Sullivan & Cromwell LLP - True Picture

Sullivan & Cromwell training contract review 2026

The Firm

Describing a law firm as the pine tree of the legal world might sound a bit odd, but stay with us! The pine is known for its vast network of branches, remarkable resilience to the conditions it finds itself in, and they are found almost anywhere in the world. Sound familiar? US giant Sullivan & Cromwell’s 13 offices span four continents, with a depth of expertise in transactional practices uniting all of them.

Breadth and reach are recurring themes at the firm too, with trainees fitting into a generalist traineeship structure, providing new starters with a broad practice and flexibility from the outset: “It allows you to develop a versatile skill set rather than being pigeonholed into one area,” one told us.

“It allows you to develop a versatile skill set rather than being pigeonholed into one area…”

The firm receives nods from Chambers UK across the likes of energy & natural resources, projects, and capital markets nationwide. There’s further praise for its corporate M&A and restructuring/insolvency work in London. There has been investment at the firm in areas such as financial regulation too. In June 2025, the London office brought in Barnabas Reynolds, a prominent figure in UK financial regulation, as a partner.

The Seats

Trainees at Sullivan & Cromwell follow a distinctive training structure: two six-month seats in the first year, followed by three four-month seats in the second. Before arriving, trainees submit their top three practice area preferences. From there, it’s a conversation: “Everyone gets the seats they want – it’s not a matter of if, it’s just a matter of when.”

We heard there are no compulsory seats, although most trainees are expected to spend time in a transactional seat at some point. Seat options span capital markets, M&A, finance & restructuring and more. The generalist model means “you go where the work goes,” with flexibility and cross-department collaboration.

“I’m currently in discussions to go to either Hong Kong or Sydney!”

Every trainee is guaranteed both a client and an international secondment, each lasting four months: “There’s no competition for international secondments,” one trainee shared, “I’m currently in discussions to go to either Hong Kong or Sydney!” International secondment opportunities also include the likes of Paris and Brussels, with New York remaining the golden apple: “It’s the beating heart of the firm.” Client secondments typically take place at high-profile institutions like Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan.

M&A is a popular seat, and as is the case for all the practices at Sullivan & Cromwell, the firm advises clients on both the UK and US aspects of the deals it works on. The team also has particular strength in corporate governance, covering both traditional corporate governance practices and corporate governance litigation. “It’s everything I could possibly hope for,” one trainee told us.

One of the highlights for the current crop of trainees was the opportunity to get in front of clients, email them directly and draft and negotiate documents. As one put it: “There is a culture of trusting trainees.” The department’s client list includes a number of household names, from Space X to AXA. In one recent deal, the firm advised Allianz in its private placement investment in Nasdaq-listed AlTi Global.

The general consensus was that project finance offers a slightly different pace: “It can be slower than in seats like private equity,” one trainee admitted, “because the transactions are often much larger in scale.” S&C’s project finance practice revolves around the financing of natural resources, green energy and renewable infrastructure developments.

In one recent example, the firm advised Canadian company Barrick Gold on the project financing of a dig project at one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits in Pakistan. For trainees in the seat, there is the opportunity to manage deal documentation and trackers, giving them a broad overview of the moving parts: “Paradoxically, you’ll never have this much visibility over all aspects of a deal again in your career.”

In capital markets, trainees can expect to pick up work across any of the firm’s specialisms, covering debt and equity offerings, regulatory matters and bond issuances. IPOs are something of a forte for Sullivan & Cromwell too, with the firm having worked on six of the ten largest IPOs of all time.

On top of all that, “there is lots of advisory work for listed companies,” one told us, encompassing some corporate governance crossover for the relevant clients. Like a lot of departments at S&C, there’s a significant cross-border element, and there’s plenty of work for big companies elsewhere in Europe, including the likes of Ferrari, the European Investment Bank and Swisscom AG.

“You have to understand what the client is selling and familiarise yourself with the market they are working in.”

“In competition, the work has been especially varied, even though in some ways it’s an ancillary area,” one trainee told us.There’s plenty of merger control work on the competition law aspects of M&A transactions, as well as work for companies under investigation by the European Commission for potential breaches of competition law.

We heard that “the kind of work vastly depends on the type of deal you are on, but there is a lot of market research. You have to understand what the client is selling and familiarise yourself with the market they are working in.” In one recent example, the firm advised Discover Financial Services on the competition aspects of its merger with Capital One Financial Corporation.

Trainee Life

Of course, as is the case at most firms of S&Cs calibre, prospective trainees should expect hard work, but not without support: “The culture is very supportive and friendly!” one told us. All the trainees we spoke to described their supervisors as a friend as well as a superior: “I could not wish for a better supervisor. We talk about our lives and interests as well as work.”

When it came to the office environment, the free food doesn’t hurt either. The in-house canteen is open all day, and there’s an allowance for late-night takeaways. The London office, just steps away from the Royal Courts of Justice and St Paul’s Cathedral, was described by one trainee as “a bit dated,” but a renovation is reportedly on the way. In the meantime, there’s plenty of space, and the office boasts a roof terrace with prime views of London.

It is here that a team gathers to celebrate the closing of a deal, sometimes with a glass of champagne while watching the sun set over the Thames. As one put it: “I decided I wanted to be a lawyer after watching Suits. It definitely lives up to the Suits expectations – I even had to opportunity to spend time in New York!” The consensus amongst sources was that with a smaller cohort comes smaller, more regular social events. "Because we are small, office-wide events are informal and relaxed. Trainees speak to partners all the time as they would with any other colleague at social events." Trainees described everything from Thursday drinks to outdoors sports (softball recently in Regents Park), "there's so many I don’t always get the chance to make them!"

“It definitely lives up to the Suits expectations…”

The general approach to home working is that trainees should be in the office more often than not, with four days a week in the office reportedly being the norm. Quieter periods might even allow a 5.30pm finish, but it was clear from interviewees that late nights were not unheard of, particularly around busy periods. The renumeration however is top-notch, with the firm quick to match the top of the market, and trainees are eligible for discretionary bonuses on top of their base salary.

We heard there’s plenty of training opportunities on offer: “We do have sessions with a corporate training specialist and finance training specialist who will run sessions at lunchtime,” one told us; “they are all recorded, and they feel quite like university lectures.” The emphasis, though, is very much on on-the-job learning: “A lot of the learning is in having a first crack at stuff. But this is the best way to learn for me, and they’ll never throw you in blind.” Another source of support was the camaraderie within the small cohort: “The relationship between the juniors is stand out. That camaraderie and support has really helped me.”

Come qualification time, the process is relatively informal, with the bulk of the assessment taking place throughout the two years. This meant trainees didn’t have to interview. With most of the practices falling under the broad ‘general practice’ banner, it’s not a case of applying to specific practice groups.In 2025, the firm retained a full house ofqualifiers!

How to get a training contract at Sullivan & Cromwell

Spring and Summer Vacation scheme deadlines (2026 schemes): December 5, 2025

Training contract deadline (2028 training contracts): June 16, 2026

Application

Sullivan & Cromwell's award-winning trainee programme takes up to 12 candidates a year. Sullivan & Cromwell accepts online applications and these need to be tip-top perfect to stand out from the crowd, too – the firm gets 650 to 700 applications for its training contracts as well as an additional 650 to 700 applications for its vacation schemes in the Spring and the Summer.

So, what's the secret to getting to interview? The firm's trainee solicitor recruitment manager Kirsten Davies explains that “some candidates copy and paste deals from our website, but we know that information already because, of course, we worked on those deals. What's more helpful is to let us know why they interest you, and how they match what you want from the job.” She also adds that candidates should write a “punchy letter of motivation, covering no more than one side of A4 to accompany their online application.”

Interviews

Candidates called back to the next stage come into the firm's offices for a morning or an afternoon session. This starts with an informal chat with Davies. Candidates are interviewed by two partners separately and have a tour of the office conducted by trainees, including introductions to key members of the office. Davies explains that “our assessment process is very collaborative, so I will speak to the partners about my time with the candidates, and we'll also speak to the trainees who took them for coffee. More often than not everyone's on the same page.”

Vacation scheme

Candidates for the vacation scheme go through the same process – online application and interview session as direct applicants for the training contract. Up to twenty candidates a year are selected to go on a two-week placement at the firm during the spring and summer. Davies tells us that “they are allocated a work coordinator and mentor and are fully immersed in the firm. We aim to have a good balance between work and social activities.” Vac schemers get the generous sum of £2500 in total for the two-week scheme, as well as being considered for a training contract. Around two-thirds of Sullivan & Cromwell trainees so far have been through the vacation scheme.

Trainee profile

Sullivan & Cromwell plays particularly close attention to grades. As Davies tells us: “We take grades quite seriously, so that means we're looking for at least a high 2:1. We ask for a full percentage breakdown of academic results right the way through. We understand if there's the odd blip along the way, but we do look for consistency.” Grades aside, she adds that the firm looks for “common sense, commercial aptitude, analytical skills, enthusiasm, resilience, initiative, and motivation to be part of the team at Sullivan & Cromwell. We have relatively small intakes, so people are given a much higher level of responsibility, so it's also important trainees have the level of confidence to handle that level of work.”