Bates Wells is a purpose-driven City law firm servicing a wide range of commercial and not-for-profit clients. 

Bates Wells was the first UK law firm to certify as a B Corporation, for which it met rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency.

We stand out as a law firm – combining practical, commercial legal expertise with the deep understanding of the third sector. We are not only recognised as one of the leading charity law firms in the UK; we are also ranked in the major UK legal directories for our excellence across many of our specialist and commerical practice areas.

Our mission statement

Our purpose is to do worthwhile work to the best of our ability for clients we respect as commercial lawyers, recognising that we do so in a highly competitive environment. We will, at all times, seek to value everyone in the firm and strive to provide secure and enjoyable employment, preserving a balance between work and home.

We will encourage a diverse and open culture which fosters innovation, together with trust and loyalty among all within the firm and with clients. All this we undertake in the context of making a reasonable living and always with a commitment to justice and the public interest.

Our vacation schemes are a great way to make your mark – and could lead to a training contract.

If you’re committed to applying for a trainee position at Bates Wells, our vacation schemes are worth a look. By applying for a vacation scheme, you’re guaranteed to be considered for a training contract. You don’t need to apply for both the vacation scheme and the training contract – you only need to choose one. 

How the vacation scheme fits into the training contract application process

When you arrive for your vacation scheme, you'll find out more about Bates Wells, get to spend time with current trainees, experience working in two different departments and have fun! You will be invited back for a final interview with two partners (including our managing partner). After final interviews, we’ll offer training contracts to successful candidates.

As a firm with a shared purpose, we’re on a journey to create a positive impact.

When you join us, you’ll be ready and willing to bring your ideas and the best version of yourself.

We’re looking for the brightest future commercial lawyers, who understand the work we undertake, the clients we work for, and who are passionate about principles. We encourage candidates with a range of outside-work interests, which we’d like to see maintained and developed over the coming years. If you’re all this and an excellent communicator, get in touch.

Finding and developing home-grown talent is important to us. We recruit six trainees each year and look to retain all of them at the end of their training contracts.

Trainee seats

Over the two years of the training, you’ll do two six-month seats in the first year, followed by three four-month seats in the second year.

All trainees do seats in charity and social enterprise. Other seats are available in immigration, corporate and commercial, dispute resolution, public and regulatory, employment and real estate. We’ll help you to choose the seats that will best prepare you for your preferred career path.

You’ll have a dedicated supervisor in each seat, who’ll make sure your work is relevant and varied, with training where necessary. At the interim and final appraisals for each seat, your supervisor will give feedback on your performance and set objectives for the next stage.

All candidates who have not yet completed the LPC or SQE will need to complete the SQE. You do not need to have enrolled on an SQE course before applying to us for a training contract.

We are delighted to be able to offer an alternative route to qualification as a solicitor via our solicitor apprenticeships programme. This is a six-year, level 7 programme for anyone who does not hold a degree level qualification, or school leavers at 18. At the end of the apprenticeship, you will qualify as a solicitor.

This route gives you the opportunity to earn whilst you learn and get stuck into working straight away, avoiding university fees and developing your professional and legal skills.

During our six-year programme, you’ll gain an LLM in Legal Practice through The University of Law, with your fees and assessment costs covered by us, and become a qualified solicitor.

Applications for our solicitor apprenticeships open on 1 October 2024 and close on 14 February 2025. We will be running an open evening in January 2025. Visit our website Solicitor Apprenticeships | Bates Wells for more details and to apply.

We’re incredibly proud of our people and their creativity. At Bates Wells, everyone is encouraged to develop, innovate and participate in activities to promote a truly equal, diverse and inclusive environment. Our diversity and inclusion forum (DIF), led by two partners, brings together the elements which make for a diverse and inclusive culture.

DIF acts as an umbrella for our creative groups and networks to flourish. Our groups and networks are led by ambassadors who play a key role in fostering that enthusiasm and creativity. They create a comprehensive DIF strategy which sets out our key objectives and actions for the future.

Each of our DIF groups and networks are a true cross-section of the firm, across all practice areas and business support roles, with initiatives dreamt up by members, whoever they may be and no matter how junior, to make the world a better place. The activities of our groups and networks are interwoven into the firm, across our governance, strategy, policies and support tools, to achieve a coordinated approach across our inclusion themes.

We strongly believe that everyone should have the opportunity to reach their full potential whatever their background, and believe a diverse team is integral to our success.We are signatories of the Halo Code Agreement, Race at Work Charter and Race Fairness Commitment.

We will cover your SQE course fees if you have not already committed to your studies at the point at which you apply to us for a training contract. We do not cover fees retrospectively.

• Dispute resolution
• Employment
• Charity & social enterprise
• Immigration
• Real estate
• Corporate & commercial
• Public & regulatory

• General Commercial
• Niche
• Corporate & Commercial

• London

• BITC
• Black Lawyers Matter
• Black Solicitors Network
• Breaking Barriers
• InterLaw Diversity Forum
• Pathways to Law
• PRIME
• Rare Recruitment
• Social Mobility Foundation
• Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust
• Sutton Trust
• upReach