McDermott Will & Schulte - True Picture

McDermott Will & Schulte training contract review 2026

The Firm

Sometimes things in life can come down to being in the right place, right time. But there are some things that shouldn’t be left to chance, like leaving the house with your phone on 1%, switching up your coffee order, or more importantly, finding a firm that actually stokes your ambition.

This didn’t seem to be an issue for trainees at McDermott Will & Schulte. After all, with a flashy new merger to its name, it was easy to sense the excitement across sources at the firm: “We are growing and expanding, its going from strength to strength.” Indeed, training principal Mark Fine echoed this sentiment, telling us that “MWS is growing, its entrepreneurial and dynamic – it’s really up and coming in today’s environment, challenging what other firms have done in the past and challenging what success looks like.”   

If you’ve been paying attention to any legal news, you may have heard about a certain merger with Schulte that came to effect August 1st 2025. The impact? Well, “It’s added some practice areas that really compliment what we already had in place such as fund formation and asset management. Schulte is synonymous with that work and doing it to the highest standards,” Fine details.  

McDermott, on the other hand was well known for its stellar healthcare practice, both stateside and here in the UK, with “a growing presence in private equity and finance” too. Chambers UK recognises the firm for its mid-market banking & finance, employment, tax and of course, its top-tier healthcare expertise. 

“It turns out to be a great opportunity to have hands on work with partners, counsel and senior associates early on, the level of responsibility is tangible.” 

Though growth is clearly forefront of mind at MWS, with a mighty eight European hubs and 16 stateside, the small trainee intake – now six – was still paramount. “It turns out to be a great opportunity to have hands on work with partners, counsel and senior associates early on, the level of responsibility is tangible,” one trainee praised.  

Not just that, but culturally it also “felt inclusive. I could tell how it was important to the firm, how they valued the staff as people, the candidates at the assessment centre where from all different backgrounds,” sources recalled. “It was welcoming, the interview was a two-way conversation which is a testimony to the culture.”  

So, what type of candidate is the firm looking for? “People who are entrepreneurial, dynamic and committed, who are hungry to learn and develop, and further their careers, are the people I’d say thrive, as that is what the MWS trainee cohort looks like,” Fine describes.  

The Seats 

Trainees are required to have a stint in corporate/private equity, finance and litigation. As for seat allocation, sources emphasised “you can have conversations about what you want to do,” especially as qualification nears. There are also opportunities in the real estate (corporate and finance), restructuring, competition, tax, healthcare and the China practice. However, this “does come down to what the business need is at that moment in time, and the areas of growth,” they agreed. As such newbies are also able to take on work outside their current seat as well. “You might be sitting in private equity for example but there are opportunities to get involved in a restructuring deal or assist in a trial,” Fine explains, “Trainees are really encouraged to be proactive looking for work.” 

“It’s been a really busy period; a lot of disputes have materialised with trials and arbitrations.” 

The disputes practice handles a range of commercial litigation, arbitration and white-collar matters, particularly for clients in healthcare and pharma. But you’ll also find a variety of financial institutions, asset managers, family offices and high-net-worth individuals making up the books too. “It’s been a really busy period,” one insider reflected, “A lot of disputes have materialised with trials and arbitrations.” Case in point, the team continues to represent eircom, an Irish telecommunication and IT provider, in its claims against BT in a high court. On the international stage, the team represents Taylor Thomson, a member of the family behind Thomson Reuters, in claims against Persistence Technologies and associated individuals, concerning bribery and the mis-selling of cryptocurrency.  

Understandably, responsibilities vary depending on the stage of the dispute, from pre-trial review and disclosure through to trial and hearings. As a rule of thumb, newbies take on a lot of admin tasks and bundling: “It’s a repetitive task, but it’s really important. We have software that makes it more manageable, with sometimes upwards of a few thousand documents on file – it does the heavy lifting,” an insider explained. Drafting opportunities come in the way of correspondence to counsel and the other side. What’s more, trainees also have the opportunity to attend meetings with experts and witnesses, as well as hearings and trials too.  

Moving along to the firm’s China practice, the team here predominantly deals with disputes all the way to arbitrations and fully-fledged litigation as well as providing discrete corporate advice on China - UK and European market deals. For example, the firm currently represents China Taiping Insurance on a complex dispute matter.  We heard the work is “a mixed bag that allows you to build those fundamental skills, from reviewing documents and extracting important information, emailing clients and presenting information, it’s a well-rounded seat.” As such, trainees are often involved in similar tasks to their litigation counterparts, from reviewing data and chronologies, and drafting witness statements in preparation for the case being built, to preparing “a presentation about corporate governance for a client.” 

“The next day it might be NQ work… It’s typical of McDermott - like wow I can do this.” 

In corporate, the work is divided between private equity and M&A. Big names such as Oak Tree Capital, Main Capital Partners and various affiliates of H.I.G Capital make up the client list. Recently the team acted for H.I.G Infrastructure on its cross border acquisition of a developer and operator of data centre infrastructure, Polar. Sources themselves were mostly involved in the private equity portion of the practice.  

Project management and due diligence shaped up a fair amount of trainee’s day to day, “managing the processes and specialists within the firm and externally, getting their legal input and inputting it into the due diligence reports,” especially as there is often a foreign law requirement to the deals. Drafting opportunities come in the form of ancillaries such as shareholder minutes, corporate authorisations, and articles of association. Trainees highlighted being able to step up to the plate: “The next day it might be NQ work, the ancillaries and corresponding with legal counterparts. It’s typical of McDermott - like wow I can do this.” 

Over in the leveraged finance practice, the focus is on mid-market lending and borrowing securing debt for companies to use as part of their transactions. In one recent headline, the team advised software private equity firm Everfield in securing recurring financing for its operations and expansion across the UK and Europe. “It’s a real technical area!” an insider pointed out, “There is a particular focus on training and building core skills. Even if you don’t necessarily understand everything that’s going on you’re chipping away at it overtime.” So, rookies get involved being “able to take on a lot of responsibility being in charge of the CP checklist and deliverables for the FCA and ICA.”  

Trainees also pick up the pen to draft legal opinions, notices to banks, and ancillaries such as corporate authorisations and articles of association, and filing them. “You’re not drafting SFAs (leveraged senior facilities agreements), but seniors are willing to have conversations about what you don’t understand,” one source praised.  

Trainee Life 

“… it’s down-to-earth and really supportive, particularly amongst the juniors.” 

While working at a US firm in the City might seem intimidating from afar, at MWS “it’s down-to-earth and really supportive, particularly amongst the juniors,” sources highlighted in respect to the tight-knit culture. “Getting along with people makes the job easier as it can be tough with long hours and grappling with intricate materials,” one insider surmised. As the London office is going through a transformative phase, it was noted there has been a shift “with a push for hitting targets – it’s been raised from 1,600 to 2,000 billables a year. Some are worried but others see it as an opportunity as the work is there,” one insider keenly observed. Plus, within that qualified associates now have a bucket of 100 hours for pro bono, 75 for professional development, and 25 each for mindfulness and justice diversity, equality & inclusion (JDEI)! 

Inclusion was seen as a positive aspect of the culture: “There is a big drive for inclusion and having the right support in place.” For example, there has been an effort around speaking about mental health in the legal sector, with mental health first aiders to hand for wellbeing support and dedicated wellbeing committee. “Strictly speaking it’s a diverse firm,” a rookie emphasised, “people come from all walks of life; it’s inspiring to hear their different stories and how they got here, the firm should continue to take pride in that.”

Gender representation was particularly praised, with a growing promotion of women into partnership. The DEI committee was lauded for its events with speakers throughout the year marking occasions such as Black History month and publishing articles about “black historical figures everyone should know and historical female figures who have shaped the legal industry.” 

We heard that there are plenty of opportunities to be social. From the start, trainees have a welcome event to see them integrated, previously this has been mini golf with other trainees, associates and partners bonding over trying to get a hole in one. Some noted that being a smaller trainee intake it might to have that typical trainee social life as some might expect. That said, every Thursday there are drinks in the office also called, “sundowners” – “it’s a good way to get people together and meet others not in your department.” Of course, the Pride, summer and Christmas parties are calendar staples too.  

As for pro bono,“there’s a big push from the top down; each office has strong pro bono hours!” sources chorused. Trainees have an annual target of 24 pro bono hours and upon qualification, 100 of those can count towards their billable target. The firm also hosts annual awards celebrating efforts as well. We heard of matters such as Envision with local students, where they have been “designing a social action project, working on each stage and sourcing resources, and coming to us for guidance” to legal clinics such as the East Greenwich Legal Advice Clinic.

In support of LandAid, a homelessness charity for young people, there was a run around Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – “it was day to bring friends and family together, it was nice to see people outside of work. A lot of pro bono events morph into team building!” an insider observed. What’s more, trainees and associates can bring their own pro bono matters to McDermott too.  

“It’s a great open-door policy, they’re always willing to have a chat and take time to explain things.” 

Trainees are expected in the office at least three days a week. But “most are in four days; it’s nice to be around people to ask questions,” sources reasoned. Most newbies share a double office with their supervisor or sit next door to them to build a good rapport: “It’s a great open-door policy, they’re always willing to have a chat and take time to explain things.” As such feedback is regular and formal feedback is received at the mid-and-end of seat review.  

While the emphasis on on-the-job learning remains, the approach to training has shifted slightly with the arrival of the learning and development team. Now, there is a rotating spotlight on the practices, “this month it was focused on our competition team, European and state-side, talking about emerging themes, it’s great to be connected with those in the know.” There is also a trainee bootcamp and most teams host their own bi-weekly or monthly sessions too.  

Hours vary depending on the practice, market and deadlines. On average, trainees determined working 45 – 50 hours per week but stressed that a busy stretch towards a closing or filing can be up to 80 hours, “which is when it gets more challenging.” Most had worked late into the night, weekends and on bank holidays, and while it might be a tough pill, “if you don’t want to do that, that is fair enough, but it might not be the place for you” a source reflected. Long hours generate a healthy reward, as first year trainees are paid a staggering £65,000, raising to £70,000 for second years.  “We work long hours, but we are remunerated at the top end of the market for it,” insiders agreed, “It’s great – no complaints!” 

Eventually the time comes for qualification, and we were told it’s a relatively informal process, but perhaps a little unclear. Formally, candidates submit their preferences to the training principal. Throughout the training contract and in the build up to qualification, candidates should be having conversations with their prospective teams. Final seaters are assessed on performance in the team, which is why it’s important to have built those relationships, and billables and utilisation are taken into consideration (although there is no trainee target). In 2025, MWS retained one of its two qualifiers.  

How to get a McDermott Will & Schulte training contract 

Applications and interviews 

Between 200 to 300 applicants aim for a place at McDermott every year through the online platform. As with many training contract applications, the online application consists of an in-depth questionnaire. 

“We like to see that people have challenged themselves in some way and have the desire to be a long-term success at the firm,” says training principal Mark Fine. “Just to be clear, we are not looking for something death-defying. We are looking for people who saw an interesting opportunity or a way to develop a new skillset and pursued it diligently .” For those worried that this means having past experience as a successful entrepreneur a la Sir Richard Branson, Fine reassures that “it does not have to be an expensive or even highly unusual opportunity.” 

Interestingly, the firm focusses on mistakes and adversity, in particular “people who dealt with their mistakes or issues properly and learned from them. We want people who have tried and failed and tried again,” explains Fine; so, think resilience and think wisdom. “We want people who can admit their mistakes and have a hunger to learn from them and improve.” 

Those who shine online are invited for an assessment day which allows individuals to showcase their skills described in the application form. Those that succeed at the assessment day (usually around ten) are invited back to interview with a panel of three partners. However, despite the firm’s focus on mistakes, this does not mean the firm is aiming to trip you up during the interview process. “Our goal is to make our applicants shine,” Fine confirms. “We want to see the best of you. We aim to make our process as human and humane as possible and to treat our applicants fairly. We will also try and ensure the experience is an enjoyable one for all the candidates and is as much about applicants finding out about us as it is us finding about applicants.” 

Assessment days 

The firm's assessment day involves a Q&A session with partners and associates and a written test, based on a given scenario. Participants are divided into two groups in the morning, with one group taking part in the Q&A session while the other does the written assessment, before swapping over in the afternoon. Lunch and end of day drinks and canapes give the participants a chance to talk to partners, associates and current trainees to understand further what life at the firm is like.