Milbank LLP is an elite, international law firm with over 1,000 lawyers and more than 220 partners, based in 11 offices. With 200+ lawyers based permanently in London, it is the firm’s second-largest office and consists of one of the most talented groups of lawyers of any US law firm in London. We advise on large-scale, high-end, complex matters usually involving multiple jurisdictions across a wide range of legal practice areas including banking & finance, litigation, corporate, IT & outsourcing and tax.

Driven to deliver exceptional results for our clients, we push boundaries and challenge assumptions. That’s been core to our ethos since our founding in 1866. It fuels how we work and define ourselves, and it informs our growth and evolution as a firm. Our clients are market leaders, global innovators and paradigm-shifting entrepreneurs that advance emerging industries. Surrounding ourselves by the best inspires and challenges us constantly to reimagine what’s possible.

Our London office building is among the top 1% of sustainable office buildings in the United Kingdom. It is equipped with the latest technology and communal hubs to support our fully collegiate approach to working.

Pro bono

Milbank was one of the first law firms to appoint a partner to head up its pro bono practice, in 1993. We  require every partner, counsel, associate and trainee to dedicate a minimum of 25 pro bono hours annually. Pro bono participation in Milbank’s London office has expanded significantly in recent years. In 2025, Milbank’s London office recorded nearly 5,000 hours of pro bono work, with lawyers contributing an average of 20 hours. Our London team works closely with a number of pro bono organisations,  including Advocates for International Development, TrustLaw and LawWorks (in particular, LawWorks’ unpaid wages project and not-for-profits programme). Other partnerships include Amicus ALJ, which provides legal assistance to individuals facing the death penalty in the United States. Through this partnership, volunteer lawyers support Amicus’ mission to ensure a fair trial and access to justice by conducting case research and reviewing court materials. The Milbank London office has also advised a human rights and labour rights organisation in relation to potential civil claims and alternative resolutions against organisations that had failed to conduct adequate human rights due diligence or had breached the Modern Slavery Act 2015 through their partners, contractors, suppliers or other entities connected to abusive practices impacting migrant workers.

We will be running our first vacation scheme from Monday 22 March to Friday 2 April 2027. Our second vacation scheme will run from Monday 5 April to Friday 16 April 2027.

The vacation scheme's duration is two weeks, so attendees will have the opportunity to sit in two different practice areas on the traditional track or two weeks in leveraged finance on the leveraged finance track.

There will be a variety of training and development sessions to help equip you with the skills you will need as a junior lawyer. You will also be invited to attend a number of social events held throughout the scheme to help you network and build relationships at the firm.

We offer places on both schemes to penultimate year Law undergraduates, all final year undergraduates (both law and non-law), all graduates, post-graduates and career changers.

Applications for our 2026 schemes will open on 3 September 2026 and close on 16 December 2026.

Our first intake of trainees joined our London office in September 2013.

Our traditional training contract consists of four six-month seats. Trainees will be expected to undertake seats across our corporate, finance and litigation practices. In addition we offer comprehensive training to help develop trainees technical and practice group specific knowledge in addition to training on key communication, career management and presentation skills.

We also offer a leveraged finance training contract track in addition to the traditional training contract. This programme is exclusively reserved for those who have a clear and committed interest in leveraged finance. Trainees on this track spend 12-18 months sitting in our leveraged finance team in London, followed by at least one seat in another practice area with the goal of qualifying into the leveraged finance group. 

We provide full sponsorship of the SQE and PGDL, plus a maintenance grant of £20,000 during each year of study.

• Leveraged finance
• Project finance
• Financial restructuring
• Structured finance (AIP)
• Litigation
• Corporate
• Tax
• Competition
• Transportation & Space group

• Corporate & Commercial

• London

• London

• Amicus
• LawWorks (the Solicitors Pro Bono Group)
• TrustLaw