Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP - True Picture

Willkie training contract review 2025

The Firm

It’s always exciting to have a hand in building something from the ground up and it’s certainly a feat that appealed to Willkie’s cohorts of trainees past and present (and yet to come!). While the American export’s been comfortably at home in London for over twenty years, only in recent times has Willkie burst onto the training contract scene, bringing with it the prospect of a “more bespoke” scheme with both contentious and non-contentious strengths. “We were one of the first generations of trainees to join the firm,” an NQ recalled. “It was an exciting process to be part of.” That was back in 2021, when the firm welcomed three trainees onboard; fast forward four years and Willkie now opens its doors to six hopeful lawyers each cycle.

“The level of exposure you get is unrivalled.”

On that note, “Being one of five or six trainees, there’s a very high possibility that you will be the only trainee in a department at any given time,” an insider divulged. “The level of exposure you get is unrivalled.” With the leaner cohort, it goes without saying that the firm is clearly on the hunt for candidates who are keen to get stuck in. Training principal Jane Scobie confirms, “The reality is that we are not the right firm for everyone. Some people may thrive in a bigger cohort, whereas here, there’s no place to hide. That doesn’t mean it’s aggressive and hours driven, but what it does mean is that trainees are expected to roll up their sleeves.” And roll up their sleeves they certainly do – at least if Chambers UK accolades are anything to go by. The firm sits comfortably among the nationwide frontrunners in non-contentious insurance, and also scores top marks for its competition law and financial crime expertise in the capital.

Here at Chambers Student, we’ve heard all the stereotypes out there, particularly when it comes to US firms in the City. Offering advice for anyone slightly apprehensive, this trainee laid all bare: “I was worried about the stereotypes of being at a US firm,” they admitted. “I thought it’d be sink or swim.” Thankfully, “Whilst the pace of learning is extremely quick, I’ve felt supported all the way and was never left to do something completely solo.” With the backing of “a well-established international network,” trainees were confident in their ability to go Farr...

The Seats

When it comes to seat allocation, trainees are asked to list their top three seat preferences with an optional explanation attached. “You’ll have some conversations with Gemma Baker,” – Willkie’s recruitment manager – where “she’ll candidly ask where we’ll choose for our next rotation,” sources explained. Gemma will then “work her magic (!)” with the vast majority of trainees getting their first-choice seat. Described by sources as an “easy, communicative, natural and organic” process, you’ll be relieved to hear trainees “don’t have to schmooze with partners!” Throughout the duration of their training contract, trainees are required to undertake at least one contentious seat, as well as private equity and/or corporate insurance.

There was no questioning that “Willkie is very strong at private equity,” with the practice area being the bread and butter of the firm. As such, a number of venture capitalists line the firm’s books of business, including CVC Capital Partners, Searchlight and Atlas. “It’s a nice seat to ease into,” one trainee noted, as it’s “one of our larger and more social teams.” Regarding the nitty-gritty of the seat itself, sources noted, “There’s more of a focus on the commercial angle than other teams. It’s an incredibly dynamic seat.” While some trainees felt “responsibility from the get-go was huge,” others hinted at more of a slower start, particularly if it’s your first seat at the firm. Typical trainee responsibilities here range from “basic administrative tasks to transactional management, due diligence processes and steering teams in different jurisdictions.” Our sources explained that once into the rhythm of the seat, responsibilities could even extend to contacting stakeholders and CEOs of businesses, drafting blogs and working one-on-one with partners to “keep track of documents and collate input on due diligence reports.” As for busyness, “The team is at its peak right now!” trainees explained. “Everyone’s extremely busy, and I’ve had some days where I’m working a bit longer than is ideal, but it’s peaks and troughs,” they reasoned. Ultimately, “The most important thing is to get as much exposure as possible to see if we’d enjoy this kind of NQ work,” an interviewee concluded.

“I basically spent my entire seat in court.”

Work in the firm’s litigation group remains “varied and complex.” For instance, one interviewee explained, “I basically spent my entire seat in court,” while another added, “I spent most of my time working on a dispute that spanned seven jurisdictions.” On the latter, newbies noted that the seat consisted of enforcement, compliance and investigations on various white-collar and large-scale multi-jurisdictional fraud cases. Further matters include “big investigations covering global entities and working with leading UK regulators,” as well as “sanctions work analysing client activities for any potential breaches and giving advice on how clients can best protect themselves.” On a more granular level, trainees are kept busy attending meetings, taking notes on client calls and drafting letters. Described as “very hands on,” our sources were also able to attend case management conferences and hearings and were involved with preparing bundles for court. As you can likely tell by this point, “it’s not like you’re only a trainee and you should stick to the admin tasks. You really do get involved,” an interviewee confirmed. Working with KCs and mid-level barristers too, our sources noted “a high-level of responsibility.” They added, “You’re always supervised at the same time to ensure that there are no problems going forward. There’s so much learning on the job and I felt really confident when it came to seat rotation that I’d be able to apply the skills I learned to my next seat.” Willkie’s also got a competition litigation department, which reportedly has a “different dynamic.” Trainees here often spend their days at the competition tribunal and “visiting factories for clients.”

The capital markets group at Willkie undertakes a variety of endeavours, with trainees speaking of debt work, insurance-linked securities and catastrophe bonds. Here, interviewees explained, “You get great opportunities to engage in highly technical work,” through things like drafting SPAs, reviewing ancillary documents, coordinating case executions and due diligence. On one recent matter, Willkie represented the unsecured creditors of Scandinavian airline SAS in regards to its chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding in the US. Closely aligned with the capital markets group is the insurance department. “It’s pretty much a general corporate seat within the niche of the insurance sector,” one newbie explained. Unsurprisingly, the firm’s clients in this area “are big insurance companies. We’ll give them regulatory advice, work on M&As and look at the changes to companies’ articles,” an interviewee divulged.Case in point: the team has worked with names like the Qatar Insurance Group, Blackstone Insurance Solutions and Hiscox. Markedly, it’s not all about the technicalities though: “My work so far hasn’t only been a lesson in corporate law and corporate transactions, but also in business development and client relationships,” one insider divulged.

Trainee Life

News was abuzz that Willkie’s office space is growing – and regarding that, we heard absolutely no qualms. “The office space is pretty great,” one trainee enthused. Nestled next to The Barbican, “it has amazing views” and acts as a “central hub” for a number of firm events, including monthly drinks and nibbles, as well as the firm’s free lunches every Thursday and alternating Monday. Described as an incentive to facilitate more in-person interaction, our sources noted that trainees are expected to be in the office from Monday to Thursday. As to be expected, working hours fluctuated depending on the seat and the matter at hand; ten-hour days seemed to be the norm, though there was the odd occasion where trainees could be logged on past midnight and into the early hours.

“Being taken to the Algarve in my first month wasn’t bad!”

Firm culture was another hit among trainees, who flexed adjectives like “collaborative,”“friendly,”“open,”“accessible” and “entrepreneurial.” The cherry on top for many of our interviewees, however, was Willkie’s social calendar, which is lined with summer and Christmas parties and the firm’s bi-annual retreat “where staff from all the European offices meet in a particular destination.” We heard from sources that last year’s retreat was hosted in Portugal; “Being taken to the Algarve in my first month wasn’t bad!” quipped one. Other recollections included a quiz night and a pottery workshop, with future plans for a Pilates class hosted by the Women’s group and weekly tennis lessons. Described as “extremely social,” – if you hadn’t yet got the gist – the aptly named ‘Willski’ tops it all off. No, that’s not a typo – rather, it’s Willkie’s annual ski trip which trainees made sure to note was very well attended! “The firm is really interested in bringing people together and facilitating friendships both at and outside of work,” one trainee noted, adding, “I feel like I’ve played a blinder in that respect!”

In the spirit of facilitating supervision, trainees share an office with their supervisors. Formal feedback through mid-seat reviews and end-of-seat appraisals are expectedly the norm, though trainees are also paired with a partner mentor, a practice area mentor and a general associate mentor to receive more informal feedback on the job. Formal training consists of an induction, department-specific training and firm-wide sessions on professional development skills including “how to negotiate and how to have difficult conversations.” More commercially geared sessions exist at the firm too, with one example including the finance team running a training on financial clauses of SPAs which is open to all trainees. Otherwise, “there’s very much a learn on the job approach,” interviewees concluded.

While Willkie “doesn’t have an established scheme as such,” when it comes to matters of diversity, equity and inclusion, trainees noted they still “do a really good job of it. We’re a really diverse group,” one interviewee praised. The firm has a number of affinity groups (for all members of staff), including women, working parents, those who are neurodivergent; people from the LGBTQIA+ community and those with black, Asian or other minority ethnic heritage. As one insider recalled, “I remember during Black History Month they had these stunning visual pieces from black artists around the office, and some of the artists even came in to speak with us one evening.”

On to the topic of qualification, trainees described this as an “informal” affair characterised by open conversations with partners and coffees with Gemma. With no formal interview process, our sources noted that decisions were made based on your performance during your seat in said department. “You’d know if you have good standing to apply for a certain department as they do give you an indication of your performance,” insiders explained. Trainees are able to select up to three preferences, though most tend to stick to just one. And with NQ salaries sitting at a whopping £165k, there’s plenty of incentive for trainees to stick around. As such, in 2024, Willkie retained four of five qualifiers.

How to get a Willkie training contract 

• Vacation scheme deadline : Midday on 20 December 2024 
• Training contract deadline : All trainees are recruited through the vacation scheme 

Applications 

Willkie receives over 1,000 applications a year for its vacation schemes, which also doubles as its application for a training contract at the firm. 

There are four stages to each application. The first, the online application form, has “two questions: Why law? Why Willkie?” explains graduate recruitment manager, Gemma Baker. The application also includes “space for people to include their extracurricular activities and positions of responsibilities, as well as the standard work experience/employment and academic sections.” The important thing, warns Baker, is not to copy and paste from applications to other firms – which is sensible advice no matter what firm you’re applying for. Willkie reviews applications on a rolling basis but will not fill up places before the deadline. Baker emphasises “it is our strong recommendation that candidates only submit your application when they feel it is ready rather than submitting it as early as possible.”  

For those who are selected, the next stage is a video interview. This interview provides candidates with a chance to further demonstrate their “genuine interest in Willkie, as well as their interest in the commercial world,” says Baker. Baker emphasises that it’s important to be able to show your motivation and interest in the business of law. 

If you impress there, you’ll be invited to do a written exercise, which “is marked anonymously by at least two different associates from Willkie’s London office.” Baker explains that as part of the firm’s initiatives to make the process as inclusive as possible, “neither marker would have seen, and will not see, any applications or video interviews and each exercise is marked on a completely anonymous basis (i.e. candidate names/universities etc. are not given to the marker).” 

Those who get past this stage are invited to an “interview with a partner and a senior associate,” which are “conducted on a CV-blind basis,” Baker tells us, and “take place either over Zoom or in person.” That interview focusses “on motivational questions and a commercial case study.” Baker adds, “we are real advocates of Rare’s contextual recruitment system, which we actively use throughout the screening process.  We also make adjustments to each stage of the process upon request.” 

The vac scheme 

The firm runs two vacation schemes a year, in spring and summer, and both are two weeks long. Candidates sit in two different teams, with a partner and an associate.  Willkie wants to give candidates an experiential vacation scheme, meaning they will “gain hands-on experience of live work, giving them the opportunity to undertake real, meaningful work and showcase their potential.”   Former Willkie vac schemer and future Willkie trainee Cecilia Yeap said that undertaking “high-quality work in an ambitious yet supportive environment makes Willkie the ideal firm for those eager to take ownership of their growth. During the vacation scheme, I was entrusted with real client work by incredibly welcoming teams that were truly invested in my development.”