Dentons - True Picture

Dentons Training Contract Review 2024

The Firm

When you first set out on the path to becoming a lawyer, you’ll quickly find that there are a whole host of different things that distinguish firms from one another. At Dentons, this distinguishing factor is clear from the off. With a staggering 12,000 lawyers working across over 200 offices in 80 different countries, Dentons sits at the top of the pile as the world’s largest law firm by number of offices. “By having that global element, it essentially means that the firm has access to a bigger pool of people as resources,” one trainee commented. At Dentons however, there isn’t a single HQ, leaving each office free to create its own local firm feel. The majority of the firm’s UK trainees are based in London, with the rest split between Milton Keynes and Scotland (made up of a mixture of seats across Edinburgh and Glasgow). As Rosie Buckley, early careers manager, tells us, the firm has half an eye on expansion too: “Next summer (summer 2024), we’re launching an internship in our Dublin office for the first time, with a view to launching the training contract the following year,” so keep your eyes peeled.

“By having that global element, it essentially means that the firm has access to a bigger pool of people as resources…”

Dentons has almost as many Chambers-ranked departments as it does offices, and far too many to list (you can see the full breakdown on the ‘rankings’ tab). But its areas of strength include banking & finance, corporate, dispute resolution, energy, real estate and tech, with a host of UK, London-wide and Thames Valley rankings to match. For trainees hoping to secure a training contract in Edinburgh or Glasgow, it will reassure you to know that the firm bags top-tier rankings for its competition law, tax, and transport rail in Scotland, alongside impressive nods in corporate M&A, information technology & outsourcing, and intellectual property.

The Seats

Before new trainees start, the firm sends through a booklet offering an outline of all of the seat options available to trainees, which they then rank from 1 to 6. This process is repeated at each rotation, but from the second seat onwards trainees are able to attach a percentage interest to each, and expand on their reasons for doing so. “Being Dentons, traditionally, there are lots of international secondment opportunities,” one trainee told us, “but these are only just coming back post-COVID.” At the last rotation, options included France and Hong Kong, but client secondments are more common as things stand, with trainees able to spend time with “household, nationwide names from across the retail and financial sectors.” Trainees in Scotland were quick to highlight that offices outside of London weren’t at a disadvantage when it came to secondment opportunities too: “You’re not disadvantaged if you’re in Scotland. There are plenty of Scottish trainees who have done client secondments in London.”

For trainees interested in the corporate side of the firm’s work, there will be plenty of collaboration with and overlap between the firm’s other offices, wherever you find yourself. The department offers a mix of capital markets, private equit, and venture capital work – cross-border M&A deals are something of a focus point at the firm. For trainees in the seat, “there’s been a lot of drafting ancillary documents, as well as company reports updating statutory books,” one recalled. “There’s also some reviewing reports and liaising with clients in the seat too.” The nature of these cross-border matters stretching across multiple teams means that trainees in the seat won’t often be involved in a project from beginning to end: “The chances are, there will be at least a few one-off tasks on matters that you won’t hear anything about again.”

As one of the firm’s areas of strength, the real estate team at Dentons has worked with a host of household names from John Lewis and Sainsbury’s to the Department for Work and Pensions and HSBC. Trainees in the seat might touch on corporate real estate transactions, real estate finance and business development work, but their bread and butter is “drafting leases, contacting the client to agree on terms, correspondence with the other side on the finer aspects of these deals, and contact with the Land Registry to check what consents you need.” As one trainee added: “I have been pleasantly surprised by the client contact – much more than you would expect as a first-seat trainee. The earlier you prove yourself, the more responsibility you’re given.” In one recent matter, Dentons’ real estate team advised John Lewis on its £500 million joint venture with abrdn over the development of Build to Rent schemes at a number of properties. Under the broad real estate umbrella, Dentons’ real estate litigation practice handles contentious real estate matters, from negligence and trespass cases to rent review, for a client list that includes the likes of Argos, Taylor Wimpey and the Co-operative Group. “It was definitely the most fast-paced seat I had,” one source recalled, “I would start my day with a plan and within two or three hours it was out the window!” Typical trainee tasks in the seat included “some advisory work, but also some high-profile litigation cases. So I had chances to go to court and prepare for hearings, as well as working on the large-scale advisory projects.”

"The firm hosts a lot of business development events with clients, so it’s a great seat for building your network."

The employment practice at Dentons (known as people, reward & mobility) has been a focus of growth over the last five years, offering trainees a mix of contentious and non-contentious work. “Our clients are mainly employers, so the contentious side will be defending employers against things like unfair dismissal or harassment claims,” one trainee explained, “on the non-contentious side, we will advise on and help draft things like annual leave or sick leave policies, and provide corporate support work if there is a particular deal with an employment aspect.” Like other departments at Dentons, there is plenty of overlap with the firm’s offices overseas, especially in cases where a client’s operations extend beyond the UK. It’s pretty common too – Dentons’ employment client list is a who’s who of recognisable names, from Amazon UK to TK Maxx. As one source put it: “The firm hosts a lot of business development events with clients, so it’s a great seat for building your network (and working out how to do that!)” In one ongoing case, the firm is representing TUI Airways against a High Court claim brought by a group of employees over the changing of the terms in its health insurance scheme.

Dentons’ competition seat is another that offers both contentious and non-contentious work, particularly in the financial services, energy, transport and real estate sectors. Regardless of where trainees are based, the competition team at Dentons functions as one, “so whether you’re a trainee in Scotland or London, you’ll receive instructions from all over the place, and they get involved in what each other are up to.” For trainees, this is typically drafting advice to clients and taking notes of client calls: “There’s also a lot of research into quite niche points of law,” one trainee told us, “looking into case law guidance and commentary, and preparing that information in order to present it to the client.” In recent months, the firm has worked with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, advising the department on possible interventions in the energy markets to reduce energy bills for households and businesses.

Trainee Life

As one of the firm’s Scottish contingent told us: “You really do feel that international element. From a Scottish perspective, offices in Scotland are so often treated as the ‘Scottish wing’ of London firms. But here, there is no HQ, and the firm really makes an effort to emphasise how important each office is.” This extends to the social life at Dentons too: “Every other month, the trainees from London and Milton Keynes get together for an event that’s organised by the firm, and there’s free drinks and that sort of thing.” The same is true, trainees tell us, of social events in Edinburgh and Glasgow too. On top of this, departments at Dentons will host their own socials and ‘away-days’, involving everything from black-tie dinners to Brazilian-style drumming.

“…you are sat down at the beginning of each seat to go through the basics.”

Trainees have departmental training sessions every Tuesday, “where we are updated on the newest legislation and how to use certain systems like the Land Registry.” How this training goes depends somewhat on the department, but there is time carved out at the firm for making sure trainees have wrapped their heads around the basics: “On Wednesdays once a month there’s corporate team training for everyone, and there’s also training in IT and lots of different things firm-wide,” one source explained, “but you are sat down at the beginning of each seat to go through the basics.” The emphasis quickly shifts as trainees move through their training contract, however. As one put it: “I’d say 70% is learning on the job. If you get something like an agreement and are asked to review it, it’s a case of looking at the precedents we’ve got. When it comes to something like drafting, you can’t really learn without doing.”

“When it comes to remote working, the firm doesn’t have a strict policy, it’s about what works for you,” Rose Buckley explains. According to trainees, on average lawyers will come into the office two to three days a week, but they too emphasised that this isn’t an obligation. “A lot of the trainees do come in, even when they don’t need to, because it’s a better way to learn,” one source explained, “But there’s no extra pressure to come in; the general rule is, you come in when it works for you.” When it comes to hours, quiet times saw trainees leave at around 6pm (around 9.30pm during busier periods), which places the firm on the more reasonable end of the scale: “There’s not really a 'presence' culture, if you need to step out for an hour to go the gym or send a parcel, no one is going to chase you up on that.”

Come qualification time, “we have a call with HR to set out the steps and the dates that we needed to be aware of,” one second-year told us. “We submit our preferences first (up to two), before they’ve worked out what spaces there are, so the firm can get an idea of which seats are going to be popular.” Then, around February, the firm releases a list of available NQ positions, which candidates are free to apply for: “This is then followed by a one-stage interview process with a case study and a competency interview.” In 2023, Dentons retained 23 of 32 qualifiers.

How to get a Dentons training contract 

Vacation scheme deadline:2 January 2024

Training contract deadline: 17 June 2024

Initial screening 

Applying to Dentons begins with an online form. As part of the initial screening process, the firm scores each applicant on a number of core factors including motivation, drive, and commercial awareness. 

Early Careers Manager Rosie Buckley tells us when it comes to past experiences, the firm "doesn't need to see commercial work experience, but is hoping to see that candidates have researched a career in law and have started to develop relevant skills." A candidate's motivation and commercial awareness are drawn out through questions “tailored towards candidates' achievements and their research on commercial law and Dentons.” Whilst the firm does look at academics, “they are not the most important part of a form, and if candidates feel they can submit a strong overall application we want to hear from them.'” 

First-round interview 

Candidates whose forms meet the firm's requirements are invited to complete a Legal High Potential assessment. This assessment includes scenario-based, numerical and verbal questions.

The assessment “looks for candidates who are excited to embrace the future of law and apply their intellect and creativity to a variety of work-related situations.” The questions do not require any prior knowledge or experience. 

Candidates who are successful in the Legal High Potential assessment will be invited to undertake a short video interview.

Assessment Centre 

Hopefuls who impress enough in the first round get a crack at the final stage. Candidates face an assessment centre consisting of a role play exercise, a written exercise, a case study and a final partner interview. 

All in all, “we're looking for ambitious, commercial and forward-thinking candidates because that's what we are as a firm,” Buckley says, reminding applicants that “you've got to want to work for an international firm, as trainees end up getting involved in a lot of cross-jurisdictional work here.” 

Vacation scheme 

Dentons hosts two-week schemes in both spring and summer in London, and during the summer across Milton Keynes and Scotland. On top of getting a taster of the firm's work there are a few social events dotted throughout the scheme. Our sources' number-one tip for getting the most out of the scheme? “Speak to as many current trainees as possible – that'll contribute a lot to your understanding of what the firm's about.”