Watson Farley & Williams - True Picture

Watson Farley Williams training contract review 2025 

The Firm 

For most trainees, the chance to work abroad is something of a distant dream, while for some it’s a lucky privilege. For those at WFW, however, it’s a rite of passage. Each year, trainees at the firm are guaranteed an international secondment, which “is the stand-out piece really,” quipped one trainee. Indeed, with 19 offices globally and recent openings in Tokyo and Seoul, it’s fair to say trainees are spoilt for choice when it comes to business travel. The firm is also launching a brand new Tokyo secondment in January! 

“We have the best of both worlds – high profile work whilst retaining a close-knit culture and good firm feel.”

Fittingly, for a firm with an enviable number of air miles, WFW’s work has traditionally focused on all things transport. But these days the firm also has a growing energy and renewables practice too. Our colleagues over at Chambers UK have taken note, as the firm flies high in its aviation, shipping, corporate and energy & natural resources practices. Training principal Kavita Shah tells us that “we are full service in our sectors,” adding that for trainees, this means “they get exposure to every aspect of the sector by the time they have finished their training contract.” This resonated with our interviewees, one told us that “our sector focus means we get big clients and work on big things.”  

Though, despite this and the many international outposts, WFW keeps it relatively low-key on home shores with just the one office in London.It was the combination of the two that sold trainees in the first place: “I was looking for a firm that was big-ish but not huge. I didn’t want to work at a massive firm where you didn't know anyone and they didn't know you. I wanted to feel involved in firm life.” Another source surmised, “We have the best of both worlds – high profile work whilst retaining a close-knit culture and good firm feel.” For others, the six-seat training contract structure was another box ticked. One newbie reflected that “for someone who hasn’t had any legal exposure or experience, it’s nice to know you have the time to try and find out what you like.”  

The Seats 

During the seat allocation process, HR “try their hardest to put you where you want to be.” Due to the firm’s specialist focus, do be aware that “if you’re not interested in finance, you do end up doing finance for half your training contract anyway.” Shah says, “most people do end up doing a projects, disputes, ASF (assets & structured finance) and corporate seat.” Many trainees sit in ASF twice because they require so many trainees. Smaller departments like employment, which only take one trainee, can be competitive. 

International secondments are a defining feature of the training contract at WFW. At the time of writing, there are eight secondment positions open in each rotation across six locations: two in Athens, two in Singapore, and one each in Bangkok, Dubai, Frankfurt and Paris. Secondments are planned a year ahead with the process starting in November and “they ask you basically to be flexible whether on when you go away or where to.” We heard that “if you're flexible in terms of timing you can do multiple, it's good like that.” Trainees spend time in a particular department while abroad – including assets & structured finance, disputes and projects – except in Dubai, where “you’re supportive of all work streams.” Interviewees also praised the support they received in organising travel arrangements and visas and the friendliness of their new colleagues, for example “they welcomed us in Singapore with an afternoon tea welcome and we piggybacked onto a leaving dinner for previous trainees.” 

“I enjoy the adrenaline aspect.” 

A seat in assets & structured finance is ideally completed before going on secondment because most secondments involve some work in this department. Within assets, the two main areas are shipping and aviation finance and a fair bit of rail finance. “You don’t only work with your supervisor, so I got to do all three,” said one interviewee. Trainees were said to be “the port of call for the associates for what’s going on.” One newbie reflected that “I really enjoyed that because the learning curve was pretty large, you were only given that responsibility once they realised you were able to do that, so it was pretty rewarding.” More specifically, trainee tasks include “mostly case management, a little bit of drafting here and there.” Case management typically involves “running conditions precedents lists, monitoring and keeping foreign counsel up to date with developments, general admin and signing tasks, also physical bibling.” Most matters are small and fast-paced, lasting only a few weeks, which one source said, “keeps me engaged, I enjoy the adrenaline aspect of that as well.” Another noted, “I liked assets because it’s very, very international, every day we were emailing another law firm abroad or a seller or a bank, always another country, which is cool.”  Recently the team advised Virgin Voyages on its $550m capital raise, acting as their English law and maritime counsel. 

Trainees reported having a similar experience to assets while sitting in the projects department. The main difference was that the pace in projects was “slower because the deals were bigger – one closing every couple of weeks if that.” While trainees did a lot of project management tasks, they also had opportunities to draft legal opinions and review and update agreements. The department mostly handles energy-related matters, with a little bit of infrastructure work. “I’ve predominantly done more of the renewable energy side of the work, which has been really interesting” because it’s “more future thinking, it seems to be where the energy market is starting to move towards,” said one insider. We heard “solar is the core work,” but projects in Africa are mostly oil and gas. The team is advising Sonnedix on an innovative loan facility to finance the construction of a renewable development pipeline in Europe and the UK.   

In corporate, the work is “very broad” but “split amongst the sectors: transport (including maritime work), energy, real estate.” To give an idea of the scale of the investment projects the department handles, it’s currently acting for the Republic of Guinea, advising on the $1.5 billion Simandou mining and infrastructure project. One trainee described work in the department as “a combination of transactional and research, which I quite liked.” Particularly, a seat in corporate was said to be “a good introduction to drafting without precedents.” Trainees are also involved in carrying out due diligence processes and managing transactions, “that does generally fall on the trainee to have a good awareness – partners and associates go to you for an update.” Our interviewees really enjoyed their time here, not only did they like the work, but they found “everyone was just very approachable and dedicated to my development, it just felt like people had a lot of time for you.” Frequent closings meant some late nights, but “a quieter week after a deal was respected,” giving trainees some downtime between busier periods. 

“It's cool to deal with the real economy.” 

In disputes, trainees are “very specifically sat in different teams,” so “one person’s disputes experience can be different to another depending on your supervisor,” but trainees do have opportunities to pick up work from across the department.The main areas of focus are shipping, real estate, energy, international arbitration and construction. One trainee told us, “It’s cool to deal with the real economy – park and rides and solar farms - things you can point towards and that exist, tangible rather than arbitrary.” We heard trainee tasks were quite varied, although there’s “quite a lot of drafting pleadings and submissions.” Sources also got stuck into research, due diligence, reviewing witness statements and expert reports and a bit of bundling. We heard there are “a few late nights involved in the run up to court deadlines,” but “you can get over it a bit because it’s just having to do that for a few days.” Compared to other teams, there’s a bit less responsibility in disputes as “everything is looked at with a fine-tooth comb.” 

Trainee Life 

With all the various international seats and departments, trainees were unable to point to a set range of day-to-day hours. Like any firm, transactional seats had peaks and troughs with some late nights, particularly in finance groups. Sources had good things to say overall about the time spent on the clock though: “ I think it’s fine, you’re in this job for a reason, you’re expected at times to go above and beyond, that’s completely agreeable as long as it’s not all the time.” Our survey showed that trainees are working just under the market average hours per week. Reflecting on how they were compensated for their time, thoughts onsalary were overall positive: “you put in a lot of hours, but the salary at trainee level is commensurate to most firms at this size.” Trainees also get a cost of living allowance added to their salaryto cover living expenses when working abroad in a more expensive destination. 

“There’s a great network, even internationally.” 

When asked about the firm culture, trainees emphasised how “that feeling of it being one firm really shines through despite the fact that we’re spread out across so many different places.” As a result, “there’s a great network, even internationally, if you have a question, you’re only one person away from the answer.” On the social side, we heard projects has “a reputation as a fun team.” They have a beer and champagne fridge, which they open on a Thursday for after-work drinks.Corporate also put on after-work drinks and, compared to other teams, “we did way more closing lunches, celebrating the team’s success.” Assets & structured finance is apparently “quite a young team,” who “do a lunchtime fitness session: sometimes a 5k run.”  The firm-wide Christmas party typically has a theme, including a recent Vegas theme(!), and the canteen hosts socials, including “a big St Patrick’s Day themed buffet and Guinness.” The collection of offices also allows for things to get a little competitive, as each year there’s a firmwide European sports weekend between office teams in one of the firm’s Europe outposts. This year, football and dodgeball teams will be battling it out in Rome.

At the trainee level, “we make an effort as a cohort to meet up and do things together,” said one second year. Similarly, a first year shared that “within the trainees there's this tradition where we have a limerick email chain where someone gets named in the email where they have to write a limerick inviting all the trainees out to have a drink, whoever is named has to do it next time.”

In London, trainees generally work from the office three days a week, but “the abroad offices have more of a focus on being in.” The London office was a bit like marmite, while some trainees loved it, others thought “it is a bit tired.” One trainee joked, however, that “I think people complain because it’s not in a brand-new shiny skyscraper.” On the positive side, “you share an office with your supervisor, as a trainee being able to literally have them there for any question even if it’s not work related is really helpful.” Moreover, being in office meant trainees had a good chance to socialize: “the canteen is probably the best part in that it’s quite a social hub, every time you go down you always see people step away from work, no one is checking their phone.” But watch this space, as we heard some murmurs that a new London office is on the cards in the next few years, a short distance away from its current Liverpool Street home.  

Our interviewees were more involved in CSR initiatives, rather than pro bono, and “a lot of that is community outreach focused.” Several of our sources had recently signed up to the Causeway Education mentoring scheme, helping sixth form students with university applications. WFW also has a diversity committee called mosaic, which runs events like Black History month and a South Asian celebration week where people brought in traditional dishes from home countries.  

We repeatedly heard that trainees appreciated how supervisors were willing to take time to sit down with them to explain things to them: “I think their selection of supervisors is really good. People are willing to help and are normally good teachers, they pick individuals within the team who are the nicest and most approachable,” enthused one interviewee. “I don’t think anyone has been stressed out about an appraisal,” shared another source, “the supervisors don’t approach it as a scathing review that’ll have a massive impact on your future career, it’s treated as a constructive opportunity, focused on your learning and improvement.”   

Speaking of improvement, there’s introductory training at the start of each seat, then it’s a matter of “using that training in the first few weeks to learn on the job” with support from supervisors. There are also “general skills, office-based or lawyer skills” sessions run by the learning and development team. Ed Peel, Professor of Law at Oxford University and tenant at One Essex Court, “comes to give updates on contract law every six months, which is great because he’s an expert in the field.” The firm pays for trainees to take languages lessons if needed before they go on secondment, which some interviewees made the most of. 

Qualification at WFW is done and dusted by the end of April. One trainee said, “I like that we do it so early because it gives you that comfort.” During the interview process, “it’s only disputes that has a case trainees have to prepare, most of the others are a mixture of general questions and a chat about your training contract and skills that you’ve gained.” There is also the opportunity to qualify into an office abroad! In 2024, the firm retained 16 out of 18 trainees.

How to get a Watson Farley & Williams training contract

APPLY HERE

Vacation scheme deadline (2025): 10 January 2025 (opens 10 October 2024)

Training contract deadline (2027): 24 June 2025 (opens 10 October 2024)

Watson Farley & Williams receives around 1000 applications each year: about two-thirds are for the firm's vacation scheme, while the rest are from applicants gunning directly for a training contract.

Both types of application start with an online form that asks for details of an applicant's academics and work experience. “Although we recognise the value of legal work experience, especially for those applying directly for a training contract, we understand that it can be challenging to gain this, so we encourage candidates to instead focus on the transferable skills that they may have developed through legal and non-legal work experience, and to use these skills to demonstrate that they understand the role of a trainee solicitor at a commercial firm,” says a member of the early careers team. 

The form also covers motivational questions you would expect such as ‘Why do you want to work at Watson Farley & Williams?’ “Given we’re a sector-focussed firm, it is really important that candidates at least demonstrate an interest in some of our sectors – we’re not expecting candidates to be experts, but just to have and show an interest,” adds the early careers team member. 

The form also includes various open-ended questions, including questions about extracurricular activities. The early careers team member notes that these questions give candidates “a chance to talk about activities that have provided them with some life experience and some useful skills.”

Assessment centre

For vac scheme and training contract applicants alike who impress on paper, the next step is a video interview and then an assessment centre. Following the success of the format which had to be introduced during the pandemic, assessment centres will continue to take place online. The assessment centre is fairly typical in that it involves group and written exercises. The early careers team member shares: “We brief candidates ahead of each exercise, and we have tried to make the exercises and tasks as realistic and as close as possible to the sorts of things trainees do daily at the firm.”

There is also an opportunity to chat with some of the current trainees to find out more about their experiences at the firm. The early careers team member insists that “the trainees are not briefed to feedback to HR, as we want people to be able to relax and ask questions,” though we suggest keeping to your best behaviour regardless.

The vacation scheme

Following the assessment centre, WFW chooses its vac schemers. The early careers team member encourages trainee hopefuls to apply for the scheme: “Generally we find vac schemers are better informed about us and what we do, and as a result can make an informed decision about whether we are the right firm for them. Ideally, we aim to offer training contracts to a high percentage of our vac schemers, as they have spent time seeing the firm first-hand and we've seen what they can do.” That said, “we deliberately leave some places for those who apply directly,” they point out. “We find we're fishing in a different pool of applicants at this point – we often pick up people who attended other vac schemes and then decided a firm wasn't for them or people, who for various reasons, were unable to apply for a vac scheme.”

The firm runs three placements – one in spring and two in the summer in June – and each lasts two weeks. 

Final interviews

The firm aims to interview around 25% of those who have attended an assessment centre, including vac schemers who undergo their interview during the second week of their placement. Direct applicants, meanwhile, attend theirs in either August or September.  These interviews will be conducted in person.

The interview is conducted by a partner and a member of the early careers team and opens with a chat about the interviewee's motivations and interest in law.

The rest of the interview is split between competency-based questions and those designed to eke out a candidate's personality. “We want to ensure that they understand the work we do and are motivated to work for us in the long term,” says the early careers team member, adding: “We especially want to see an interest in the sectors we work in and some commercial awareness around these, though we don't expect them to be sector experts at this stage.”