weil gotshal manges | training contract | vacation scheme

• Weil, Gotshal & Manges

  Weil, Gotshal & Manges is a Premier international law firm who act for many of the most successful companies and institutions in the world in their high-stakes matters and transactions.  With over 1,200 lawyers across 20 offices worldwide their one-firm approach ensures that they work seamlessly to manage the most complex matters.

  One of the leading private equity law firms in London and Europe, their restructuring expertise in the US and Europe has enabled them to provide corporate and private equity clients with cutting-edge advice on current markets.

  The London office, established in 1996, has around 100 lawyers, 95% of them UK qualified and many of our European cross-border activities are coordinated from London.

• • Off the Record

  • Focus

  • Requirements

  • Training Contract

  • Vacation Scheme

  • Rewards

  • Apply

  Against a background of general market uncertainty, the priorities and needs of their clients have changed significantly in recent months. One of the strengths of Weil as a firm, and the London office as the second biggest office of the firm, is the ability to provide the flexibility and specialist expertise to meet these needs.

  It is not simply a question of having a world-leading restructuring practice in the “bad times” and one of the premier private equity practices in the “good times”, it is that these practices are constantly evolving to the benefit of their clients.

  Weil are most well known for their restructuring practice which is widely acclaimed. Throughout the recent financial credit crisis they advised some of the giants such as Lehman Brothers, AIG and Kaupthing.

  They also have a strong focus on private equity, full-service transactional support (which in essence means expertise in the fields of commercial contracts, competition, employment/employee benefits, environment, IP/IT, pensions, real estate and tax) and they are well versed in international finance and antitrust/competition.

  Furthermore, the London office works closely with cross-disciplinary teams across the firm on a wide range of industry specialism's, including climate change, defence, healthcare, infrastructure and TMT.

  Weil are looking for graduates that have a minimum of a 2:1 degree. The firm looks for excellent academics, commercial awareness, enthusiasm, team players and self-starters.

  The training contract is comprised of four 6-month seats; seats in corporate and finance are compulsory for all trainees. The other two seats may be requested from other practice areas.  The graduate recruitment team do their best to accommodate all requests.

  In each seat, you will be supervised by either a partner or senior associate, sharing their work and their office. 

  Trainees learn in different formats of activity, being invited to seminars, workshops, associate programmes, lunches and days away, with the emphasis on practical, interactive sessions.

  Weil aim to offer secondments to our US and/or other European offices, which we think is a particularly attractive feature. Although these secondments are not guaranteed, but are awarded carefully based on business needs, merit and performance.

  Each year they offer 15 places on their summer vacation scheme.  Students spend two weeks in their London office – each week in a different department. You will get to share an office with qualified lawyers, and share their work. 

  The aim is for students to experience the work they do and the way they do it.  Weil also arrange social events so that summer students can meet up with their trainees.

  They run two open days, each in June. They provide an excellent insight into the London office. The open days start at 10am and finish by 3pm and include:

  • Partner presentation about the firm
  • Group exercise
  • Written exercise

  Vacation Scheme : £400 per week

  Trainee Salary : £41,000 (1st seat) rising to £45,000 (4th seat)

  NQ Salary : £90,000

  They pay full GDL/LPC fees together with a maintenance grant of £8,000 per annum.  In addition, Weil, Gotshal & Manges have an arrangement with the College of Law whereby all our prospective trainees study the LPC+ at Moorgate.

  They operate an online flexible benefits system, the Weil Benefits Exchange, which allows employees to select a number of additional benefits to purchase.

  Core benefits (non-flexible benefits) include:

  Permanent health insurance; 5% non-contributory pension; Private medical insurance; Life assurance; Health screening; Birthday holiday; Annual leave of 23 days, rising by one day per year of service, up to 28 days;

  Optional/Flexible benefits include:

  Well-being allowance (can be used to select a number of optional benefits, such as gym membership); Buy/sell up to 2 days annual leave per year; Critical illness cover; Dental cover; Interest-free travel season ticket loan; Ride2Work voucher scheme; Retail vouchers.

  Applications for vacation schemes are accepted from 1^st November to 31^st January during each academic year.  Interviews take place in January/February.  

  Applications for open days (June each year) are accepted from 1st November to 30th April each year.  Interviews take place from February – April.

  Training contract applications can be submitted between 1^st November – 31^st July.  Interviews take place late summer/September.

  You can apply for all 3 positions just by completing the one application form.  For more details, please visit www.weil.com/ukrecruiting.

  Application forms are available online; visit http://www.weil.com/ukrecruitment for all details.

  You can also send an email with your questions to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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