Haynes and Boone, LLP - True Picture

American heavyweight Haynes is expanding its fleet to offer trainees a Boon(e) of a training contract.

Haynes and Boone training contract review 2025

The Firm



After a half century in the US, this Texan export is fast approaching ten years on British soil, and there’s never been a better time to sing to the tune of Haynes and Boone. Training principal Will Cecil told us how the firm’s fledging training contract (just in its fourth year) is the perfect opportunity for trainees to get into a developing firm on the ground floor: “It feels like a startup with the support of the US entity that is enthusiastic with its London practice growing.” Cecil tells us that because of this, the training contract is evolving constantly through the help and feedback of its trainees, meaning the experience is tailored by those actually doing it. This also reflects the type of people that H&B is scouting out. “We’re looking for people with a steep upwards curve,” Cecil explains. “It’s not where they’re at, it’s where they’re going, and who has got the drive and ability to progress.”

“The firm is really invested in its trainees; they see their trainees as part of their future.”

Our sister guide Chambers UK recognises the firm’s prowess in finance, and nods go to its shipping practice, but Haynes and Boone continues to build out its practice in areas like intellectual property, private equity, litigation, and corporate too. The firm’s ambitious streak was appealing to the trainees we spoke with, as well as its welcoming culture “that comes from its Texan roots. Everyone is so supportive here.” The end goal for all of this is growth: the firm is looking to find its future partners among its cohort, and this insider gushed that “The firm is really invested in its trainees; they see their trainees as part of their future.”

The Seats



As one of the new kids on the block when it comes to training contracts, Haynes and Boone is tweaking its contract with each new intake to improve and develop the experience. Cecil lays this out for us: “We changed the contract as a function of the way we’ve grown. Even now, we have a new real estate team that will be built into the training contract.” It won’t stop there either. Cecil tells us that as the firm continues to expand in London, more practice area options will pop up for trainees in the near future: “Our pace of growth means there’ll be even more practice areas on offer we don’t know are coming soon.” As it stands, there are four seats that are six months each, of which you are slotted into by the firm.

“Our pace of growth means there’ll be even more practice areas on offer we don’t know are coming soon.”

When staffed in the firm’s mixed corporate/finance seat, insiders shared that they primarily work on the lender side of things with client contact aplenty. Most trainees tend to focus on finance-related work, explaining that “corporate doesn’t always need a trainee to help 24/7 but when they need us, we can be there.” That being said, when corporate is busy, we heard the work is varied; “if you show the appetite and you’re productive, you can get the chance to draft and do more.” On the finance side of the split, expect plenty of drafting legal opinions, taking board minutes and reviewing documents. We also heard that it’s a good seat for professional mingling: “One thing that’s so great about finance is we do a lot of work with our New York office – I built up a great opportunity to network over there!”

One group that goes hand in hand with the finance practice is investment management, which we heard has plenty of crossover with venture capital. “The team is split between venture capital and hedge fund work,” an interviewee explained. “Some trainees stick to just one, but you can float between the two.” One example of the group’s work was the firm’s continuing reputation of Emona Capital in its creation of a new Irish limited partnership – Emona Emerald Investors – in a matter valued at $15 million. To the praise of the trainees on our list, the group is structured flatly; “it’s a team-led team. Everyone knows what each other is doing.” This means the seat comes with a boatload of responsibility, although newbies confessed that they’d never felt overwhelmed. “They don’t want to drop you in the deep end exactly,” one elaborated, continuing to say that “they want to see how you do on your own, but they’re there to offer support when you need it.” Likewise, the seat can be very technical, but we heard that the firm is focused on getting you up to speed with engaging training: “We’re also given plenty of materials to improve our foundational understanding before we get any substantive work,” such as board minutes, subscription agreements, client calls, and first drafts that the firm is eager to give you the first crack at.

“…I feel really lucky to get a fair amount of responsibility here considering my junior status.”

The combined seat of energy and shipping is one that affords the benefit of greater responsibility for a relatively lean team. Trainees described themselves as “the port of call for partners,” feeling valuable and rewarded for it. One went on to gleefully share: “It’s a small team with great exposure, and I feel really lucky to get a fair amount of responsibility here considering my junior status.” Although we heard it can be quite research-heavy at the outset, we were reassured that this is crucial to improving trainees’ own understanding. From then, billable work centres on the sale and purchase of rigs, decommissioning wells in eco-friendly ways, and offshore drilling, like when the London branch worked alongside the Houston office in its representation of Stena Drilling as they assisted in negotiating an offshore drilling contract with Shell.

With litigation, trainees admitted to experiencing a somewhat erratic workload with dry spells colliding with sudden busy periods. “It was quite quiet when I started, but then it really started to pick up,” one insider recounted. The team is sizeable, which means newbies get the chance to work with a mix of people and are exposed to a variety of working styles within the group. One trainee lamented the nature of the beast, explaining that “it’s hard to do a six-month seat in litigation satisfactorily as cases can be one year plus, and I want to see it from start to finish!” With that being said, sources pointed out that the firm is doing the best it can under the circumstances: “They try to get you involved in as much as they can to really give you a flavour of everything involved.”

Trainee Life



There’s no traditional set supervisor like you’d expect to see at other firms, but feedback is regular and encouraged at the firm from partners, associates and your assigned mentor. As one newbie detailed: “There are these feedback coffee cards that let you go to lunch with your mentor, ask any questions and seek advice, which is all on the firm.” Insiders were pleased with the consistent level of feedback received, stating: “We get feedback from associates after every piece of work we do, and we have a feedback session every three months with a set partner.” When it comes to specific training, we heard the firm is open to listening to its trainees on what they need. “We fed back to them that we wanted more training sessions,” one newbie relayed, “and now, there are more weekly ones, which is great.”

Located in the heart of central London near Chancery Lane, trainees spoke of the “bright and airy”office, keen to highlight the open plan office in which you are given a set desk (so no need to worry about fighting off your colleagues for a certain seat!) Employees often cycle into work, and it’s no surprise they’re into exercise as we hear that the firm gives you a reimbursement of £500 a year for gym memberships. The generosity doesn’t stop there either – “the firm is great with their tech allowance for trainees. We get £1,000 every two years towards working from home tech!” So, just how much can you take advantage of the hybrid working setup? Well, it’s team-dependent; we heard the firm has a policy of four days in-office, but trainees are encouraged to do more than that. Those we spoke to average four or five days a week because, as one source explained, “we’re expected to come in more to maximise our exposure, although Fridays will often be just the trainees.”Hours-wise, we heard corporate can be gruelling with some occasional weekend work, but for the most part, trainees aimed to start at 9.30am and be out the door anywhere from 6.30pm to 8pm.

“They don’t allow any bullies at our firm; everyone is very pleasant.”

As is to be expected from a rising star, the social culture of Haynes and Boone is developing before our sources’ very eyes: “It’s a top-heavy firm – it’s a lot of partners and lighter on the associate side, but we’re seeing a real shift to balance that now.” Due to the size of the firm, most people seem to know each other, and events like summer shindigs, Christmas soirees and client drinks help to integrate you within the firm. Such a tight-knit community is only bolstered by the fact that everyone gets along well, with one insider revealing that “they don’t allow any bullies at our firm; everyone is very pleasant.” In terms of representation, interviewees confessed that the firm skews to a more traditional demographic of law in terms of racial and economic background. Survey respondents shared this perspective, with the majority believing that there’s room for improvement in the firm’s affinity groups and its retention and promotion of diverse lawyers – perhaps a symptom of a smaller, fresher firm. However, trainees were optimistic that change is coming: “The firm is still growing, and I think that needs to be taken into account,” pointing to the firm’s DEI committee and partnership with the 10,000 Black Interns scheme as positive steps in the right direction.

Insiders were broadly content with their pay, stating: “I can’t complain. In terms of the hours and expectations, we’re well compensated considering the free time we get.” Where that differed slightly was on the NQ salary which the firm does not disclose. This lack of transparency partly translated to the qualification process, with most trainees simply unsure of how the process works. Don’t be intimidated though, as it’s not like the firm is hiding the hoops you have to jump through. Rather, there simply aren’t any hoops at all! William Cecil backed this up by explaining that, although not guaranteed, “there is no rigid system to qualifying. On your 18-month review, you specify where you want to end up, and then the partners discuss and decide. So far, the trainees have always landed where they wanted.” Indeed, this year, the firm has retained both of its trainees!

Baby Booners...

Trainees can mentor second years at the University of Reading to support and advise them at the start of their legal careers.

How to get a Haynes and Boone training contract



APPLY HERE

Vacation scheme deadline: N/A

Training contract deadline: TBA

The application process

Haynes and Boone receives around 200 applicants each year. Applicants must apply with their CV via an anonymised online form, and HR told us the firm does place a significant weighting on extra-curricular and achievements outside of the academic arena. Applicants are also expected to have some legal experience, but this is not essential and on the application form there is the opportunity to demonstrate commercial awareness about the firm and the firm’s general practice areas.

To get through to the first interview applicants must complete the application form thoroughly and detail their academic experience.

Assessment and interviews

The first interview is conducted with two partners and the office administrator/HR. At this stage candidates also complete a written test comprising of questions on case law relating to both contentious and non-contentious practices. Here, knowledge, speed and accuracy is taken into account for the written test.

Approximately six to eight people then make it through to the assessment day where candidates interview with partners from contentious and non-contentious practices and have a joint interview with another candidate with counsel and associates. Candidates are also given the opportunity to do a short presentation to partners.

Candidates are assessed throughout the day across not only their interviews and presentation, but also on their interactions with each other and in a social environment – this includes a lunch with partners, counsel, associates and trainees during the day.

As well, there is a team challenge event which is run by a third party and involves all candidates who make it through to the assessment day.  The challenge is observed by two HB lawyers and the external party.  The purpose of the challenge is to see how the candidates perform as a team and also their individual skills.

Trainee profile

Training principal, Will Cecil, tells us that although academics are important, “we don’t just add up the As and say, these are the people we want – we’re looking for people who are good raw material.” We heard that applicants’ ability to interact with their peers, the people they work with and their clients plays a large part in being offered a training contract. “Initiative” is also heavily weighted, “because we’re fairly flexible in the way we operate they will get a lot of responsibility – if they’re up to it…”

 

Haynes and Boone, LLP

Partners: 21
Assistant Solicitors: 23
Total Trainees: 8

Contact: Amanda Wright – 020 8734 2856

Method of application: Online application form

Selection procedure: Interview with two Partners and HR and a written task followed by an in-office assessment day
Closing date for 2027: 8 June 2025

Applications:
Training contracts p.a. -3 
Applications p.a. – 150+
% interviewed p.a. – 10%
Required degree grade 2:1

Training:
Salary:
1st year - £46,000
2nd year - £50,000
Holiday entitlement - 25 days
Retention rate – 100%

Post-qualification:
Salary – undisclosed

Overseas offices: USA (16), Mexico, Shanghai

Firm profile




The London office of Haynes and Boone, LLP offers transactional and dispute resolution lawyers with deep industry knowledge and strong commercial sense. We have a client-first philosophy, defining success as providing exceptional value to our clients and making real, tangible, and often remarkable contributions to their businesses.

Main areas of work




Our core strengths are in corporate, debt capital markets, energy, finance, insolvency, international dispute resolution, investment management, project finance, real estate and shipping.

Trainee profile




Applicants should have a strong and consistent academic record and be on track for, or have obtained, a 2:1 degree as minimum.
We have a diverse group of attorneys but what stands out is their ability to work together as a team, be considerate and care for their colleagues.
Some of the most important attributes are to take on responsibility, have commercial awareness and have commitment, energy and spark. A sense of community and enthusiasm to participate is also beneficial.

Training environment




Each contract will comprise 4 seats of 6 months duration split between:

Contentious; Corporate/Finance; Energy/Shipping; Venture Capitals

Trainees in those seats will work with different teams across the range of the firm's practice areas within the relevant group during each seat. Practical training will be given with plenty of support and feedback. You will be closely supervised and mentored by the training principal, and a partner mentor.

Benefits




Private medical insurance, group income protection, group life assurance, group personal pension plan, gym subsidy, EAP, season ticket loan.

Sponsorship & awards



 

Full sponsorship of study for the PGDL/SQE; annual maintenance grant of £10,000 per year of study.

This Firm's Rankings in
UK Guide, 2024

Ranked Departments

    • Banking & Finance: Fund Finance (Band 2)
    • Banking & Finance: Lenders: Lower Mid-Market (Band 2)
    • Shipping (Band 3)