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Clarion Solicitors

10 vacancies
20 trainees
30 partners
310 staff

A national law firm, delivering high-quality work to commercial and private clients on a partnering basis. We focus on building long-term relationships with our clients.

Remember to cite LawCareers.Net on your application form if you apply to Clarion Solicitors .

More info

Clarion looks to appoint ten trainee solicitors commencing their training in September each year. We select trainees from the applications made to us by way of an initial online assessment day, followed by our summer placement scheme for succesful short-listed candidates. These are usually held over two separate assessment weeks at the end of June/beginning of July. All applications should be made via the grad.allhires.com portal.

We expect trainees to have a minimum of a 2:1 degree and their LPC or SQE1 and 2, together with good school academics.

We have exceptionally high retention rates over the last few years and a high percentage of our trainees go on to have a long term career with the firm.


Applications to

Ms Nicola Moyes

Method of application

Online Application Form

Method of assessment

  • Assessment centre

Clarion has established itself as one of the foremost players in Yorkshire’s highly competitive legal community providing legal support to both business and individuals, across the region, the UK and internationally. At the close of 2022 The Lawyer recognised Clarion as the third Fastest Growing Law Firm in Europe and in 2023 named them Independent Law Firm of the Year. 

Clarion stands for something different. The firm recruits lawyers who can express their personality and strengths for the benefit of the client and we have become renowned for being forward thinking and commercially savvy.

Clarion has an open, transparent and collegiate style of management and an informal approach and exceptionally high levels of employee engagement, which have resulted in us achieving a 3* accreditation with Best Companies and #8 in The Sunday Times Best Small Company to Work For in 2020. These prestigious accreditations have continued with us achieving the highest ranking law firm in the UK and the highest ranking of any company in Yorkshire in the 2022 Best Companies awards and #2 Best Large Company to Work For nationally. 

We have a long term ‘forward investment’ approach to our client relationships and our clients recognise the added value they receive and everyone at Clarion has a role to play with developing and building client relationships.

Sector experience

With noted legal experts working within sectors from healthcare to IT, energy, manufacturing, food and drink, media and the built environment; when it comes to understanding the market in which our clients operate throughout the UK and around the world, we have the strength in depth to support, protect and advise them.

Work with businesses

At Clarion we're proud to be different from other law firms. We believe in building long term relationships with all our clients. That way, we can really get to know them and provide added value to their businesses. You see, as well as excellent lawyers, we're business people too. Think of us as friendly advisers at the end of the phone. We understand clients' real issues, rather than just serving their immediate legal needs.

Many of our clients already enjoy added value services like strategic advice, network introductions, access to events and seminars and use of Clarion facilities, whenever they need them.

Work with individuals

Enjoying our lives and making the most of what we have, and wish to pass on to family and friends, plays a key role in protecting our peace of mind and lifestyles. We’re here to help individual clients successfully negotiate life’s potholes and always ensure their best interests are served.

Through the preparations we can help clients and take much of the worry and emotional heartache attached to wealth protection, making a will, probate, cohabitation agreements and heading off potential disputes away.

Protection

Listening is a big part of what we do and with good reason. Being able to ‘stand in clients' shoes’ and understand their needs and those of their families and loved ones means we’ll be able to help protect them for the future.

Peace of mind

Sympathetic and straightforward, experienced and friendly, nothing is too much trouble; no issue is insurmountable and no question left unanswered. Leaving the legal jargon behind, we’ll take care of the hard stuff while the client gets on with their life.

Our strategy has supported us to achieve double digit growth year on year and the firm continues to secure significant brands as clients from FTSE 100 and major in-bounds through to some of the leading entrepreneurial OMBs in the region.

Career prospects

At Clarion we have a structured career path for lawyers, which is supported by our 'Expect More' learning academy and a real focus on developing knowledge and technical skills through our HIVE inititaive. Our promotions panel meet regularly and applications are considered. A high number of our team have had long-term successful careers within the firm, including a few of our senior partners joining as trainees themselves many years ago!

Our summer placement scheme is part of the graduate recruitment process and plays an important role in selecting candidates for training contracts. If you are selected for one of these placements you will be given the opportunity to work in one of our ten practice areas; corporate, commercial, business restructuring and insolvency, real estate, commercial dispute resolution, banking and finance, intellectual property, employment, family or private wealth.

During a placement with us you will be given the chance to follow various team members through their day to day workloads and, where appropriate, to meet with clients and attend court hearings. In addition, you will be given a number of tasks to complete. So you can gain an insight as to what it is really like to be a trainee at Clarion you will have lunch with some of our current trainees and attend a social event one evening with members of our ClarioNet group. On the final day of the placement you will undertake a series of assessment tests and have an interview.

At Clarion, trainees are considered to be part of the team from the very outset.

Each of our ten departments – corporate, commercial, real estate, business restructuring and insolvency, commercial dispute resolution, employment, intellectual property, banking and finance, family and private wealth – offers the opportunity to the firm's trainees to spend one of their four six month seats as part of the department. The training given is hands-on, and driven by an ethos of openness, enthusiasm, commerciality and support. We believe Clarion offers a wonderful opportunity to trainee solicitors in a friendly, team-based environment, whilst gaining great client exposure and high quality work. We are particularly proud of our legal awards, which include rankings in The Legal 500 and we enjoy exceptionally high levels of employee engagement as accredited by gaining #2 in The Best Large Company to Work For and 3* Best Companies accreditation in 2022.

In addition to a full training programme in all the disciplines necessary for the legal side of your work, Clarion offers its trainees the opportunity to acquire experience of the marketing and self-development activities that take place in the firm through our learning and development programme, 'Expect More'. Trainees are encouraged to join the firm's networking group, ClarioNet, to attend the firm's social events, to assist in representing the firm at law fairs and marketing events, and to participate in mentoring schemes at law colleges, universities and schools.

We believe that to be involved in Clarion is to be at the heart of one of the most exciting firms the legal profession can offer. We are looking for trainee solicitors who will share that belief and work with us over the long term to realise the immense potential of the firm.

BeingOne is about how we at Clarion become increasingly diverse and inclusive. It is not an “initiative” or project but provides us with a strategic framework, harnessing our collective perspectives, in support of a culture where each of our people can thrive and be their authentic selves. The impact should be seen as well as felt as we enhance what we do, and how we do it, on a day-to-day basis.

Diversity and inclusion have mattered to us for a long time and we have made real progress in certain areas. Our progress is evident from the powerful stories shared by some of our team, please do follow this link to read BeingOne stories from our team.

In addition, our BeingOne forum has made positive progress in raising awareness of diversity and inclusion through the celebration and education of religious festivals and diversity events, such as Black History Month, International Women’s Day, Chinese New Year, Diwali, Ramadan, Harvey Milk Day and Deaf Awareness Week.

We recognise, though, that there is much left to do in realising our ambition to create an environment where everyone, from any background, can do their best work. BeingOne helps maintain our focus on, and commitment to, this crucial aspect of our firm.

We do not currently provide sponsorship for the LPC, GDL or SQE courses.

  • Commercial
  • Corporate
  • Banking & finance
  • Commercial dispute resolution
  • Business restructuring & insolvency
  • Real estate
  • Intellectual property
  • Employment
  • Private wealth
  • Family
  • Corporate & Commercial
  • General Commercial
  • General Practice

Practice Areas

Extra info

Elizabeth House, 13-19 Queen Street, Leeds, LS1 2TW
Phone: 0113 246 0622
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.clarionsolicitors.com
Work placement: Yes
Number of work placements: 20
Minimum qualification: 2:1 degree
Start salary: £33,000
Turnover: £27,000,000 (2022)
Training programme applications: 250 (2020)
Retention rate: 88% (2023)
Partner diversity:
  • 62.0% male (2023)
  • 38.0% female
Lawyer diversity:
  • 36.0% male (2023)
  • 64.0% female
  • Leeds
  • BPP Legal Advice Clinic
  • Ahead Partnership
  • BPP Legal Access Scheme
  • Disability Confident Leader
  • Legal Apprenticeships
  • Mindful Business Charter