At Russell-Cooke we’re not tied to process, we’re not bound by departments or fixated on job titles. We are a team of lawyers who take a more thoughtful, more rigorous, more collaborative approach to training, to practising law and to working with our clients. We think carefully about what kind of law firm we want to be and the type of work we take on. We’re not driven by profit alone: we’re committed to publicly-funded work (not just a little pro bono for show). And we do the right thing by our people, too: we’re proud to offer a better work-life balance alongside high-level legal work. We’re pragmatic and thorough, and we’re not bound by a set process or formulaic way of working. We think ahead and we work together – with our clients and each other – to give the best advice.

Our approach

The reality of training contracts can often fall short of expectations. Trainee solicitors can find themselves stuck in a firm they find uncongenial, or doing jobs that bore or frustrate them. We offer you stimulating work in a friendly and well-equipped professional environment. We will also pay you well and there are annual salary reviews and an annual bonus. Our trainees are not expected to spend all their time photocopying or researching points of law (although that happens, of course).

Our aim is to give you the chance to manage your own casework and deal directly with clients, learning the practical skills of client and file management with proper support. We realise that employing trainee solicitors is very much a two-way process. So we are particularly concerned to ensure that we give you a positive and practical training. There are regular seminars for trainees and qualified solicitors. We assess you in each seat of your training and make sure that there are specific partners responsible for helping and advising you with any questions or difficulties you may have.

Who are we looking for?

On average we take on eight to ten trainee solicitors a year. Our trainees often stay on after completing their training – traditionally we have a very high retention rate. You must have three good A levels. If you have graduated you must have at least an upper second-class degree (although not necessarily in law). If you are in your final year at university you should have obtained the equivalent of an upper second in any second-year exams.

You will need to thrive on responsibility and challenges and be able to exercise your own judgement. To have a positive, social nature; to be good at the practical business of advising and representing clients; to be able to work effectively with colleagues and others that you meet in the course of your work; to have high professional standards; and to have an open mind about the areas of law in which you wish to gain experience.

Your training will have a lasting influence over your legal career, so you need to think carefully about what kind of firm and what kind of work will suit you best. There are substantial advantages in working for a firm like ours which can give you the chance to gain practical experience of widely differing types of legal practice. This is particularly important if you have not yet decided which field of law you want to specialise in. There are very few law firms where, for instance, you can spend six months involved in a real estate transaction in the City, followed by six months of practising children law. Moreover good general training will make you a more rounded lawyer which will increase your range of opportunities on qualification.

Trainees do four seats, often including a seat in our core area of real estate. The availability of other seats depends on the needs of different departments but in the past trainees have undertaken seats in litigation, matrimonial, charity and social business, corporate and commercial, employment, children law, private client, trust and estate disputes, property litigation and, personal injury and clinical negligence. 

We provide capped sponsorship of up to £10,000 per candidate for the LPC and the SQE. This covers the cost of the SQE assessments and, depending on the provider, funding for preparatory courses.

We do not sponsor the GDL.

Our commitment to equality and diversity

At Russell-Cooke, we are committed to promoting equality and diversity across the firm by providing training, raising awareness and creating an inclusive work environment.

The importance and benefits of a diverse workforce are well established. In addition, we seek to reflect the communities in which we operate and the clientele with whom we work. Our broad practice brings us into contact with an unusually diverse client group. But ultimately, being fully inclusive in our recruitment and treatment of our people is simply the right thing to do. 

Our key objectives

maintain a culture of mutual respect and consideration, ensuring that everyone is treated equally and with the same attention, courtesy and respect regardless of their disability, age, gender, marital status, race, racial group, colour, ethnic or national origin, nationality, religion or belief, age or sexual orientation

work to improve the diversity of our workforce across all the protected characteristics. Click here to view our diversity data

continue to develop our social mobility inclusion

• Charity
• Children & education law
• Commercial litigation
• Corporate/commercial
• Fraud & criminal litigation
• Employment
• Family
• PI & clinical negligence
• Private client
• Property & housing litigation
• Real estate
• Trust & estate disputes
• Regulation

• Corporate & Commercial
• General Commercial
• General Practice
• Legal Aid

• Holborn
• Putney
• Kingston-upon-Thames

• LawWorks (the Solicitors Pro Bono Group)
• South West London Law Centres
• Surrey Law Centre

• #10000BlackInterns
• Black Solicitors Network
• Diversity Access Scheme - Law Society
• Law Society Diversity and Inclusion Charter
• London Living Wage
• Rare Recruitment
• Stonewall