RWK Goodman - True Picture

RWK Goodman training contract review 2026

The Firm

Like many things in life, knowing when to stick to what you’re good at and knowing when to try something new is a tricky business. Fortunately, there are some who know how to strike the balance just right. Long known for its strong private client and personal injury focus, RWK Goodman is going through something of an evolution.

A quick glance at the Chambers UK rankings and you’ll see that the firm still holds the reigns in a number of its key practices, including top-tier rankings in clinical negligence and personal injury in the Thames Valley and the South West, family/matrimonial in Somerset and Swindon, and horse racing & equestrian UK-wide.

“RWK is growing.”

Make no mistake though, RWK Goodman is more than a couple-trick pony. Applicants who made it through to the firm’s training contract made it clear that the full-service offering was a key draw for them. So too was the fact that “RWK is growing,” particularly in the commercial space.

The firm offers seats in the Bristol office, which was opened in 2024, but is not home to any full-time trainees. Otherwise, trainees are based across the firm’s remaining locations with the largest number situated in London, followed by Bath, and then Oxford.

The Seats

RWK Goodman’s training contract consists of four six-month seats, allocated with consideration given to trainees’ preferences. “Early Careers send out a list of available seats and we put down our top three choices explaining why we want each one,” one interviewee outlined, with trainees generally feeling that “everyone has been treated quite fairly,” with the caveat that those based in certain offices might have a better chance of getting their preferred choices, just by way of numbers.

“In the Thames Valley there are fewer trainees so it’s a bit easier” – Bristol similarly has a low trainee count, but “in London we have eight trainees which is quite a few so I pity them having to balance everyone’s interests, but it’s all done by business need.” Fortunately, as trainees get closer to qualification they get given higher priority so they’re unlikely to miss out on their preferred seat before choosing where they want to qualify. We heard that while employment and corporate tend to be the most popular seats, the firm doesn’t require trainees do a seat in any particular group.

“…it’s complex and high value stuff.”

RWK Goodman’s injury practice covers poly trauma, amputations, industrial disease, and brain and spinal cord injuries, “so it’s complex and high value stuff. As a trainee, you’re placed into one of those streams, but the kind of work you get is all based on business need.” As a result, newbies can theoretically pick up work from any of the group’s four departments.

Trainees are tasked with helping out on anything from duty of care to asbestos claims in the High Court, so it’s understandable that much of the work is “very investigative and therefore very research heavy.” Newbies here spend a good amount of time working through the paperwork, going through medical records, preparing letters of claim, and writing instructions to counsel, but we heard there was also a good amount of client contact. “A lot of the time is spent visiting clients and writing witness statements,” and, particularly in industrial disease, “tracking down the employer who exposed the client, seeing if they have insurance, and getting them to admit liability.”

As one trainee put it: “I didn’t realise how varied  dispute resolution was.” It’s a department that will touch on almost every kind of client the firm has, from high-net-worth individuals to UK businesses. “You can work across fraud, insolvency, general contracts, debts, and banking & finance,” one told us, with the firm also working across general commercial disputes and IP in the space.

Although “every email is checked by your supervisor” (a reassurance given the nature of the work), trainees do get the chance to do “a lot of letter drafting to the other side and correspondence with counsel to instruct them on what the case is about and what we need them to draft.” Trainees also get a fair few opportunities to attend court, “attending court or mediations and taking notes.”

The folks in real estate work across three main areas: development, property finance, and commercial leasehold, for a variety of clients from charities to retail outlets. The firm recently acted for the charity, Homeless Oxfordshire, in the management of its property portfolio which provides accommodation for homeless people, but it has also dealt with multiple leases for All Saints Retail and even helped with the sale and leaseback of the Seven Dials Playhouse theatre in London.

“The six months flies by” trainees told us, with typical tasks including drafting documents from transfer forms and inquiries on a purchase to more complicated drafting like licences, leases and deeds. “You’re running your own files,” one explained, which meant that insiders were pretty positive about the level of responsibility on offer for those willing to take it. “You can even get some experience on property disputes,” one trainee added, “if you make it known you’re interested. It’s not much, but you can dip into it if they have the business need.”

We heard that  corporate“is quite a demanding department,” comprised mainly of M&A transactions across banking and finance, health and social care, and technology, alongside capital markets, private equity, and corporate governance matters. The group has worked on matters ranging from £10 to £100 million, and with that carries a lot of expectation. In one recent deal, the firm advised Kent Space on the sale of a portfolio of companies offering self-storage and serviced office facilities in Kent to global real estate investment firm Hines.

Trainees highlighted that on these kinds of deals, there will always be “pressure with completion from clients” and that means the need to understand that much of the work is quite heavily supervised, with supervisors watching over drafting of ancillaries, schedules of contract, and buyback documentation. That said, trainees can get work from all of the different offices, meaning there’s no shortage of variety.

“…the clients are the mostly high net worth individuals, with high expectations…”

As one of the firm’s real strength areas, RWK Goodman’s private client  practice features “a lot of face-to-face client meetings.” It’s a seat that was heavily appreciated given that it comes with an increased level of responsibility, which helps with confidence and communication skills. Our interviews cautioned that the practice doesn’t come without caveats given that “many of the clients are high net worth individuals, with high expectations,” but trainees are tasked with the typical will signings and estate administration work.

“There are a lot of supervised home visits,” as well as “working with specialist tax advisers to help with tax planning, setting up financial investment companies and other tax efficient ways to pass wealth down the generations…” – so interesting stuff. Trainees can also “dip your toe into contentious work in private client. You can help with making applications they need submitted to court, phoning and following up with the courts.”

Trainee Life

Trainees are typically expected in the office four days a week, but our interviewees didn’t have any complaints: “You get more exposure it’s great coming in,” one insider told us – and in the cases where the office is a little emptier (“everyone else is in at least twice a week”) trainees told us they were reassured that “there's no pressure to come in when there’s nobody else in.”

Supervisors typically try to go in at the same time as trainees, but “each supervisor is different,” with some opting to leave newbies more or less to their own devices, while others scheduled more frequent catch ups. All supervisors also conduct start, middle, and end of seat reviews, but “they don’t micro-manage you.” Trainees’ two supervisors are typically senior fee-earners, which our interviewees felt was great for learning-by-osmosis – crucial given that, although there is structured training in the first year, most learning happens on the job. Although supervisors are typically trainees’ go-to for work and (surprise surprise) supervision, “you do also get that from other people in the team.” 

“It’s a good place to be if you want to get to know people.”

Each of the firm’s offices operates an open plan hot desking system which helps trainees interact with fee-earners across the firm, something which they saw as great for both training and socialising too: “It’s a good place to be if you want to get to know people. I’ve forged some good connections across the firm with trainees and others,” and the firm helps to support this through social committees in each of the offices.

These committees havehelped set up groupslike the firm book club - “for people who want to escape from work!” -and a monthly breakfast club,  “which is like a networking breakfast. It’s really popular both in Bath and Bristol.” Aside from RWK Goodman’s Oxford office, which is in a business park a little way from the city centre, the firm’s offices are in fairly central locations which is ideal for getting people in the office. “My favourite thing about the Londonoffice is the location,” one told us, which is close to St Pauls, “so you can pop over the river to the Tate Modern, the Globe, and Piccadilly Circus is nearby.” The Bath office is “like a two or three minute walk to the centre, and it’s by the river which is nice,” and the Bristol office is also central in a building choc-a-bloc with a café, gym, and yoga classes to boot.

The trainees receive a social budget – “I think it’s £100 a year per head?”– which helps to ensure they consistently have tight knit cohorts. Trainees across the different offices also get together for seasonal socials: “This summer we’re all planning on going to Oxford to meet up,” alongside firm-hosted parties like the end of financial year drinks and the firmwide Christmas party which was held in Bristol last year.

Last September, the trainee salary  at the firm was increased to £41.5K (London) and £35k (Bath and Thames Valley). Our interviewees admitted that “for a London firm you’re not paid as much… but for the balance you get, it’s worth it.” Everyone we spoke with was of a similar opinion too, largely because the firm’s expected working hours are sustainable enough for a good work-life balance. Employees also get “quite a bit of holiday, and you can buy up to five days back,” so all in all “it’s not a firm where you’re selling your soul – it works well.”

This was also a key reason for our interviewees all wanting to stay at the firm beyond qualification. The process consists of a conversation with HR and the departments to see if there is a spot available: “There’s a lot of transparency in the process, I feel well supported,” one told us, “a lot of people have been here for a very long time, and that makes me want to stay for the long term.” RWK Goodman did not disclose its 2025 retention rate.

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.