Placement schemes and training contracts

You'll enjoy two weeks' work experience at one of our offices in Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, London, Manchester or Norwich. A competitive allowance will be provided to help with the cost of accommodation, travel and other expenses.

During your time with us, you'll work with a variety of lawyers, moving to different parts of our practice every two or three days. You'll be placed in situations where you can do real work, such as undertaking legal research, preparing or checking draft documents, attending court, meeting clients or serving proceedings.

We'll pair you with one of our trainees who will answer your questions and help you make the most of your experience. Presentations, lectures and social events will help you get to know our culture.

Based in one of our offices in Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, London, Manchester or Norwich, you'll complete six seats over two years and have the opportunity to experience a seat in another of our offices. At present, we don't offer a seat in our Oxford office.

Some of you may already have an idea about what area you want to specialise in but with our six-seat programme (each four months long) we give you the opportunity to try all types of law. And not just whether you want to work in commercial or private client, but also a chance to work in our specialist sectors too. In one seat, you may be advising a football club on a new transfer and in another advising on a new patent.

We work across 14 specialist sectors, including family, health and care and technology. So that means that you get to work alongside genuine experts in their field, that understand not only the law, but also the market they work in. This gives you experience that will turn you from a good lawyer into a great one.

Of course, development is key during your training contract. We'll pair you with a partner who'll act as a mentor during the two years, offering confidential support and career development advice. On-the-job learning is supported by our professional skills course and a programme of in-house lectures and one-to-one training.

From the start of your first seat, you'll play an important part in the work of the department. This doesn’t mean you're abandoned or unsupported; neither does it mean you only do basic jobs. What it does mean is that we'll value your knowledge and skills and help you to develop them in the context of real cases. Client meetings, drafting, project planning, court attendance – these will all be part of your daily work.

Your performance will be assessed by a mix of informal feedback and a more formal review at the end of each seat.

We provide sponsorship for PGDL/SQE together with a maintenance grant for each course.

The current regional salary for first year trainees is £32,500 a year, rising to £35,000 in the second year. The current salary for our London first year trainees is £45,000.

• Fill in the application form here.
• Online blended assessment that explores your motivations for joining Mills & Reeve, your thinking style, ability to embrace change and your ability to creatively problem solve. You'll be asked a mix of situational judgment questions, verbal and numerical reasoning questions and one long answer question.
• Shortlisted applicants are invited to an in person assessment centre, including an opportunity to meet trainees. You undertake a group exercise, an individual exercise, a written exercise and an interview with a partner and principal associate.
• Offers are made within two weeks of the assessment centre.
• Before starting, successful candidates are introduced to others at the same PGDL/SQE course, sent newsletters, invited to introductory events and have an “open line” to our graduate recruitment team.

If you have any questions at all, please email our graduate recruitment team at [email protected]

You can also contact any of our trainees (click here to see a full list with contact details) and find out directly what life is like at Mills & Reeve.

 They'll be happy to answer your questions.