Training Contracts

Our Training Contract

You are here:

Our Training Contract is designed to give you the best opportunities and support alongside high quality work.

We offer UK Training Contracts in our London, Cheltenham and Guildford offices.

Regardless of whether you have done the LPC or SQE, our Training Contract is designed to give you the best possible training with the firm and encourage you to develop the key legal, business and interpersonal skills to enable you to become a successful lawyer.

For more information about post-graduate studies such as the Post-Graduate Diploma in Law (PGDL) and the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE), please see our Post-Graduate Studies page.

Keeping in touch with you before you join

As we recruit two years in advance, the Early Talent team will keep in regular contact with you before you start as well as after you join the firm for your training contract. We organise Early Talent events throughout the year for our current and future trainees which provides a great opportunity to network and get to know those you will be working with. By the time you join us, you’ll recognise some friendly faces!

Your Induction

You will start your Training Contract in September with an induction week in the London office – you’ll receive talks and training from different business areas and get to know the rest of your cohort. From week 2, you’ll start working in your first designated practice area with support from our Knowledge Development Lawyers who will give you practice area specific training designed to get you started in your first seat.

Please note, if you are following the LPC route, you will cover your core modules and elective modules of the Professional Skills Course (PSC) during your Training Contract to ensure you have covered the hours required by the SRA.

Seat Rotations

For both the LPC and SQE routes, you’ll rotate around the business across your two-year programme, giving you the opportunity to experience a range of different practice areas and engage in high quality work with both private and commercial clients. At present the current rotation format is 4 x 6-month rotations. Before each seat rotation you will be asked which areas you are interested in working in and we will try to accommodate your preferences as much as we can. We do this through a series of conversations with our Early Talent team, so we can understand your motivations and what areas of law you are interested in. You then submit formal seat preferences, and the Early Talent team allocate the seats so that everyone can have a range of choices across the 4 seats.

The different areas of law that trainees may experience during their training contract include (please note this varies by office):

Business Advisory and Transaction Services:

Construction, Real Estate and Disputes:

Litigation and Dispute Resolution:

Private Client:

Wider Support and Development Opportunities

For each seat you will be assigned a dedicated supervisor who will work with you to ensure that you continue to receive a broad range of quality work and that you are developing the required skills and knowledge as you progress through your seats. As well as on-going feedback from the team you will have mid and end of seats reviews where you can formally discuss your development.

We actively encourage our Trainees to do a secondment either internationally, to a client, or internally to our Responsible Business and ESG team. These opportunities help you build a wider skillset and see things from a client’s perspective or enhance your international outlook by gaining exposure to work in a different jurisdiction. Secondments vary depending on business need, but our current client secondments include a private equity fund manager, a commercial bank and an in-house commercial team for one of our large construction clients. Our international secondment opportunities include Zurich, Geneva, Hong Kong, Dubai, Paris and Luxembourg.

We also encourage you to get involved beyond the day-to-day work through our Responsible Business activities, whether that’s through our pro-bono practice, volunteering with our CRS Foundation, or getting involved in Diversity and Inclusion initiatives. As part of your Training Contract, you’ll take part in some of our Pro-Bono Clinics. This could include our Social Housing, Employment or Family law clinics, working on Disability Benefits appeals, or assisting with the Windrush Legal Initiative programme. You can find out more in our Responsible Business report.

Russell Up is our pioneering innovation scheme for trainees and apprentices, aimed at fostering a culture of innovation and empowering our Early Talent to drive change. Launched in March 2024, the programme requires our future lawyers to take the lead on projects that harness the latest legal technology – from AI to document and process automation, application building to data visualisation. Each trainee or apprentice is tasked with delivering a project that challenges the status quo, working closely with our Legal Technology experts and Knowledge Development Lawyers. Providing a supportive environment for innovative thinking, these projects culminate in practical solutions which trainees share with their practice groups demonstrating tangible value to our Firm and clients. To support this drive for innovation and change, the Firm has established innovation committees across various disciplines.

Your legal training will also be supplemented by our CRS Business School which has specific development programmes for each stage of your career, including the Ignite programme which is designed for Trainees to build professional and commercial skills. As part of the Ignite programme, you’ll cover modules from personal effectiveness and organisation to managing your career. You’ll even learn about the commercial side of a law firm. You’ll receive further coaching and mentoring support to further your development.

As part of our Sports and Social Committee offering, you could get involved with a range of additional activities from football or netball to yoga or tennis. Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, it doesn’t matter – it’s about connecting with your colleagues and taking part.

Salary and Benefits

Our salaries are as follows:

Office	Year 1 Trainee	Year 2 Trainee	NQ Salary
London	£50,000	£53,000	£88,000
Cheltenham and Guildford	£40,000	£43,000	£62,000

We offer a range of benefits, which may include:

25 days annual holiday and long service accrual
Private medical insurance
Income protection
Life assurance
Pension scheme
Employee assistance programme
Enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption/surrogacy and shared parental benefits
Virtual GP access
Cycle to work scheme
Season ticket loan
Qualification leave
Holiday purchase scheme
House move day
Dress for your day policy

Further details on our benefits can be found here.

Apply

We recruit trainee solicitors in the following offices:

Applications for our 2027 Training Contracts are now closed. Applications will reopen in the autumn for our 2028 Training Contracts, click here to register your interest in hearing about our training contracts in future.