Do these to stand out as a great trainee solicitor and kickstart your career in law
Here’s something you should know if you’re interested in standing out as a really good trainee solicitor:
The majority of what separates the best lawyers from the rest is not the technical stuff - not the hard skills.
It’s the personal stuff - the soft skills.
These are the skills that will truly accelerate your legal career if you master them.
So while the best lawyers are really (really) good at the technical stuff - the law, the drafting, the legal research - they’re also the best at the soft stuff - the client relationships, the leadership, the communication.
And when you’re starting your career, this is skewed much more strongly towards the soft skills.
You’re not supposed to have all the technical skills when you’re starting out - that’s why you’re a trainee solicitor and not a partner.
All of that will come through years of experience.
But you can stand-out by being really good at the soft skills and operating like the modern legal professional you’re training to become.
So if the skillset of a great lawyer combines technical excellence with commercial awareness and great communication skills, the skillset of a great trainee solicitor looks like this:
How do we know this?
We’ve been there and done it.
We’ve trained and practised at leading City law firms, we know how large law firms work and we’ve supervised trainees of our own. Over 25 years in law and business, it’s also exactly what we’ve seen from the best people we’ve worked with and instructed in the businesses we’ve run and worked in.
This guide will look at 6 really easy things you can do to stand out as a trainee solicitor and kickstart your career in law.
We hope you find it useful.
Get the free email for UK lawyers with the legal industry and business stories you need to know about to stay ahead. In your inbox, three times a week.
Lawyers work for clients. Big glamorous investment banks, multinational companies and governments.
While, yes, that is certainly the case at many top law firms, as a trainee solicitor your first client is your supervisor.
These are the people who will determine your success. Impress them, do great work for them.
They will give you more work, they will rate you highly at the end of your seat and give you good feedback, and they will speak highly of you to key decision-makers in your department.
In fact, you should treat anyone who you do work for internally as your client: other senior associates, partners.
But what if there’s an issue with your relationship with your supervisor? They might be a bad manager, they might be a poor communicator, or they might just be a bit difficult.
This happens. Don’t let it hold you back.
Now it’s up to you to take the initiative, apply some of the other tips in this guide, and go and get work from other seniors in the department.
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Addleshaw Goddard | £52,000 | £56,000 | £100,000 |
| Akin Gump | £60,000 | £65,000 | £174,418 |
| A&O Shearman | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Ashurst | £52,000 | £57,000 | £125,000 |
| Baker McKenzie | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Bird & Bird | £47,000 | £52,000 | £98,000 |
| Bristows | £46,000 | £50,000 | £88,000 |
| Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner | £50,000 | £55,000 | £105,000 |
| Burges Salmon | £47,000 | £49,000 | £72,000 |
| Charles Russell Speechlys | £50,000 | £53,000 | £88,000 |
| Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton | £57,500 | £62,500 | £164,500 |
| Clifford Chance | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Clyde & Co | £47,000 | £49,500 | £85,000 |
| CMS | £50,000 | £55,000 | £110,000 |
| Cooley | £55,000 | £60,000 | £157,000 |
| Davis Polk & Wardwell | £65,000 | £70,000 | £170,000 |
| Debevoise & Plimpton | £55,000 | £60,000 | £168,000 |
| Dechert | £55,000 | £61,000 | £165,000 |
| Dentons | £50,000 | £54,000 | £100,000 |
| DLA Piper | £50,000 | £55,000 | £110,000 |
| Eversheds Sutherland | £46,000 | £50,000 | £100,000 |
| Farrer & Co | £47,000 | £49,000 | £88,000 |
| Fieldfisher | £48,500 | £52,000 | £95,000 |
| Freshfields | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Fried Frank | £55,000 | £60,000 | £175,000 |
| Gibson Dunn | £60,000 | £65,000 | £180,000 |
| Goodwin Procter | £55,000 | £60,000 | £175,000 |
| Gowling WLG | £48,500 | £53,500 | £98,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | £56,000 | £61,000 | £135,000 |
| HFW | £50,000 | £54,000 | £100,000 |
| Hill Dickinson | £43,000 | £45,000 | £80,000 |
| Hogan Lovells | £56,000 | £61,000 | £135,000 |
| Irwin Mitchell | £43,000 | £45,000 | £76,000 |
| Jones Day | £56,000 | £65,000 | £160,000 |
| K&L Gates | £50,000 | £55,000 | £115,000 |
| Kennedys | £43,000 | £46,000 | £85,000 |
| King & Spalding | £55,000 | £60,000 | £165,000 |
| Kirkland & Ellis | £60,000 | £65,000 | £174,418 |
| Latham & Watkins | £60,000 | £65,000 | £174,418 |
| Linklaters | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Macfarlanes | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Mayer Brown | £55,000 | £60,000 | £135,000 |
| McDermott Will & Emery | £65,000 | £70,000 | £174,418 |
| Milbank | £65,000 | £70,000 | £174,418 |
| Mills & Reeve | £45,000 | £47,000 | £82,000 |
| Mischon de Reya | £47,500 | £52,500 | £95,000 |
| Norton Rose Fulbright | £50,000 | £55,000 | £120,000 |
| Orrick | £55,000 | £60,000 | £140,000 |
| Osborne Clarke | £54,500 | £56,000 | £94,000 |
| Paul Hastings | £60,000 | £68,000 | £173,000 |
| Paul Weiss | £55,000 | £60,000 | £180,000 |
| Penningtons Manches Cooper | £48,000 | £50,000 | £83,000 |
| Pinsent Masons | £49,500 | £54,000 | £97,000 |
| Quinn Emanuel | n/a | n/a | £180,000 |
| Reed Smith | £50,000 | £55,000 | £125,000 |
| Ropes & Gray | £60,000 | £65,000 | £165,000 |
| RPC | £46,000 | £50,000 | £90,000 |
| Shoosmiths | £43,000 | £45,000 | £97,000 |
| Sidley Austin | £60,000 | £65,000 | £175,000 |
| Simmons & Simmons | £52,000 | £57,000 | £120,000 |
| Skadden | £58,000 | £63,000 | £173,000 |
| Slaughter and May | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Squire Patton Boggs | £47,000 | £50,000 | £110,000 |
| Stephenson Harwood | £50,000 | £55,000 | £100,000 |
| Sullivan & Cromwell | £65,000 | £70,000 | £174,418 |
| Taylor Wessing | £50,000 | £55,000 | £115,000 |
| TLT | £44,000 | £47,500 | £85,000 |
| Travers Smith | £54,000 | £59,000 | £120,000 |
| Trowers & Hamlins | £45,000 | £49,000 | £80,000 |
| Vinson & Elkins | £60,000 | £65,000 | £173,077 |
| Watson Farley & Williams | £50,000 | £55,000 | £102,000 |
| Weightmans | £34,000 | £36,000 | £70,000 |
| Weil Gotshal & Manges | £60,000 | £65,000 | £170,000 |
| White & Case | £62,000 | £67,000 | £175,000 |
| Willkie Farr & Gallagher | £55,000 | £60,000 | £165,000 |
| Withers | £47,000 | £52,000 | £95,000 |
| Womble Bond Dickinson | £43,000 | £45,000 | £80,000 |
Rank | Law Firm | Revenue | Profit per Equity Partner (PEP) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DLA Piper* | £3,010,000,000 | £2,400,000 |
| 2 | Clifford Chance | £2,300,000,000 | £2,040,000 |
| 3 | A&O Shearman | £2,200,000,000 | £2,200,000 |
| 4 | Hogan Lovells | £2,150,000,000 | £2,200,000 |
| 5 | Freshfields | £2,140,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 6 | Linklaters | £2,100,000,000 | £1,900,000 |
| 7 | Norton Rose Fulbright* | £1,800,000,000 | £1,100,000 |
| 8 | CMS** | £1,620,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 9 | Herbert Smith Freehills | £1,300,000,000 | £1,300,000 |
| 10 | Ashurst | £961,000,000 | £1,300,000 |
| 11 | Clyde & Co | £844,000,000 | £739,000 |
| 12 | Eversheds Sutherland | £749,000,000 | £1,300,000 |
| 13 | BCLP* | £661,000,000 | £748,000 |
| 14 | Pinsent Masons | £649,000,000 | £793,000 |
| 15 | Slaughter and May*** | £625,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 16 | Simmons & Simmons | £574,000,000 | £1,076,000 |
| 17 | Bird & Bird** | £545,000,000 | £696,000 |
| 18 | Addleshaw Goddard | £495,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 19 | Taylor Wessing | £480,000,000 | £915,000*** |
| 20 | Osborne Clarke** | £456,000,000 | £771,000 |
| 21 | Womble Bond Dickinson | £448,000,000 | £556,000 |
| 22 | DWF | £435,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 23 | Fieldfisher | £407,000,000 | £966,000 |
| 24 | Kennedys | £384,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 25 | DAC Beachcroft | £325,000,000 | £700,000 |
What do City lawyers actually do each day?
For a closer look at the day-to-day of some of the most common types of lawyers working in corporate law firms, explore our lawyer job profiles:
Lawyers take instructions. Mainly from clients, but also from colleagues - especially when you’re a junior lawyer. In other words, you are given work to do.
It sounds painfully obvious but it’s worth repeating over and over: you can’t deliver good work unless you have a clear understanding of what the work is.
As a manager, there are few things more worrying than delegating a piece of work to someone who leaves you feeling unsure as to whether they’ve understood what’s required.
They don’t ask questions, they don’t take any notes.
The best trainees don’t do this. Instead, they take control of the interaction.
They ask for background on the matter, they ask for the specific deliverables, they agree precise deadlines, they tell you - the delegator - what they need to get the work done: an intro to the partner in the disputes team who’s also working on the matter, the precedent documents from related deals you’ve just discussed, the file number and details of the client.
All of this is written down on a notepad.
So the takeaway is simple: never leave a task or matter briefing from anyone senior to you unless you understand exactly what’s required of you.
And never walk into anyone’s office to get briefed on something without bringing a pen and notepad with you.
We promise this single tip will have an enormous impact on the quality of work you can deliver.
One of the most reassuring things in the world for a manager is to work with someone who can be relied on to deliver good work. To do what they say they’ll do.
And one of the rarest things to do in a professional context - and we know this from years of experience - is simply to always do what you say you will do.
Be dependable. Take ownership. When you say you will do something, do it.
When you say you will get an initial draft of the memo to the partner by Thursday morning, do it.
Get it on that partner’s desk before you finish on Wednesday so they can review it at 6am on Thursday if they need to.
This is what high-performing professionals do.
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A&O Shearman | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Clifford Chance | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Linklaters | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Slaughter and May | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A&O Shearman | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Clifford Chance | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Linklaters | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Slaughter and May | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashurst | £52,000 | £57,000 | £125,000 |
| Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner | £50,000 | £55,000 | £105,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | £56,000 | £61,000 | £135,000 |
| Macfarlanes | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Travers Smith | £54,000 | £59,000 | £120,000 |
No one likes surprises, especially when you’re working for demanding clients on tight timelines in a high pressure environment.
Meet expectations. Almost nobody does this consistently. Just doing this one thing consistently will put you ahead of most of your peers.
The trick here is to set realistic but high performance expectations. Never risk a surprise by not delivering what you’ve promised.
Now, this doesn’t mean that you will never miss a deadline. But it means that if you are going to miss a deadline, you flag it early, explain the blockers, and propose a way around it.
Using the memo example from habit 3 above, no later than Wednesday lunchtime, tell the partner: “I told you the initial draft would be done by Thursday morning. I need more time to properly reflect the client’s latest comments. It will be with you by Friday morning instead. Let me know if this is not ok and I’ll look for some additional help."
The very best advice we can give you to successfully manage expectations as a trainee is to set expectations with your supervisor.
You should do this from day one of your training contract.
At the start of each of your seats, agree some time with your supervisor for a kick-off meeting.
The objective of the meeting is for you to get to know their working style.
Here are some questions you should ask:
What you’ll get from this is a much clearer idea of how hands-on your supervisor likes to be and what their expectations are.
Remember - every supervisor is different. Some are micro managers and very hands-on, others are macro managers and prefer to give you more autonomy.
Neither style is a reflection of your competency. You’re just starting to work together after all.
The only thing that matters to you is that you know their working style so you can meet their expectations, do good work, make them happy, and accelerate your own career.
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashurst | £52,000 | £57,000 | £125,000 |
| Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner | £50,000 | £55,000 | £105,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | £56,000 | £61,000 | £135,000 |
| Macfarlanes | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Travers Smith | £54,000 | £59,000 | £120,000 |
We all know that one colleague who you can almost guarantee won’t pick up the phone when you try to call them, and who won’t respond to your emails no matter how important they are.
Being unresponsive is unprofessional. Especially in the early part of your career.
So, when you get a message or email from another colleague - reply to it promptly.
A quick response tells the other person that you’re on it. That you care about them.
A quick response tells them that you are a responsive person. That you are paying attention, that you’re switched on.
It also helps the other person do their job. Most of the time, it will be a partner or senior associate delegating work to you. At this stage, all they need is the comfort that the task has been delegated.
A response two hours later is no good. That’s two hours of uncertainty for the manager.
Unprofessional people don’t return calls, take ages to reply to emails and generally don’t get back to people.
Don’t be unprofessional.
If you don’t have an answer for the other person right away, that’s ok. But still respond to acknowledge their message.
A simple “I’ll come back to you by late afternoon with an answer” is music to a manager’s ears.
Now: set a reminder to make sure you get back to them by late afternoon.
You will get stuck. This will happen.
Whether it’s a technical issue you don’t have any experience of, something more administrative, like document production, or something that’s actually just more complicated than you - or your supervisor - initially thought.
This will be a feature of your training contract.
The best trainees don’t just stay stuck.
They speak up to get the additional understanding or direction they need to do their job. You are not a lawyer yet, you are training to become one. You’re not expected to have all the answers.
The key to success here is to adopt an ‘agile’ approach (to borrow a project management term) to the work you are given.
That is to say that you prioritise collaboration, feedback and iteration over a more rigid, linear approach where you feel that the entire task must be completed before you ask questions or check your thinking.
An agile approach means that when things start getting difficult or you encounter a problem, you get feedback from other team members, you adapt your thinking, iterate if necessary and continue.
No one will thank you for spending hours mulling over a complex technical problem that you’re not expected to know the answer to anyway. It’s an inefficient use of your time.
So, having thought through the problem you’re facing, speak up and ask for help like a professional.
If it’s a technical issue, your supervisor or partner will want to know that you’ve given the problem some thought before coming to them.
Go and ask them if they’re free to run through something you’re not clear on. If they are, explain your thinking, give your initial view on the issue, and say that you’d really appreciate their input to help clarify things for you. Make it about them.
They will enjoy the opportunity to help you - developing graduates and juniors is part of the job of seniors in all professional services firms - and they will appreciate that you’ve tried to solve the problem by yourself first.
If it’s an administrative issue, the goal is simply to get the information you need as quickly as possible. No prizes for showing your working here.
The first port of call is usually your secretary. How do I get copies of X made? Who do I need to speak to in business services to get these documents sent to Y? I need to book meeting room 12 for 4pm today.
Don’t be shy. You might be at the bottom of the pecking order, but the great relationship you’ve already struck up with your secretary means they will help get you what you need.
***
Hopefully this gives you a clearer idea of what being a great trainee solicitor entails.
It's got very little to do with your technical ability or how smart you are on paper. The sooner you understand this, the sooner you will start standing out as a high performer.
Good luck.
Get the free email that keeps UK lawyers ahead on the stories that matter.
We send a short summary of the biggest legal industry and business stories you need to know about three times a week. Free to join. Unsubscribe at any time.
Copied to clipboard!
