Slaughter and May - True Picture

Slaughter and May training contract review 2025

The Firm

We’re all pretty familiar with the age-old wisdom that your best bet of finding ‘The One’ is to be open, and not put all your eggs in one basket. Well, this long-standing magic circle firm agrees, especially when it comes to a training contract. “The opportunity for multispecialism appealed to me,” one trainee told us, “Slaughter has generalised seats with a good mix of work, it seemed a no brainer!” As another put it: “The multispecialist approach is the reason why people want to stay join and stay here.” But there’s more to life at Slaughter and May than just multispecialisms, another major pull factor identified by our interviewees was the “surprising” culture: “It attracts people who enjoy law, who aren’t driven by office politics.”

“The multispecialist approach is the reason why people want to stay join and stay here.”

The firm continues to be best known for its corporate and finance work, with top Chambers UK rankings in London for banking & finance and corporate/M&A, along with top practices in competition law, financial crime, and tax. The firm is also recognised for its specialism in international arbitration nationwide. Talking international, while Slaughters doesn’t have many overseas offices (only Brussels, Hong Kong and Beijing) compared to others in the market, the firm works closely with a number of others overseas, and the majority of the firm's clients have international numbers.

This magic circle firm is taking the next steps to further open its doors to aspiring lawyers by introducing a solicitor apprenticeship scheme, with the first cohort starting in 2025. “Alternative routes into law are really important, so we are excited to offer people a career here through the solicitor apprenticeship route, and continue to broaden our pool of talent,” explained Dominic Robertson, the trainee recruitment partner. With the promise of six new apprentices, Robertson enthused that “we are very excited to get this journey started!”

The Seats

Halfway through their first seat, trainees meet with HR to discuss their seat preferences for the remainder of their training contract: “You are able to discuss your reasons for your choices. This is the only formal meeting you have with HR before you are allocated the rest of your seats, so you have to get your reasons across.” Corporate and finance are both compulsory seats, and all trainees are required to sit for three months in a contentious seat. But, as one trainee put it: “Corporate and finance are some of the biggest teams at Slaughters, with a workload to match, so they are always looking for trainees.”

Secondment opportunities become available once a trainee has sat in at least one of either corporate or finance, alongside one specialist seat: “The process is really clear. You fill out an application (which is somewhat similar to an UCAS application) which involves a personal statement about why you are applying to the secondment. It was low fuss” explained one interviewee. Recent international secondment opportunities include Brussels, Japan, New York, Spain and Hong Kong, though previous opportunities have been seen across Europe. Client secondments have also been available in previous years. Though, a word of warning: “International secondments to places like New York can be heavily subscribed due to NYs corporate and finance focus.”

Speaking of hattricks, the corporate group is split into three, which are named after the head of each team. After the first three months, trainees will change positions under a new supervisor. Coupled with Slaughter’s multispecialist approach, it is natural that “the work is quite varied as a trainee.” On the private equity side, “there was some responsibility to first draft emails to clients, but it was mainly managing signings and checklists and running the red lines.” Others in the corporate group managed to get their hands on research for fee earners and preparing board minutes. Seaters were happy to see some emerging work in the team: “While we see private equity work growing, our IEM practice is growing too, alongside our work in ESG and sustainability. It shows that we are always bettering ourselves.” Some notable clients include Aviva, Coca Cola and Next. The firm also advised Vodafone on its high-profile merger with Three UK.

“…like corporate, but having had 30 cups of coffee.”

As one trainee deftly put it: “The finance  team is like corporate, but having had 30 cups of coffee.” And it certainly wasn’t a secret among the current crop that trainees in the seat are “thrown in at the deep end”, touching on work in anything from real estate finance to project and general finance. Similarly to corporate, there is a rotation of finance supervisors halfway through the seat. On the borrower side, the firm has worked with clients such as ASOS and Rolls Royce, and advised Cineworld on a debtor in possession (DIP) finance facility following the cinema chain’s bankruptcy across the pond. Pure finance work meant trainees spent plenty of time on calls with clients and researching and updating finance documents. Those who were involved in real estate work found that “it is a bit more niche, so it was slightly harder to get involved. This meant I was mostly working on signings and implementing comments from seniors.” But, as a general rule, the involvement of trainees was praised by the cohort: “I felt really lucky to be riding the highs and lows of the team, I wasn’t just another trainee in the department.” And this support involvement went further than just internal networks: “The team are really good allowing you to attend closing dinners and client drinks, and even trust you to email a client!”

Given the firm’s multispecialist reputation, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that there’s plenty of praise for the contentious side of the coin at Slaughter and May. The disputes & investigations team in particular was highlighted by interviewees as a prime example of the firm’s multidisciplinary strength: “There is no arbitration, investigations or commercial litigation-specific groups,” one source told us, “so everyone has the option to work on everything.” A lot of work within the group is built around major class actions and group litigation, competition damage actions and banking disputes. For example, the firm acted for Credit Suisse in High Court litigation relating to bribery and corruption allegations arising out the ‘tuna bond’ scandal. Other clients in commercial litigation work include British American Tobacco and Shell. As you might expect, a trainees day-to-day in the seat depends in large part on the supervisor. For those dabbling in investigations, the “standard run of the mill work like chronologies, tracking updates of correspondence and reviewing documents for disclosure exercises is your bread and butter,” whereas others managed to prepare witness statements and attend hearings. Even when working on administrative stuff, one trainee told us, “I felt like a mini expert on the matter!”

“…a simple research task can eventually grow to external client advice.”

Competition, we heard, is a team in growth mode. “We have recently had an influx of lateral hires because the team was rapidly growing” explained one interviewee, “the work continues to be market leading and we spend our time working with the top clients.” And they weren’t wrong! The firm’s client list includes the likes of Activision, Coca Cola, Warner Music, ITV and Meta. Trainees have the chance to work across both the transactional and investigations sides of the coin, and “you are given as much work as you can take on.” Sources told us that responsibility grows with time, as “a simple research task can eventually grow to external client advice.” The work also has a certain degree of European flair, with trainees drafting merger notices to the Competition Markets Authority and jumping on European investigations. In fact, the firm’s opportunity for a three-month secondment to Brussels during the competition seat was said to be highly competitive (no pun intended). “Brussels is our hub for EU competition law work, so we have trainees going to there constantly” boasted one. In one recent case, the firm advised Google on the investigation of EU competition law breaches around its agreement with Meta for its Open Bidding programme.

Trainee Life

Trainees were happy recipients of regular training sessions, especially for the more specialist seats: “I wouldn’t have known much about pensions law going in!” one told us, “so it was good to have that consistent black letter law training.” Other sessions cover things like presentation skills and how to build a personal brand from the learning and development team. We even heard about external training from BPP on navigating transactional tasks like balance sheets. “Most training is hosted by associates, so it is good to have a person I can go to and speak about the training” stated a trainee. Of course, supervisors were highlighted as another source of knowledge at the firm. Experiences could be a bit hit and miss, depending on the match: “A partner supervisor can be extremely busy and can be difficult to pin down.” However, interviewees who had spent time working with both associate and partner supervisors praised the relationships as lasting longer than just six months: “I still really value their opinion and continue to have coffee with them.” In terms of feedback, “ad hoc feedback can fall on you” on top of the end of seat conversation that involves more “detailed feedback.”

So, how often are trainees in the office to see their supervisors? The current remote work policy for newbies is four days a week in the office, with three days a week for associates and partners. “It is a massive benefit that everyone is required to come into the office, so you can bounce ideas off the people you work with” praised an interviewee. When in the office, trainees share an office with their supervisor, but the firm follows an open-door policy “so you can still approach people with questions.”

Hours tended to fluctuate across seats, but “on a quiet day I could finish between six or seven, whereas on a busy day, I would be finishing at midnight and two a.m.” The firm was praised for their efforts in reducing the later hours as “we do get protected from the longer hours a lot by associates and partners.” The firm also encourages a “communicate, don’t cancel” policy, where “trainees should approach their supervisor before they cancel plans, because we are expected to set healthy boundaries as future lawyers.” Weekend work was a rarity and limited to one to two hours at a time. The general consensus was that, once that out of office is on, this was respected. The current crop described the firm’s salary package as “on market” at £50,000 during your first year and £55,000 for your second year. That said, trainees were quick to point out that they didn’t “want a ruthless culture, so I am happy with where I am.”

As is so often the case across industries, there’s a long way to go in terms of diversity at the top levels, “but  I think we are seeing more progress at the firm” highlighted a newbie. This effort was found in the firm’s affinity groups which includes social mobility, LBGTQ+ and Christian networks. The groups host events every week, in fact, “there was a firmwide event recently for the Women in Law group for people internally and externally. There was a massive turn out!” The LBGTQ+ network was also hyped for its panel with UK drag race queens, Shantay you May! The current trainee class was highlighted as “fairly” diverse with less diverse representation as you go up the firm’s hierarchy. “This doesn’t feel like a male dominated firm, so gender diversity is there, but the firm does still feel a bit white” noted a source. In terms of social mobility, some stated that “we have a good variation of state and non-state educated lawyers.”

“You will find us in group meetings totally geeking out over a new court judgement!”

Despite being an environment full of very academic minds, it was clear that the folks at Slaughter know when it’s time to relax: “There’s a trainee committee that hosts events regularly,” one told us. Departments also have drink trolleys and the ad hoc socials after work. “Events are very much an opt in thing and it isn’t mandatory,” explained a trainee. Instead, “you will find us in group meetings totally geeking out over a new court judgement!”

As qualification looms, final seaters are enrolled into a business skills training programme which focuses on effective communication and leadership skills as they transition to newly qualified lawyers. The HR team and firm’s training principal then briefs them on the firm’s “organic” process. “There is no interview process. You reach out to groups you want to qualify into and express an interest with the team’s partners and associates over a coffee” explained a source. Hopefuls then meet with the HR team to discuss the training contract and rank two top choices. “Corporate is always popular, but due to the slow market, we have seen a lot of interest in disputes because it is busier team to join” stated an insider. In 2024, the firm did not disclose its retention statistics.

How to get a Slaughter and May training contract

See firm's website for application deadlines

Initial applications

Applications for both the training contract and work experience schemes at Slaughter and May begin with a straightforward online form, plus a CV and one-page covering letter. “I just wrote why I wanted to join the firm and why I wanted to be a lawyer,” one of the firm's trainees recalled. “Keep it short and sweet, though it does need to be formal of course.” Oh, and make sure you leave out the ampersand: it's Slaughter AND May.

“We don’t have set criteria demanding you have three As at A-level,” a source in recruitment says (the firm asks for 'good' A-levels), “but we do look for a strong 2:1 degree.”

Vacation scheme

Slaughter and May starts receiving applications for its summer work experience schemes in autumn, and it's worth getting in there early as the firm schedules interviews on a rolling basis. The summer schemes are aimed at penultimate-year law and non-law students, as well as first year students on a two-year accelerated law degree.

The interview takes place virtually with a partner and an associate, and includes a discussion about a current affairs article.

Summer work experience students have the option of interviewing for a training contract during the last week of their placement. The firm informs us they aren't given special treatment over direct applicants, however, and are also required to do the written exercise direct applicants do as part of their interview process (see below).

The firm also runs a spring scheme for first-year law students and second year law students on a four-year degree, three spring open days for law and non-law students in their first year or second year of a four-year degree, and two virtual insight afternoons for final year students and graduates.-

There are usually around 25 students on each of the work experience schemes. All students sit in a single department for the duration of their visit, and take part in various workshops and case studies.

Training contract applications

The firm typically receives around 2,500 applications each year for up to 95 training contracts. In 2023 around 400 students were invited to an interview day, which included a written exercise, a partner interview , a chat with a trainee and a short interview with HR.

According to the firm's trainees, succeeding at interview involves “showing you can think laterally. They don't want you to repeat verbatim what you learnt at law school; they want new solutions and fresh ideas.” Our grad recruitment sources tell us the firm is particularly interested in those who demonstrate “the ability to show grit under pressure” and have “a range of interests outside the law.”