What is the Commercial Academy?
The Slaughter and May Commercial Academy is a graduate academy for those looking to launch careers within the legal sector’s Marketing and Communications, Business Development, Legal Operations, Research and Insights or Knowledge and Learning functions.
It is an opportunity to work within one of the world’s most highly regarded law firms and alongside some of the sector’s most well-respected professionals. The aim is to help you decide which avenue you would like to focus on wherever your career takes you next, as well as to give you invaluable experience and connections that will help you to be successful in whatever route you decide to take.
How does it work?
This is a two-year graduate academy designed to give a thorough understanding of the breadth of career opportunities available within some of the key functions that support our lawyers, and to gain experience in different disciplines. Training will be provided throughout the academy to support your development into a well-rounded professional with a broad business skillset. You will work with our talented teams in each function, learning how each specialism works and, more importantly, how they all fit together, developing technical skills, strategic understanding and people skills along the way.
It is important to point out that this is not an opportunity for those seeking to become lawyers. The firm offers a separate process for the recruitment of its legal teams, and this academy is not an alternative route to those processes. Those applying to this academy should be excited by the opportunity to work alongside our lawyers and the other professionals that make up approximately 50% of the employees within a successful, modern law firm.
Each of these seats has been designed to focus on a complementary set of skills and capabilities, and a number of internal teams are involved in delivering within each area.
Your role in each seat will vary according to your skills and interests, as well as the workload at the time, but the goal of each seat will be to enable you to thoroughly understand each area and whether working within it aligns with your longer-term aspirations.
We will aim to take account of personal preferences and attributes in identifying the seats assigned to each individual, but since the goal is to provide you with a broad understanding of the different areas, we expect all participants to change seat after six months. In other words, you will be expected to complete seats in four of the five areas and you may not have the option to select the seats in which you are placed.
What are we looking for?
We aim to employ those with the brightest minds, regardless of what or where they have studied.
You will be supporting lawyers who are amongst the most exceptional in their legal disciplines, so the highest standards of delivery and attention to detail will be expected. Candidates should be confident and willing to challenge, able to think ahead and provide solutions to whatever problems they face, and open to learning and thinking differently. They should also be able to work well with others who have a wide range of different backgrounds and perspectives.
You will have demonstrated these values in everything that you have achieved to date and have a track record of outstanding success within whatever situations you have found yourself in.
As well as being proactive and self-motivated, successful candidates will also have the following general skills:
- Strong verbal and written communication skills
- Ability to manage multiple priorities
- Ability to work well within a team and build strong working relationships
- Comfortable handling, analysing, and presenting data
- General commercial awareness and ability to focus on achieving valuable outcomes
In terms of academic qualifications, we understand that candidates come from diverse backgrounds and will have faced unique challenges. Indeed, we value the resilience shown in overcoming obstacles. However, we seek candidates who have a strong record of academic achievement. As a result, unless there are exceptional circumstances, we are looking for candidates who:
- Have achieved BBB or higher at A-Level
- Are a final year university student or a graduate
- If an undergraduate, are on track for a 2:1 degree. If a graduate, have a minimum of a 2:1 degree.
We will consider all qualifying applicants, and each will be considered on their own merits, irrespective of their chosen degree discipline. We are open to more experienced graduates as well as those who have completed their course of study more recently, and we are particularly interested in candidates who have achieved academic and other success despite challenging situations. We therefore encourage you to include details of any mitigating circumstances which may have impacted your academic results. We will also use the Rare Contextual Recruitment System as part of the application process. The system helps us identify high-potential candidates by putting applicants’ grades and achievements in the context of their social and educational background.
How to apply
The deadline to apply is 16 March 2026. For more information and to apply please visit our website: Commercial Academy
About Slaughter and May
Slaughter and May is a leading international law firm, recognised for our exceptional legal service and our commitment to clients. The firm is a trusted adviser to some of the largest companies in the world, advising on high-profile, complex and often ground-breaking transactions. Our forward thinking, innovative approach to legal services complements the best-in-class advice on which our reputation is built. Excellence is deeply ingrained in our culture and absolutely central to everything we do at the firm.
We thrive on original thinking and novel approaches. Our inclusive culture gives rise to a unique diversity of thinking, which is critical to our success and helps maintain our position as a true market leader.
Our practice areas
We are a full-service law firm and have leading practitioners across a wide range of areas including Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate and Commercial, Financing, Tax, Competition, Disputes and Investigations, Real Estate, Pensions and Employment, Financial Regulation, and Technology, Digital, Data and Intellectual Property.
A world of difference
There are clear differences between Slaughter and May and other global law firms:
· We train each of our lawyers to be a multi-specialist, equipped to advise on a broad range of legal matters which at other firms would be handled by a number of different lawyers. This is hard work, but our lawyers say it makes for a far more fulfilling career. It provides challenge and interest, while allowing lawyers to develop deeper relationships with clients, because they get to know their businesses better.
· Much of our work has an international element and we work with the very best law firms across the globe, hand-picked to meet the needs of each matter, to support our clients. On average we work with more than 200 law firms across 100 countries annually. We never compromise on the quality and consistency for which we are widely recognised.
· Our inclusive culture is built on intentional collaboration and support. With no set billing targets, our lawyers are free to share expertise and knowledge, allowing them to focus on what truly matters – delivering exceptional work and outstanding client service.
Diversity and Inclusion
Diversity and Inclusion is an integral part of how we do things as a firm. We believe that a supportive and inclusive workplace drives collaboration and enhances business performance. We are looking to employ the brightest minds regardless of what or where they studied. Traditional approaches to D&I are often skewed towards initiatives helping diverse individuals to “fit in” and succeed; we focus on examining and adjusting the system for greater acceptance of different leadership styles and ways of working.
We welcome applications irrespective of race, colour, ethnic or national origin, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, belief or marital status.
