The Legal Cheek View
This is the Herbert Smith Freehills profile for those considering solicitor apprenticeships. Students looking to apply for training contracts should check out Legal Cheek‘s main HSF profile.
Herbert Smith Freehills’ (HSF) solicitor apprenticeship programme officially launched in Autumn 2024. As one of the most prestigious UK-headquartered law firms outside the Magic Circle, it is expected to attract a significant number of applications from aspiring apprentices. With top-tier work at this full-service outfit, recruits will gain hands-on experience across the firm’s practice areas. Its busy dispute resolution department is complemented by an array of practice areas for apprentices to experience across the six-year programme including corporate, banking, employment, energy, and competition.
New apprentices kick off their training with an extended induction, then dive straight into yearly rotations through the firm’s core legal practices. Recruits gain valuable insights into the firm’s operations through regular contact with business services teams, while developing their legal expertise in their seat. Before each rotation, they can express their seat preferences, allowing them to tailor their experience to their interests and explore the firm’s various practice areas. Additionally, there is the potential for a client secondment later on, providing an opportunity for direct client contact to keep the training experience varied.
For the first four years, yearly seat rotations including corporate, finance and employment. Then, in the final two years, apprentices shift gears, matching the structure of HSF’s trainee associate programme, with four six-month stints across areas like dispute resolution, competition, and IP. By this stage, they’ll have wrapped up their part-time LLB (courtesy of a weekly study day) and be gearing up for the Solicitors Qualifying Exams (SQE) with BPP.
HSF knows the power of a good social connection, and there’s no shortage of ways for apprentices to grow their network. Sports clubs including football and cricket, to more creative groups like the choir and book club add a dash of variety. Each practice team throws its own socials, whether it’s office drinks or a summer picnic, and apprentices are always welcome at the trainee cohort’s bi-monthly get-togethers, from interactive darts to laid-back, non-drinking meet-ups. And for a warm welcome, new apprentices join the annual future joiner summer party — a rooftop bash full of food, entertainment, and networking for all incoming talent. The firm also brings diversity-focused networks into the mix, which apprentices can join to connect with colleagues who share similar interests and experiences. From social mobility to multiculturalism and women in law, each network has its own events and activities.
When it comes to applications, we’re told by insiders that HSF is looking for those who show they’ve done their homework, know what a six-year commitment means, and can speak to why they’re drawn to the firm’s values, particularly inclusivity and social mobility.
This is the Herbert Smith Freehills profile for those considering solicitor apprenticeships. Students looking to apply for training contracts should check out Legal Cheek‘s main HSF profile.
