Company Description

 Allen & Overy is an international legal practice with over 5,000 people in 34 major centres worldwide. Our clients include many of the world’s top businesses, financial institutions, governments and private individuals. We are renowned for the high quality of our Banking, Corporate and International Capital Markets advice, but also have major strengths in areas such as Dispute Resolution, Tax, Employment and Employee Benefits, Real Estate and Private Client. Our Partners frequently lead the field in their particular areas of law and we can claim both an enviable reputation amongst clients and unrivalled success in major deals.

Our Training Contract

Within this broad range of expertise we offer a training contract characterised by flexibility and choice. Our training programme is widely regarded as the best in the City and this standard of training continues throughout your career at Allen & Overy following qualification. Our aim is to recruit, train and develop successful lawyers who want to develop a long-term career with Allen & Overy.

All our future trainees take the Allen & Overy-specific LPC at The College of Law in London. The course has been specially designed to equip you with the skills and knowledge needed to be a successful solicitor, and is set in the context of the type of transactions Allen & Overy lawyers are involved in. The modules which you study will focus on our core practice areas, to ensure your time at law school is the best possible preparation for your training contract with Allen & Overy. It will provide you with a sound technical and theoretical background for your career with us. The Allen & Overy LPC also means that you will develop strong bonds with your new colleagues and build friendships from day one.

You will have a tailored training contract, designed to give you the best start to your career. Given the strength of our international finance practice, we require our trainees to spend a minimum of 12 months in at least two of the following departments: Banking, Corporate and International Capital Markets. There is also the opportunity for trainees to spend 6 months of their training contract in one of our international offices or the in-house legal department of a major client.

When to apply

We recruit 105 trainee solicitors each year across two intakes (March and September). Applications are welcome from law and non-law graduates. Our current starting salary for trainee solicitors is £38,000, rising to £42,200 in the second year of training.

Vacation Placements

Choosing the right career is a big decision. There are lots of questions you need to ask yourself. What type of law do I want to practise? What type of firm would suit me best? What will the work really be like? The best way to answer these questions is to get first-hand experience of life in a law firm and this is exactly what our vacation placements and open days offer.

During your placement you will assist a partner or senior associate on real deals. You will sit in two departments (one during the shorter Winter scheme) and we will ask you in advance what area most interests you. You will also work with fellow vacation placement students on a case study project designed to sharpen your research skills and expose you to our broad range of practice areas.

Alongside your legal work you will take part in workshops and attend presentations and talks aimed at informing you about our work and helping you to develop the skills you need to be a successful commercial lawyer such as negotiation, presentation and interview skills. There will also be plenty of time to socialise with other Allen & Overy people during your placement.

We'll pair you up with a "buddy" - a current trainee who will be able to answer your questions, offer you advice and generally help you feel at home during your time with us. Informal drinks with your department, lunches with your buddy and social events organised by the Graduate Recruitment team are just some of the opportunities you will have to get to know us during your placement.

Placements are held in our London office during the Summer and Winter vacations. Summer placements are for students at the end of their penultimate year of study of their undergraduate degree, or at the end of the second year of a four-year course (if the third year is spent abroad). Applications are welcomed from both law and non-law students. Our Winter placements are for final year non-law students or postgraduate students.

When to apply

We recruit approximately 65 vacation students across the year. Vacation students are paid £250.00 per week.

Summer vacation students are also eligible to apply for our new international internship oppurtunities, which enable 12 students to work in four of our key overseas offices following their placement in London.

Selection Criteria, Vacancies and How to Apply

We expect to see a strong and consistent academic performance both at school level and in your degree studies – typically AAB at A level (or equivalent) and you should have achieved or be predicted at least a 2:1 (or equivalent). At Allen & Overy you will be working in a team where you will use your initiative and manage your own time and workload, so we also look for evidence of teamwork, leadership and problem-solving skills.

For details of all our vacancies and a link to our online application form, visit www.allenovery.com/careeruk