Job Description
Salary: £50,000-£55,000
Always going the extra mile
Starting a Training Contract with Allen & Overy is just the beginning of what will be a stimulating and rewarding legal career. Throughout the two years of your Training Contract, we will work closely with you to ensure you have the right support to develop into a successful commercial solicitor.
Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE)
The route to qualification as a solicitor in England and Wales is changing. The SQE is a new compulsory assessment which takes effect from 1 September 2021 and ultimately replaces the current route to qualification. Trainees joining A&O from September 2024 onwards will train via the SQE route. Please see below for further information about our SQE transition plans. Further information about the SQE is available on the SRA website.
What will you do?
Under our current training programme, your training will be based on four six-month rotations (known as ‘seats’), through a number of departments or practice areas, where you will sit with a partner or an associate who will supervise your professional and personal development.
Our dedicated HR for Trainees team will work with you to support you with your seat choices. Seats are available across our practice areas and allow trainees to experience the full range of work we do. You will have the opportunity to express your preferences, so that you can spend time in the areas that are of particular interest (subject to business need). Our core transactional areas of expertise are Banking, Corporate (which includes our Pensions team) and International Capital Markets; as a trainee, you can expect to spend at least two seats of your Training Contract gaining experience in these areas. You will also explore the possibility of spending a seat on an international or client secondment.
Our trainees also gain contentious experience during their Training Contract, which they can do either by spending a seat in our Litigation department (including Employment, Intellectual Property, Litigation & Investigations and Arbitration) or, for those who do not sit in a Litigation seat, by completing a Litigation course and obtaining contentious experience via legal advice clinics. The Litigation course is run by Nottingham Law School and consists of five days’ tuition; regular visits to a legal advice centre take place throughout the Training Contract, to help our trainees gain practical contentious experience and provide valuable pro bono help.
