Herbert Smith | training contract | vacation scheme

• Herbert Smith

  Herbert Smith is counted among the global elite law firms. The firm employs over 2500 people, and has overseas offices in Paris, Tokyo, Singapore, Brussels, Beijing, Bangkok, Dubai, Moscow, Shanghai, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Madrid and a further 20+ offices in alliance. 
  
  Pre-eminent in dispute resolution and with an outstanding reputation for high value transactional advice, Herbert Smith LLP is a leading international law firm. Its main clients are prominent global and national businesses that it serves from offices in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
  
  Recent accolades include M&A team of the Year at the British Legal Awards, Global Commercial Litigation Law Firm of the Year at the Who's Who Legal Awards 2009, Corporate Team of the Year & the Litigation Team of the Year at The Lawyer Awards 2009, Best L&D Programme for Lawyers at the Legal Education & Training Group Awards. It must be noted that this is merely a snap shot of their awards to date!

• • Off the Record

  • Focus

  • Requirements

  • Training Contract

  • Vacation Scheme

  • Rewards

  • Apply

  Salaries are on par with those paid in top firms, and the firm has an extremely generous bonus scheme – up to 25-30% of salary on based on billing, business development and community service. Annual billing targets are quite reasonable considering the transactional nature of business at the firm, however be prepared to put in the hours when deals are done.

  The work culture is also one among the best in the City, with an excellent diversity programme and several flexible working options such as part-time and remote working. The training programme is excellently balanced between contentious and non-contentious work and provides a strong foundation to begin with. This continues throughout one’s employment in the firm. Put simply, Herbert Smith is a very good place to start your legal career.

  Herbert Smith provides advice and legal services in corporate, dispute resolution, finance, real estate, employment, pensions & incentives, EU & Competition and Intellectual Property. Herbert Smith is extremely well-known and considered to be the best in litigation and dispute resolution. 
  
  Over time, the corporate and real estate practices have also grown considerably with corporate contributing more to annual fee income than the disputes divison. The firm advices companies and institutions such as Goldman Sachs, BP, Chevron, BSkyB, AstraZeneca, AOL, EDF Energy, Tata Steel, West Ham United FC, Virgin Atlantic Airways and Eurotunnel among many (many!) others.

  Minimum academic qualification is a 2:1 degree and AAB minimum at A-level. Considering the quality of the firm, much the same is expected of its candidates. Along with all the usual requirements, Herbert Smith places particular emphasis on self-motivation and communication skills, and technical excellence. Relevant work experience within any of Herbert Smith's areas of practice is a particular plus.

  A two-week induction programme at the beginning of training covers the firm's history, background and people in the firm, along with client management, professional ethics and standards, finance and business skills.
  
  Trainees will cover four seats of six months each during the two year training period. One seat each in litigation, corporate and one in either finance or real estate is a must. The fourth seat can be selected from IP, tax, trusts, EU & competition, employment, pensions & incentives and advocacy. 
  
  In addition, trainees can also get involved in client secondments to companies like IBM or Coca Cola and overseas secondments in many of Herbert Smith’s international offices(!). Trainees are supervised by partners or senior associates in each seat and provide tasks, monitor performance and give general guidance and support throughout. A mentor is assigned for overall advice & support, with whom the trainee will interact before commencing the contract and throughout the training period. 
  
  Herbert Smith trainees are required to undergo a tailor-made LPC course – the City LPC developed in collaboration with BPP and city firms Lovells, Norton Rose, Slaughter & May and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
  
  Core modules in the LPC cover corporate, finance transactions, real estate matters and dispute resolutions. Of several electives offered by BPP, trainees will take up electives which have the greatest relevance to the firms practice – Private Acquisitions, Debt Finance and Equity Finance.

  Herbert Smith conducts spring, summer and winter placement schemes every year. The winter programme is open to all finalists and graduates and penultimate year lawyers. The programme runs from 6 – 17 December with 20 available positions. The spring programme is conducted from 11  - 21 April and is open to penultimate year law, final year non-law students and all graduates. Again, 20 places are available.
  
  The three summer scheme are run for 20 students each. The first is from 20 June – 8 July, the second from 11 July – 29 July and the third is from 1 - 19 August.
  
  Trainees are assigned to share office space with a partner or senior associate and will be allocated tasks specific to the supervisor’s open case-work. Workshops, lectures and discussions provide additional training and inputs in different practice areas, basic, foundational skills and an overview of the firm and what is entailed in training at Herbert Smith. There are also some excellent opportunities to socialise with the other students and lots of people from the firm.

  The firm provides for full tuition fees for GDL and LPC courses, professional memberships and an annual maintenance allowance for the duration of each of the two courses. Stipends during the GDL are £6,000 in London and £5,000 in other centres. 
  
  For the LPC, the allowance stands at £6,000 and students must complete this at BPP in London. Trainees receive salaries of £38,000 in the first year and £43,000 in the second year. Attendees of their vacation schemes receive £350 per week.

  For vacation placements, applications must be submitted between 1^st and 31^st October for the winter scheme and between 1 December and 14 January for spring and summer schemes.
  

  The deadline for submitting training contract applications for all finalists and graduates is 14 January 2011 and for penultimate year non-lawyers from 1 June – 31 July 2011. Penultimate year lawyers may apply in either application window.
  

  Selected candidates will undergo a full assessment process in the London office.

  Application forms for training contracts and vacation schemes are available online at: http://www.herbertsmithgradautes.com

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