From massages and financial coaching to O2 Arena tickets and crazy golf, the benefits on offer at law firms are more varied than you might think. The good news is, we’ve combed through the lot to help you work out where you belong.
When comparing law firms, benefits are often treated as background noise. Prestige, salary and practice area strength dominate open days and careers fairs, while private medical insurance and pension contributions get a polite nod somewhere near the end. But once you look a bit closer, you may realise that benefits aren’t just admin, they are sneak peeks into life at the firm.
And so, we’ve done the heavy lifting, sifting through the benefits offered by 93 law firms. Our findings concluded that while the baseline package is consistent (think private medical insurance, life assurance, pension contributions and income protection) the differences emerge in what firms choose to emphasise beyond that. And that’s where things get interesting.
The ‘extras’ tell you what a firm thinks life in private practice actually looks like, and what it believes you’ll need in order to thrive. Free matcha lattes and on-site gyms may be flashy and exciting, but don’t overlook the importance of financial advice, life stage support and structured wellbeing programmes.
Across the market, five themes stood out:
- Culture & lifestyle
- Health & wellbeing
- Financial confidence
- Family & life stage
- Career development
If you’re a fresh-out-of-uni graduate who may be used to weekly socials and society meetings (alongside wrestling with maintenance loans and essays), the step into a law firm marks a big step into professional life. And in a profession renowned for long hours in the office, it’s worth asking yourself what matters most to you.
While this is not an exhaustive list of the firms’ benefits, it’s what stood out to us. You can see a firm’s full list of benefits on their website, and use the Chambers Student guide to compare firms’ benefits and salaries here: Compare firms - Chambers Student Guide.
Culture & lifestyle: anything from the trolley, dear?
Some firms lean heavily into benefits that speak to enjoyment, sociability and the day-to-day experience of being in the office. Such benefits are geared towards enhancing a firm’s atmosphere and culture. A cake trolley might sound trivial - until you’re discussing a matter with a partner over a slice of Victoria sponge and realise it was a ticket to relationship-building and visibility in the firm.
At Weil, Gotshal & Manges, for example, the benefits list reads like a social calendar: practice-area socials (the likes of crazy golf and pizza-making), firm-wide summer parties, free tickets to sporting events and art galleries, use of the firm’s O2 Arena box and a Thursday cake trolley. There are also on-site massage therapies!
Food features prominently at Travers Smith, which offers complimentary breakfast, lunch and dinner in its in-house café and restaurant, alongside a barista service throughout the day.
Meanwhile, Slaughter and May combine 30 days annual leave with entertainment perks at London theatres and galleries, a subsidised restaurant and even a monthly ‘bring your dog to work’ day. Dreamy.
At Forsters, the emphasis is on community: sports teams (including netball, cricket, and softball), a running club, a choir, book clubs and regular wellbeing events, as well as onsite confidential counselling twice a month. They also offer sabbaticals after 5 years of service, and the Forsters+ reward and recognition portal.
So, what does all this mean? These firms are investing in daily life. If you’re entering your first professional role and the social side of work matters to you, this category is worth paying attention to.
Health & wellbeing: mind and body a temple?
Other firms ground themselves in wellbeing as a core pillar. Beyond the standard Employee Assistance Programme, they highlight structured mental health support, fitness allowances, and some even have on-site gyms.
At Harbottle & Lewis, for instance, as a trainee you can access free fitness classes, one-to-one sessions with a registered psychotherapist and … *drumroll*… monthly 15-minute seated massages.
Akin goes further by offering on-site mental health services, neurodiversity support through Lexxic, discounted ClassPass and Peloton memberships (sign us up!) as well as a fitness and wellbeing reimbursement programme.
Similarly, Goodwin highlights a digital health platform, access to Headspace, mental health counsellors and family planning reimbursement policies.
Kingsley Napley provides funded private medical insurance, a health cash plan and six annual therapy sessions with Self Space.
Even global giants such as Linklaters boast on-site gyms, private healthcare and on-site GP services as part of their employment offering.
If you’re conscious of the intensity of private practice, these kinds of benefits signal an acknowledgment that high performance requires support, so they too are worth keeping an eye on.
Financial confidence & security: a home while you work under law’s hammer?
This category initially feels less glamorous as there are fewer cake trolleys and more references to pensions. But bear with us.
If you are on a training contract, it may be the first time you would be earning a significant salary. That can be exciting, but also a bit scary. After three years of student debt and living off pot noodles (we assume), one-to-one financial planning sessions and mortgage advice suddenly looks less dull and more practical.
Osborne Clarke offers money coaching, workplace ISAs and mortgage services alongside bonuses and profit share. Meanwhile, Baker McKenzie includes independent financial advice and mortgage guidance as part of its package.
At HFW, the insurance list is extensive. There is group life cover, personal accident insurance and income protection. Plus, as they offer regular on-site massages too, it’s practicality and perk combined!
Meanwhile, Macfarlanes runs pension and mortgage surgeries and offers corporate ISAs alongside private healthcare and fitness allowances.
These firms are signalling stability. It’s an indication of long-term planning for your future at the firm: buying property, planning savings, and generally just thinking ahead. Financial literacy and protection are more important than you might think as a young professional. What’s more, for some students, especially those without networks steeped in financial know-how, that scaffolding can be invaluable.
Family & life stage: playing the long game
Another cluster of firms provide benefits tied to life changes, with enhanced parental leave, fertility support, menopause plans and emergency childcare on offer.
Kirkland & Ellis offers fertility and family-forming support, back-up child and elder care, and a menopause plan.
Burges Salmon emphasises enhanced maternity and adoption leave and shared parental leave policies.
At Hill Dickinson, benefits include emergency care that extends to pets, which is a detail that tells you something about how broadly they interpret ’family’.
The presence of these policies signals a firm awareness that trainees become associates who become parents, carers and partners, and that those transitions benefit from structural support.
Even if starting a family feels far off, these benefits indicate whether a firm expects you to stay.
Career & development: assumed, but still worth checking
Interestingly, career development appears less often as a headline benefit. Perhaps because training is seen as inherent to, well, a training contract.
But some firms do highlight it, nonetheless. Davis Polk & Wardwell sponsors full SQE preparation and exams and offers a substantial maintenance grant. Bevan Brittan funds the SQE where appropriate and provides qualification leave. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher includes professional development and book allowances.
The relative scarcity of development benefits in marketing materials doesn’t mean they don’t exist. But it may mean you could benefit from probing further: ask about mentoring, ask about feedback, ask what progression really looks like.
So… where do you belong?
The headline finding isn’t that one firm has ’the best’ benefits. It’s that benefits act as a signpost for a firm’s culture and values.
A firm that highlights social clubs, free dinners and event tickets is signalling a communal, office-centric culture. One that highlights therapy sessions and neurodiversity support is telling you it recognises pressure and has active support systems in place to assist in managing it. Meanwhile, a firm full of mortgage schemes and pension advice may be oriented toward long-term stability, and fertility and menopause policies show the firm is going the extra mile when it comes to parental benefits.
Prestige and salary will always matter. But deep down, the lifestyle and culture on offer at a firm will likely shape how your time there will actually feel.
We hope this feature gave you a taste of the different benefits on offer at different firms, but to explore the full breakdown of individual firms’ benefits and see where these themes play out across the whole market, head to the Chambers Student Guide – Compare Firms to see the full breakdown. Use it not just to compare perks, but to read between the lines.
In the end, it’s not about who offers the best massage; it’s about what kind of working life you’re signing up for.