Trainee Solicitor Recruitment

Each year, we recruit between 4 and 5 trainee solicitors.

Our Wilkes Insights Experience is aimed at both undergraduates (any subject), and individuals currently studying for a postgraduate law degree.

It is a 1 day event that provides the opportunity for individuals interested in pursuing a career in law to learn more about the day-to-day life of a law firm. The event is a mix of presentations and work shadowing to help you get to know more about Wilkes.

The next dates for our Insights Experience will be published later this year, but are generally organised to coincide with the Easter holidays. To apply to attend, please email a copy of your CV and a cover letter to [email protected].

We are also able to offer work experience for 16-18-year-olds who are interested in pursuing a career in law. To apply for work experience, please forward a copy of your CV and cover letter to [email protected].

We accept applications from anyone in their second year of their degree onwards.

Applications for the 2027 intake will open later this year - sign up to our mailing list to be notified as to when these open.

You should complete an application form on our website in which you can set out both your academic achievements, work experience and the reasons you wish to apply to us. Please ensure all sections on the application form are completed in full before submitting it.

You can save your form if you are partway through completing it, and come back to it at a later date.

Once you have submitted your application, you will receive a confirmation email from us that includes a copy of your application form. If you do not receive this, please email [email protected].

A career as a solicitor is intellectually demanding, and as such we require a high level of academic achievement from candidates.
In general, we ask for:

• A minimum of ABB at A Level, or equivalent.
• At least a 2.1 classification at degree level.

However, we consider all applicants holistically and we will not automatically discount your application if these have not been gained. You should ensure your application form reflects any mitigating circumstances we should take into account when looking at your academics.

If you are offered a training contract, this will also be dependent on you successfully passing your Legal Practice Certificate before starting with us.

We are happy to accept applications for individuals pursuing either the route to qualification via the LPC or SQE route.

For those individuals still eligible to qualify via the LPC, this will need to be completed prior to starting your training contract with us. Please note that to follow the LPC route, you must meet the transitional arrangements set out by the SRA.

For those individuals looking to qualify via the SQE route, you will need to complete SQE1 prior to starting your training contract with us. You will be able to complete you SQE2 during your training contract, and you will receive funding of £1,500 towards the cost of this.

Further information on which route to qualification you should follow can be found on the SRA website.

As well as a strong academic background we are looking for the following from our trainees:

Curiosity

We want people who can ask questions, who want to understand why something is the way it is, and will persevere in finding out the answers. Our highest performers are people who want to learn and keep learning throughout their careers.

Drive

From Day 1 you’ll be involved with cases and meeting clients and will be seen as a key part of the team you’re working in. We therefore need individuals who are self-motivated and take ownership of their work.

Team player

Our success depends on how well we work together and so we need people who will always step in to help out colleagues and can juggle their priorities to ensure the team succeeds. We also want individuals who work beyond their own immediate team and become involved in the wider business.

Client-focused

Without our clients, we have no business and so we need people who strive to understand exactly what our clients want from us, and deliver the highest quality of service to them. You will also need to be active in promoting yourself and the firm externally to help ensure the future success of Wilkes.

Integrity

We pride ourselves on holding ourselves accountable to high standards, as is evident through our Lexcel accreditation. Key to this is that we always have the utmost integrity in everything we do and that we are open and honest with our clients.

All applications are considered together to ensure a fair comparison. The initial review takes place shortly after the closing date, and applicants will generally hear back as to whether they have been successful in obtaining an interview within a month of this date.

Please note that when you initially submit your application form online, you will receive a confirmation email which includes a copy of your form. If you don't receive this, please email [email protected]

If you have not heard back by the end of July about being invited for an interview, it means that unfrtuan

Due to the volume of applications we receive, we are unable to provide feedback to individuals on their applications.

We don't want our candidates to jump through hoops to secure a role with us. Instead our focus is on getting to know you as an individual, what your strengths are and what you aim to achieve in your career as a solicitor.

We have a single interview day, which will consist of 3 parts:

1) You will complete a short exercise which aims to help us ascertain whether you have the practical skills needed to be a solicitor.

2) You will have a face-to-face interview with our Training Principal, Mark Hodgson, our HR Director, Zara Reed, and another partner. This interview will focus on your application form and explore your reasons for wanting to join Wilkes, as well as pursuing a career in law.

3) A short interview with another partner. The partner will not have had sight of your application form before and so will have no pre-existing knowledge of who you are or your background. This allows us to ensure we get a rounded view of all candidates.

Following the interview, we aim to get back to candidates as soon as possible.

We will stay in regular contact during the period from which you receive an offer and you joining Wilkes. You can also contact us at any time during this period if you have any questions about your training contract.

With your permission, we also share contact details of all our trainees so that you can get to know each other before joining, and start to build up links with the firm.

There may be an opportunity for future trainees to work as paralegals within Wilkes before they commence their training contract. We find both the individual and Wilkes benefit from the practical knowledge they gain during these.

On the rare occasion where this happens, each case is considered individually by the firm, but we will only withdraw a training contract offer in exceptional circumstances.

We review our trainee salaries every year to ensure these are in line with market rates. Starting salary for our 2024 Trainees is £26,000 per annum. Salaries are reviewed in May each year. Upon qualifying, you can expect to earn a minimum of £46,000 per annum.

In addition, our benefits include:

• 24 days annual leave plus the option to purchase additional days.
• 2 days paid time off for volunteering
• Matching 4% pension contributions.
• Life Assurance of 4X base salary.
• Medicash health cash plan
• Discounts on personal conveyancing and wills.
• Corporate discounts on gym memberships, restaurants and days out.
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Annual flu jabs.

During your training contract, you will generally complete four 6-month seats that give you the chance to experience issues from private client to commercial litigation, and business recovery to personal injury and clinical negligence.

The exact seats will be determined according to business requirements, but could include:

• • Corporate & Commercial
  • Real Estate
  • Business Recovery
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Property & Probate Litigation
  • Private Client
  • Family
  • Personal injury and clinical negligence

We aim to take an individual’s preference into account as far as possible.

By joining Wilkes, you will benefit from the opportunity to have much more involvement with work than you may at other larger firms.

Typical work completed by a trainee:

• you can be required to draft various documents from Wills to Corporate Agreements, Court documents such as Part 36 Offers and Witness Statements;
• you will attend client meetings, whether that be via telephone, zoom, teams or in person; and
• you may have the opportunity to attend trials, hearings, mediations and conferences with Counsel.

Our training seats will either be in our Birmingham City Office, or our Stanton Office based in Shirley, Solihull.

You will always be supervised by a qualified member of staff who will provide you with support and guidance in your day-to-day work. You will also have regular meetings with our Training Principal, Mark Hodgson, to discuss your progress and address any concerns you or the firm may have.

You will have access to online webinars that cover a wide range of skills and knowledge areas. We also provide a Junior Fee Earner programme that provides you with training in the key soft skills needed by solicitors, such as networking, negotiation, etc.

We pride ourselves on attracting quality candidates and aim to retain as many as possible at the end of their training contracts.

We will have regular discussions with you throughout your training contract to understand your preference in the area of law you wish to pursue. Any available newly qualified (NQ) vacancies are notified to trainees as soon as they are known. Trainees can apply to any team with a vacancy, whether or not they have done a seat in that team.

You can email [email protected] with any questions you have on the application process or how our training contracts work.   Our current trainees would also be happy to answer your questions on what life as a trainee is really like at Wilkes.  Please contact them via the links above.