meet net-zero targets by 2050.

“In one day, I could be working on a district heating project, doing research for free trade relations with Korea, and also reviewing construction contacts for a big residential development in London!”

“The department’s really varied – that’s part of why I enjoyed it so much,” said one trainee. The practice covers the public and private sectors, and trainees are able to gain experience across both. “In one day, I could be working on a district heating project, doing research for free trade relations with Korea, and also reviewing construction contracts for a big residential development in London!” a source beamed of the variety. As far as responsibility levels go, “it’s very trust-based. The team are happy to give you responsibility early on, which was great,” noted an insider, “and it’s not just client contact. For instance, I was doing some work on contracts for a project and I told the partner that I was really enjoying it and would like some more. They ended up letting me have the first crack at other contracts!”

Under the firm’s finance umbrella sit the global markets and global loans seats. While trainees can be assigned to specific subgroups within the practice, sources explained that “the main bread and butter of the department is advising leading investment banks on big projects and transactions – anything from derivatives trading to big securitisations, or infrastructure financings for the debt capital markets work.” Deal teams here can be “very, very lean,” insiders noted, “which means that you’re quite stretched, so the hours can be a bit longer.” That said, our sources recognised that the pay-off for more demanding hours is the fact that “you get a lot of responsibility.” Stints here will see trainees take on condition precedent checklists and first drafts of documents, and researching new rules and regulations and assessing their impact on the firm’s clients. Speaking of clients, name any big financial institution and you’ll likely find they’re on Ashurst’s client list. And with big clients comes big cash. To give you an example, in one recent matter, the firm advised Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch in relation to a cash offer valued at $4.5 billion (!) for shares of Dechra Pharmaceuticals.

Real estateis another big department for the firm, with equally big clients; the likes of TfL, Savills, Deutsche Bank and McLaren Group line the firm’s books of business, with the firm recently advising Vestas Investment Management on the £150 million sale of 125 Shaftesbury Avenue in the West End. The team regularly houses a number of trainees per rotation, and the practice is split into three subgroups: real estate general, construction, and planning & environment.

“…leading on negotiations with the other side.”

With so much on offer, trainees explained: “It’s one of those ones where it is what you make of it. There’s always scope to get heavily involved and take on more responsibility.” General real estate trainee tasks usually revolve around “smaller, discrete tasks at the end of a transaction, rather than being involved all the way through – so things like preparing stamp duty land tax or Land Registry forms,” an insider explained. Work over in the planning & environment group, on the other hand, tended to be more research-heavy: “You carry out a lot of correspondence with local councils and get quite a lot of responsibility there.” Meanwhile, construction is more contract-based, so there’s “quite a lot of drafting and marking up documents,” noted one trainee. Responsibility grows, however, and “towards the end of the seat, you can be leading on negotiations with the other side.” As to be expected of a transactional seat, there’s also “lots of project management involved. There were a few trackers I would hold the pen on and be responsible for following up and progressing matters,” a source explained.

Over in the tax department, trainees were equally able to get involved in the full spectrum of work on offer, including real estate tax, litigation, funds tax, private equity, and the taxation of infrastructure M&A and financial transactions. With work relating to investment fund taxation, sources explained the team does “everything including the actual tax structuring of the funds themselves.” Work here was described as “very international,” as it often involved working with funds in Jersey, Guernsey and the Cayman Islands. “You’re not necessarily advising on the legal aspects of different jurisdictions – instead, you’re helping bring those funds together, doing work on company acquisitions and mergers, and doing tax due diligence,” explained one trainee. Further on the international front, the firm recently advised BP on the sale of shares to Petrol Ofisi, a Turkish energy infrastructure group. Due to the smaller nature of the team, insiders explained, “you’re also doing a lot of work directly with partners and very senior people,” giving newbies plenty of exposure. “You’re able to have the first go at drafting without a precentor, so it’s a bit more challenging, but great,” one interviewee praised.

Trainee Life

There are certain words that we here at Chambers Student hear an awful lot when talking about the culture of a firm – collaborative, collegiate and friendly, to name just a few… While these words did crop up during our interviews with Ashurst trainees, our sources had the necessary evidence to back up their claims. “Management take the culture seriously,” we heard. “In all of my teams, I’ve had partners who have given me a lot of their time to teach me – sometimes the basic, and sometimes the really technical stuff.” And as far as peer-to-peer camaraderie goes, “the trainee culture is fantastic,” a source beamed. “I’ve made lots of really close friends who I see outside of work now as well.”

This positivity also shone through in discussions surrounding training, which involves a mixture of formal trainee-specific and department-specific sessions, as well as learning on the job. There are also sessions hosted by associates covering topics more generally related to life as a lawyer and working in the City.

Trainees are expected to be in the office 60% of the time. Regarding this, few had any qualms, partly thanks to the office’s prime location. Nestled next to Spitalfields Market, our sources raved about the fact it’s “a nice area for a coffee and a walk if you want some fresh air.” While typical hours expectedly ranged by seat, on average trainees reported wrapping up their days anywhere between 7pm and 10pm. “I’ve also left at 5pm and 3am, so it really does depend,” insiders made clear. “Consistently, there’s quite a bit of work, so you will be busy,” sources underlined. That said, “if you’re having a quiet day and you head home at 5pm, no one bats an eyelid.”

To take the edge off a busy day, there are plenty of socials that trainees are able to attend, including after-work drinks, curry nights, department Christmas parties, a firm-wide summer party hosted on the office roof terrace, and also a trainee ball! The ball is a trainee and solicitor apprentice-only event, which gives newbies the chance to socialise in a more relaxed setting. There are also a number of diversity networks that host events for things like Black History Month and Pride. “There’s lots to get involved in, including sports teams,” sources noted.

On the salary front, trainees were satisfied with the amounts they were receiving. Further appreciation was placed on the fact that bonuses are lockstep and not all based on hours and output: “It’s good that the emphasis is actually on learning and development, rather than churning through as much work as you can to hit targets.” Early in a trainee’s fourth seat, the qualification process kicks off. A jobs list is released, and the number of vacancies per department is concealed “so trainees don’t discount themselves” when applying, one source explained. All hopeful NQs are asked to submit a CV, though different departments follow different decision-making processes. In 2024, Ashurst retained 38 of 45 qualifiers.

How to get an Ashurst training contract

Winter deadline: Friday,  20 September 2024 at 12 noon  

Summer deadline: Friday   13 December  2024 at 12 noon 

Training contract deadline (September 2027 & March 2028): Friday 28 March 2025, 12 noon 

Applications and interviews 

Around 3,000 applicants gun for the 40 training contracts Ashurst offers each year. The first step to landing the job is completing an online application form. This is the same for both vacation scheme and straight-to-training-contract applicants. Once submitted, you will receive an invitation to complete online psychometric testing.

Those who impress are invited to an assessment centre, which takes place virtually and lasts approximately one hour.  The candidates are given documents to read through and have to respond to a scenario. It is said that there is a lot to read, but part of the task is to see how well people manage their time. 

The next stage is an invitation to attend the office where you will have the opportunity to quiz current trainees, have an office tour and complete an interview with a member of the early careers team and an Associate/Senior Associate.  The interview includes competency-based questions, scenario questions and tests your commercial acumen.  For Direct training contract applicants, the next stage is an interview with two partners focusing on behavioural and scenario-based questions and also includes a commercial case study. 

Vacation scheme  

Ashurst runs two vac schemes: a week-long placement that takes place in December; and one three-week placement over the summer. The winter scheme is designed for finalists and graduates from all degree disciplines; the summer scheme is aimed at final year students and graduates of all degree disciplines, as well as penultimate year law students. 

The only major difference between the winter and summer scheme is that participants on the former only sample one department during their visit, while summer schemers try out two. Each placement includes presentations from lawyers across various practice areas, networking sessions with trainees and numerous social and team building events. 

Vac schemers undergo a training contract interview at the end or following their placement. This is conducted by two partners and takes the same format as the final interview direct training contract applicants complete on their interview day. 

How to wow 

Ashurst requests a 2:1 degree (predicted or already achieved) from prospective trainees. The firm also uses a contextual recruitment plug-in, which enables it to calibrate disadvantage and to measure out performance. If you're confident you can demonstrate and satisfy all the firm's competencies, you should certainly look to apply. FYI, those competencies are analytical ability, commercial instinct, communication skills, teamwork/interpersonal skills, flexibility, determination and drive. 

Prior work experience tends to stand candidates in good stead, and this doesn't have to be in the legal sector. Any type of experience that has helped someone develop the skills needed to be an effective lawyer will be appreciated.