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Winston Taylor

Winston Taylor

Next deadline

London Spring Vacation Scheme 2027 · 30 Oct 2026

(8 days)

Apply now
In their own words

Here, you're in the room. In the action. Sleeves rolled up.

Snapshot

Firm type

Transatlantic

UK offices

Cambridge, Liverpool and London

International offices

Amsterdam, Brussels, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Dubai, Dublin, Eindhoven, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Sao Paulo, Washington D.C

Training contract places

20

Vacation scheme places

30

First-year salary

London and Cambridge: £56,000; Dublin: €50,000

Second-year salary

London and Cambridge: £61,000; Dublin: €52,000

Newly qualified salary

London and Cambridge: £125,000

Trainee retention

80%

SQE support

Yes - full course and exam funding

Visa sponsorship

Yes

International secondment

Yes

Client secondment

Yes

Guaranteed secondment

No

Recruitment route

Vacation scheme route only

Rolling recruitment?

Yes

Seat structure

4 six-month seats

Can trainees repeat a seat?

Yes, based on individual cases.

Can trainees express preferences?

Yes, preferences are considered

Salaries review

Reviewed annually

Non-law graduates

Actively welcomed

Career changers

Actively welcomed

Remote working

Formal flexible working policy

Holiday allowance

25 days excluding bank holidays

Minimum academic requirements

AAB at A-level and a 2:1 in any degree discipline, unless there are extenuating circumstances

Wellbeing support

Includes medical insurance, Employee Assistance Programme, in-house GP service, in-house counselling service

SQE1 and SQE2 maintenance grant

£17,000 per annum

PGDL funding

We will pay course fees for PGDL and provide a maintenance grant of £12,500.

% female partners

30%

% BAME partners

6%

% LGBTQ+ partners

2%

% state school (selective) educated partners

13%

% state school (non-selective) educated partners

17%

Diversity networks and partnerships

Includes 10K Interns Program, Balance in Business Network, Cultural Diversity Network, LGBTQ+ Network, Social Mobility Network and Family Matters Network
Before you apply

Before you apply, ask yourself:

You'll work with leading clients, disruptors and fast-growth companies. These range from established names to specialist and fast-growth businesses. Are you interested in what a company is building even when it is not yet a household name?

The firm looks for applicants who have curiosity, determination, and adaptability. Do you have these skills as well as a collaborative nature, strong judgment, and an interest in understanding the firm’s clients’ businesses and sectors?

Advising a games studio can mean getting into the detail of advertising regulation, licensing and commercial agreements. Does the legal work interest you as much as the sector itself?

The patent work here can involve complex science and technology. Would you enjoy getting to grips with unfamiliar technical concepts and asking the questions that help you understand them?

With three days in the office and a formal flexible working policy, do you want to train in an approachable environment where you're present with your colleagues and working on matters together?

Next deadline

London Spring Vacation Scheme 2027

30 Oct 2026

(8 days)

View job

Deep dive

Explore this firm in detail

What makes it different

Combining scale with the speed clients demand, we are a powerhouse in major litigation, critical transactions, strategic IP, and private wealth.

What this could mean for you
Those four areas share a client rather than a discipline. Winston Taylor is built for the businesses, people and markets driving capital and innovation: disruptors, fast-growth companies and the founders and families behind them. The same client might need its ideas protected, a funding round or acquisition closed, a dispute resolved and, later, its founder's wealth structured. Trainees say the work is a truly interdisciplinary sector-based approach, with client names recurring from seat to seat and most matters involving more than one team.

You'll be supported at every step by supervisors, mentors and colleagues who are invested in your development.

What this could mean for you
In each seat trainees have a supervisor who gives regular feedback, and can request a mentor for longer-term goals. You start with an in-depth induction, and trainees describe dedicated training sessions at the start of every seat so they can hit the ground running. Throughout the seat, your work is discussed and feedback delivered in a constructive manner, provide clear actions for improvement and growth. The hybrid working policy is at least three days a week in the office, and many trainees choose to come in more frequently because it is where they learn best and feel most supported.

You'll be trusted with real responsibility from the outset and build experience through hands-on work.

What this could mean for you
You learn the job by doing it. You'll contribute to transactions as they move from negotiation to close and to disputes as they unfold: researching the issues that shape client advice, drafting key documents and helping teams prepare for critical moments. Trainees get exposure to clients early and attend client meetings and hearings and run pro bono matters with a fee earner reviewing. Responsibility grows as you build trust, and you receive context to the work you do to see how it contributes to the overall needs of the client.

Practice area strengths

Major Litigation

Winston Taylor's Major Litigation practice helps clients take action and stay protected. Disputes are handled across sectors and trainees complete at least one contentious seat. Trainee work in this area includes researching points of law, drafting documents and letters, preparing exhibits and bundles, and attending client calls and hearings.

Critical Transactions

Here, the firm helps clients grow at the scale of their ambition, across markets and sectors. It covers private equity, M&A, venture funding and capital markets, from seed stage through to IPO. Every trainee sits in either Corporate or Finance for one of their seats. Trainee tasks can include running due diligence, drafting corporate consents and resolutions and keeping completion checklists moving.

Strategic IP

The Strategic IP is focussed on enabling clients to scale and defend some of the most innovative ideas that shape their business, protecting patents, copyright and trade marks across jurisdictions. Trainee work includes tracking litigation deadlines for counsel and collaborating closely with barristers, often across several jurisdictions.

Private Wealth

Winston Taylor’s Private Wealth practice helps clients build and protect wealth, advising founders, family offices and multi-jurisdictional estates on structuring, preserving and deploying their assets. Trainee work in this area involves drafting tax advice notes, liaising with trustees and joining client calls and pitches. Private wealth showcases how the firm works across sectors, because clients can also need banking, corporate or litigation advice too, so the practice connects with the wider firm in a myriad of ways.

All practice areas

AntitrustCompetitionAppellate and constitutional lawCapital marketsClass actionsLitigationCommercialSecurities litigationCorporateEnvironmentalEmployee benefitsFinanceIntellectual propertyInternational arbitrationInternational tradeEmploymentMergers and acquisitions (M&A)Private clientPrivate equityPrivate investment fundsProduct liabilityComplianceReal estateSports lawTaxTrade secretsTrialsGovernment contracts and grantsInvestigations and white collar defencePrivacy and data securityRestructuringVenture capital
Who it may suit

Before you apply, ask yourself:

  • You'll work with leading clients, disruptors and fast-growth companies. These range from established names to specialist and fast-growth businesses. Are you interested in what a company is building even when it is not yet a household name?
  • The firm looks for applicants who have curiosity, determination, and adaptability. Do you have these skills as well as a collaborative nature, strong judgment, and an interest in understanding the firm’s clients’ businesses and sectors?
  • Advising a games studio can mean getting into the detail of advertising regulation, licensing and commercial agreements. Does the legal work interest you as much as the sector itself?
  • The patent work here can involve complex science and technology. Would you enjoy getting to grips with unfamiliar technical concepts and asking the questions that help you understand them?
  • With three days in the office and a formal flexible working policy, do you want to train in an approachable environment where you're present with your colleagues and working on matters together?

This firm may suit candidates who…

  • Came to law through another field, such as science, technology, engineering, maths, or is a career changer, and want that background to remain relevant to their legal career.
  • Enjoy learning through hands-on experience and taking on greater responsibility as their confidence develops.
  • Value a working and learning environment where a minimum of three days a week are spent with your team and colleagues in the office.
  • Are interested in fast-growth companies, disruptors and innovative businesses, and the founders and families behind them.
  • Want exposure to different areas of law before deciding where to specialise, and enjoy working across international teams, on matters where several practice areas come together for the same client.

Things to consider

  • Corporate work has a strong mid-market focus, offering exposure to growing businesses, investors and transactions where trainees can work closely with deal teams and clients.
  • The training contract has a set structure: four six-month seats, one of which must be Corporate or Finance and at least one contentious.
  • The firm places an emphasis on learning through hands-on experience, with trainees developing their skills by contributing to live matters from an early stage.
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.

Flexibility

Standard hybrid plus a formal flexible working policy on top.

Holiday allowance

25 days excluding bank holidays, plus discretionary leave.

Office attendance

At least three days a week in the office.
Application process

Online application form

How to prepare

This is screened on a rolling basis.

Online assessment

(10 days to complete once invited)

What happens

15 minutes for verbal reasoning and 25 minutes for critical thinking. Additional time will be provided for candidates who require adjustments.

Assessing

There are two tests covering verbal reasoning and critical thinking.

Written exercise

(2 hours)

What happens

This takes place online, and additional time will be provided for candidates who require adjustments.

Assessment day

(3 hours)

What happens

This takes place in person and comprises a commercial exercise and a competency-based interview.

Vacation scheme

(2 weeks)

Reviews
"Strikes the ideal balance between intellectually stimulating and technically complex work on the one hand, and a genuinely positive culture on the other." - Anonymous
"There are firms out there where you will feel more of a number than a trainee. At Winston Taylor I find that it is the opposite. They actively want to know you as a person both in a professional and personal capacity. What makes you unique can be a benefit to the firm instead of a burden." - Anonymous
"Even where you're working for a client on a Private Client matter, for example, the firm may also be helping them from a Banking or Corporate perspective, or assisting with litigation. I didn't expect to recognise client names across different seats but it just goes to show the extent of cross-referrals within the firm and how that drives business." - Anonymous
"In my first seat I was given a significant amount of responsibility from an early stage. I was trusted to communicate directly with clients and to progress matters independently." - Anonymous
"Partners and associates want to help you learn and are always available to discuss a matter further." - Anonymous
Opportunities
London Spring Vacation Scheme 2027

Winston Taylor

Winston Taylor

8 days leftCloses 11:59pm, 30 Oct 2026

View job
Dublin Summer Internship 2027

Winston Taylor

Winston Taylor

8 days leftCloses 11:59pm, 30 Oct 2026

View job
London Summer Vacation Scheme 2027

Winston Taylor

Winston Taylor

39 days leftCloses 11:59pm, 30 Nov 2026

View job
Insights
This is Winston Taylor
Defining Moments – A conversation with Michael Helfgott and Claire Matthews
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Defining Moments – A conversation with Kirstie McGuigan and Ross McNaughton