Bevan Brittan LLP is a UK Top 100 commercial law firm which operates nationally across construction, energy and resource management, higher education and financial services sectors, complementing the firm’s market leadership within housing, local and central government and health and social care, with the firm’s award-winning legal and regulatory teams based across its offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and London.

Our award-winning and growing legal teams are led by 100 partners. With vital backing provided by our valued business services professionals and support teams, we work together to support almost 2,000 organisations with commercial, corporate, property, finance, regulatory, employment and litigation (commercial and clinical negligence) legal and advisory services.

As a responsible business, we embrace four values: relationships, reputation, responsible and results. These give us a sense of purpose. They influence the decisions we make and how we work with each other. Importantly, they motivate us to deliver meaningful outcomes for our clients and the communities that we’re part of.

Consistently recognised as one of The Times Best Law Firms and highly ranked across the legal directories, we are proud of our hard-earned reputation, which helps us to attract and retain the best talent. Our 2023/24 financial results confirmed both revenue and profit growth for an eleventh consecutive year, ensuring our ability to continue investing in our people.

Bevan Brittan is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applicants from all backgrounds.

Who should apply

As a UK top 100 law firm, we are looking for strong academic achievement from applicants; ABB at A level and a 2.1 at degree level is our expectation (the degree does not have to be in law). We also recognise the value of relevant, strong, commercial work experience and welcome applications from individuals who can demonstrate this, but may not fully meet our academic requirements. When applying, please do let us know of any clear mitigating circumstances, or if you have at least three years' relevant commercial work experience.

We recognise that the most important prerequisite of quality service is a team of lawyers dedicated to service excellence. Our success is maintained by attracting and keeping talented legal minds. We are looking for bright people with sound common sense and plenty of energy, drive, commitment, willingness to take responsibility and the ability to work and relate well with others.

Our vacation scheme is a paid placement that runs for two weeks during the summer in each of our offices. During the placement you will get to work in one of our five departments. Taking part in our two week vacation scheme will give you an excellent opportunity to learn more about how we make an impact both in the communities we work in and on our clients. You will have the chance to meet our approachable people, experience our culture and the high quality work we do here at Bevan Brittan.Our vacation scheme is a paid placement that runs for two weeks during the summer in each of our offices. 

You will be given real work to do and detailed feedback by each member of the team you work with, to help you start developing your skills as a future solicitor.

Applications must be made via the application form on our website. The deadline is 11 February 2025.

Our trainee solicitors get a tailored training and development programme that gives them early exposure to real work for real clients, and this careful management of the learning process allows confidence to grow alongside experience. From the outset you will get the chance to experience high quality and interesting work with real responsibility. The emphasis on getting stuck in whilst being supported to be your best. You’ll be taking part in client meetings, doing your fair share of research and drafting and at tending court hearings from the off.

We believe it is crucial that our trainees have access to an extensive support network. For each seat you will be supervised by an experienced lawyer, alongside a buddy. You will also have the support of our early talent team who are always available to answer any questions or generally offer advice. The firm is friendly and supportive with an open-door policy along with a range of social, sporting and cultural activities.

From our September 2024 trainee intake, we will be introducing the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) route to qualification, replacing the need to complete the GDL and LPC. We will sponsor our future trainees through the SQE exams and our preferred preparation courses, the Post Graduate Diploma in Law (non-law students) and the LLM (all trainees) with The University of Law.

SQE1 will assess your legal knowledge through multiple-choice examinations and an online assessment in legal research and writing. SQE2 will assess your legal skills through practical examinations and assessments.

After you have completed the SQE preparation courses and examinations, you will complete your training contract with the firm, comprising four six-month seats offering you the opportunity to gain experience across our practice areas. This will satisfy the requirements to complete two years of qualifying work experience (QWE).

If you have already completed the GDL prior to accepting a training contract offer, you will need to complete the LLM through The University of Law before commencing the two-year training contract with us. If you have already completed the LPC prior to accepting a training contract offer, you will not need to complete any SQE courses or examinations.

At Bevan Brittan, we recognise that there is more than one route to a career in law, and we are committed to supporting people who have the ambition and aptitude to qualify as a solicitor without having studied at university.

Our Level 7 Solicitor Apprenticeship programme is a way of giving you hands-on experience of legal work whilst studying to become a qualified solicitor. The programme lasts for six years, and you will work with us alongside your studies, completing real legal work, alongside some of our most experienced lawyers.

You will learn the practical skills and gain the relevant knowledge to become a competent and experienced solicitor. In addition, you will need to collect a portfolio of evidence for assessment, and you will also spend one day per week studying for your examinations.

We are looking for bright individuals with plenty of enthusiasm, who can think logically and clearly. You will also need:

Academics: As a professional national law firm, we are looking for strong academic achievement from applicants. ABB at A level and A*– Cs at GCSE (or equivalent) is our expectation but you do not have to have studied A-level law

Ability to work and relate well with others: we are proud of our collegiate approach so an ability to work within a team is essential

Attention to detail: our work can involve complex information so we are looking for people who have a good eye for detail

Drive and a willingness to take responsibility: it is important to be well motivated so you meet challenges with resilience and overcome hurdles

Passion for excellence: we want to see people with a can-do attitude, who are passionate about what they do, how they do it and who they do it for

Reliable: we require people who can be trusted to be on time and complete work allocated to them

Bevan Brittan pride themselves for promoting equality, diversity and inclusion within their workforce, reflected in their recruitment and promotion processes. Read more about their diversity initiatives here. 

Bursary and funding for PGDL and SQE available.

• Employment & pensions
• Litigation
• Criminal regulatory & compliance
• Litigation
• Public law & regulatory
• Litigation
• Procurement & competition
• Information law & privacy
• Housing
• Housing management
• Communities & local government
• Health
• Commercial
• Planning
• Property litigation
• Regeneration
• Energy & resource management
• ICT
• Procurement
• Local authority
• Banking/corporate
• Construction
• ICT
• Clinical negligence
• Health
• Care & regulatory

• Corporate & Commercial
• General Commercial

• Bristol
• Birmingham
• London
• Leeds

• Birmingham Legal Advice Centre
• Legal Advice Centres
• ProHelp

• #10000BlackInterns
• Disability Confident Leader
• Diversity Access Scheme - Law Society
• Legal Apprenticeships
• Leonard Cheshire Change 100
• Mindful Business Charter
• Rare Recruitment
• Sutton Trust
• The Talent Tap