Stephenson Harwood LLP - True Picture

Firm profile

Stephenson Harwood is a law firm of over 1,300 people worldwide, including more than 190 partners. Our people are committed to achieving the goals of our clients — listed and private companies, institutions and individuals. We assemble teams of bright thinkers to match our clients’ needs and give the right advice from the right person at the right time. Dedicating the highest calibre of legal talent to overcome the most complex issues, we deliver pragmatic, expert advice that is set squarely in the real world.

Main areas of work

Commercial litigation; corporate; employment, pensions and private wealth; finance; marine and international trade; real estate and projects.

Training opportunities

There’s a lot to look forward to as a trainee at Stephenson Harwood: top quality global work across a range of sectors, an environment that balances cutting-edge work with a respectful, friendly culture, and the chance to prove yourself on an international secondment. We work in small teams, so every person is critical — that’s why we’ll expect you to work to the best of your ability every day. Our training is not only structured and practical but highly personalised, so you’ll have everything you need to develop along a career path that’s absolutely right for you. Following a week’s intensive induction and a comprehensive post-induction programme, you’ll complete four seats — each six months long — across different practice areas. You could find yourself working on anything from a high-profile, multi-million financial litigation case to a ground-breaking M&A deal. You could even spend time on secondment at a client’s office or do an international seat in our Seoul, Singapore, Dubai or Paris offices.

Placement schemes

Our winter, spring and summer placement schemes will give you a real taste of life at the firm. We’ll make sure you’re involved in quality work and will try to help you experience any areas of law you’re particularly interested in. Typically you’ll spend one or two weeks in our offices, sitting with qualified lawyers and tackling some case work. You’ll also benefit from an organised programme of interactive sessions, talks and social events.

On your first day, we’ll assign you a buddy — a current trainee who’ll help you settle in, answer your questions and give you an honest overview of what it’s like to work for us.

A placement gives you a great opportunity to talk informally to existing trainees, lawyers, partners and support teams to find out just why the law and Stephenson Harwood are such attractive career options. What’s more, we’ll pay you £420 a week. 
 
Dubai placement scheme dates: 16-27th June 2025
Applications open: Now
Applications close: Friday 28 February 2025

Details of scheme:
During the placement scheme, you will take part in an assessment day to be considered for a training contract beginning in March or September 2027. Your flights to Dubai and accommodation (if not resident in Dubai) will be provided for you along with a daily allowance of AED 150.

Who is eligible to apply?
Training contracts and the placement scheme are open to anyone in their penultimate year of a law degree or final year of study of a non-law degree. We also welcome applications from postgraduates and individuals who have pursued other careers before committing to the legal profession. For a Dubai training contract, you must attend a placement scheme and be assessed during the scheme.

Link to apply: Dubai: Stephenson Harwood Graduates

Other benefits

We want you to feel valued so we’ll offer you a range of flexible benefits including: critical illness cover, dental health scheme, subsidised gym membership, private health insurance and screening, life assurance, pension, private GP services, subsidised café, retail discounts and a travel to work loan.

Open days and first-year opportunities

Come along to one of our virtual or in-house open days in November, December, January, February or March to get a good feel for what a career at a mid-sized international law firm is really like. You’ll meet partners, associates and trainees as well as the future talent team.

Our virtual open days take place on the 22 November 2023 and 6 December 2023. Our in-house open days take place on 17 January 2024 and 13 March 2024. Our disability open day takes place on 7 February 2024.

Diversity, inclusion and wellbeing
Our vision is to be known as an inclusive and diverse firm, where all our people feel they can be themselves and thrive at work. 

Our people are our biggest asset. We want Stephenson Harwood to be a place where you can do your best work in a team that values who you are and the unique perspectives and contributions that you bring. That is how we unlock our entrepreneurial spirit.

Our strategy focuses on culture, leadership and talent management, and recruitment. To deliver our strategy, we work with a range of organisations including Stonewall, The Business Disability Forum, Aspiring Solicitors, Rare Recruitment, City Parents and many more.

Our employee networks are for, and run by, our people. They create a sense of belonging by celebrating diversity, connecting people across the business, and working with the community. Whatever your role, you can contribute to fostering our inclusive and healthy culture by joining our employee networks: SHARED (Stephenson Harwood advancing racial and ethnic diversity), Disability and neurodiversity, Gender equality, Mental health and wellbeing, SHout (LGBT+) and Social mobility.

In addition to hiring a diverse group of employees, we know we need to foster a culture of inclusion, where all of our people can be themselves and thrive at work. It’s about equality and opportunity, making sure that talented people can thrive and progress at Stephenson Harwood. All of our trainees and associates have a dedicated supervisor or development partner, who has responsibility for supporting their development and career progression, with support from other partners in their group. We are focused on fair work allocation for all. We currently have structured work allocation pilots in two of our practice groups, with the aim of ensuring that the distribution of work is equitable; we are looking to extend this programme across our business.