Wilkin Chapman Rollits - True Picture

Wilkin Chapman Rollits training contract review 2025

The Firm

Speaking with training contract hopefuls, there tends to be a prevailing idea that city firms are the 'go-to’ for those looking for full-service offerings. Yet a glance of Chambers Student’s featured firms will reveal a number of firms that buck the supposed trend. Wilkin Chapman is one such example. Despite being very much a regional firm – something of a specialist in the Lincolnshire market – Wilkin is no boutique: “If you’re not set on one particular practice area, it’s one of the best in the area.” Wilkin doesn’t sacrifice quality for quantity either, bagging a top Chambers UK ranking for its family/matrimonial work in Lincolnshire, alongside acknowledgements for real estate in the East Midlands, agriculture and rural affairs in the Midlands, family/matrimonial in York, Hull and surrounds, and local government nationwide. 

“If you’re not set on one particular practice area, it’s one of the best in the area.”

Alongside its status as “one of the biggest in Lincolnshire,” we heard that trainees were also drawn to the firm “because they do a lot of charity work.” In the long-term, too, “Wilkin are known for keeping the trainees that want to stay where possible…” Alongside Lincoln, the firm has bases in Grimsby, Louth and Beverley. Grimsby and Lincoln take on the largest number, with a handful in Beverley and one in Louth.                               

The Seats

Seat allocation at Wilkin is similar to most firms in that trainees submit a list of preferences before they arrive. During the training contract, mid-seat reviews allow trainees to reevaluate their preferences. We did hear that employment tends to be quite popular, which means a little more competition, but those we interviewed were generally positive about the seats they had got with most aligning fairly well with their preferences. Some frustrations were voiced around the firm’s policy of encouraging seats in different locations: “You could find out that you need to travel an hour for a seat,” which “you often don’t find out until four weeks before you’re meant to start.” That said, trainees did add that “it is nice to move around. They like you to get exposure to more people by working in the different offices, so it pays its dues.”

With the team spread across Grimsby, Lincoln and Beverley, we heard Wilkin Chapman’s corporate and transactional practice is “so broad, it’s difficult to get your head around!” The firm encompasses your standard M&A practice, as well as management buy outs (MBOs) and management buy ins (MBIs), corporate and group reorganisations, joint ventures, and corporate finance. For the most part, newbies start on more administrative tasks like drafting board minutes and disclosure lists, but they quickly move onto working on ancillary documents and research, drafting energy and renewables frameworks and distribution agreements, and “lots of Companies House research.”

Family similarly is a team spread across three offices, the smaller makeup of which allows for it to be “supervised quite heavily – they are quite specific about the way they want you to do it.” Drafting of court documents and letters of advice are relegated to later in the seat though, so starting out “they’re getting you used to emailing people and speaking on the phone.” Here, trainees were particularly positive about “the personal side of it, hearing about people’s stories.” Trainees also had positive things to say regarding its investigative side: “You are trying to pick holes in a case… so I enjoy that.”

The firm’s personal injury group covers workplace accidents, accidents abroad, and road traffic accidents, to name a few, with plenty of trainee time spent on the personal injury portal for claims up to £25,000: “I had my own caseload, where I ran the cases on a day-to-day basis,” one trainee told us, “they weren’t high-value cases but we were drafting the initial claim form, conducting correspondence with the defendant’s solicitors or the insurance company, and advising the client.” Although the cases were usually settled, one newbie did tell us that you get the opportunity to go to court with other fee-earners, should the opportunity arise. Though often falling under the same remit at other firms, at Wilkin, clinical negligence forms a separate seat, focusing on accidents in medical settings. Because the work is often quite process-driven and logical for trainees, “they get you heavily involved” with things like instructing experts and counsel. Here “there’s lots of CFA work, looking at insurance policy arrangements and letters of claim.”

“They don’t leave you out on a limb – you’re doing letters of claim and letters to clients, but they always check things before they go out.”

The current cohort described dispute resolution as “quite chaotic – it either makes or breaks you!” The firm covers everything from commercial disputes to agricultural, property, and construction disputes, but contested probate, we heard, was particularly common for trainees to be placed on. The particular focus of Wilkin’s disputes practice depends on the office, with Louth focusing on contentious probate and the Grimsby office focusing on commercial and landlord and tenant matters. The day-to-day for trainees involved drafting witness statements and other documents like letters of claim, bundling, negotiating settlement offers and meeting with clients to prep for court. “You attend court quite a bit” but “there is a lot of assisting clients on the phone or via email.” Thankfully for trainees though, “they don’t leave you out on a limb – you’re doing letters of claim and letters to clients, but they always check things before they go out.” On contentious real estate matters, the firm works with the Canal & River Trust, the Lincolnshire Co-operative, and the National Farmers Union.

When it comes to transactional real estate matters, the real estate practice has its trainees drafting contracts, investigating titles to properties, and “by the end, managing single plot property transactions.” The group is currently acting for a local community group in the acquisition of two leases for a public house to be used as a community hub in East Marsh, Grimsby. Alongside a bit of “interesting renewables work” the firm has also recently helped with the sale of part of the Lincolnshire Showground to become the headquarters of the Lincolnshire Integrated Volunteer Emergency Services.

Trainee Life

A consistent theme among our interviewees was the supportive culture on offer at the firm. From the open plan layout across the offices, to the firm’s buddy scheme which links newbies with trainee mentors before even joining the firm, trainees were all of the opinion that “the firm is definitely invested in its own people.” Sources told us that, unlike at some firms, “if you have a question, you don’t have to knock on a partner’s office door,” and “the partners are really approachable. They are keen on building their own local people, and I think that really does show.” While that was a point of consistency in each of the three offices, sources did tell us that “there’s quite a big difference” between Grimsby and Louth. With around 300 people “Grimsby feels a bit alien, like I’ve just joined a different firm.” Lincoln, on the other hand, “is quite close-knit, everyone is a lot closer.” Nevertheless, trainees were keen to stress that “everyone in every office is still very friendly!”

“They are keen on building their own local people, and I think that really does show.”

Wilkin’s keenness to invest in trainees is demonstrated by the firm’s readiness to bring trainees along to business development events – events “with lots of different organisations, like Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce, and even quizzes with local property agents!” Outside of business development, socials are scattered throughout the year. These generally take the form of after work drinks, but social committees also put on events like mini golf, a murder mystery night at a local hotel and Oktoberfest activities.

The current crop described the firm as “a really good environment to learn in – there’s lots of work but also lots of support.” As is customary, most of the learning is on the job, helped by the fact that “they do like to check most things before you send them out, so they’ll provide written feedback on that.” Trainees were all positive about their experiences with their supervisors too: “Day to day, your supervisor is available, so they’ll drop things just to see how your work is going.” On top of this, departments hold full team training sessions “two or three times a year, typically about three hours long, to keep people aware of recent updates in the practice.”

One of the biggest draws for those we spoke to was the work-life balance on offer. Hours were typically 9am to 5pm for trainees, so although “sometimes you have to stay a little later for deadlines, maybe half an hour or an hour later,” trainees are never expected to work “silly hours.” We heard that the firm’s flexible working policy states that “you have to be in the office more than you work from home,” which was itself helpful for keeping that balance: “If you have a builder coming round or something like that, they are flexible.” A few insiders did note that having a laptop was not guaranteed, but “although some support staff don’t, now most people have laptops.”

With regard to pay, “of course everyone wants more money!” but it was a slight point of contention among the current cohort. “The trainees do talk about it,” one interviewee admitted, and while another noted that “it’s reasonable based on the work I do and the area I work in,” there were concerns that you don’t have to travel too far “to earn considerably more – in an hour you could be in Nottingham.” They did note that “it’s a substantial jump to the NQ salary,” so “it’s okay… but I look forward to qualifying!”

The general consensus was that regarding qualification“they’re quite laid back.” The firm sends out a finalised job list and applicants simply email HR to say they’d like a particular position. “There’s no rigorous interview process which is nice,” one trainee commented, “so I think they would like us all to stay.” Most of our interviewees felt the decision was an easy one because of the long-term prospects: “The benefit of staying here is that attaining partnership is very achievable – they support you and help you make that progression.” In 2024, the firm retained 6 of 7 qualifiers.

How to get into Wilkin Chapman 

Training contract deadline: 31/01/2025

Vac scheme deadline: 31/01/2025

The interview process 

Successful candidates will be invited to attend an assessment centre, which will last approximately four hours. This will include verbal and numerical reasoning tests, a panel interview and a case study exercise. Candidates will be shown around the office and given an opportunity to meet partners, lawyers and the firm's current trainees. 

The vacation scheme 

Placements are structured to allow students the opportunity to spend time in a number of practice areas and therefore experience the different types of work that the firm does. 

Candidates are able to work on real client matters alongside the firm's trainees, solicitors and partners. Tasks are likely to include drafting documents, conducting research and meeting clients. In addition, there are presentations on training contracts with Wilkin Chapman and the wider firm.