At Addleshaw Goddard, we are more than just exceptional lawyers: we are leaders in client investment and understanding. With over 1,400 lawyers based across the globe, we have a deep understanding of our markets and sectors. We act for our clients whatever the scale of their requirements, and have been instructed by over 48 FTSE 100 companies in the last two years. Our business is about strong client relationships built on successful delivery across national and international markets. We have 17 offices worldwide, which we link together with a network of likeminded global partners. Where we don't have offices, we work with firms well known to us, to deliver an international capability.

Equally important is strong loyalty which is proven through 75% of our clients who have been with us for more than 10 years.​​​​​​​

Join us, and wherever you are based, you will work side by side with blue chip clients in a supportive yet challenging environment. This is a structured training programme, and it is designed with your future success in mind.

We offer week-long Easter work placements in Edinburgh and London, and two-week summer work placements in 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.

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. Read (https://graduates.addleshawgoddard.com/our-people/) what four of them have to say about life at Addleshaw Goddard.

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 non-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

Diversity at 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 sponsor. It is run by a dedicated human resources (HR) team, partner sponsors 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 women's network

We have been consistently recognised for our commitment to diversity over the years. In our sector’s recent awards season, our diversity programme has achieved the following external recognition:

The Times, Top 50 Employers for Women;

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

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

And we are also:

active members of Stonewall and the Business Disability Forum

signatories to The Valuable 500

founding members of PRIME

participants of the Disability Confident Scheme (and in 2021 we achieved "Employer" status

partners with the Black Solicitor's Network and Queer Lawyers of Tomorrow

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 are also increasing 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, Black Solicitors Network, Urban Lawyers, Lawyers in Schools, Pathways to Law, PRIME and AllAboutLaw Events 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 40 students from years 12 and 13 take part in our Legal Access Week Programme.

Social Mobility Business Partnership (SMBP)

We are a member of the SMBP in Manchester and Leeds, where we partner with our own clients and other businesses to meet our respective social mobility commitments. Through this partnership, our Legal Access Week students benefit from additional work experience with in-house legal teams at a number of well-known companies.

Sonia McMahon Award

This was established a few years ago and gives one student from our partner schools a financial contribution towards the cost of studying law at university, access to a mentor and a week of work experience.

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 unconventional or less privileged backgrounds a place on our Summer placement scheme. 

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 disadvantaged 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.

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
• Dubai
• Dublin
• Frankfurt
• Hamburg
• Luxembourg
• Munich
• Oman
• Paris
• Qatar
• Singapore
• Tokyo*
• * formal alliance with Hashidate Law Office

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