Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (UK) LLP - True Picture

Skadden training contract review 2026

The Firm 

“We’re one of the only firms that’s mentioned in Suits, but they always seem to namedrop us in a bad way, like ‘Oh bloody Skadden, this or that’,” headlined one insider. Quick disclaimer: Suits is not the standard when it comes to understanding what a legal career is really like (that’s where we come in!). It’s also not to be taken at face value, especially when it comes to casting judgement on real-life firms. However, what we can promise is that a firm with its own profile on Suits Wiki certainly has gravitas.  

Indeed, Skadden’s a firm with a storied history in its hometown of New York City, with a legacy dating back to the 40s. Clearly, its influence has since spread worldwide, with its first international office opening in Tokyo in 1987 and a London office shortly after. Its reputation also followed: this means that “we’re not just local counsel for New York or Chicago. We do our own thing and generate a lot of our own work,” local insiders explained.

In fact, training principal and European head of capital markets Danny Tricot emphasises how the London office has been a strategic focus for the wider firm: “In the last five or so years in particular, we have been on a real growth journey. We’ve invested very significantly in our London office and have sought to expand in most of the areas we cover.”The investment has certainly paid off: Skadden has earned a gold stamp from our colleagues over at Chambers UK for its London-based international commercial arbitration practice. Banking & finance, corporate/M&A and commercial and corporate litigation are just a few examples of other practices that receive recognition from the guide. 

“It felt like it was this beast of a firm on the outside, but you meet people and they’re actually so nice.” 

Despite “feeling like an English firm where I’m practising English law,” according to one source, Skadden still offers its trainees all the typical benefits you’d expect from a training contract at a US firm. This means that increased responsibility, leaner teams and “generalist department headings” are all part of the package deal. But, with such a reputation, one interviewee’s initial concern was that “it felt like it was this beast of a firm on the outside, but you meet people and they’re actually so nice. I could tell that from the very first day of the vacation scheme.”

In fact, this supportive training environment is a matter of pride for the firm, according to Tricot, who tells us, “Everyone seems to have a close-knit group of friends within the firm, and they get on really well. Trainees regularly get together and are constantly feeding off each other, getting lunch and going out. I think that attitude enhances how well they work together and learn from each other.” 

The Seats 

Ahead of their first seat, incoming trainees are invited to rank a total of 15 seats in order of preference. Fortunately, trainees assured that this doesn’t mean it’s likely that you’ll end up with your 15th choice coming into the firm: “For three out of four of my seats I got my first or second choice, and only one seat was my fourth.” Skadden allocates seats in twos, meaning that trainees join the firm with their first year mapped out, and so on.

Trainees also have the opportunity to apply to one of a number of international secondments. “It feels a bit like applying for a vacation scheme,” a trainee recalled, “you write a few short paragraphs on why you’re interested in a secondment and what skills you could bring.” Currently, Skadden offers a competition seat in Brussels, a litigation seat in Hong Kong and corporate seats in New York and Abu Dhabi. It’s worth noting that these practice area distinctions are not entirely set in stone: “It can be a mix depending on business need, especially in the new Abu Dhabi office which is still relatively small. You work with anyone who needs your help.” 

“Partners rely on you and will share your updates with clients.” 

Many trainees will likely do a seat with the financial sponsors team, which mainly works on buy- and sell-side acquisitions across sectors for private equity houses. Many of these are repeat clients, and trainees relished the fact that “the work is pretty much always international. Even UK-based deals usually involve lots of elements from other jurisdictions.” For instance, the team represented BlackRock on its $3.2 billion acquisition of Preqin, a transaction which spanned multiple jurisdictions given the target company’s large number of subsidiaries.

Insiders explained how the work is “so fast paced, as you essentially have a month to complete tasks which would take six to nine months if it were an M&A transaction.” As things move so quickly, trainees need to stay organised and are expected to keep track of workstreams. “You’re the person who monitors the inbox for the deal team, and you really need to be on top of where things are and how it’s progressing,” an interviewee explained, “Partners rely on you and will share your updates with clients.” Even though newbies were clear that “value comes from speed and efficiency” in private equity, one interviewee appreciated how “I was told to slow down and take time to think.”

As such, sources felt it was a great seat for learning all sorts of different skills, especially since they were also kept busy reviewing and drafting non-disclosure agreements and ancillary deal documents, responding to emails, collating transaction documents and coordinating local counsel. Newbies are also very involved in the due diligence process, liaising with specialist teams across the firm and often having a go at first drafts of due diligence reports. 

An M&A seat offers a similar look into Skadden’s transactional work, yet “the main difference is that our M&A clients are generally trade buyers trying to make strategic acquisitions,” trainees noted. Insiders explained how it’s “intentionally a very generalised practice,” with a recent focus on FinTech and crypto. There’s also a mix of public and private work, with clients such as Prada, Nokia and Nasdaq on the books. On one recent matter, Skadden advised International Paper Company on both the US and UK aspects of its $9.9 billion takeover of DS Smith, and international packaging company.

Trainee responsibility reportedly “depends on how proactive the trainee is,” but most start off with the more typical tasks, learning the basics of a transaction and managing trackers. As they progressed, trainees were happy to handle a broad range of tasks, including notetaking on calls, conducting corporate research and drafting ancillary documents. One source was happy to explain how they got to try drafting a core transaction document, even though they “didn’t have any experience beforehand. My supervisor gave me some guidance, and we went through it together afterwards,” they said. 

“The people I worked with seemed super interested in what I had to say.” 

Skadden keeps it broad on the contentious side of things, offering a generalist seat in litigation and arbitration. At the time of writing, interviewees had done slightly more arbitration than litigation work and, as an example, the team has been advising Kuwaiti company Agility Public Warehousing on its billion-dollar telecoms claim against Iraq. Overall, the department works on “very high value matters which go on for ages and are very complex but, within that, we do a whole range, from crypto and tech to energy and pharmaceuticals,” sources explained.

The seat naturally comes with some of the more typical trainee tasks, such as research, attendance notes, proofreading and bundling. However, insiders appreciated the level of trust from senior members of the team, noting how responsibility increases as the seat progresses. A trainee was also keen to share, “the people I worked with seemed super interested in what I had to say. They’ve been doing this job for ages, but they still listen to what you have to say and encourage you to really think about everything.” So, beyond classic newbie tasks, many in the seat get to help with more high-level work, such as drafting pleadings and corresponding with experts. If timing allows, trainees can also go to court to observe hearings in-person, too. 

Trainee Life 

Pro bono at Skadden is a pretty big deal, and don’t just take our word for it. Trainees had plenty to say about the topic, including the fact that “we average around 60 hours of pro bono per person in the London office.” It certainly helps that all lawyers can count any time spent on pro bono towards their billable hours which, in turn, determines their annual bonus. However, aside from this, for many of our interviewees the benefits were simpler: “Some of my most rewarding achievements have come from pro bono. It’s the sort of work that makes you feel like you’re actually being a lawyer!”

In particular, many trainees take part in the Free Family Representation & Advocacy Project, which connects clients with legal advocates. The cases are typically divorce disputes, but it gives trainees a rare opportunity to do some oral advocacy in front of a judge. “It’s scary being a trainee going up against a barrister, but even though it’s challenging, you have a meaningful impact on the lives of people who need your help,” a trainee reflected. 

So, with such a varied workload, it’s safe to say that trainees are kept plenty busy. In terms of hours, weeks can vary from regular 9am to 6pms, to “100-hour weeks at my busiest.” Working patterns also differ depending on the department, with trainees in transactional teams adjusting to “some short, very busy periods where you’re working until 3am to meet deadlines, and then you get some time to relax afterwards. It means people keep telling me the work is hard enough as it is, so no one will fault you for enjoying quiet times.”

In other teams such as litigation, hours can get similarly hectic but there’s often more time to prepare: “My team told me ahead of the Christmas period that it was going to get chock-a-block, so I was ready for it.” These are the kinds of differences you’ll encounter across the legal industry, but insiders explained that expectations at Skadden are that “when it’s all hands on deck ahead of a deadline, you’re expected to put the hours in to get it done, even if it’s a weekend or evening.”

Still, trainees aren’t expected to be present for the sake of it – and holidays and other commitments will be protected when possible – but insiders were clear that “you’re supposed to be responsive and available.” This meant that many were especially optimistic when it comes to the salary: “it’s tough for us to complain. We’re paid top of the market, and all that hard work comes with the expectation that you’ll get a much higher salary once you stay and qualify.” 

“We actually like spending time with each other!” 

These expectations play some part in the culture as there’s an “internal drive to excellence.” Even so, “people are hard-working and intense, but never in a super stressed-out way that would feed into any kind of bad culture.” More specifically, according to those on the inside, “it’s a people-driven culture. You feel supported, people have their heads screwed on with a good set of morals and they’re interesting to talk to. It’s a good recipe for working together.”

Trainee cohesion received resounding praise from interviewees, one of whom went so far as to say, “I love the other trainees. They’re one of my favourite groups of people in the world.” Though a small bunch, trainees have arranged plenty of socials amongst themselves, including “going out to watch The Godfather on a random weekday. We actually like spending time with each other!” There are also firmwide socials, such as annual summer and Christmas parties, as well as team-specific dos, including a weekly financial sponsors general knowledge quiz. 

The level of support also stood out to our trainee interviewees, who happily told us, “The people I’ve worked with have been very generous. They try to give you learning opportunities, space to improve, plenty of feedback, and extra support if you’re struggling.” This is aided by the fact that trainees share an office with their supervisors (usually a mid-level or senior associate) so you “don’t have to build questions up for the end of the day. If they’re free, you can ask whenever and they’re happy to help.”

Trainees work closely with their supervisors in some seats, but interviewees pointed out how they are also there for moral support and managing or protecting trainee time. Insiders advised that making the most of the relationship for one-to-one training and feedback is especially helpful. “It’s some of the most valuable training I’ve had at the firm,” said one trainee, “The fact that you have supervisors who are that senior but also that open is a godsend when you’re trying to kickstart your career.” Trainees also get assigned an NQ mentor at the start of their training contract and, once they become NQs themselves, they can then choose another mentor outside of their department. 

“… people generally only come to us with their most complicated work.” 

On top of this, there is plenty of training on offer to help newbies’ development, though it differs significantly across seats. Private equity, for example, has a very structured training regimen and “runs like a well-oiled machine!” Partners and senior associates hold regular sessions, and M&A trainees typically join as well.

In litigation, meanwhile, it’s much less formalised, and most learning comes from trying things and getting feedback. Interviewees saw the value in both methods, noting how “you accumulate knowledge. Some is formal, some is informal, but you’re constantly learning. Our fees are so high that people generally only come to us with their most complicated work. Everything you work on is pretty complex.” 

The qualification process kicks off in May, when fourth-seat trainees formally submit their top choice for qualification alongside a brief cover letter indicating why they want to qualify into the team. After this, the trainee development team looks at trainees’ preferences, compares them to the needs of the business and then allocates and offers jobs within a month.

Although most of the process “happens behind the scenes and is probably opaque by industry standards,” those who had been through it “got the sense that people are fairly satisfied.” There are typically no interviews – after all, the training contract is essentially a two-year-long interview – which means that “a lot of the process is about going up to the partners you’ve worked for, expressing your interest in joining the team, and asking about how likely you are to get an NQ position there.” Skadden did not disclose its 2025 trainee retention rates.

How to get a Skadden training contract 

APPLY HERE 

Vacation scheme and training contract deadline: 1 December 2025 

Scope of recruitment 

Future trainees at Skadden need a strong academic record including the standard 2:1 degree, but training principal Danny Tricot is quick to tell us “we don't only hire on the basis of candidates being clever. We also want to see that they are ambitious, motivated self-starters. We typically operate in small groups, so we need people who are happy to be treated like an associate from day one.” He goes on to say, “they also need to work well with others – somebody you'd be happy to work late with on a transaction.” We're told that although the lion's share of applications generally come from a couple of handfuls of universities (among them Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, Bristol, UCL, LSE and King's), this shouldn’t put off those from other universities applying as there is still a wide diversity of backgrounds at the firm. The firm does not accept direct training contract applications; all applicants must come in via the vacation scheme. 

Application process 

Applications begin with an online form. “Candidates should really tailor their answers,” says Tricot, “we need to get a sense of who you are and why Skadden is the place for you – we can tell when you've applied to 50 other firms with the same copy/paste responses.” He also advises detailing why certain points are relevant. “We often hear about various awards and competitions, but instead of just naming them and saying you came first, tell us what inspired you. Frankly, I don't mind if you didn’t come first – it's about explaining what you drew from it.” 

Previous legal work experience “isn't crucial” to land a spot, though Tricot says he is “a bit disappointed” when candidates don't have any work experience at all. “Put everything you've done down on your CV, even if it's shop work or working in a restaurant – that shows you've got a strong work ethic.” 

Written exercise and interview 

From a total of 1,500+ applicants, up to 250 are invited to the firm's written exercise. 

Following from this exercise, the top 120 candidates are invited to complete an interview with two lawyers. “In this interview, we want to get an idea of what kind of person you are,” says Tricot, “so we tend to talk about what's on your application form and why you think Skadden is for you.” 

Passing these steps is a prerequisite for getting on the vacation scheme. 

Vacation schemes 

The firm invites 70 candidates to attend a vacation scheme in spring or summer. Each scheme lasts two weeks, with candidates splitting their time between two departments. Vacation schemers “are treated like trainees, and the work they produce will often be used,” says Tricot. “It's all about giving them an accurate picture of what it's like behind the desk.” Current trainees gave the experience two thumbs up: “I saw a big difference between Skadden's scheme and the others I went on, where it felt like they were trying to pull the wool over my eyes with cocktails and canapés,” said one. “At Skadden, they treat you like adults from the get-go and don't try to sell you a fairytale. For example, I told a couple of associates I was worried about the hours I'd be expected to do, and they all went straight away to print out their time sheets to show me the reality.” 

Candidates also undergo an interview with two partners during the vacation scheme. This is accompanied by a presentation on a current affairs issue. Typically, Skadden offers around 20 training contracts per year, and successful candidates can expect to hear back shortly after their vacation scheme. 

Interview with Danny Tricot, Training Principal

The Firm 

Chambers Student: How would you describe the firm? How would you describe its position in the market? 

Danny Tricot: IfI had to put it in a few words, I'd say innovative, collaborative and client-centric. We’re innovative in that we’re always looking at and seeking to shape any new trends in the market. We encourage our people to be proactive and to think about what’s going on around them and what opportunities that creates for them, the firm and for our clients. It is very much our philosophy that we’re one team, and will only deliver our best if we work together and bring the whole weight of the firm when we need to. I’ve been at Skadden my whole career, and everything we do goes back to delivering the best service for clients. That results in us being able to achieve big things and to attract great clients, deals and really challenging work. 

In the last five or so years in particular, we have been on a real growth journey. We’ve invested very significantly in our London office and have sought to expand in most of the areas we cover, as well as offering new capabilities in areas important to our clients. We have a really good host of laterals who have joined in addition to a lot of organic growth. Laterally, we hired new banking and high yield partners and we also expanded our financial services regulatory practice with another partner. We also welcomed a new partner focused on intellectual property and technology and another partner into our tax group, who will bolster our offering in the tax controversy space. Alongside that, we made up partners and counsels across a lot of different practices, including our arbitration and corporate groups. Last year, we started seeing people who joined us as trainees go all the way through from qualification to partnership. 

CS: Are there any highlights from the last year you think it would be helpful for our readers to know about?  

Tricot: Last year was a really strong year for us. We’ve been consistently ranked highly for our global M&A activity and for private equity deals above $1 billion. We’ve really invested in our European private equity practice over the past decade, so achieving such deal statistics is quite a result. On the disputes front, our team remains a top tier practice. As an example of one of our standout deals, we were proud to work for International Paper, a longstanding client, when they acquired DS Smith plc. That was a $9.9 billion takeover, and we also worked on the listing of the combined group on the London Stock Exchange. That's a great example of the sort of work that brings the best of Skadden together: our US expertise, and our strength in capital markets, competition, banking and M&A in the UK. We also represented BlackRock in a few transactions including the $3.5 billion acquisition of Viridium Group and the $3.2 billion acquisition of Preqin. 

CS: We heard there's a new Abu Dhabi secondment – can you tell us more? 

Tricot: We are always keen to create exciting opportunities for our trainees. The programme has grown significantly over the last few years, and we continue to take on more people every year. We're now working on taking on around 20 trainees in each intake, which is significantly more than the eight to ten trainees we hired in our trainee cohorts around four or five years ago. The reason we’re able to do that is because we’re creating more and more opportunities with different departments, seats and so on. Our foreign seat opportunities are also evolving. We opened our Abu Dhabi office at start of this year on the back of many years of doing business in the region. There’s a lot of work to be done there, and plenty of opportunities for lawyers of all levels. That’s why we decided to send a trainee there, and it’ll now be a recurring secondment. We also have seats in Hong Kong, Brussels and New York. The application process is very transparent and open to everyone in their second year of the training contract. Given the size of our training programme, it usually works out well, and there’s a very good shot of going if a trainee would like. 

CS: Have there been any highlights on the pro bono front? 

Tricot: We really do pride ourselves on our pro bono and we have a dedicated head of pro bono in London. She was a trainee at Skadden and, a couple of years after qualifying, decided to focus on pro bono and has been in the role for five years since. One of the great things about our pro bono practice in London is that we take on a whole variety of cases. We’ve tried to give it real focus and direction, so much so that you can almost call it a mini virtual law firm within Skadden London. We have particular strength in family law matters, specifically related to domestic violence. That means we can offer training on the skills needed for certain family law matters. We are also specifically focused on welfare benefits issues and invite experts to the firm to train our lawyers so that they are equipped to advise pro bono clients on welfare benefits challenges clients might be facing. It could be as easy as ‘help me fill out this form’, or it could be ‘come with me to a welfare tribunal to help me appeal a decision’. Those are great opportunities for trainees to go and represent clients. It provides greater exposure to developing fantastic advocacy skills than a trainee would get from a litigation seat, where they will work on massive cases but, realistically, won’t have the opportunity to present a case before a tribunal so early on into their career. 

The Training Contract  

CS: How would you describe the training environment/culture that you have aimed to create at the firm?  

Tricot: I'd say there’s never a boring day. Things change constantly; you’re rotating seats every six months, but the kind of work you get in most departments is also evolving and dynamic. We have a fast-paced training environment, too. If you’re a junior lawyer, you’re expected to keep up and be able to deliver high-quality work for clients. That said, even though I say we expect people to deliver high-quality work, we have the most supportive environment where you’re very rarely working on your own. You generally work with a team, and everyone is available for you to come, ask questions and get help. Equally, everyone is happy to push work down to others. From the get-go, we always encourage more senior lawyers to delegate tasks so they can free themselves up and take on more or better work. It’s great for trainees, too, as things those senior lawyers might not find interesting would be very interesting to someone doing it for the first time. 

Beyond the on-the-job learning, our Training team also runs a structured training programme providing our trainees with the skills and knowledge they need to become successful lawyers both now and as they advance in their careers. 

We have a very open-door policy, and everyone is in and out of each other’s offices. It’s why we only hire trainees from our vacation schemes. Yes, it's important to have fantastic academics, but it’s equally important to know that they’re a nice candidate who is going to gel with the team and enjoy working here. Everyone is very different, but we all share a collegiate mentality and really want to be part of a group. From what I can tell, everyone seems to have a close-knit group of friends within the firm, and they get on really well. Trainees regularly get together and are constantly feeding off each other, getting lunch and going out. I think that attitude enhances how well they work together and learn from each other. That happens at every level, and I do the same, tapping into the skills of my partners and other senior attorneys, reaching out to them for advice. 

CS: How do you go about selecting supervisors?  

Tricot: We don't have a formal process for selecting supervisors, but we try to pick people who are mid-level to senior lawyers. They're really good at their job and know how to delegate and work well with junior lawyers. I think that’s why most trainees tend to enjoy the experience and get on well with their supervisors. We also provide specific training to supervisors and give them all the behind-the-scenes support they need. All of us in graduate development spend a lot of time dealing with trainee matters, encouraging them to chat to one of us, or encouraging supervisors to do what we expect of them. That means properly mentoring trainees and giving them feedback. If I see trainees don’t look like they’re doing much based on the data I get to see, I'll get in touch with their supervisor, ask them if everything’s OK and, if they want me to, I’ll try and look for other opportunities for trainees. It’s quite an active process which has, in most cases, worked well! 

CS: What’s the current set up with remote working for trainees? Is there a set number of days where trainees are expected to come into the office? 

Tricot: Trainees, like all attorneys, are expected in the office four days per week. Most tend to work from home on a Friday, but we’ve got no rule around that. However, you do need to be sensible and smart about how you use your time. If you come in every day and don't talk to anyone, then you may as well sit at home. At a junior level it’s particularly important that you think about how to get the right training. 

CS: What has been the firm’s response to the rise in AI, particularly from a trainee perspective? How has it affected the trainee experience?  

Tricot: I think it has affected the trainee experience, but in a positive way. A lot of the tasks which we used to find dull as trainees have become more automated. For example, there are some due diligence tasks which used to be very laborious as there was no shortcut to reading thousands of documents. Now, we work with AI to help make those processes a lot easier and, oftentimes, a lot more accurate as well. You won’t pick up everything as accurately as a computer might but, at the same time, we train people to understand that AI has its drawbacks. Often the output of AI looks excellent but when you actually delve into it, you’ll see that it has a lot of mistakes in it. We're investing into developing more systems to support our lawyers and make things quicker. It is changing all lawyers’ roles, but AI is never going to supplant the need for human input at the level at which we are operating.

Applications & Recruitment 

CS: What sort of person thrives at the firm? 

Tricot: First of all, definitely a team player. We put a smaller number of people on deals, and we often see that counterparts on the other side have much bigger teams. On smaller teams, it’s much more important that everyone works well together and is expected to chip in. You also need to be a go-getter and prepared to work hard. We do have a culture of very hard work and we are, at every level from most junior to most senior partner, massively dedicated to the job. I’d say we’re also very innovative and proactive, too. We’re constantly thinking about what we can do more of on a case or transaction, and where we can find different sources of business. At entry level that’s thinking about how to do more for your supervisor, but at the most senior levels it’s about bringing in business for the firm.  

CS: How can a candidate really impress at interview? 

Tricot: I like to see people who are confident in themselves. Don’t be arrogant, but you should have confidence in yourself and what you’ve achieved. It's always good to be able to think actively on your feet. Don't come to the interview with just a bunch of prepared answers; come in and be yourself. I like to see real enthusiasm come across as well. I don’t care what it’s in, but there’s nothing better than someone who is genuinely enthusiastic, whether about the things they’ve been doing, the studies they’ve undertaken, or even the places they’ve been on holiday. That's more important than coming in with encyclopaedic knowledge about something. When doing the job, those who are genuinely enthusiastic will pick things up far better than someone who doesn’t have the same spark of enthusiasm. So, it's most important that you demonstrate that you’re truly passionate and truly want to grow, contribute, and learn more about the firm and its deals, clients and opportunities. 

CS: And finally, do you have any advice for those thinking about pursuing a career in law, either at your firm or more generally? 

Tricot: You should go to whatever networking events, insight days or graduate recruitment events you can. There, you should proactively try and have proper conversations with people. I know it’s easy to say, but people should really think about what they want to find out about and chat to different people. It’s easier to try and think small, such as getting to know a few people and using that to differentiate between law firms. Things like that will prepare you much better for applying for jobs and going to vacation schemes and interviews, which is much harder to do if you’ve never had an opportunity to chat to people in the industry. 

Academic excellence is a huge time commitment, and it’s one I don’t underestimate, but at the same time you have to find the time to be an interesting person and excel in areas other than pure academics. I'm not that fussed about what it is, but if you can show that you have outside interests, that’ll make you more interesting and allow you to thrive at interview. Clients will be interested in knowing you the person, not just you the lawyer. It's also a good idea to take things on outside of your studies which build up core skills that’ll be useful. That could include teamwork, leadership, resilience or building up commercial awareness.