Ropes & Gray LLP - True Picture

Ropes & Gray training contract review 2026

The Firm

Under the grey skies of London, there’s another Gray bringing a little light to proceedings. Hailing from Boston, Ropes & Gray has brought its private equity prowess and high-level corporate work across the pond. As one trainee put it: “The breadth of work you get when working for with PE clients and the depth of the deals are second to none.” Indeed, the firm receives a tip of the cap from Chambers UK for its private equity and capital markets work nationwide, alongside banking and finance rankings in the capital across lenders, borrowers and sponsors.

“The breadth of work you get when working for with PE clients and the depth of the deals are second to none.”

Sources also stressed that the firm’s expertise in areas like life sciences and white collar were a key draw for them. Perhaps more importantly however, “I think Ropes was one of the only firms where I could understand the business model,” one told us. “The firm is focused on private equity, and the departments are designed around and will tailor their offering to these private equity clients.”

The Seats

Ropes has a relatively informal seat allocation process where, though “you don’t choose the first seat,” trainees rank their three preferences for their next seat in a conversation with graduate recruitment. “The onus is on you to reach out to people informally,” ahead of a conversation halfway through your seat. Insiders noted that while private equity is no longer a compulsory seat, given the firm’s pedigree in the space there is a likelihood that most trainees will get the opportunity to do a stint in the practice. A three-month antitrust secondment to Dublin is also available for those who “show a lot of interest,” along with the occasional client secondment to Liberty Global.

The jewel in Ropes’ crown, private equity, has trainees consistently working on high value, cross-jurisdictional work – often with other offices, “particularly those in the US, but with local counsel across various jurisdictions.” The group has a portfolio of clients with big PE firms like AEA, Inflexion and Oakley Partners. In one recent deal, the firm acted as lead adviser to EQT Private Capital Asia on its acquisition of Nord Anglia Education as part of a consortium. Healthcare and tech tend to be the most common industries represented,but “the team is arranged more by type of work, for example company law or management equity. Your supervisor will likely do one thing, but you can definitely tailor your seat according to what you’re interested in.”

Starting out, typical trainee tasks are generally related to transaction management, “knowing all the documents, updating tracker checklists, and also drafting board minutes, ancillaries and clauses of the SPA.” Although we heard exposure to clients was “limited” in PE, trainees in the practice were very positive about responsibility in the seat which included a lot of portfolio company work, particularly with due diligence.

Finance at Ropes balances both the borrower side and lender side of the equation. On the latter, the firm advised Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and Mizuho on all the financing elements of web advertising platform Outbrain’s acquisition of Teads. Trainees get to work on anything from private credit to infrastructure financings, but new starters typically take on leveraged finance work, helping on debt matters.

For newbies, finance follows the trend of a “very process-heavy” seat, requiring trainees to “keep on top of checklists, get everything signed – check who has signed and who I need to chase.” There are also opportunities to draft and comment on basic documents like board resolutions, but much of the work “is making amendments to loans, over and over again.”

“You become a master in whatever it is the company does.”

On one side sits merger controls, and on the other, investigatory matters in antitrust, “a bigger team with a classic big team structure – juniors, mid-levels, seniors, counsel, and partners.” Despite this, interviewees noted it didn’t seem to have an impact on the level of responsibility they got. “It’s very research heavy,” one interviewee described, “so you become a master in whatever it is the company does.”

Trainees are there to sift through the information when a deal comes through, after which they help with drafting papers, liaising with counsel in other offices, because “although the US handles all US antitrust matters, we cover everywhere else.” Interacting with and emailing clients and the other side are also likely trainee tasks, and for “big household names and massive companies” to boot.

In asset management, trainees sit in either the funds or regulatory team. On the regulatory front trainees help clients understand and comply with financial regulations, looking at deals and “doing anti-money laundering work for some of the firm’s biggest clients.”On the funds side “you’re helping clients when they have a new fund to market, managing that process and liaising with local counsel to get that application through in different jurisdictions.” Of course, this requires newbies to run through research and complete due diligence, but also manage projects and liaise with clients.

Real estate  at Ropes includes PE real estate – “so joint ventures with PE clients looking to invest in big ticket real estate in the UK and Europe” – and real estate finance, which for trainees “is more like a finance seat.” Like in finance, newbies are held account to checklists, amending documents and taking calls from the client, but there are also opportunities to draft documents, email the other side and work on business development. “It can be quite admin heavy,” one source admitted, but “there is quite a bit of responsibility” working with offices from New York to Australia. With these international elements the group also works on some massive matters in the UK – case in point their recent advising of the investment firm Baupost on a joint venture with KKR on a portfolio of 33 Marriott hotels across the UK. That said, UK matters also often have international elements too – the firm currently advises Netherlands-based pension fund, APG Asset Management, on its joint venture with Nuveen to develop the £1.2 billion St James Centre in Edinburgh, one of the UK’s largest private regeneration projects.

Trainee Life

It can be a pretty daunting step tumbling into the world of American law firms, but sources here assured us that “we don’t really have any horror stories you might worry about. Even when it’s 4am and you’re doing a task that’s holding everyone up!” Overall, the firm, located just opposite the Thameslink in Ludgate Hill, has a “very nice vibe,” with terrace views of St Pauls, free lunch on Wednesday in their lunch hall, and the occasional drinks social for people to wind down.

As well as firmwide drinks, individual teams have socials like away days – “real estate has one in Soho, antitrust in the country,” and trainees across cohorts try to spend time together too. “We did the prep course and SQE at the same time as each other, so we’ve been through the trenches together!” one trainee explained. As a result “there isn’t really an element of competitiveness, so we do see each other beyond office hours.” The firm helps to facilitate this by providing a budget, “and a good one! And partners are happy to sponsor socials if the firm isn’t, they might say to use the corporate card!” Of course, there is a relaxed approach for those who are busy, “sometimes you just want to go home!”

“We did the prep course and SQE at the same time as each other, so we’ve been through the trenches together!”

Pro bono is something insiders also make time for as, with the annual target of 20 pro bono hours for trainees, “it’s massively encouraged as a good way to build your skills with clients and you get to see the tangible impacts.” The target is not obligatory, “but everyone tries so you’re encouraged to do it from early on."

Trainees often help out with a family law clinic in East London, particularly with divorce cases, but there are also opportunities within practices. There is a full-time pro bono counsel who reaches out to trainees with matters to get involved with. In real estate, for example, trainees have had the chance to draft, advise and research matters for charities, both on a domestic and international scale. Trainees were very positive about the level of autonomy it gave them, because “you can check with your supervisors, but they do trust you to run with it.”

Trainees sit in the office with their supervisors who “are volunteered by other associates, so some might not be as invested in the trainee as others,” but there was the general feeling that “the feedback is good and consistent.”  Because they sit in the same office, trainees also have “consistent informal chats,” depending on the busyness of their supervisor, something that helped to drive a sustained avenue of training throughout seats.

Trainees also undergo more formal training run by “a team that provide teaching on things like time management and how to be a good trainee,” and within their practices by senior associates in the team for more practice-specific tasks. “As you progress in your seat, you get sessions and they bring in external presenters,” one interviewee outlined, “in PE, for example, every other week you get training on things like sending resolutions, signature blocks, and drafting.”

“Everyone is human so it can be a lot, but you get a lot of support. I never felt fear or stress talking about workload.”

As positive as all our interviewees were, the hours are “not for everyone – you need to know what you’re getting yourself into.” Hours do vary by group, with some having experienced leaving as early as 5.30pm, but overall “evening work is fairly consistent,” and many trainees experienced working as late as 2am. Understandably, “it can be heavy at times. Everyone is human so it can be a lot, but you get a lot of support. I never felt fear or stress talking about workload.”

Most of those we spoke with felt that they were appreciative of the busyness – “I really enjoy the work and the responsibility!” – and that senior associates and partners “are very appreciative of the time you put in over the weekends.” Along with an allowance for Deliveroo after 7pm, trainees felt they were compensated well, “because its in the top tier for trainee salaries.” Trainees start at £60k, “but I find it hard to believe people would come here just for the money; it’s more for the quality of work.” Sources also told us that trainees get bonuses, not related to hours. Hopping up to NQ level comes with a bump up to £165k, but trainees still need to step through qualification process to get there.

This is typically an informal process where trainees meet up with teams, partners and associates to discuss their interest in a group, and unless a department is particularly competitive, there won’t be a formal interview or assessment process. In 2025, the firm retained a full house ofqualifiers!

How to get a Ropes & Gray training contract

The application process 

Ropes & Gray hires exclusively through its vacation scheme. Director of HR & Associate Talent, Europe, Beverley Sorsby, tells us “the application form is straightforward; alongside academic results there is only question to answer”.

If candidates are invited to an assessment centre, they’re asked to complete a psychometric test beforehand to generate tailored questions to ask at the interview. Five assessment days are run in March, with around 14 candidates in each. This consists of an interview, a written exercise, a negotiation exercise and an ‘elevator pitch’ scenario. “The assessments are designed to assess key competencies including motivation for a career in corporate law, commercial awareness, as well as oral and written communication and negotiation and presentation skills”, Sorsby explains. Interviews are conducted by partners, counsel and HR representatives. 

Ropes & Gray uses Rare Recruitment’s contextual recruitment tool and employs a blind-selection process when screening applications and marking assessments.  “Applicants’ names, personal details and school name are redacted from the application form.  During the assessments the assessors do not have any information about the candidate, which means that interviewers have not seen the application form beforehand, nor have the assessors marking the exercises. This is to reduce any unconscious bias and/or affinity bias that may occur at all stages of the process.”

The vacation scheme 

A two-week vacation scheme is run in both spring and summer, with around 14 students attending each. The students are paid a juicy £400 per week. Sorsby says, “We intentionally designed a separate assessment day so that we could use the vacation scheme as an ‘experience’. It gives candidates the opportunity to know what it’s like to be a trainee at the firm including the chance to do real trainee work and experience the culture of the office”. Vac schemers are assigned a trainee buddy as well as an associate supervisor to “allocate tasks and offer guidance through the scheme.” There are also opportunities to network and socialise with partners, associates, trainees and business support professionals. There are also social events in and out of the office.

Overall, Ropes & Gray is looking for its “future lawyers” – namely people that are motivated and interested in pursuing a career in transactional law, who are collaborative and enjoy working as part of a team, who are entrepreneurial, as well as intellectual, curious and detail-focused. 

Diversity in hiring 

Ropes & Gray tells us that “diversity has been part of our DNA since we launched our office, as evidenced by the fact that we are the UK’s top law firm for gender diversity according to Law.com.

We are always looking for new ways to search out the best talent and this always means ensuring a diverse pool of applicants from different backgrounds, universities, and careers. As well as running a variety of events that target diverse communities, we have created our social mobility programme, ‘Bridge to the City’, aimed at first-year university students from diverse and underserved low socioeconomic backgrounds in the UK. Successful candidates receive a £20,000 scholarship, long-term mentoring, and a guaranteed vacation scheme at Ropes & Gray”.

Overall, Sorsby said, “continuing to be amongst the most diverse firms in elite law will always be a top priority for us.”