Dentons

Well, be in no doubt that Dentons is going places, and it promises to be an exciting journey! But it’s also true that much of the international growth is unlikely to have a huge impact on the training contract experience for now — which remains essentially that of a long-established City law firm with a good record for bringing through junior lawyers.

The UK trainees are split across the Central Belt (Edinburgh and Glasgow), London and Milton Keynes. Around 14 go to the London office, which, though well-located with a lovely view of the Old Bailey’s Lady of Justice sculpture, apparently “needs a facelift”, whilst three are allocated to Milton Keynes. The firm’s eight trainees in Scotland spend time in both Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The “dated” office in the capital continues to be a bugbear among the junior ranks. “At least one of the elevators breaks on a monthly basis,” notes one. But luckily the firm are packing up and moving to new digs in One Liverpool Street in 2025. Chief among rookie’s priorities for their new abode is more showers — apparently there are currently only four in the whole building. As one recruit reports: “Surprised that it has taken them this long to think about putting new showers in when you add up the cost of the several partners who I see there every morning queueing for a shower.” Elsewhere, the Milton Keynes gaff has recently been refurbished and we are told there is a good provision of meeting space, open plan desks and a kitchen area, whilst the firm’s Edinburgh outpost in Haymarket Square is “fantastic”, “well thought through” and “a nice working environment” which boasts some scenic views of the castle. The only grumble amongst non-City recruits was the lack of a canteen (and some poor quality coffee in Milton Keynes!)

Practice area-wise, Dentons’ London office has a history of expertise in the slightly unlikely combination of banking & finance and media law (thanks to an earlier merger). These strengths endure, but part of the deal of being a global megafirm is that you have lawyers for everything and this looks very much like the direction of travel for Dentons.

Some juniors report that the training experience “varies between seats”. However, one keen trainee notes: “if you are willing to put the work into building relationships” there is a “strong framework of positive and motivated supervisors who are able to shape you into a competent lawyer”. Training reportedly consists of “excellent, varied work, carrying out research and commercial tasks for household name clients”, “supportive” and “helpful” mentors with “20+ years of experience” and “plenty of online courses/modules you can do to supplement your learning”.

“The training is rigorous and the firm emphasises continuous learning,” reports one rookie, who explains “on top of the high level of responsibility you can obtain in your day-to-day work, Dentons provides fantastic weekly training sessions geared towards trainees across all areas of law”. This high level of responsibility came in the form of “lead role[s] in several multi-million pound High Court claims” for one rookie, with the appropriate level of support from “more senior lawyers” of course.

In other categories, the firm is a solid performer. Work involves “very interesting transactions and direct client contact” with fee earners said to be “helpful in terms of providing more stimulating work”. However, it can be a mixed bag, with one rookie finding that: “the work is often very interesting with tasks you can get really stuck into, but at other times, it is often admin-heavy”. Work can be “complex and multi-jurisdictional” but this is seat-dependant and trainee tasks range from “innovation work” to “due diligence and research”. That being said, supervisors are generally very receptive, and “once you prove you are capable, you are given increasingly interesting work and more responsibility” according to our sources.

Trainees are apparently “really supportive and willing to help each other out”. Everyone is described as being “really friendly”, and the lack of a competitive vibe certainly helps given gripes about a “pretty unnecessarily intense NQ process”. Complementing this, rookies also rate the approachability of their superiors highly. One reports on having “hands-on supervision from partners in every team” and always feeling able to ask questions – everyone is “equally approachable”. The overall office culture is “supportive and friendly”, although supervisors can be “hard to get a hold of” occasionally. Of course, there is the occasional “harsh” partner but this is the exception, rather than the rule, in a generally “helpful and welcoming” environment.

Dentons is said to be a “light social touch firm” but there are monthly celebrations with pizzas, lots of pro bono and charity team work, departmental get togethers and “Pub in the Hub” on thursdays, which is essentially an in-office bar which stays open until 8pm for free drinks and snacks!

Other perks are fairly numerous, and include a concierge service, free breakfasts on Monday before 8:30am in the “highly subsidised” firm canteen, free drinks and snacks on Thursdays, cut price cinema tickets, discounted flights, and sporting events, like touch rugby, with a budget afterwards for food and drinks. These come alongside the more standard private healthcare and gym subsidies (£20 only, a grumble amongst some).

On the whole, rookies seem satisfied with their perk-package which we think deserves a little higher praise than “average”. Even if one was left reeling by the firm’s gift to NQs: “feel they could have done better than a water bottle as post-qualification gift!”.

Perks aside, a massive plus is the work/life balance. One trainee gives high praise on this front, hailing Dentons as “pretty much an ideal firm for work- life balance”. They continued, “As a trainee, it is exceptionally rare to have to so much as crack open your computer on a weekend” and another claimed that they “usually log off before 6pm”. Be warned, however, this is department dependent. As one spy told Legal Cheek, “It massively depends on the seat. In my first contentious seat, I worked very long hours, whereas in other departments, I have worked much less. I have found that during busy periods and longer hours I’m not alone, and there is usually someone else in the team in the office or online when I am”.

Generally, the biggest gripe has been the lack of international secondment opportunities — which is perhaps surprising for such an international firm. Although two trainees reported jetting to Hong Kong and Toulouse for six months, the general view is that “there aren’t many international secondment opportunities”. There’s better news for those wishing to undertake client secondments though, with around a third of juniors doing one. Destinations include AIG, Airbus and Network Rail, Dr Martens and NatWest. One trainee reports on issues with transparency in the firm’s secondment allocation process, and the seat rotation process more generally, a possible source of discontentment among rookies.

Dentons are pretty flexible on the WFH front, as one trainee reports: “The firm has a ‘Your Choice’ policy. This means there are no mandated days people have to come in, although trainees are encouraged to work from the office when they can and feel comfortable to”. Different teams have also chosen ‘team days’ on which they encourage people to come into the office: “It’s really great for socialising and team meetings. Personally, as a trainee, I am in most days of the week, but Mondays and Fridays are pretty quiet in the office” was the review from one. Another applauds the flexible working policy, which is said to be “exceptionally good”, especially for “parents, carers and those with neurodiversity needs”. The £250 budget for WFH equipment, on the other hand, receives mixed reviews with some finding it helpful whilst others thought it was a little on the slim side.

Another hot area for Dentons is tech. Its Nextlaw Labs project to incubate lawtech start-ups continues to generate headlines and, a couple of years ago, the firm went one better through the launch of a new incubator for ‘space tech’ start-ups. The firm has also been investing heavily in the latest lawtech, including improved time recording software. Trainees look on with interest at these projects and gadgets and, refreshingly, have the ability to get involved: “We receive considerable IT and AI training and our firm is the first to offer a modernised training contract where we take part in a legal innovation project for each of our four seats,” says one spy.

Going one step further, Dentons recently developed its own AI tool, FleetAI, the firm’s “equivalent to Chat GPT” which enables lawyers across the firm to increase efficiency in daily tasks. However, there remains variation between teams and partners on the extent to which the firm’s legal tech offerings are actually embraced.

The firm also scores highly on the environmental front, with a “responsible business section who lead on environmental and sustainability objectives”, according to one trainee. It also recently made headlines for cutting carbon emissions equivalent to charging 14,500 smartphones, by adopting sustainable practices alongside key client Defra.