Beth Petch (she/her) is a senior early talent advisor at Trowers & Hamlins LLP. She’s based in London and has been at the firm for two years.
Does your firm run a vacation scheme?
We run in-person summer vacation schemes in all four of our UK offices (Birmingham, Exeter, London and Manchester), which take place from early June to early July. Each scheme lasts two weeks, during which attendees get to experience a couple of departments and get involved in real-life work – making a difference from the moment you set foot in the door!
We believe in the importance of an in-person scheme because while the recruitment process is there for us to find the best future talent, it's also for attendees to see whether Trowers & Hamlins is somewhere they can see themselves training, growing and thriving. Two weeks of networking and connecting is perfect for this.
What kind of work can candidates expect to experience during the vacation scheme?
Candidates will experience a mix of set exercises and live work, designed to reflect the real responsibilities of a trainee solicitor. Supervisors have carefully curated some set exercises to ensure every attendee leaves with a tangible understanding of the work each department does and what their day-to-day role could look like.
There’ll also be opportunities for exposure to live work and our supervisors are fantastic at involving vacation scheme attendees in this. Candidates in the past have attended court hearings, taken minutes during client meetings and have even been published in our newsletters and bulletins.
What key skills does your firm look for in candidates when they apply?
Everything we look for during a recruitment process has been carefully designed with the role of a future solicitor in mind – there are no 'trick questions'!
We’re looking for people who can excel within our core values:
- We collaborate
- We savour success
- We’re driven by innovation
- We're not afraid to be human
Of particular importance to me is a growth mindset. Successful candidates will be able to show a passion for learning and continuous development, seeking and acting upon feedback. There’s also an element of resilience to this that’s hugely important. At the early stages of your career, you’ll undoubtedly make mistakes – what’s more interesting to us is how you respond and overcome these.
How important is diversity, equity and inclusion to your firm?
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) is central to everything we do and is led from the top down at Trowers & Hamlins.
We pride ourselves on having one of the best stats for female partners (almost 40%) in the legal profession and we have both a gender action plan and pace action plan to help us achieve our goals. We work with organisations such as The Sutton Trust and PRIME, and use contextual recruitment methods throughout our process.
We’re community members of 10,000 Black Interns and pledge to recruit interns each year. In 2024 we welcomed four legal interns to the firm. The programme was so successful that in 2025 we welcome 15 interns across both legal and business services teams! Many of these interns secured training contracts at the firm.
Aside from recruitment, Trowers’ employee networks are also incredibly active. We have nine networks in total: allyship, disability, gender, work and family, international, LGBTQ+, race, ethnicity and heritage, religion and belief, social mobility and wellbeing.
What is the most common way that candidates let themselves down in their applications?
Not being specific enough. My key pieces of advice for writing an application are to:
- take your time (we don't recruit on a rolling basis); and
- check your answer applies only to Trowers.
For example, saying, "I'd like to apply to Trowers & Hamlins because they have a great culture" doesn’t show off all the fantastic research that we know you've done. A better answer could start with, "I’ve seen Trowers & Hamlins' culture via their involvement with X initiative…". Make sure that you’re being specific enough that you can be talking about only one firm.
In addition, if you're applying to one of our regional offices, you must show that you've explored our work in that area. Specificity shows genuine interest and effort.
What's the firm's stance on the use of AI in vacation scheme/training contract applications?
As a firm driven by innovation, we embrace the potential of AI; however, we value authenticity even more. While we don’t prohibit responsible the use of AI, your application should reflect your unique experiences and voice because that’s what sets you apart and aligns with our culture.
We’re proud to have an innovation and legal technology team that’s constantly looking at how our lawyers can benefit from the advantages that AI can bring, alongside responsible governance of practices.
We ask candidates to remember that AI will give similar suggested responses to everyone who asks the same questions. AI can't replicate your talents, personal experiences, qualities and skills: as a firm that values culture so highly, this is what we want to see.
We’ll also be looking for authenticity in the online assessment and candidates will be asked to sign an integrity statement relating to this.
Should candidates use examples of non-legal work experience in their applications?
Absolutely! Some of the most interesting answers I read (and yes, we do personally read hundreds of applications!) include non-legal work experience. I find this is often where you get to see people's passions outside of the law.
We recognise legal work experience is hard to obtain, especially if you're someone without connections in law. Transferable skills from non-legal work experience are always relevant.
I’d recommend taking time to consider how the work you've done relates to the skills that we’re looking for and clearly explaining this. It may surprise you how many skills gained from working in retail, for example, can be applied to being a solicitor.
What key things about your firm should any good candidate know and be able to talk about?
When applying to Trowers & Hamlins, you should come with an understanding of our key practice areas, locations in which we operate, and our culture and vision.
If you’re applying to an office outside of London, the people you meet will be particularly interested in why you’ve chosen that region. Each office has its own specialisms and personality, while maintaining a core Trowers culture. You should make sure you research the location-specific details and can show an interest in developing your career in that place.
Strong candidates will also be able to explain what our culture means to them. They’ll be able to answer questions, such as: What key initiatives have Trowers been involved in that piqued your interest? How have you seen our values manifest in the work we do (eg, via pro bono/DE&I)?
Are there alternative ways to qualify as a solicitor at your firm that don’t involve the training contract route (eg, solicitor apprenticeship)?
Our first intake of solicitor apprentices joined the firm in September 2025 and we’re excited to continue expanding the programme.
This route reflects our commitment to social mobility and opening doors to talented individuals across the UK. For too long, there have been barriers preventing smart, capable people from joining the legal profession just because of where they’re from. However, at Trowers, we believe that the next generation of solicitors should be made up of brilliant thinkers, no matter their background.
During the first four years of the programme, you’ll complete your law degree. In the final years, you’ll complete the Solicitors Qualifying Exam, all while working at the firm and being exposed to a wide variety of departments.
What book are you currently reading?
It's August as I'm writing this, so I’ve come back from some time off on holiday with an armful of crime novels! Why do those free libraries always contain murder mysteries?!
