RWK Goodman - True Picture

RWK Goodman training contract review 2025

The Firm

With the dust most definitely settled on the 2022 merger between Royds Withy King and Goodman Derrick, training principal Caroline Preist was more than happy to get into the nitty-gritty of the firm’s evolution: “We’re slightly more commercial now, which is a natural shift for us,” Preist explains, “we cover a lot of things now that we didn’t previously.” This progression, Preist adds, has gone hand in hand with the kind of family and private client work that the firm has previously been associated with. This type of work is something that Chambers UK has been quick to acknowledge, with top-tier family/matrimonial rankings in Somerset and Swindon, along with top clinical negligence and personal injury practices in the Thames Valley and the South West.

“You’re really appreciated for what you do here, and that ethos was apparent early on.”

Headquartered in Bath, the firm boasts a crop of other offices in the country, including in London, Oxford, Swindon, Marlborough and Thame, with trainees split between the Bath HQ, London and Oxford. The firm has also recently opened a Bristol office, which Preist teases as a possible fourth training ground: “We’re always looking for quality trainees to operate out of all the various offices. The intention is very much for trainees to work out of Bristol soon.” But with growth on the horizon, Preist is keen to highlight that the firm’s focus remains the same: “We want to make sure trainees have a fantastic experience, and when you have a larger cohort, trainees can slip through the cracks. We make sure that doesn’t happen here.” The trainees we spoke to agreed too: “You’re really appreciated for what you do here, and that ethos was apparent early on.” As one New Mexico lawyer would say, the level of commitment to trainees shows that with RWK, it’s all Goodman.

The Seats

RWK Goodman’s training contract is split into four seats lasting six months each. We heard allocation was a seamless process with HR releasing a list of available seats every rotation, with trainees asked to provide three ranked preferences for where they’d like to end up. For what its worth, all the sources we spoke with got the seats they were after: “Every seat has been my first choice so far; they seem really accommodating.”

“The people in the team here fight so hard for people and I take a lot of pride in what I do.”

One of the firm’s headline practices, the injurydepartment is split into four sub-teams covering poly trauma, amputations, industrial disease and brain injury and spinal cord. As you can probably guess, this means the group runs the gamut of personal injury cases with trainees getting to try their hand on everything from high-value traffic accidents to asbestos-related mesothelioma diagnoses. The nature of this kind of work had understandably had a deep impact on the sources we spoke to: “It’s some of the most rewarding work I’ve ever undertaken. The people in the team here fight so hard for people and I take a lot of pride in what I do.” Typical trainee tasks included initial inquiries, letters of claim, reviewing medical records, and client meetings (that can take you all over the country if the client is unable to travel). There’s also the opportunity to get stuck into some research visits, which meant “getting to go to the archives to look for evidence, those bits of detective work that gets us over the line in court, I love that part of my job.”

A stint in the large dispute resolution group will see budding lawyers exposed to a variety of areas. As one trainee put it: “It’s a broad seat, everyone in it has their own specialty.” Such specialties includes general commercial disputes, contracts and IP disputes as well as banking-related work for big UK businesses right through to high net worth individuals. We heard the seat is about both refining your skills and finding what interests you as a lawyer: “It’s a great seat to do as a trainee as there are a lot of transferrable skills, and you can get a quick flavour of what you really enjoy doing.” Sometimes this takes the shape of drafting and dealing with smaller claims, attending court hearings, note-taking, or having oversight on different files. One thing’s for sure, we heard you’ll be involved in “everything,” with one source exclaiming: “I think I’m a better and improved trainee for having done DR.”

RWK Goodman’s real estate department is split into three key areas of real estate law: planning and development, retail and leases, and banking and finance. The firm’s practice covers almost any issue likely to crop up in the market, from funding structures for acquiring real estate to joint venture arrangements for development projects. For the trainees that spent time in a real estate seat, this meant there was room for plenty of variety in their six-month stint. Sources mentioned the likes of client meetings, option agreements, drafting deeds and licences, dealing with sales, reporting on titles and client contact. Those we spoke to praised the fact that they had been able to work with a number of different lawyers at the firm while they honed their skills: “I’ve made a real effort to work with everyone, and I’ve been involved with everything I want to get involved with.” We heard that all work is reviewed and returned by the person that assigned it, along with tracked changes so trainees can see where they can improve. This more gradual entry into the more complex assignments was a welcome one too: “They give us space to get used to things and then it becomes a dialogue with them about how much more we want. I think that the system has allowed me to progress quite well.” In one recent matter, the firm acted for Go City in their move to a new HQ in Grain House, Dryden Street, London.

If you’re looking for a fast-paced seat where you can get stuck in from the get-go, then the corporate group at RWK Goodman is selling what you’re buying. Literally, as M&A transactions will be taking up the bulk of your time: “You learn a lot quite quickly and get involved from A to Z on acquisitions and sales,” one trainee informed us. These transactions tend to revolve around three key sectors – banking and finance, health and social care, and technology. There’s also work available in capital markets, private equity and corporate governance matters. As trainees were quick to point out, expect a lot of client face time, drafting ancillary documents, liaising with solicitors, note-taking on calls, and being involved in completions. Trainees explained that due to the importance of these tasks, they have other people in the firm to fall back on when needed: “Everything I do is quite supervised,” one explained, “but we all work together to complete on that deal.” The general consensus was that a busy seat is a great way to learn fast too: “Corporate lends itself well to the trainee level. There’s a lot going on and you can get quite good at things with repetition.” In one recent matter, the firm advised national construction group, Lancer Scott Holdings, on a major restructuring. The work involved the transfer of business divisions into two newly incorporated subsidiaries.

Trainee Life

When it came to supervision, we heard feedback was common and detailed from whoever assigns trainees a piece of work: “They’re always ready to put something in the diary and discuss amendments they’ve made to something I’ve done, so I can improve.” Not all work is assigned by supervisors, but trainees do have weekly formal catchups where they are able to talk about progress and advocate for work. Outside of a standard onboarding and induction process, prospective trainees can expect minimal training sessions (although the commercial division seemed to have more than most) with the emphasis very much on learning on the job. Trainees weren’t too dismayed by this and assured: “The tasks are in line with how early you are in the seat. They build you up slowly with the experience you have.”

“I love being in the office, it’s the best way to learn.”

The regional offices were popular among those we spoke to, with open plan and hot desking to encourage socialisation. The London office, although being praised as a great location near St Paul’s, did draw some heat for its sub-basement positioning of its client and reception suite, as well as the lunch area. We heard trainees were encouraged to be in the office at least four days a week, a recommendation our sources took seriously: “I love being in the office, it’s the best way to learn.” On average, trainees told us they liked to start work around 8.30am and were out the door by 5.30pm. What’s more, weekend work was, we heard, practically unheard of.

We conducted this year’s research at a fortuitous time for trainees who had just recently been informed that they were receiving a significant salaryincrease of 25% in September 2024: “We weren’t expecting such a big jump, so it’s very much welcomed!” This, combined with notable benefits (including money off healthcare, dentistry, gym and therapy), had left trainees feeling very positive about the level of compensation on offer.

Trainees told us that the firm is social, if perhaps not as outgoing as other firms: “It’s as good as what you make it; trainees hang out at lunch and it’s a really warm environment, but we don’t really have the kind of culture where we go for a lot of after work drinks or anything like that.” This doesn’t mean firm events weren’t well-attended though. RWK Goodman hosts office specific summer parties before uniting the firm for an all-inclusive Christmas party. Sources did point out that trainee socialisation could be improved but that they’re optimistic about the future: “We told them we’d like more events for trainees to do things together and they’ve taken that on and now we have an event coming up soon.” This kind of discussion with the firm extends to the qualification process too, which we were told is as simple as reaching out to a partner and expressing interest in a particular group: “I just approached the head of the department, and it was an incredibly streamlined process, and it’s all worked out!” The firm retained a 4 of 5 qualifiers in 2024.

How to get an RWK Goodman training contract

Vacation scheme deadline: TBC but likely end of March

Training contract deadline: TBC but likely end of April

Applications

Each year the firm receives around 600 online applications for its training contract and vacation scheme. For the vacation scheme, which runs in April and lasts for four days, candidates who are selected from the online application will do a video interview. The four successful candidates spend four days at the firm, sitting in four different departments, one each day.

For those interested in the training contract, candidates are invited to attend an assessment day where they can expect to do a written exercise, a group exercise and an interview. What is the firm looking for? “Someone that demonstrates our values and is proactive,” HR tells us.

The firm runs a blind screening process, advertises on diverse platforms, and “also targets under-represented groups,” we heard.