Mills & Co. Solicitors Limited specialises exclusively in shipping and international trade. With our team of 24 lawyers based in Newcastle upon Tyne, we are the largest specialist in our fields outside London. Newcastle has strong historical roots in shipping and has long been the UK’s ‘second city’ for shipping law. Our work is conducted before the same London-based courts and tribunals as the London firms specialising in the same fields. Within shipping and international trade globally, we are ranked alongside the leading London law firms in Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners. Our traineeships provide a unique opportunity for academically gifted lawyers to combine the intellectual stimulation of working in some of the most interesting and varied areas of international commercial law with the quality of life advantages of the North East.

Types of work

We are a full-service firm in our specialist fields. In shipping we have a significant presence in both ‘dry’ work (essentially contract law type work relating to hiring and insuring ships, carrying cargoes, building and financing new ships, and buying, selling, financing and repairing second-hand ships) and ‘wet’ work (essentially tort law type work involving collisions between ships or between ships and other structures, groundings, as well as specialists contracts concerning salvage, towage and other services provided to ships in distress). In international trade, we are involved in drafting, advising on and litigating contracts in relation to the international sale of goods.

Who should apply

We aim to provide work to the highest standards in the UK and therefore seek trainees who combine high academic achievement (at least A*AA at A level and 2.1 at university level) with an outgoing personality and an international outlook. Languages are an advantage as our lawyers travel to visit the leading shipping markets globally. We are committed to providing the best training possible with the aim that our trainees will stay with us upon qualification and ultimately become directors in the firm. In return we are seeking a genuine interest in shipping law and a clear commitment to remaining in the North East.

Company Registration No. 09654668 (SRA No. 636160)

We offer one-week vacation schemes in spring and summer 2023 ahead of our 30 June 2023 deadline for 2025 traineeships.

We operate a three-seat system each of about eight months in shipping litigation (shipping contract/tort disputes), commercial (a non-contentious seat including ship sale and purchase, shipbuilding, ship repair and ship finance) and commercial litigation (commodity sale contract disputes). In each seat, the trainee sits with a director specialising in the relevant field. Our ratio between directors and non-directors allows us to provide detailed supervision of trainees and junior lawyers. Trainees can expect to receive work from most of the directors during their traineeships as we do not operate in teams and aim to ensure that trainees sample all areas of the firm’s work.

We will pay your GDL and LPC fees, subject to certain criteria.

• Niche

• Newcastle