More reasons to apply
The best way to learn is from real-world experience. Even in the early stages of your career, you will be given genuine responsibility on client projects. That means that as a trainee, you will be making real contributions to real projects.
You will collaborate with senior lawyers, benefiting from the combination of support and autonomy needed to grow quickly and sustainably. Training and guidance is always available if you’re unsure of something, but you’ll also be trusted to use your initiative to deliver innovative solutions on client matters.
With Allen & Overy, you’ll be given the support to help you excel whilst making an impact on work that matters.
Gain work experience before you start your training contract
For some future trainees, the gap between studying and starting a training contract can be challenging for a number of reasons. If you are thinking about gaining professional experience and generating income during this time, we offer a fantastic programme facilitated by Peerpoint, which is our legal consulting business, to help you gain experience during gaps between formal education and starting your training contract with Allen & Overy (A&O).
We offer our future trainees the opportunity to undertake paralegal-like assignments with some of A&O’s clients in their in-house legal department or potentially in one of A&O’s practice groups for periods of usually at least 6 months, depending on the opportunity and how much time you have available. These assignments offer you the chance to grow your network and to really understand the day to day business of our clients even before you have started your training contract. The assignments are based in London and are open to any future trainees who have accepted a training contract with A&O and who have a gap between their undergraduate degree and the PGDL or the SQE preparation programme or between the SQE preparation programme and their training contract start date. Typically, you will need full-time availability in London for six months or longer to join the programme.
Interested in learning more? Please contact Isabel Kennedy to find out more.
Secondments
Trainees are able to apply for a secondment to take place during their Training Contract. International secondments are enriching experiences that provide you with an awareness of cultural and regional differences, which is especially important as the majority of the work we do is cross-border and international. We currently offer international secondments in up to 13 of our offices, including Dubai, New York and Singapore.
Client secondments enable you to better understand how our clients’ businesses run, offering a unique insight that comes from working alongside them.
Law School
Postgraduate Diploma in Law (PGDL) & Legal Practice Course (LPC) or Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) Preparation Course (if joining Allen & Overy from September 2024 onwards)
We have selected BPP University Law School as our law school partner to ensure you arrive here with the best possible grounding in legal knowledge and skills and are ready to start working with our clients.
PGDL
As a non-law graduate your Training Contract with us will be exactly the same as a law graduate. However, your route to qualification will be slightly different, as you will have to study for the Postgraduate Diploma in Law (PGDL) at BPP Law School.
Those who have completed a law degree in an international jurisdiction that is not recognised as a qualifying law degree by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority will also need to complete some or all of the PGDL (although no longer a regulatory requirement, this also applies for those qualifying via SQE). This includes those who studied a law degree in Scotland and Ireland and did not study the necessary modules as part of their degree.
The PGDL is an eight-month full-time course designed to teach you key skills and the foundations of law before you join those who already have a law degree. The PGDL is also available part-time, but we ask that you complete the full-time course, unless agreed otherwise.
For details on financial support during the PGDL, please see our rewards and benefits section.
Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE)
As above, a new approach to qualification for all prospective lawyers in England and Wales took effect from September 2021. Trainees joining Allen & Overy from September 2024 onwards will train via the SQE.
We have worked closely with BPP to design our new SQE preparation programme. This is a 12 month course which will provide trainees with the optimum preparation to pass the centralised SQE1 and SQE2 assessments (which are run on behalf of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) by Kaplan). The course includes a bespoke ‘Essentials for Practice’ programme, giving you the opportunity to gain the legal knowledge and skills required to best prepare you for the SQE assessments and beyond. In addition, although it’s no longer a regulatory requirement, we will still require non-law graduates to study the PGDL in advance of the SQE preparatory course. Further information is available here.
Further information about the topics assessed in SQE1 and SQE2, and a detailed breakdown of how the exam and its assessments are structured, is available on the SRA’s SQE assessment website here.
Rewards & Benefits
Our reward and benefits package is designed to provide you with everything you need to develop a truly fulfilling career, support your clients and enjoy a lifestyle where you’re proud of what you achieve in work and beyond. Together with all the support and encouragement you need to reach your full potential both personally and professionally, you can look forward to receiving:
Postgraduate Diploma in Law (PGDL)
We will pay your course fees and provide a maintenance grant of £12,500. If you only need to study part of the PGDL, we will pay the necessary course fees and a pro-rated maintenance grant. If you accept your Training Contract after commencing the PGDL, we will pro rata your maintenance grant and your course fees will be refunded in full.
Legal Practice Course (LPC)
We will pay your course fees and provide a maintenance grant of £12,500. If you accept your Training Contract after commencing the LPC, we will pro rata your maintenance grant and reimburse your course fees in full.
SQE
We will pay your course fees and provide a maintenance grant of £17,500. If you accept your Training Contract after commencing the SQE preparation course, we will pro rata your maintenance grant and reimburse your course fees in full.
Benefits
As well as financial rewards, working at Allen & Overy offers an exceptional range of benefits including insurance (life, permanent health and private medical); a pension scheme; an interest-free season ticket loan; access to wellbeing apps (such as Unmind and Headspace) as well as a range of on-site facilities including a gym and sports hall; medical, dental and physiotherapy services; a beauty treatment centre; dry cleaners and two restaurants.
Interest-free loan
You can apply for an interest-free loan of up to £2,000 (or £2,500 for those undertaking the SQE preparation course, to reflect the course duration), which you will repay by the end of your Training Contract. You may decide how to use this, for example – you may like to use this to complete a language study course, to undertake a pro bono or community initiative, or as additional financial support while you are undertaking your studies.