Fladgate LLP - True Picture

Fladgate training contract review 2025

The Firm

No matter how you look at it, rapid growth in a law firm can only mean good things. Despite having just the one office in London, Fladgate grew by almost half between 2021 and 2023. But, as one trainee noted, the firm has been “careful to preserve the culture in their lateral hires” during the expansion. Fladgate’s reputation is as a firm with a rich history of private client expertise, dating all the way back to its representation of the likes of Sir Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden. This legacy stretches across the pond too, with the firm receiving instruction from Abraham Lincoln to help set up the Smithsonian Institutions – a group of museums, education and research centres. While the firm features in Chambers High Net Worth for its family/matrimonial finance work, it has diversified its offering over the years, scooping rankings in private equity, insurance and infrastructure nationwide, along with real estate and a top-tier corporate/M&A nod in London.

“There was something very special about Fladgate, I felt very encouraged to be myself.”

As graduate recruitment partner, Andrew Bessemer Clark explains: “You can only preserve your culture if the people are like-minded.” What does that look like at Fladgate? It means prospective trainees “who can work well in a team,” Bessemer Clark tells us. Since Fladgate recruits exclusively through its vacation scheme, trainees can get a taste of the firm’s culture before beginning their contract: “There was something very special about Fladgate,” said one trainee, “I felt very encouraged to be myself.” Part of the draw amongst the current cohort was the fact that the firm offers the “best of both worlds” – work for large international clients but also startups in the venture capital space. As training principal Matthew Williams puts it: “We consistently punch above our weight.” Since 2021, Fladgate has also offered professional management services to families and debt solutions through its supplementary arm ‘Walgate’.

The Seats

Newbies at Fladgate have “regular meetings with HR one-on-one to discuss their preferences” for seat allocation. While trainees reported the firm “take your wishes into account,” it’s difficult to give every trainee the seats they request: “It’s hard to please everyone, just because we’re such a small cohort,” one explained. Of course, this brings with it competition for the smaller, more niche areas like commercial, sports and intellectual property (CSI). All trainees are expected to spend at least some time in dispute resolution. We also heard that client secondments aren’t an option until post-qualification.

“It can be intimidating, but it’s a useful experience…”

The general consensus was that it’s been “a really busy time” for Fladgate’s dispute resolution practice, “so a lot of trainees have been sent there.” Since “Fladgate is a smaller firm, the disputes team isn’t strictly divided up, you get exposure to everything,” including family disputes, group actions, private wealth disputes and fraud. Group action litigation is something of a specialism at Fladgate. In one recent example, the firm represented over 100 personal search companies in a group litigation claim in the High Court to recover payments made to ten water and sewerage utility companies. While trainees were each assigned to different matters, “you can dip into other disputes if you ask.” As is often the case for trainees, “there can be quite a bit of admin at times, lots of bundling,” which we heard could be “pretty mundane, but overall, it’s a good mixture.” Typical tasks in the seat included the likes of attending meetings, preparing witness statements and drafting letters to clients and opposing parties. As one source put it: “It can be intimidating, but it’s a useful experience,” where there is room to get involved in court claims. At Fladgate, practices aren’t completely restrictive, so there can be some overlap between departments like DR and real estate.

“Real estate is a brilliant first seat,” one trainee told us, “because you learn so much. You’re working directly with partners, so the responsibility is incredible!” In fact, for newbies that had spent time in real estate, it was common for them to wind up sharing an office with their supervisor, something that allowed for “an ongoing dialogue” with a senior member of the team, sometimes even a partner. Fladgate often helps in the purchase or acquisition of commercial units like shopping centres and rental buildings. For example, the firm has been advising YO! Sushi on its properties since 2005. More recently, the firm advised private real estate investment firm YOO Capital on its acquisition of 30 acres of land in Kentish Town, Camden for development into a ‘mini-Hollywood’ of film and television studios and hotels. Typical tasks for trainees in real estate include carrying out research, drafting leases, stamp duty and other property-related tax forms and “Land Registry work.”

“I liked the work Fladgate did with smaller businesses and startups.”

A lot of people think of corporate seats as revolving around M&A work for large-scale industry clients. While Fladgate attracts plenty of top-tier work, the current cohort described the practice as involving a “nice mix of private equity and venture capital, it’s not always your standard M&A.” As one trainee put it: “I liked the work Fladgate did with smaller businesses and startups.” Indeed, the firm’s work stretches from startups to international corporations, primarily on mid-market deals across technology, recruitment, leisure & hospitality, and real estate. Recent examples include advising the publishing giant Penguin Random House on acquisitions to advising online gaming companies BeyondPlay and Makers Fund II Company on their fundraising rounds. On some of the more high-profile matters, typical trainee tasks included work on ancillary documents and taking board minutes.

“The breadth of work is fantastic” in private client. Trainees typically draft wills, letters of wishes and lasting powers of attorney, and they attend client meetings, which one source enthused is “the kind of stuff that I love!” We heard it’s a busy seat with an “additional feeling of responsibility in a smaller team,” so there’s “more of an onus on you to deliver, to pull your weight,” but “I was enjoying the work.” One source suggested future trainees should try to stay organised to keep on top of the admin, which “keeps me on my toes.” This is nothing to stress about, since the department is “consistently busy, so you could manage your workload ahead of time,” although we did hear the end of the financial year is a particularly busy time. Trainees usually sit with the partner but carry out work for all the members of the team. Overall, there’s a “good level of giving support and trusting you to do the work” and a seat here is “brilliant as a learning experience.” 

Trainee Life

“It’s not this ‘drink from the Kool-Aid’, ‘you must be one with the firm’ kind of place,” one trainee joked, “it’s my favourite place I’ve worked.” In fact, it was the culture at Fladgate that stood out most to our interviewees: “It’s a gem for the culture. It’s a place where people treat trainees like one of the team.” As another added: “I feel like I've got to know a lot of partners on a friendly and personal level.” Regular social events provide a space to touch base with colleagues, but we heard that there was never any pressure to attend during busier times. Others described how trainees and associates organise a lot of informal social events themselves, which means “you already know a few friendly faces when you start in a new department.” 

“It’s not this ‘drink from the Kool-Aid’, ‘you must be one with the firm’ kind of place…”

When it came to hours, there’s “no bums in seats policy,” in other words, there’s “no expectation to stay late” if you don’t have work to complete. On average, trainees told us that they start around 9.30 and finish at around 7pm, but “if it’s 6.30pm, no one will bat an eyelid if your work is done.” Trainees felt supported by senior staff too, who “are always checking that you’re okay, and they try to help with your workload.” Trainees told us that salary is on the lower end for a London-based firm, but the trade-off was that this came with a better work/life balance than you might find elsewhere: “I know people on similar salaries at much more intense firms,” one trainee told us, “you could go to a firm paying slightly more, but have to sell your soul for it and work until midnight.” Fladgate will be moving from a loan to a grant for the LPC and SQE, which will help the trainee salary go that bit further. Matthew Williams hopes the change will “open us up to a wider range of trainees.”

All trainees are required to come into the office four days per week, but many choose to come in every day to benefit from working alongside partners and associates. Trainees loved the balance between support and autonomy at the firm, having supervisors who “don’t spoon-feed you, but you know you have them as a back-up if something goes wrong.” Another source described how supervisors “take an interest in your general wellbeing, they check in not just about work, but about your future development too.” There are also formal training sessions, as one insider explained, “we are all invited to sessions for the whole company and certain departments have trainee-specific ones” where the sessions are focused on that department’s current work. Appraisals are mid-seat and end-of-seat alongside the monthly HR check-ins.

Come qualification time, “the process is clear” and consists of a CV followed by an interview. Those we spoke to mentioned that they hoped for an earlier indication of which qualification seats would be available, but the general impression was that “they’re really keen to retain everyone.” In 2024, the firm retained six of seven qualifiers.

How to get a Fladgate training contract

Vacation scheme deadline:  January 2025 (opens October 2024)  

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!