About Us
Applications
Applications for our Spring and Summer Vacation Schemes 2027 open on Monday, 7 September and close on Monday, 7 December 2027.
If you are a penultimate-year law student, all final year undergraduate (law and non-law), a graduate, post-graduate or career changer, then you are eligible to apply. We welcome applicants from all universities and degree disciplines who are on track for, or have achieved, a 2:1 undergraduate degree.
This year, we are recruiting for our September 2028 and September 2029 intakes.
Should you have any further questions, please contact Hannah Booth, Graduate Recruitment Manager, at graduaterecruitment@willkie.com
Firm profile
Willkie is an international law firm of approximately 1300 lawyers in 16 offices in six countries. We provide English and US legal advice to UK, US and international market-leading public and private companies, investors and financial services institutions. We provide innovative, integrated legal and business solutions to companies and individuals across a wide spectrum of business areas, countries and cultures.
Willkie’s London’s office was founded in 1988 and is widely recognised as one of the leading transactions and disputes law firms in the UK. Our principal areas of work in London are: asset management, business reorganization & restructuring, capital markets, competition & antitrust, competition litigation, litigation and investigations & enforcement, corporate insurance, finance, international arbitration, private equity and tax.
Our team has grown to over 140 lawyers and over 40 partners. We regularly handle some of the most high-profile and complex international transactions and disputes in the market. Many of our lawyers are recognised 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.
Willkie’s London office was recognised as a market leader in the 2026 edition of The Legal 500 UK guide. With 15 practice area and 19 individual lawyer rankings, more than 90% of Willkie’s practice groups in London and approximately 50% of the office’s partners were recognised for excellence in the law. Willkie London also earned 8 Practice Area and 23 Individual Rankings in Chambers UK 2026. Willkie has been shortlisted for "International Law Firm of the Year" and "Private Equity Team of the Year" at the 2026 Legal Business Awards. At the Legal Business Awards 2024, the firm was recognised as “Highly Commended” in the US Law Firm of the Year award category for its growth as a market leader, achievements in the law and high-profile mandates.
Main areas of work
Asset Management; Business Reorganization & Restructuring; Capital Markets; Competition & Antitrust; Competition Litigation; Compliance; Investigations & Enforcement; Corporate Insurance; Finance; International Arbitration; Litigation; Private Equity; Tax
Training environment
Our training contract is designed to give you broad experience across a range of practice areas over the course of two years. From an early stage, you will take on genuine responsibility and work alongside partners and other team members who provide hands-on mentoring and individual support throughout your training.
Our training contract programme is structured around four six-month seats, giving trainees exposure to a range of contentious and transactional practices. Trainees will complete both a contentious seat (litigation, competition litigation or international arbitration) and a transactional seat (private equity or corporate insurance) during their training contract. For their remaining two seats, trainees can choose from any of the firm's other practice groups: asset management, business reorganization & restructuring, capital markets, competition and antitrust, competition litigation, corporate insurance, finance, international arbitration, litigation, private equity, and tax.
Trainees get to work on exciting, multijurisdictional cases and transactions and will take on a high level of responsibility. Our teams are lean, and trainees gain first-hand experience working with our partners and associates. Trainees are trusted with genuine responsibility on complex, industry-leading matters from the outset.
Our training contract provides an environment where junior lawyers can excel and be challenged, with strong support throughout. When trainees join us, they will have a comprehensive one-week induction that focuses on developing the key skills expected of a successful trainee. Day-to-day, trainees share an office with their supervisor, ensuring involvement, coaching, and continuous feedback throughout their seat. Trainees also have one-to-one support from our dedicated Trainee Development and Learning & Development teams. We are proud to have retained all, 100%, of trainee solicitors in 2026, with all qualifying trainees accepting permanent positions with the firm. This reflects our commitment to developing and investing in our trainees, and the supportive, high-quality training environment we provide.
It’s an exciting time to join Willkie London. It is the fastest growing law firm in London – with headcount more than doubling since 2019 – and we are looking for self-starters who want to contribute to a dynamic, growing workplace, and who have a genuine interest in Willkie and our clients.
About our Vacation Schemes
We are proud of our vacation schemes at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, and we offer structured work experience involving exposure to the day-to-day realities of a trainee solicitor. Our vacation schemes are designed to give our participants a genuine insight into who we are, what we do, and what life as a trainee at the firm looks like.
We exclusively recruit our trainee solicitors through our vacation schemes. We have 20 places on our vacation schemes, and we will allocate participants to a scheme at the offer stage, taking your individual circumstances into account. This year, we are recruiting participants from our vacation schemes to start their training contract in September 2028 and September 2029.
We run two schemes per year, Spring and Summer, and every participant on our schemes will be considered for a training contract. Each scheme runs for two weeks, and during that time our participants will work alongside our trainees, associates and partners on real, meaningful work and will assist on live matters. Participants will sit in two different practice groups, giving them the chance to experience two distinct areas of the firm, and they will share an office with their supervisor. They will also be supported by a trainee buddy and the graduate recruitment team. Throughout the scheme, our participants are treated like a trainee, and will attend practice area talks, training sessions, networking events, and social events with our lawyers. We pay our vacation scheme students £750 per week to cover any expenses.
If you are a penultimate-year law student, all final year undergraduate (law and non- law), a graduate, postgraduate or career changer, then you are eligible to apply. We welcome applicants from all universities and degree disciplines. We are looking for consistently strong academics, and you must be on track for, or have achieved, a 2:1 in your undergraduate degree.
Application Process
We welcome applicants from all universities and degree disciplines. We are looking for consistently strong academics, and our minimum academic requirements are as follows: a 2:1 at undergraduate level, a commendation at postgraduate level, and a first-time pass for any legal qualifications, such as the SQE.
Our application process takes place in four stages. Please note only those successful at each stage go forward to the subsequent stage:
• Online application form;
• Video interview;
• Written analytical exercise: to ensure fairness, the written exercise is marked by at least two different associates from Willkie’s London office. Neither ‘marker’ would have seen, and will not see, any applications or video interviews and each exercise is marked on a name-blind basis; and
• Partner interview: our interviews are conducted on a CV-blind basis, and will include suitability questions and a commercial case study
Applications and video interviews are reviewed on a rolling basis. Successful candidates will be held until all applications have been reviewed, then invited to the written exercise stage in January. Partner interviews will follow in February.
Willkie is proud to use Rare’s Contextual Recruitment System, meaning social mobility measures and educational data are embedded into our recruitment process. This allows us to better understand your academic achievements.
Benefits
First-year trainees earn £60,000, rising to £65,000 in the second year, with a newly qualified salary of £180,000.
Other benefits include 25 days’ annual leave, private medical care, private dentalcare, employer pension contribution, health & well-being allowance, lunch vouchers (every Thursday and every other Monday), tuck shop of snacks, eye tests, interest-free season ticket loan, life insurance plan, Cycle to Work scheme, employee assistance programme for employees and their families.
The firm also provides perks such as an annual ski trip and biannual European retreats.
Sponsorship & awards
We offer full sponsorship of both the PGDL and SQE, which covers your course fees in full, as well as a £20,000 maintenance grant per academic year.