Lewis Silkin - True Picture

Lewis Silkin training contract review 2025

The Firm

Lewis Silkin is a firm that stands out from the crowd. Trainees were quick to highlight the fact that the firm bucks the trends set by most City firms, firstly through Lewis Silkin’s focus on culture. Training principal and employment partner, Shalina Crossley stresses that “from day one, trainees are encouraged to contribute to our culture," and insiders gave us the sense that individualism is central to the fact: “You feel like you can do what you want to do, based on merit.” It’s something that comes alongside another of the firm’s USPs too – its emphasis on creativityand the creative industries as a whole: “It’s that focus that really interested me,” one trainee told us, highlighting its importance in shaping “really interesting work that you read about in the news – it feels like you’re really having an impact.”

“…really interesting work that you read about in the news – it feels like you’re really having an impact.”

As Crossley puts it, the firm has a unique focus. “A business’s ideas and its people are what matter most to it, so that’s what we hone in on. Ideas need to be optimised and protected, and businesses need to make the most of their team – whether that involves employment contracts, global mobility or immigration.”

Lewis Silkin’s expertise in these areas is reflected in its rankings across a number of our sister guides. In Chambers Global  the firm is marked as a global market leaderin AI, where the firm has been advising companies like Voicify.ai in securing global licensing deals, and DAACI on rights and licensing issues related to music generative and composite AI music businesses. The firm's focus on "everything to do with people" and their connection to business is something that is demonstrated in its top rankings for employment in London and globally. Silkin’s immigration practice is similarly graced with a top ranking in Chambers UK, alongside the firm’s retail group and its highly sought-after media and entertainment practice.

The Seats

Before trainees even join the firm, “you’re invited in to meet with the heads of the legal practice groups, who give you a summary of each seat and the general work that’s expected.” After this, new joiners have one-on-ones with with the early careers specialist to discuss their preferences for what seats they want to do. When it came to secondments, trainees indicate a preference as they would with a standard seat and then they can choose a specific preference of secondment from a list that arrives about a month before rotation, when they tend to be confirmed. In some cases, secondments often require a quick application via a CV, but generally, there aren't usually interviews and trainees described “a quick turnaround.” We heard that there are some seats more popular than others, like IP for example, but generally, trainees are encouraged to do a wide range of seats. As it’s the largest team at the firm, most trainees will complete a seat in employment.

According to the current crop, employment, which includes clients like Deliveroo, "always has places,”  helped by what trainees described as a seemingly “endless stream” of work. The group contains experts across litigation and investigations but trainees join as generalists, and the group covers both contentious and non-contentious matters for mostly employers: “If you’re interested in something in particular, you are encouraged to reach out,” one trainee told us. “The employment practice also has a resource manager who helps with work allocation.” Of course, the volume of the work on offer means that while trainees don’t delegate, “you can call on more junior-level people for help. For example, if there’s a bundle that needs doing, we’ll discuss who has capacity – people aren’t sat around with nothing to do.”

“It’s really good exposure to the barristers, to see how they do things.”

On the contentious side of the employment coin, legal professionals at Lewis Silkin cover things like discrimination, redundancy, unfair dismissal – “the whole bag.”  There was also work around “zero hours workers, people in the gig economy who require more help to work out sick pay and holiday entitlement.”  In one recent case, the group supported Deliveroo in a Supreme Court case which upheld the Central Arbitration Committee, High Court and Court of Appeal decisions that Deliveroo’s riders were not in an ‘employment relationship’ for the purposes of European human rights law. Trainees highlighted investigations as making up a significant portion of the employment work on offer, where “our clients will ask us to come in to establish if something did or didn’t happen in an employment matter. Trainees will attend meetings with witnesses, draft questions for witnesses, take and write up notes, and help with the project management.” One insider also noted that “you get to assist clients at hearings – it’s really good exposure to the barristers, to see how they do things.” Clients in this department are often well known across a range of industries, from Chelsea FC, to LinkedIn, to ASOS. Media clients also fall into the group’s jurisdiction, with the firm recently appointed to conduct an investigation into allegations related to Russell Brand’s time appearing on Big Brother.

For contentious matters that fall outside the remit of employment, the firm’s dedicated dispute resolution practice works with its fair share of household names, including Cineworld and Sky, with the firm acting for the latter in its defence of a £7.7 million High Court claim of inducement to breach of contract by Eddie Hearn’s boxing promotion company, Matchroom. The department covers sectors like advertising, marketing, and media and entertainment. “I got to go to court several times,” one newbie told us, “but your responsibility increases through the seat. At the start, I would draft an email that would get reviewed or top and tail a letter with basic information, then I eventually started attending mediations. I was able to get really good client exposure and see how the process works.” On the daily, the seat involves “lots of meetings with counsel,” note taking, bundling and filing with the court.

“…everything from fashion houses to tech companies, on technologies you’ve never heard of…”

Digital, commerce and creative is a seat where trainees can expect to find themselves “working on everything from fashion houses to tech companies, on technologies you’ve never heard of but that are really prominent.” It’s no exaggeration either, with previous clients including Primark, and the firm even advises Netflix on advertising claims and branded content. The group services media and entertainment, gaming industry, music and fashion clients, and on the daily, newbies are working on commercial contracts and advisory work: “I sat in on calls with regards to negotiating commercial points and the advertising risks from a legal perspective,” one insider told us, and added that they often found themselves researching the Advertising Standards Authority to compare similar recent campaigns for advertising clearance. This department also covers general commercial, trademark and non-contentious IP work “like the right to receive royalties of musicians, and acquisition of rights agreements.” Trainees found themselves reviewing and drafting contracts, and doing due diligence.

One of the slightly smaller teams (although packing no less of a punch) is Lewis Silkin’s corporate department, which covers small-scale M&A, finance and private equity deals, amongst others. In one recent example, the group advised NME Media on the sale of their music publication, Uncut Magazine. One trainee who had spent time in the corporate group told us they sat in on disclosure meetings, processed ancillary documents and got the signatures together. “You get to liaise with the clients,” we heard. “Not all on big transactions, so you’re also helping with day-to-day corporate clearings and writing articles of association for a company.” The department also advised the Rugby Football Union on establishing the league structure for the Premier Women’s Rugby League.

Trainee Life

Lewis Silkin moved into a brand spanking new South Bank location last year, and outside of “a few teething issues – sometimes you’ll hear construction outside” – the general consensus was that it’s “pretty lush!” The cast of features includes the café “and the barista Nino, who’s the best!” the view of the Thames and St Pauls, and “the food, I really like the food!” It shouldn’t come as a shock, then, that even though the firm encourages people to be in the office at least 40% of the time, “generally trainees are in a lot more than others, not because we’re expected to be in but because it’s easier.”  Those we spoke with were of the opinion that “we’re just trusted to get on with our work; if I didn’t have anything in my diary, I could leave at five and then log back on at seven and nobody would mind.” Of course, there are expectations for trainees to work late when necessary, but we heard those occasions are few and far between, didn’t hear of anyone working later than 12am, “and when you do work late, people are really appreciative – partners and more senior people invariably bear more of the brunt.”

“…like a breath of fresh air; there’s a feeling that you can be yourself...”

One interviewee told us: “If I’ve been working late, someone will come up to me and ask, ‘What are you doing here? Can I take work off you?’” It’s something we heard was reflective of the firm’s overall culture, as interactions with more senior lawyers made trainees feel like “they’re the types of lawyers I’d like to be one day.” Across the board, insiders were positive about the working environment, which felt “like a breath of fresh air; there’s a feeling that you can be yourself and there isn’t a dress code, so people express their identity a bit more – for a corporate law firm that’s really nice to see.” Trainees told us that the firm’s rapid growth has meant that you’re unlikely to always know who everyone is, but trainees were unanimous that it didn’t seem to be impacting the social element.

“Lewis Silkin loves a party, that’s very important!” one trainee grinned. “At Christmas we had four parties: one was department-specific, there was the firm-wide party at the Savoy, the trainee party, and then everyone gets invited to employment’s Christmas do!” All in all, on top of the trainee budget there are “good opportunities for socials” for those who are interested, though this does also depend on the department. We heard employment and immigration have a team retreat every year and DCC has a standing monthly social, but because dispute resolution is a smaller team, they tend to have fewer socials.

DEI at Lewis Silkin also has a big impact on the social life of the firm, with its numerous affinity groups including race & ethnicity, age, gender, disability and others. So much so that “you’re encouraged to get involved in at least one.” Groups put on events throughout the year, and trainees told us that “there was a ‘living with disabilities’ event, where people spoke openly about their personal challenges. The Lewis SilkOut group put on a showing of Pride, and we recently had an event in January called Breaking Barriers where people shared their experiences of being mixed race.”

Regarding training and supervision, insiders told us that “it’s really good when you get one-on-one time with your supervisor,” even more so, given that it usually comes with “very rich, detailed instructions and feedback.” This extends to more formal training too. We heard the frequency and structure differ by department, but “you always get the opportunity to ask questions – it’s not just an hour-long lecture.” Lunchtime training sessions also run across employment and teams like disputes: “A guest speaker or barrister will come in to explain things to us, and we also have monthly bundle reading where you get the chance to present a new case and get comfortable presenting and speaking in front of people.” One insider told us that the training is “really high quality. They run an NQ academy which trainees get invited to,” something that helps give trainees a leg up pre-qualification.

“All being well, my career is only just starting with them…”

Come qualification time, we heard it was pretty informal: “If you’ve expressed a real interest, sometimes they will just offer you the job,” one trainee explained, “but it depends on the seat – if a team is competitive, they will run a more formal process.” Outside of scenarios where a position is particularly popular, the firm tries to keep the process as informal as possible. On that point, a number of trainees noted that digital, commerce and creative is a particularly competitive seat, given lots of people go to the firm for it, but regardless, everyone we spoke with wanted to stay at the firm: “Oftentimes you’ll see people celebrating ten or 20-year anniversaries,” and for the majority of the trainees we spoke to the sentiment was clear: “All being well, my career is only just starting with them…” In 2024, the firm retained all of its qualifiers.

How to get a Lewis Silkin training contract

Training contract deadline: 15 January 2025

Applications

Lewis Silkin receives over 600 applications for training contracts each year. These are made via Candid, and there are no CVs involved.

To make a successful application, the firm looks for authenticity in your answers - not just what you think they want to hear.The person they want to hear most from is the genuine ‘you’ – The firm want to get to know you, your experiences, what you are interested in and passionate about, and what excites you most about a training contract with Lewis Silkin.

Throughout your application, LS looks to understand two fundamental points – why you want to be a solicitor and why you want to train with Lewis Silkin. View the application as an opportunity to market yourself and make it clear what makes you a strong candidate for their training contract, drawing on your skills and experiences (legal or non-legal!) and demonstrating awareness of the work that the firm does and the sectors they operate in. Our top tip is to ensure you read the questions asked of you, and consider how your answer relates to the two points above.

Candidates who are successful at application stage will then be invited to attend an initial assessment day held on various dates in March at the London office. The dates of these will vary depending on location. All candidates invited to the assessment day will attend one interview, take part in a group exercise, complete a written exercise and have the opportunity to meet various member of LS, including a session to get to know some of the current trainees.

Ahead of the assessment day, London candidates will be invited to attend a networking event at the firm’s London office for the afternoon.  The aim is to allow candidates an opportunity to get to know the firm better and meet people they may not get a chance to on the assessment day itself. The event will include afternoon tea with the early careers recruitment team and speed networking with the firm’s Legal Practice Groups followed by informal networking and canapes.

Candidates who are successful after the initial assessment day will be invited to a final assessment day held at the office they are applying for. The dates will vary depending on location. Candidates will attend two partner interviews and complete a case study, during which they will then present their findings to four partners.

Trainee profile

To bag one of Lewis Silkin's training contracts (there are up to six on offer in London, with one in Belfast, Manchester and Cardiff each) our source tells us that you need to be “a bright, open-minded and curious lateral thinker, without the baggage of machismo, arrogance, bravado or working at the expense of others.”

Of course, “there's not a single type of person that the firm's looking for,” trainee sources agreed. “Everyone in my intake is sociable and hard-working, but there's quite a wide age range among us, from 24 through to 36. And a lot of different backgrounds too.” It's worth noting that “many of the trainees have work experience in creative industries like media and advertising,” though that doesn't mean those fresh out of law school can't nab a place.

Who was Lewis Silkin?

You might have noticed how firms like their names to be double, triple or even quadruple-barrelled. In an ever-consolidating legal market, these names often reveal the patchwork of mergers behind a firm's current form. They also frequently point to founding members, as Lewis Silkin's does. But there were not – as you might think – two people: one called 'Lewis' and one called 'Silkin', but rather one person: Mr Lewis Silkin. So who was the eponymous Lewis Silkin?

In short, he was a lawyer, a Labour MP, a minister of town and country planning under the post-war Labour prime minister, Clement Attlee, and latterly a baron. Born in 1889 to a Jewish family of Lithuanian migrants, Silkin grew up in London's East End. Early on he showed academic promise, but his family's finances prevented him from taking up a place at Oxford, as did the intervention of his schoolmaster, who helpfully informed the university that “this boy will not benefit from a university education.” With his academic career cut short, our young hero tumbled into the world of work: first, at the East India Docks; then at a solicitors' firm as a clerk. Inspired by his employer, Silkin eventually went on to qualify as a solicitor and soon went about setting up his own firm.

Running alongside his career in law was an interest in politics – particularly socialism – and it quickly overtook his legal work. In 1925 Silkin was elected to the London County Council and by 1936 he had a seat in parliament as the member for Peckham. When his brother Joseph also qualified as a solicitor (forming – you guessed it – Silkin & Silkin), Lewis put law on the back-burner to press on with his political career.

Silkin's first decade as an MP coincided with the Second World War and presented many challenges. However, he still found time to cover some endearingly everyday topics in parliament. On 25 July 1940, Silkin asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food what action he intended to take to ensure that an 'exceptionally abundant' crop of plums didn't go to waste. He followed this in 1943 with a timely question to the Minister for War Transport, which touched upon the beloved British topic of queueing: “[Is he] aware that the regulation requiring queueing at omnibus stops is frequently not being observed?” A scandal!

As minister for town and country planning, Silkin went on to shape three key pieces of legislation during the post-war drive to reconstruct Britain. First, in 1946, came the New Towns Act, which created 14 new towns beyond the big city boundaries. Second was the Town and Country Planning Act (1947), which set an early precedent for modern planning law. The third was the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act (1949), which reserved national parks “for the hikers and ramblers, for everyone who loves to get out into the open air and enjoy the countryside.” Of all the political legacies to leave, this is evidently one of the more desirable ones.

And what about the law firm that bears his name? Well, it developed quite independently of the man himself after his departure into politics. Silkin returned later on, applying his specialism in planning and development law, but the modern incarnation of the firm was mainly shaped by other family members and fellow partners. However, the firm still wears Silkin's name as a badge of honour, paying tribute to the man who traversed the worlds of law and politics, and achieved success in both.