You will often hear us say "Achieve more. Together”, and while many law firms talk about teamwork and collaboration, it’s not just a catchphrase for us, more the cornerstone of our culture and how we work.

Of course, you want to know that we have six offices across the UK with 1,300  staff and over 600 lawyers. But, more importantly, you should know that we have been crowned Law Firm of the Year by both Legal Week and RollonFriday and we have been ranked in the UK's “100 Best Companies to Work For” for the past 19 years. We consistently win accolades for our vacation scheme and training contracts.

This is because, as a trainee at Mills & Reeve, we offer something a bit different. The quality of the work you will get involved with, the contact and relationships you will build with clients and the culture of the firm you work in. And 97% of us would recommend that you work here.

We are a major UK law firm and our work spans a broad range of legal sectors and jurisdictions for a diverse range of clients: from the FTSE250 to fast-growth start-ups, from individuals to some of the world’s most established and prestigious organisations.

Our service is delivered through firm-wide core groups: corporate and commercial, employment, family, insurance disputes, private client, projects and construction, real estate and regulatory, public and commercial disputes. Core sectors are automotive, charities and social enterprise, education, energy, food and agribusiness, government, health and care, insurance, life sciences, mid-market, private wealth, real estate investment, sport, technology.

We want people who are ready for early responsibility because that is what we will give you. You will be driven, have a positive attitude and an agile approach. You will enjoy untangling complicated issues and thrive on building relationships with clients and colleagues.

To find out what it is like to work at Mills & Reeve LLP read the firm's Meet the Lawyer profile.

Our award-winning summer vacation scheme is the ideal introduction to Mills & Reeve and gives you a real taste of life as a lawyer. During your time with us you will be placed in real-life situations, preparing draft documents, researching, attending court hearings and meeting clients.

You will work with a variety of lawyers around the business over the course of two weeks, changing teams every two to three days.

A high proportion of our trainee solicitors have completed a summer placement with the firm.

A Mills & Reeve trainee receives more opportunities and experiences than at many firms. We want you to really understand what it’s like to be a lawyer and the best way to do that is to give you responsibility. You’ll be working with national and international clients where you are given the freedom to learn in a supportive environment.

Trainees take on six four-month seats to allow you to experience the breadth of the work we do and you will be supported by dedicated supervisors, a partner mentor, a trainee buddy and the graduate team throughout the two-year training programme.

We recruit all of our trainees via our summer vacation scheme. Therefore, we recommend you apply for a place on the schemeto be considred.

We are recruiting the following positions from our 2024 summer vacation scheme:

Training contracts to start in 2026 – c.30 positions across Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, London, Manchester and Norwich.

For 2026, we will sponsor candidates to qualify via the SQE route and we will welcome applications from penultimate-year/final-year law students, final-year non-law students and graduates (any discipline). We will sponsor non-law candidates to undertake the PGDL before the SQE prep course.

Our training contracts commence in September of each year. We place a strong emphasis on 'learning on the job' and trainees become fully involved in the work of their seat. Performance is regularly reviewed via a mix of informal and formal reviews. 

We continue to invest in your development after completion of the training contract. Initially this invovles an increase in client contact, a confidence to handle whole matters with decreasing amounts of supervision and an ability to manage and meet demanding targets. Individual development needs are identified through regular performance reviews and feedback, and training is provided across the firm in a variety of areas and from a number of sources. Typically, after approximately four years, you become a senior associate and, among other things, demonstrate the ability to lead a team and develop your profile to 'expert' within the firm in particular areas of the business. Developing our trainees from junior to senior associates, contributing to the future of the success of the business, is a high priority to us.

We are very proud that a very high proportion of our trainees remain with us on qualification.

For our 2026 intake, we will sponsor candidates to qualify via the SQE route and we will welcome applications from penultimate-year/final-year law students, final-year non-law students and graduates (any discipline). We will sponsor non-law candidates to undertake the PGDL before the SQE prep course.

Everyone at Mills & Reeve brings a unique perspective and ideas to the team and we do everything we can to help each person to thrive. Diversity and inclusion is a key strand of our 2025 vision. Our aim is to ensure that everyone working for or with us feels valued and supported, not only for how they perform in the working environment but also for who they truly are.

We have recently been recognised by Legal Week with an award for Standout Diversity in Innovation and a Lifetime Contributor to Innovation award.

We are committed to being a fair employer, which recruits, develops, promotes and retains a diverse and talented workforce. 

We recognise the need to provide an inclusive and positive workplace where people are able to do their best work.

We recognise we cannot achieve our vision as a firm without developing and implementing best practice in diversity and inclusion, not only as an employer but also as a provider of legal services, as a purchaser of goods and services and in our wider role in society.

We have the following objectives for the firm to help us achieve our goals:

Achieve a more diverse workforce by identifying and communicating a number of diversity and inclusion workforce profile goals.

Embed good equality, diversity and inclusion practices into our daily activities and decision-making processes.

Celebrate, communicate and promote equality, diversity and inclusion both within and outside of the firm.

Diversity, inclusion and wellbeing initiatives

We believe that embedding diversity and inclusion creates a positive workforce environment. It will make us a better law firm and helps us to attract the best talent, drive innovation, and deliver the best experience for our employees and clients. We have a number of initiatives in place to support us to embed diversity and inclusion practice.

For more information, please visit our website at https://www.mills-reeve.com/about-us/diversity-and-inclusion

The firm sponsors full course fees and provides a maintenance grant for each course.

• Banking & finance
• Commercial
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• Corporate tax
• Employment
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• Intellectual property
• Insurance disputes
• Litigation/dispute resolution
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• Private client
• Projects & PPP
• Public law
• Real estate
• Real estate disputes
• Regulatory
• Restructuring & insolvency

• Corporate & Commercial
• General Commercial

• Birmingham
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• London
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• Birmingham Free Legal Advice Group (FLAG)
• Business in the Community
• Citizens Advice Bureau

• #10000BlackInterns
• Birmingham FLAG
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• Business Disability Forum
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• IntoUniversity
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• Mindful Business Charter
• Rare Recruitment
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• Stonewall
• UOL Menotring Scheme
• Working Families