Slaughter and May

About us

Slaughter and May is one of the world's leading international law firms with an extensive corporate, commercial and financing practice. The firm is organised into groups which undertake a general spread of work, encouraging lawyers to work on an extensive range of financial and commercial matters as well as developing an expertise in specialist areas.

Our lawyers are not set monthly or annual targets in terms of the hours they must work or the fees they must charge; what matters is expertise, sound judgement, a willingness to help one another and the highest quality of client service.

We have 125 partners and approximately 1,200 people of whom over 400 are associates and 191 are trainees.

Training contracts

During the two-year training period, trainees gain experience of a broad cross section of our practice, taking an active part in the work of four or five groups and sharing an office with a partner or experienced associate. Most trainees spend two six-month seats in our multispecialist corporate, commercial and financing groups.

Our overseas offices and close working relationships with leading independent law firms in other jurisdictions mean there are opportunities to work in places such as Amsterdam, Auckland, Brussels, Berlin, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, New York, Oslo, Paris, Prague, Stockholm, Sydney and Tokyo.

The future

The two-year training programme helps trainees to develop their interest in the various areas of our practice. Before training is finished, we discuss with trainees where they would like to work in the firm when they qualify. We recognise that people do best at work that they enjoy.

We do not see the training contract as just a period of professional training to achieve qualification as a solicitor – we see it as an essential foundation for a rewarding and satisfying career with us.