Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP - True Picture

Weil, Gotshal & Manges training contract review 2025

The Firm

Once you’ve spent any significant amount of time sniffing around for appropriate training contracts, it can be very easy to get lost in the sauce. Hundreds of firms are offering a muddle of practice areas to sift through, so it can be difficult to know where to look without your head going under. However, for those who have a clear indication of how they want to shape their practice, there are a few firms that stand out – enter Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Though this American doesn’t offer tout ce que tu peux Manges, it does have a certain je ne sais quoi for those who are “pretty set on being transactional lawyers,” particularly in private equity. Weil holds a solid amount of Chambers UK rankings in capital markets, infrastructure, and private equity buyouts (£500 million and above), alongside a top Chambers Global ranking in restructuring/insolvency.

“It doesn’t feel as intimidating as the magic circle!”

Interviewees told us that it was this balance – particularly between private equity and restructuring – that coaxed them in, but a number did stress that they wouldn’t recommend joining “if you want a diverse training contract… you wouldn’t necessarily be able to do a litigation seat.” Nevertheless, “I would encourage people to consider Weil if they want transactional work because it isn’t oversubscribed here – it’s almost the opposite!” In addition to the practice draws, working at Weil isn’t a thankless undertaking; sources detailed that “as a trainee, you’re not always doing the most glamorous work, but you’re always given thanks,” and the smaller size “doesn’t feel as intimidating as the magic circle!” In fact, it makes it “a little more straightforward to take initiative on things.”

The Seats

In the typical fashion, trainees cover four six-month seats across their training contracts, with seats in the corporate and finance department being mandatory. Although we heard that most people also do restructuring, “if you have one seat you’re really keen on doing, you’ll get it.” That said, insiders did caution that Weil “is not the firm you want if you’re looking for variety” though, highlighting the “oversubscription” of litigation as one example of the allocation system’s limitations. “So that’s definitely a downside,” one trainee mentioned, “because litigation only takes one per intake, a lot of people have to do the contentious training program to satisfy SRA requirements.”

Don’t worry too much, though – the firm’s international secondment opportunities provide a chance for a change of pace, including restructuring, finance and corporate stints in New York and antitrust offerings in DC. In the past, the firm’s Paris office has also opened its doors to trainees. “It’s a funny process and not very transparent,” one insider admitted, but what was clear was the expectation that you qualify in the practice you sit abroad for. Trainees must also submit a 500-word business case for why they want to go on secondment, after which they will be sent in their third or fourth seat if there is a business need.

Given the firm’s pedigree in the space, it should come as no surprise that most trainees spend some time in private equity, working with the firm’s offices across Europe. “It’s Weil’s bread and butter,” so trainees work on “big deals, but also portfolio company work, managing incentive programs and facilitating where companies give directors shares so they’re aligned with the progress of the company.” For newbies, this manifests as work in the form of organising deal checklists, drafting ancillary document and “lots of board minutes,” alongside a lot of due diligence and legal research. Those in the seat relayed that there are plenty of opportunities to work not only cross-department but also directly interacting with client on varied matter sizes. And while you often hear that size doesn’t matter (jury’s still out on that one), the group did work with Microsoft last year, advising the conglomerate on getting merger control approval for the gargantuan $70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Private equity infrastructure work falls under the firm's private equity and M&A teams. PE infrastructure focuses on deals where the funds and assets are infrastructure focused, but the work here for trainees is ultimately very similar to pure PE. “In general finance, the securities are around shares and finance but here, they’re over assets in infrastructure like airports, fibre optics – that kind of thing,” one interviewee explained, though the work still generally takes the form of organising checklists, prepping ancillary documents like board and shareholder resolutions, and helping with the signing process. Deals here often also come in hefty sizes; last year, the group supported EQT and their lenders in a £494 million facility for Encyclis, a company that provides energy-from-waste services.

With high-profile clients such as Goldman Sachs, it’s no wonder finance is a mandatory seat for trainees, ensuring they get the opportunity to cover both lender and sponsor side work. Weil also took the lead on a case for the bank on the debt financing for private equity firm Bain’s takeover offer for Caverion. From our interviewees we heard that while due diligence is a common task in corporate, “you don’t really do much of it in finance.” Again, newbies run checklists and draft documents, but “you’re also liaising with local counsel, working on a smaller matter – you’re taking initiative replying to emails, looking at drafted documents… there’s a lot of process, organisational work.”

“If you can prove you can take something forward, you can run with it.”

Weil’s intellectual property practice is much smaller than others, so as trainees, “you can get a lot of client exposure” in this seat – “if you can prove you can take something forward, you can run with it.” Here, due diligence is pretty much a given (shocker!) alongside drafting, but it’s not all transactional. “We would get policy from a US office to help with English law provisions for example,” so advisory work is very much a part of the seat, with newbies also getting opportunities to draft policies for companies.

The disputes practice is trainees’ only option for a purely litigious seat. Like those in PE, this group also acted for Microsoft in its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, helping the company in its challenge before the Competition Appeal Tribunal to the CMA’s prohibition of the deal. Weil also acts for banks in a similar capacity; the firm recently helped the investment bank VTB Capital in issuing claims against the Republic of Mozambique to recover sums guaranteed by the Republic involving around $1 billion of principal and interest owed. According to our sources, “the main piece of litigious work involved a sanctioned Russian bank” where newbies were tasked with research and some drafting, but pro bono is also a significant part of this seat. Trainees can work with the US offices on pro bono with research projects such as one regarding the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine, and we were also told about work oriented around the UK’s obligations to disclose research around terrorist material.

Trainee Life

At Weil, “we’re not open plan,” so trainees have their own offices shared with their supervisor. And as for the wider office itself? “The location is great,” insiders beamed, highlighting perks such as “the cake trolley, the subsidized café and the sleep pods…” Of course, the lattermost might raise some eyebrows, but we heard trainees aren’t obligated to be in the office at all times: “We have to be in four days a week, most people work from home on Friday.” The firm also fund the set-up of trainees of trainees’ home offices, but those we spoke with admitted that “the work is just easier to do face-to-face.” Even “working late, some teams prefer for everyone to be in the office because it’s easier if things are moving along quickly!” Working from around 9am to 9pm, sources shared that long hours are to be expected at the firm as “it’s a driven and hardworking business model, so you’re expected to be available whenever at fairly short notice – but that hasn’t really been abused.”

“The cake trolley, the subsidized café and the sleep pods…”

In fact, those we interviewed had very little to criticise about Weil’s working culture, with emphasis being placed on people being “very supportive, friendly and happy to give feedback; people don’t feel like they can’t involve other people in their work.” Another newbie highlighted that because of this, “I’m never unclear when I’m given work to do, and I always have context for what we’re trying to achieve.” Admittedly, we did also hear the culture varies from team to team, with private equity noted by a number of sources for being “the most traditional: more reserved and less sociable…” but finance and antitrust in particular were said to be livelier and “really friendly.”

On the social side, the hours sometimes make it so “there’s never 100% turnout because people get stuck in the office,” but there are still the typical summer and Christmas socials. In addition, trainees also get a budget for socials so “there have always been socials we’ve organised ourselves” which have included pizza making and life-size Monopoly (?!), but we heard the highlight was the firm’s free use of the box at the O2 where we were told trainees went to go see Olivia Rodrigo.

DEI also plays a part in socials with “lots going on with the  Women*@Weil network doing events all the time, as well as the BLAST (Black Lawyers Achieving Success Together) group.” Newbies felt reassured by the firm’s support of affinity group events, in particular BLAST where they hold events to “encourage people from Black backgrounds to apply to and stay at the firm – those spaces are very encouraging for a first year.”

Insiders enthused that on the training front, “there’s a lot more than I expected! I thought US firms were more hands-off before joining but in finance, we probably had like, 20 sessions on top of team training every couple of weeks – PE and funds were the same.” The supervision was also praised for supporting progression for the most part, conducting mid and end of seat reviews. “There are still some old school supervisors that like to keep you by their side 24/7,” one interviewee reflected, “but they are generally quite good, and the firm funds lunch to get trainees to know their supervisor better.”

“You want to watch the firm grow over time!”

All this in mind, sources reminded us that though “nobody hides the fact you need to work hard,” the salary more than compensates – “we’re probably being overpaid to be honest!” – so those we spoke with were generally positive about their intentions for staying on. Despite some trainees commenting on “sometimes struggling with the work-life balance and the uncertainty” around hours, there was also an awareness amongst them that staying with the firm long-term is an appealing strategy: “You want to watch the firm grow over time!”Qualification itself tends to be a fairly informal affair, but graduate recruitment does talk to partners to see if there’s space for trainees in particular departments. “We’re encouraged to be transparent so they can gauge numbers,” interviewees explained. We heard that trainees usually know their seats three months before qualifying. The firm did not disclose the number of qualifiers in 2024.

How to get a Weil training contract 

Vacation scheme deadline : 15 December 2024

Applications and interviews 

Weil’s Early Careers & Development team organise various skills sessions, workshops, partner-led presentations and insight days throughout the year – check Weil's events calendar for details. 

Students interested in a training contract with Weil can apply for a vacation scheme, of which they run two per year.  Their vacation schemes are eligible for penultimate year law students, and finalists and graduates of any discipline.

Applications for vacation schemes  are made via an online application form. All applications are reviewed by Weil’s Early Careers & Development team and there are no pre-screening filters. The best of the bunch progress to the next stage, where candidates are invited to submit an online pre-recorded video interview. 

Those who have impressed are offered a first-round face to face interview with two partners, and asked to complete a case study assessment.. The interview is geared towards finding out more about a candidate's journey, motivations and career aspirations, but you will also be assessed on your commercial awareness.  

Early Careers & Development Manager Philippa Wilson tells us successful candidates are the ones who demonstrate “a keen interest in Weil. If you are able to discuss our practice areas and understand our market position it shows you have a genuine interest to work for the firm.” Following the assessment process, successful applicants are then made a vacation scheme offer, where they will be assessed for a training contract.  

Vacation schemes 

Weil runs two vacation schemes over the spring and summer holidays, each scheme is two-weeks long and participants are paid £750 per week. There are up to places available across the two schemes. Participants spend two weeks in one practice area and you are able to submit preferences in advance. Throughout the scheme you will work alongside associates, carrying out trainee tasks and responsibilities. Participants are required to complete assessments during the scheme, including a group negotiation exercise and a group pitch presentation, and you are invited to attend an interview with two partners. 

According to Philippa Wilson, “those who perform really well are the ones who are team players, proactive, show enthusiasm for the work, and really demonstrate their potential throughout the scheme. The vacation scheme is aimed to mirror the work you would undertake during a training contract, therefore it gives participants a real opportunity to gain an insight into the role of a trainee at Weil." Ping-pong tournaments, cooking classes, rooftop drinks and dinner in private dining rooms have featured in previous vacation schemes; it’s a great way to network with people from across the firm.

Supervision and the social life at Weil 

Trainees praised the informal modes of support that are available too. “The culture of the firm helps establish this,” said one source. “I learn by practising and that’s universal here – we learn by doing.” 

On the note of socialising, “it’s social when you’re in the firm, but there’s no real emphasis on hanging out outside of work. People would much rather go home after long days!” And while it’s “not a party firm,” juniors spoke warmly of team-specific events and an “incredible Christmas party with everyone from the firm.”