Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP - True Picture

Firm profile

Willkie is an international law firm of approximately 1200 lawyers spread over thirteen offices in six countries. We provide innovative, integrated legal and business solutions to companies and individuals across a wide spectrum of business areas, countries and cultures.

We provide English and US legal advice to UK, US and international market-leading public and private companies, investors and financial services institutions.

Willkie’s London’s office was founded in 1988 and is widely recognized as one of the leading transactions and disputes law firms in the UK.

Our team has grown to more than 130 partners and lawyers and regularly handle some of the most high-profile and complex international transactions and disputes in the market. Many of our lawyers are recognized as leaders in their field by the leading legal directories and third party publications and bring decades of experience to our clients’ businesses. Working closely with our colleagues in Europe and the U.S., we are committed to using our knowledge of the law to promote or defend our clients’ interests in the UK and beyond. 

Main areas of work

Our principal areas of work in London are: asset management; business reorganization & restructuring; capital markets; competition & antitrust; competition litigation; litigation, investigations & enforcement; corporate insurance; finance; international arbitration;mergers & acquisitions; private equity and tax.

Trainee profile

We recruit approximately six future trainee solicitors from our spring and summer vacation schemes.

We are looking for those who can start their training contract in September 2026. We are looking for people who have a genuine interest in Willkie and our clients. Our people work in small, nimble teams on high quality matters, so it is important that you are motivated, collaborative and able to pick things up quickly as you will receive a great breadth of work from the outset. Willkie London has grown by 161% since 2017, and over 51% from 2020 alone. With this in mind, we are looking for self-starters who want to contribute to a dynamic, growing workplace.

We welcome applicants from all universities and degree disciplines. We are looking for consistently strong academic achievement, with a 2.1 at undergraduate level. 

Training environment

Our training contract provides an environment where junior lawyers can excel and be challenged, in a supportive environment. You will sit in four different practice areas, with a mix of partners and associates. We take your training seriously, and you will work alongside our partners and associates in small teams on real matters from day one. Our people work in small, nimble teams on high quality matters, so it is important that you are motivated, collaborative and able to pick things up quickly as you will receive a great breadth of work from the outset.

We were delighted to be named winner of ‘Best law firm for quality of work’ at The Legal Cheek Awards 2022. We were also finalists for in the following categories: partner approachability, perks, working from home and law firm of the year.

We are proud of our vacation scheme, which fully integrates candidates into working life in the London office.

We have up to 20 places (in total) on our paid spring and summer schemes. During your two weeks with us, you will share an office with a partner and an associate. You will undertake real, meaningful work and we will provide training that will enable you to showcase your potential. We hope that by the end of the two weeks, you will have met most of our people at our vacation scheme-specific workshops, seminars and social events.

You will be supported throughout your time with us, both by a partner mentor, your supervisors, a trainee buddy and our graduate recruitment team.

Benefits

Our benefits include: 25 days’ annual leave, Cycle to Work scheme, employee assistance programme for employees and their families, employer pension contribution, eye test, health & well-being allowance, income protection, interest-free season ticket loan, life assurance, private dental insurance, private medical insurance and technology programme. 

Sponsorship & awards

We offer full sponsorship of both the GDL and SQE, which covers your course fees in full, as well as a £17,500 maintenance grant per academic year.