Sharpe Pritchard

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In their own words

Sharpe Pritchard offers the best of both worlds: outstanding legal work and a supportive culture.

Snapshot

Firm type

National

UK offices

London

International offices

Not disclosed

Training contract places

Vacation scheme places

Not disclosed

First-year salary

£43,000

Second-year salary

£45,240

Newly qualified salary

£85,700

Trainee retention

100%

SQE support

Yes - full funding

Visa sponsorship

Yes

International secondment

Client secondment

Yes

Guaranteed secondment

Visa sponsorship

Considered case by case

Recruitment route

Direct Training Contract application only

Seat structure

4 seats, 6 months each

Can trainees repeat a seat?

Yes

Can trainees express seat preferences?

Yes, they are taken into account

Trainee salaries review

Annually

Non-law applicants

Actively encouraged

Career-changer applicants

Actively encouraged

Remote working

Yes, formal flexible working policy

Minimum academic requirements

2:1 degree or equivalent (two As at A-Level desirable, not essential)

Typical start time

9:30am

Typical finish time

5:30pm to 6:00pm

Wellbeing support

Financial wellbeing support, Mental Health First Aiders, private health insurance, dental insurance, Employee Assistance Programme, office massages, eye tests, flu vaccinations, Cycle to Work scheme, Aviva Smarthealth, Responsible Business Committee

Minimum holiday

28 days

Additional leave

Study leave; annual leave increases with length of service

% female trainees

63%

% female partners

58%

% BAME trainees

45%

% BAME partners

12%

% LGBTQ+ trainees

18%

% LGBTQ+ partners

% state school trainees

77%

% first-gen trainees

33%

PGDL funding

Retrospective funding

Formal pro bono programme

Yes

Named affinity networks

Responsible Business Committee, NOTICED (inter-firm diversity network), Wellbeing Leadership Group

Before you apply

Before you apply, ask yourself:

Do you have a genuine interest in public-sector work and in understanding how government, local authorities and other public bodies operate?

Would you enjoy working in small teams where trainees can take on substantive drafting, develop arguments and work directly with partners and clients relatively early?

Are you interested in work that often sits between public law and commercial delivery, including procurement, infrastructure, construction, planning and regeneration?

Would you value a training contract with generally good work-life balance, while accepting that workload, supervision and office attendance can vary between teams?

Would you prefer specialist public-sector work, a small trainee cohort and the possibility of a UK client secondment over the international network and overseas seats available at some larger firms?

Deep dive

Explore this firm in detail

What makes it different

Firm with a strong purpose rooted in the public sector

What this could mean for you

You could build specialist knowledge of the public sector while seeing how public law interacts with commercial contracts, infrastructure, development and disputes.

Partner-led from day one

What this could mean for you

You could work directly with experienced partners relatively early in your training, although your level of day-to-day partner contact may depend on your seat.

Work on meaningful matters from the start

What this could mean for you

You could contribute directly to matters affecting public bodies, infrastructure and public services rather than spending your early training mainly observing senior lawyers.

Practice area strengths

Local Government / Public Law

Sharpe Pritchard advises central government departments, local authorities, local authority companies, non-departmental public bodies and charities, alongside commercial clients requiring public-law expertise. Its work includes public law, commercial contracts and procurement, with the firm's judicial review, injunction and statutory appeals practice described as nationally recognised.

Infrastructure & Parliamentary

Sharpe Pritchard's Parliamentary practice works closely with its Planning and Real Estate teams on infrastructure authorisation projects, legislative procedure and general public law. Its wider infrastructure and commercial work includes procurement and projects across areas such as construction, ICT, outsourcing, health and education.

Planning / Regeneration

Sharpe Pritchard's Planning team works mainly for planning authorities and frequently handles complex major schemes. Its Real Estate practice advises on property transactions and high-profile redevelopment work, including compulsory purchase, while the Parliamentary team works alongside these practices on infrastructure authorisation.

All practice areas

Dispute resolutionInfrastructureCorporateCommercialICTReal estatePlanningParliamentaryConstruction

Who it may suit

Before you apply, ask yourself

Do you have a genuine interest in public-sector work and in understanding how government, local authorities and other public bodies operate?
Would you enjoy working in small teams where trainees can take on substantive drafting, develop arguments and work directly with partners and clients relatively early?
Are you interested in work that often sits between public law and commercial delivery, including procurement, infrastructure, construction, planning and regeneration?
Would you value a training contract with generally good work-life balance, while accepting that workload, supervision and office attendance can vary between teams?
Would you prefer specialist public-sector work, a small trainee cohort and the possibility of a UK client secondment over the international network and overseas seats available at some larger firms?

This firm may suit candidates who…

Have a genuine interest in public-sector work and want to understand how government, local authorities and other public bodies operate.
Want meaningful responsibility in relatively small teams, with opportunities to work directly with partners and clients.
Are interested in work where public law meets commercial delivery, including procurement, infrastructure, construction, planning and regeneration.
Prioritise work-life balance alongside substantive legal work.
Would value a small trainee cohort and the possibility of spending time working directly with a UK client.

Things to consider

Public-sector work is central to Sharpe Pritchard's identity, so candidates looking primarily for mainstream corporate or finance work may find the firm's practice mix less aligned with their interests.
Responsibility, supervision and partner contact can vary between seats, so your day-to-day experience may change noticeably as you rotate.
Procurement and public-sector considerations feature across several areas of the firm's work, so a genuine interest in these issues will be useful even outside a dedicated public-law seat.
Very late nights and weekend work are uncommon among surveyed trainees, but busy periods and more reactive contentious work can still create short-term pressure.
Client secondments are available but not guaranteed, while international trainee secondments are not offered.

What trainees do

Infrastructure

What it involves:

Supporting major infrastructure and public-sector projects through contractual, advisory and project-related work.

Example trainee tasks:

Contract formalisation, legal drafting, proofreading, research, attending client calls and taking minutes.

Who trainees work with:

Partners and associates, clients and wider project teams.

Early responsibility:

Trainees contribute directly to live project work and are expected to use their initiative when progressing tasks.

Support and supervision:

Senior lawyers are available for questions and review, with responsibility increasing as supervisors develop confidence in the trainee.

A first month might involve:

Drafting and reviewing project documents, carrying out legal research, helping formalise contracts and joining client calls on major infrastructure matters.

Construction

What it involves:

A mix of contentious and non-contentious construction work, including contracts, advice and adjudications.

Example trainee tasks:

Drafting and updating construction contracts, preparing contractual documents, drafting client advice, legal research and preparing correspondence and arguments for adjudications.

Who trainees work with:

Partners and associates, clients and other parties involved in construction matters.

Early responsibility:

Trainees contribute substantive drafting and attend client meetings, using their initiative to progress contract and adjudication work rather than taking a purely observational role.

Support and supervision:

Work is reviewed by partners and associates, with responsibility increasing as supervisors develop confidence in the trainee, though the level of autonomy varies between departments.

A first month might involve:

Drafting and updating construction contracts, researching legal issues, preparing client advice and supporting contentious work such as adjudications.

Real Estate

What it involves:

Supporting property transactions and related advisory work.

Example trainee tasks:

Drafting leases and other property documents and conducting legal research.

Who trainees work with:

Partners and associates and other parties involved in property matters.

Early responsibility:

Trainees undertake substantive drafting, with responsibility developing under supervision.

Support and supervision:

Work is reviewed and supported by senior lawyers within the team.

A first month might involve:

Drafting leases and other property documents, carrying out legal research and supporting the team on live property matters.

Employment litigation

What it involves:

The firm's employment work falls under the Dispute Resolution team, and trainees support contentious employment matters through case preparation, drafting and court-related work.

Example trainee tasks:

Preparing bundles, drafting responses, developing legal arguments and supporting court-day work.

Who trainees work with:

Partners and associates, clients and other parties involved in proceedings.

Early responsibility:

Trainees contribute to substantive case preparation and development of legal arguments.

Support and supervision:

Responsibility is undertaken with support and review from senior lawyers.

A first month might involve:

Preparing bundles, drafting responses, researching legal issues, developing arguments and supporting the team with hearings and other contentious work.

Work-life reality

Work-life balance varies by team, seat and transaction cycle. This section is designed to help you understand the pattern, not reduce the experience to a score.

Predictability

Workloads are generally manageable, although predictability varies by seat. Some teams have a steadier workflow, while contentious or more reactive matters can bring shorter-notice tasks.

Busy periods

Busy periods are periodic rather than constant. They can involve urgent work and tighter deadlines, but trainees generally describe supervisors as attentive to capacity and willing to redistribute work where needed.

Late finishes

Very late finishes are unusual. Trainees consistently report that working beyond 8pm is rare.

Weekend work

Weekend working is also unusual, with trainees consistently reporting that they rarely need to work at weekends.

Seat variation

Trainees generally describe good support when workloads increase, with supervisors checking capacity, helping prioritise work and redistributing tasks where necessary.

Support

Trainees generally describe good support when workloads increase, with supervisors checking capacity, helping prioritise work and redistributing tasks where necessary.

Flexibility

Hybrid working is generally described as genuinely flexible, although the amount of office attendance can depend on your team and how colleagues within it choose to work.

Holiday allowance

28 days

Office attendance

A minimum of two days per week in the office, depending on team needs.

Culture & support

Supervision style

Supervision is generally accessible and hands-on, with trainees able to approach partners and associates directly with questions. The experience can vary between seats, with some supervisors providing closer day-to-day contact than others.

Relationship with partners

The firm describes its training as “Partner-led from day one”, and trainees can work with experienced partners relatively early in their training.

Upward feedback

Trainees have opportunities to raise views and concerns, but experiences are mixed. Some feel very comfortable giving upward feedback, while others are less confident that it is always easy to do so.

What surprised trainees positively

Trainees highlight the accessibility of partners, the responsibility available early on and the scale and unusual nature of some of the firm's public-sector projects. Several were also positively surprised by the work-life balance.

Application process

Online application form

(1-2 hours)

Watson Glaser test

(40 minutes)

Short written test and interview with Equity Partners

(1.5 hours)

Reviews

"What surprised me - “The amount of responsibility given to trainees and how approachable partners are.”" - Anonymous

"What I wish I’d known - “How specialised the firm is in public law and procurement.”" - Anonymous

"On the culture - “If you have a strong interest in public law, want a good work/life balance and want to work in small teams this is the place for you.”" - Anonymous

Events

Inside the firm: Careers at Sharpe Pritchard

Discover Sharpe Pritchard's practice areas, recruitment process and trainee experience, with tips for success and the chance to ask current trainees questions.

Monday 19 October15:00 - 16:00

Secure your place