The problems our clients bring us vary. But we solve them with the same, single-minded focus. We always ask: ‘What’s the smartest route to the biggest impact?’ With over 1,500 lawyers based across the globe, we have a deep understanding of our markets and sectors.  We have 17 offices worldwide, which we link together with a network of like-minded global partners. Where we don't have offices, we work with firms well known to us, to deliver an international capability.

Each year, over 2,500 leading companies and finance players around the world trust us to deliver. We help them in multiple industries and in over 100 countries. Not just once, but again and again. Many of our 48 FTSE100 clients have been with us for more than 20 years; one for 150. Tomorrow’s problems won’t be solved with yesterday’s answers. And, we believe that good business demands good legal advice. Which, ultimately, comes down to just four words. Yes. No. Stop. Go. Join us if you want to be part of a team that delivers that clarity, imagination and impact.

We offer week-long Easter work placements in Edinburgh and London, and two-week summer work placements in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, London and Manchester. And because everyone is an individual, we make sure each placement is a valuable experience for each individual student.

While you are here, you will get to know the everyday life of an Addleshaw Goddard trainee. You will be allocated a department to sit in and, if you are part of the summer scheme, will swap into a new department in your second week. You will be supervised by an experienced solicitor, who will welcome you to the department and allocate work. A trainee buddy will be on hand to help throughout your placement.

This is a scheme as unique as you are. As well as informative sessions, group exercises, assessed work and plenty of time at your desk, you will attend social events with a range of people across the office. It’s a real chance to get to know our people and our culture. We offer training contracts to successful placement scheme students, so we’d encourage you to apply.

Legal apprenticeship scheme 

There’s no blueprint for bright. In fact, the opposite is true. That’s why we offer an alternative path into law for those who do not wish to go down the traditional university route.

Our legal apprenticeship scheme, developed in Manchester and Leeds, is at the forefront of apprenticeships in the legal profession.

We have been recognised by the All About Group as a Top 100 Employer for School Leavers.

We are more than just exceptional lawyers here. We attract sparkling people from all backgrounds, who bring their own unique qualities, along with a collaborative approach, professional drive and a commitment to every client’s success. This is just one of the reasons we’re sure you will enjoy working with us.

As a trainee, important cases will come your way from the get-go. You will work on everything from multi-million-pound deals to high-profile fraud cases, employment disputes to complex technology contracts. Our success is intrinsically linked to yours, so we’ll always have your back and help you realise your potential.

Training contracts are four seats long, with opportunities to spend time in another of our offices as well as on secondment with clients. During each six-month seat, you will have regular two-way performance reviews with your supervising partner or solicitor. They will help you develop the skills you need to deal with the demanding work you will come across every day. 

As well as learning on the job, you will also have access to high-quality in-house and external training, a buddy scheme in your first seat, and a mentor throughout your training contract and beyond.

The best advocates of our graduate careers are the trainees themselves. See what some of them have to say about life at Addleshaw Goddard.

The changes brought in by the SQE have meant that there is more flexibility around the way trainees can quality as solicitors and we are now able to offer more than one route to qualification. From 2025, our trainees can opt to qualify via the graduate solicitor apprenticeship or via the traditional training contract.

Training contract route

The training contract will continue in its current structure. There will be four seats each for a duration of six months and our March and September intakes will remain. Our first SQE intake of trainees will commence in September 2024. Any future trainees who have the LPC will not be required to undertake the SQE. For those needing the SQE, we will require them to pass SQE1 and SQE2 assessments prior to commencing their training contract. This will be undertaken at BPP in the year prior to starting their training contract (e.g. September 2024 for September 2025 training contract start). It will be funded by AG and future trainees will be given maintenance grants during their year of study.

Those who have qualifying work experience are able to use this to shorten the length of their training contract, though the maximum time we permit a training contract to be shortened by is 12 months. 

Graduate solicitor apprenticeship route

The duration of the apprenticeship will be 36 months. In year one, apprentices will study, and in years two and three will undertake their training contract. Apprentices will be employed by the firm from day one of their apprenticeship. The firm will sponsor apprentices through the SQE and they will be paid a salary during their period of study. During the training contract apprentices will undertake four seats each for a duration of six months, the same as our trainees. Apprentices will qualify at the same time as their cohort who will be on the training contract route.

Pro bono initiatives

Firm-wide, we work on a wide range of pro bono matters, from collaborative projects supporting climate change, to stand-alone matters supporting charities and other not-for-profit organisations.  We are constantly exploring new pro bono opportunities and many of these opportunities come directly via our people, but we also take on matters through our pro bono facilitators LawWorks and TrustLaw as well as the Collaborative Plan.

We have regional pro bono champions who help drive local engagement with some examples of on-going regional pro bono work including:

Manchester: University of Manchester Legal Advice Centre, Young Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University Business Law Café

London: Springfield Clinic

Scotland: University of Edinburgh Legal Advice Centre

What diversity means to Addleshaw Goddard

We have created a high-performance culture that is inclusive, supportive and which thrives on individuality, personality and team spirit. We expect the best of each other and we want everyone to succeed, regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, disability, religious practice or any other perceived difference.

Our diversity programme is represented at the most senior level of our business by our board sponsors. It is run by a dedicated inclusion team, inclusion partners, inclusion network leads, divisional and department champions and volunteers from across the business. We have organised our approach around five key strands of diversity, focusing on: disability, ethnicity, gender, LGBTQ+ and social mobility, and we also provide comprehensive support for parents and carers and run an ongoing mental health and wellbeing awareness campaigns. In addition, we also have our people networks that not only support and help inform our inclusion strategy, but also provide an opportunity for people to learn more about specific subject matter, network and share their lived experience. Our networks include:

 - AG Embrace – our race and ethnicity network

 - OpenAG – our LGBTQ+ network

 - The Disability Network – our disability and carers network

 - The Vine – our gender balance network

We have been consistently recognised for our commitment to diversity over the years. These are some of our external recognition achievements:

 - The Times, Top 50 Employers for Women for the 14th time

 - People in Law Awards, Excellence in Learning and Development (2022)

 - Legal Week Innovation Awards, Mindful Business Charter (recognition) and HR Innovation (winner 2019)

 - Listed as a Top 75 Employer in the Social Mobility Index 2021 and 2022

 - Achieved "Employer" status as part of the Disability Confident Scheme

We are also:

 - active members of Stonewall and the Business Disability Forum;

 - signatories to the Valuable 500;

 - founding members of PRIME; and

 - partners with the Black Solicitor's Network.

Removing barriers so that talent can shine

A key focus for Addleshaw Goddard is diversifying our trainee talent. To do this, we have partnered with an external organisation, Rare, to introduce contextual recruitment and accountability into our graduate hiring process.

Contextual recruitment looks at the context of academic achievement, and identifies students who have surpassed expectations or performed excellently in conditions of adversity.

We have also removed our minimum A-level requirement to allow a more diverse pool of candidates to apply for training contracts at Addleshaw Goddard.

Our external recruitment partner helps us to screen your application without personal information to ensure we do not allow bias of any kind to affect the process.

We have also increased the training for everyone involved in the recruitment process to ensure that we select people based on their ability, potential and nothing else.

Diversity Access Schemes

We nurture strong links with reputable social mobility schemes and professional diversity networks such as the Aspiring Solicitors, Talent Tap, Regeneration Brainery, Uptree, Upskill Me, Leadership Through Sport and Business, Black Solicitors Network, Pathways to Property and PRIME and value their support and expertise when reaching out to untapped talent from non-traditional backgrounds.

We are signatories of the Social Mobility Business Compact, a government-led initiative which aims to reduce elitism and improve social mobility by encouraging businesses to open opportunities to everyone. 

We have always invested and partnered with local communities, schools and networks who are keen to raise the aspirations of young people – and will continue to do so by offering young talent opportunities to take part in quality work experience programmes and internships.

PRIME

We are a founding member of PRIME, an initiative through which law firms provide quality work experience placements to underprivileged school-age students. We work with local primary and secondary schools across London, Leeds, Manchester and Edinburgh to inspire young people to fulfil their potential. Each year, around 50 students from years 12 and 13 take part in our Legal Access Week programme.

Legal Explorers 

In 2023 we launched the AG Legal Explorer programme, a year-long programme offering mentoring, a laptop and work shadowing opportunities for socially mobile students. The programme will run across offices in Edinburgh, Leeds, London and Manchester, and will focus on preparing students to take the next step in their careers, such as applying for university or apprenticeship. 

Sonia McMahon Award

This award was establish following the death of a colleague, Sonia McMahon.  Sonia was a champion of inclusion and was passionate about providing greater opportunities for those from less privileged background.  The award is open to current law students and awards the two winners a £5,000 bursary (each), 12 months of mention and a week of work experience at the firm.  

Legal Access Scheme

Our award-winning Legal Access Scheme offers bright BPP University Law School students from unconventional or less privileged backgrounds a place on our summer placement programme. 24 students from this scheme have secured training contracts with us since its creation in 2007.

Lawscot Foundation 

We have partnered with LawScot Foundation to enable the opportunity for students from less privileged backgrounds a place on our summer placement scheme, along with providing a bursary for one student each year. 

Legal apprenticeship scheme 

There’s no blueprint for bright. In fact, the opposite is true. That’s why we offer an alternative path into law for those who do not wish to go down the traditional university route.

Our legal apprenticeship scheme, developed in Manchester and Leeds, is at the forefront of apprenticeships in the legal profession.

We have been recognised by the All About Group as a Top 100 Employer for School Leavers.

City Solicitors Horizons

City Solicitors Horizons (CSH) is a social mobility initiative designed to improve access to the legal profession for young people from less privileged backgrounds. It was created by the City of London Solicitors’ Company, City Solicitors’ Educational Trust (CSET) and The Legal Education Foundation (TLEF), and is supported by the City of London Law Society (CLLS) and leading law firms – including Addleshaw Goddard.

Students attending universities across London and southeast England are selected to take part in this three-year social mobility programme, alongside their undergraduate degrees, connecting with law firms who provide access to mentoring lawyers and practical work experience.

Talent Tap

In 2023 we started working with Talent Tap, which provides high quality work experience opportunities and to social mobility students in 'cold spots'. Residential accommodation is provided to the students, allowing them to take part in opportunities and work experience that might not have been able to otherwise.  

Street Law 

Our new programme Street Law involves working with young people in schools to provide information about law and their rights and responsibilities. We work with low progression secondary schools to help raise aspirations and encourage young people to think about law as a possible career option, as well as providing useful legal information using interactive methods.  

We provide all trainees with a substantial and competitive range of benefits. These include: cycle scheme, gym allowance, CSR days, season ticket loan, railcard (young persons), Give as You Earn, life assurance, income protection pension with matched contribution of 5%, voluntary critical illness, bonus plan, talent spotting, AG Excellence, dental, private medical insurance, health screening, employee assistance programme, occupational health. 

• Corporate & commercial
• Finance & projects
• Dispute resolution
• Real estate

• Corporate & Commercial

• Aberdeen
• Edinburgh
• Glasgow
• Leeds
• London
• Manchester
• Doha
• Dubai
• Dublin
• Frankfurt
• Hamburg
• Luxembourg
• Munich
• Muscat
• Paris
• Singapore

• Aspiring Solicitors
• Black Solicitors Network
• City Solicitors Horizons
• Lawyers in Schools
• Pathways to Law
• PRIME
• Social Mobility Business Partnership
• Urban Lawyers Careers Conference