You will often hear us say "Achieve more. Together”, and while many law firms talk about teamwork and collaboration, it’s not just a catchphrase for us, more the cornerstone of our culture and how we work.

Of course, you want to know that we have six offices across the UK with 1,400 staff and over 600 lawyers. But, more importantly, you should know that we have been crowned Law Firm of the Year by both Legal Week and RollonFriday and we have been ranked in the UK's “100 Best Companies to Work For” for the past 20 years. We consistently win accolades for our vacation scheme and training contracts.

This is because, as a trainee at Mills & Reeve, we offer something a bit different. The quality of the work you will get involved with, the contact and relationships you will build with clients and the culture of the firm you work in. And 97% of us would recommend that you work here.

We are a major UK law firm and our work spans a broad range of legal sectors and jurisdictions for a diverse range of clients: from the FTSE250 to fast-growth start-ups, from individuals to some of the world’s most established and prestigious organisations.

Our service is delivered through firm-wide core groups: corporate and commercial, employment, family, insurance disputes, private client, projects and construction, real estate and regulatory, public and commercial disputes. Core sectors are automotive, charities and social enterprise, education, energy, food and agribusiness, government, health and care, insurance, life sciences, mid-market, private wealth, real estate investment, sport, technology.

We want people who are ready for early responsibility because that is what we will give you. You will be driven, have a positive attitude and an agile approach. You will enjoy untangling complicated issues and thrive on building relationships with clients and colleagues.

To find out what it is like to work at Mills & Reeve LLP read the firm's Meet the Lawyer profile.

Our award-winning summer vacation scheme is the ideal introduction to Mills & Reeve and gives you a real taste of life as a lawyer. During your time with us you will be placed in real-life situations, preparing draft documents, researching, attending court hearings and meeting clients.

You will work with a variety of lawyers around the business over the course of two weeks, changing teams every two to three days.

We currenlty recruit all our trainee solicitors from those who attend our summer vacation scheme. 

A Mills & Reeve trainee receives more opportunities and experiences than at many firms. We want you to really understand what it’s like to be a lawyer and the best way to do that is to give you responsibility. You’ll be working with national and international clients where you are given the freedom to learn in a supportive environment.

Trainees take on six four-month seats to allow you to experience the breadth of the work we do and you will be supported by dedicated supervisors, a partner mentor, a trainee buddy and the graduate team throughout the two-year training programme.

We recruit all of our trainees via our summer vacation scheme. Therefore, we recommend you apply for a place on the schemeto be considred.

We are recruiting the following positions from our 2025 summer vacation scheme:

Training contracts to start in 2026 – two positions in Birmingham, two positions in Norwich and one position in Cambridge.

For 2026 training contracts, we will sponsor candidates to qualify via the SQE route and we will welcome applications from final-year law students or non-law graduates who have completed a PGDL course.

Training contracts to start in 2027 – c.30 positions across Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, London, Manchester and Norwich.

For 2027 training contracts, we will sponsor candidates to qualify via the SQE route and we will welcome applications from penultimate-year/final-year law students, final-year non-law students and graduates (any discipline). We will sponsor non-law candidates to undertake the PGDL before the SQE prep course.

Our training contracts commence in September of each year. We place a strong emphasis on 'learning on the job' and trainees become fully involved in the work of their seat. Performance is regularly reviewed via a mix of informal and formal reviews. 

We continue to invest in your development after completion of the training contract. Initially this invovles an increase in client contact, a confidence to handle whole matters with decreasing amounts of supervision and an ability to manage and meet demanding targets. Individual development needs are identified through regular performance reviews and feedback, and training is provided across the firm in a variety of areas and from a number of sources. Typically, after approximately four years, you become a senior associate and, among other things, demonstrate the ability to lead a team and develop your profile to 'expert' within the firm in particular areas of the business. Developing our trainees from junior to senior associates, contributing to the future of the success of the business, is a high priority to us.

We are very proud that a very high proportion of our trainees remain with us on qualification.

For 2026 training contracts, we will sponsor candidates to qualify via the SQE route and we will welcome applications from final-year law students or non-law graduates who have completed a PGDL course.

For 2027 training contracts, we will sponsor candidates to qualify via the SQE route and we will welcome applications from penultimate-year/final-year law students, final-year non-law students and graduates (any discipline).  We will sponsor non-law candidates to undertake the PGDL before the SQE prep course.

Immerse yourself in practical experience by spending four days a week working under the supervision of our qualified lawyers, and one dedicated study day working towards your legal qualifications. You will gain a level 7 apprenticeship award, a qualifying law degree (LLB) and the solicitors qualifying examinations (SQE). You’ll spend time in a variety of teams, gaining exposure to different areas of law, to build technical excellency and skills enabling you to provide the best service to our clients. Our solicitor apprentices will be based at either our Birmingham, Manchester or Norwich office.

The solicitor degree apprenticeship is a big commitment and we’re looking for people who are committed to a career in law and are resilient individuals. You’ll share in our ethos of Achieving more. Together. working collaboratively with others, respecting each other and building strong relationships.

You’ll need to have a strong academic background to undertake the learning and must have achieved (or be predicted to achieve) a minimum of ABB (or equivalent) at A level, and five GCSEs, including maths and English, grades 4 and above (A to C under the old scoring system).

Applications for our September 2025 intake will open on 7 October 2024.

Everyone at Mills & Reeve brings a unique perspective and ideas and the firm does everything they can to help each person to thrive. Having respect for each other is one of the firms key values, and this is reflected in their extensive diversity and inclusion policies, which cover everything from recruitment and selection to parental leave and flexible working. Mills & Reeve are known for how well they treat their employees having been named 20 years running in Best Companies’ UK’s 100 Best Companies to work for. Mills & Reeve are serious about continuously developing their culture and policies.

As a leading UK law firm, Mills & Reeve monitor diversity levels throughout the firm to ensure they’re equal and open in recruitment and promotions. If they find barriers they can remove, we do. For instance, they encourage flexible working to ensure they adapt to different lifestyles and offer annual leave for religious festivals such as Eid, Christmas and Ramadan. Mills & Reeve provide training on diversity and inclusion matters and the firms Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group encourages and oversees a range of initiatives across the firm.

As the firm grows, Mills & Reeve are committed to ensuring that they have a diverse workforce that reflects the communities they live and work in. The firm actively celebrate their colleagues’ different abilities, faiths, ethnicities, sexual orientation, and gender, and welcome applications from everyone, regardless of their personal background.

For more information, please click here: https://www.mills-reeve.com/about-us/diversity-and-inclusion

The firm sponsors full course fees and provides a maintenance grant for each course.

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