Paul Hastings (Europe) LLP - True Picture

Paul Hastings training contract review 2026

The Firm

You’ve probably heard the little gem of advice before: ‘find your niche!’ But what does that really mean? Well, put simply, it’s about finding what you’re good at and steering into it, and global firm Paul hastings – a big fish in the finance pond – has done just that. Having successfully carved out its niche, the firm is now expanding beyond it and reaping the rewards, as training principal Jason Raeburn was happily tells us: “The past few years have been very exciting, with an upward trajectory both in revenue (a record 40% increase!) and profit, and lots of diversification within our practices.” This kind of thing has an impact at the trainee level too: “It’s very much a growing name in the city,” one told us, “and it’s fun to be a part of that growth.”

“It’s very much a growing name in the city, and it’s fun to be a part of that growth.”

Within the firm’s network of 23 offices, “London is now the second largest office tied with Washington, DC after New York,” Raeburn points out. Paul Hastings’ finance prowess is evident in its Chambers UK rankings, with banking and finance and financial crime rankings in London, along with several capital markets rankings, including a top-tier nod in CLOs. Those at the junior end join in the knowledge that “there are some stellar names to work with and learn from here.”

We heard that this comes with a classic US emphasis on on-the-job learning: “You take the ownership of your work, it isn’t a place where they baby you,” one trainee told us, “if that’s what you’re looking for and you put in the time and effort, you will get the most out of it.” The current cohort was quick to highlight the positive interactions they’d had with the firm as part of vacation schemes and open days: “The people are incredible and hardworking. It’s an ambitious environment I could see myself in.”

The Seats

Starting out, trainees are allocated their first six-month seat based on business need (and any relevant experience) off the bat. For the second seat and onwards you can express your top three preferences to talent management who will do their best to accommodate them (although third and fourth seaters have priority throughout). There are also rolling, ad hoc client secondments available across an array of financial and private equity institutions too.

Kicking things off with one of the bigger groups at Paul Hastings, a stint in leveraged finance is built around work on behalf of lenders and sponsors in buyouts and investments: “We come in when a buyer wants to purchase a company, assisting with the bid and helping them to secure the financing,” one insider explained. As is often the case, we heard that “the timelines are short and intense – sometimes with a couple weeks to negotiate and sign up to a big facility agreement!” where matters range in value size.

We heard a lot of the big-ticket deals are US-led, one recent example involving advising a number of banks including Goldman Sachs and HSBC in connection with the syndicated financing to support Thoma Bravo’s $5.3 billion all-cash acquisition of Darktrace, a UK AI cybersecurity company. With fast-paced financing agreements, trainees dive in with ad hoc research and legal opinions, managing checklists and drafting ancillaries such as board resolutions and certificate agreements: “You’re given a lot of responsibility to provide your input, allowing seniors to focus on the core transactional documents” one trainee explained, “If they know you can handle it, they will let you do it and you can rise to that opportunity.”

“I usually explain it like the Big Short! Asset managers buy corporate loans (bonds) where debt is the underlying security...”

Another forte for the firm is collateralised loan obligations (otherwise, called CLOS), where newbies are introduced to the niche world of packaged loans and assets sold to investors that borrowers must return over time. “I usually explain it like the Big Short!” a source laughed, “Asset managers buy corporate loans (bonds) where debt is the underlying security and is traded.” The firm acts on behalf of arrangers or managers such as JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Apollo. Aside from drafting opportunities, day-to-day rookies have more admin heavy tasks too. By the end of the six-month period, we heard trainees will have had exposure to everything on offer here, and so “you feel confident on the deals because supervisors have let you run with things,” one source added.

Private equity was described as a “transactions magnet” where big names such as City Football Group and Abry Partners flow through the client list.Most recently, the team advised Oakley Capital on the sale of its majority stake in a Norwegian company, Ocean Technologies Group. Rookies can expect to be involved in a variety of transactions, and practically every stage of a deal from acquisitions to dispositions: “There is a portfolio of companies,” one told us, “the main focus is the management and planning, keeping track of the books, filings, and shareholder and board resolutions.”

As such, trainees are involved in managing the checklists, “understanding what the outstanding deliverables are”, signing processes, being in constant communication internally and externally, and taking the first crack at drafts. We heard that “It’s a nice step into corporate work and you’re trusted to get straight into the documents,” a common sentiment shared across the seats.

Over in financial regulation, this advisory group provides support for other department’s transactional and funds deals, and regulatory advice to clients across licensing, third party arrangements, contracts and compliance. For example: “We do a lot of cryptocurrency exchange advice for those wanting to open UK branches and seeking FCA regulatory approval” one insider highlighted, adding “which is quite strict!” Cryptocurrency exchanges are platforms that allow users to exchange one kind of currency for another. Whether that’s swapping what we call ‘fiat’ currencies (pounds, dollars, euros, etc) for cryptocurrencies, or one cryptocurrency for another.

Trainees in the seat roll up their sleeves with research and due diligence tasks, checking that entities are registered properly by way of example. As a snapshot, in one cross border matter, the team advised GTCR on its $18.5 billion majority stake acquisition in Wordplay, a payment processing solutions provider.

Trainee Life

A stone’s throw away from Liverpool Street Station, the Bishopsgate office is “A* in terms of location and has amazing views of London.” Good thing then that trainees are expected to be in the office four days a week (with some teams requiring five days), which lends to the training experience on offer. While space might be at a slight premium, “another floor is being built out because of the sheer numbers needing more office space.” That can only be taken as another healthy sign that “the firm is growing at such a rate!”

Typically, trainees share an office with their supervisor or sit amongst senior associates “so there is that frequent feedback which is appreciated and helpful.” Moreover, newbies also have support in place with a trainee buddy at the beginning and an associate mentor who is there throughout the training contract.

“A* in terms of location…”

Trainees told us that “there is lots of on-the-job learning. You can ask your supervisor questions and associates are very willing to take the time with you. It’s best to get stuck in and into the documents.” This is supplemented by practice group training that varies in frequency from bi-weekly to monthly, covering topics from specific aspects of a deal to regulatory updates. Formal feedback comes in the way of mid seat catch ups and end of seat reviews.

The general rule when it comes to US firms in London is that while the hours can be intense, the compensation on offer reflects that. The trainee salary at Paul Hastings starts at £60,000 for first years moving to £68,000 for second years. Unsurprisingly, sources felt well compensated: “The salary is great. I’m very happy.” On average trainees reported leaving between 7pm – 8pm. That said, if it’s busier or a deadline is looming, it's all hands on deck, with most having worked late into the night or early morning, and during the weekend on occasion.

As one trainee at the firm put it: “You don’t have to become a certain way to fit in.” The exception of course being that on the whole, associates through to partners are “very friendly and happy to answer questions.” There is some variation team to team, “with little eco-systems of different cultures.” This meant that some departments had slightly busier social calendars than others. Given the growth at the firm, we heard there has been a concerted effort to increase the number of events. It ranges from people casually grabbing lunch or a drink after work to puppy therapy and “the chai guys coming in every Wednesday rotating across each floor. So, you get to see people you wouldn’t normally.” Trainees also have a dedicated breakfast and presentation each month, a welcome social for new intakes: “It’s an excuse to sit and chat; there is a real effort to make sure you are being integrated.”

“The firm is doing its best to be an accommodating, friendly and inclusive environment.”

“The firm is doing its best to be an accommodating, friendly and inclusive environment” was the response given on the topic of inclusion. Cultural and religious occasions are marked on the calendar with lunches and fireside talks: “For Ramadan, there was a fireside talk hosted by a partner; it was a good turnout and we broke the fast with them.” External speakers also come in: “for example, yesterday for empowering women, there was a talk given by three CEOS about the impact of female investment across industries.”

Another benefit of being a part of a smaller intake, we heard, is that the qualification process at Paul Hastings is fairly informal and organic. It’s made clear to hopeful applicants which departments are taking on NQs, and then trainees tell talent management what seats they wish to qualify into. The process is then to make a case for your place to the relevant partners. Although one did stress that you have to be proactive throughout, “you have to have those relationships with the team and maintain them.”

Positively, sources told us that “everyone wants to qualify here.” In cases where that path looks different, the firm does support candidates with external applications. In 2025, Paul Hastings retained 9 of 10 trainees.

How to get a Paul Hastings training contract

Opening dates for training contract applications (2027): 15 October 2025

Training contract deadline (2028): 30 June 2026

Vac scheme deadline: 4 January 2026

Insight Days and Placement weeks

The firm has not in recent years run a formal vacation scheme, offering instead up to 16 work experience placements each year, which run in April and June. In 2026 the firm will be offering a one week vacation scheme for up to 16 students which will be paid. Interested candidates should apply directly online via the firm’s Graduate Careers website. In addition, the firm offers various Insight Schemes and Open Day events over the summer period, with an emphasis on attracting diverse talent. 

Applications

Paul Hastings receives in excess of 600 applications each year for its training contracts. The firm has increased trainee numbers in the past few years and expects to maintain this increase in 2026 "to match the growth strategy of the firm.," Yvette Croucher, managing director of talent at the firm tells us, "we’ve always been in a position where we are quite agile and leave spaces open so we can have the  flexibility to hire a paralegal or find a trainee that can start quite quickly."

The firm selects a shortlist of around 35 candidates from the initial application. Trainee hopefuls need a consistently impressive set of A-levels and GCSEs, and a good 2:1 degree. Croucher tells us that the firm is on the lookout for those A and A* grades, and also reveals that many applicants have postgraduate qualifications like LLMs or other Master's degrees. But the firm takes a holistic approach to hiring and will look at candidates in the round and so encourages candidates to apply even if they have not obtained the top grades. The application form is divided into four sections: academics, work experience, hobbies and interests, and finally a group of open-ended questions like, 'Why do you want to be a City lawyer?' and 'What can you offer Paul Hastings?' As Croucher tells us: "We don't think the SQE will impact our training programme too dramatically. At the moment we’re flexing between both the LPC and SQE and going forward we will frontload the SQE for everyone. We will still be insisting on the GDL."

Interviews

Approximately 35 applicants make it through to the first interview, which usually takes place with a member of the talent management team and the training principal, Jason Raeburn, or with two other partners. Around 20 are invited back for a second interview, which lasts for a whole morning or afternoon. This takes place with two partners and is accompanied by a written assessment that involves reading and analysing a legal document. This tests a candidate's ability to digest information in a short period of time, understand it and summarise it succinctly.

Croucher told us that, in order to thrive at the firm, "you need to be willing to rise to a challenge, learn on the job, and just roll your sleeves up and get stuck in. Because we’re so collaborative, you need to be someone who is confident, can get on with people easily, is personable, enthusiastic with a good splash of humility. We're a very entrepreneurial firm."

Diversity and inclusion initiatives

Paul Hastings supports equal opportunity with an emphasis on community, opportunity and inclusion for all. The firm is committed to fostering an inclusive work environment for everyone and supporting an elite team of professionals with a wide-ranging background and perspectives.