Wedlake Bell is a medium-sized law firm providing legal advice to businesses and high-net-worth individuals from around the world. Our services are based on a high degree of partner involvement, extensive business and commercial experience, and strong technical expertise. We have approximately 150 lawyers in central London and affiliations with law firms throughout Europe and in the United States.

Who should apply

In addition to academic excellence, we look for commercial aptitude, flexibility, enthusiasm, a personable nature, confidence, mental agility and computer literacy in our candidates. Languages are not crucial.

Summer vacation scheme

Every July we offer an exclusive three-week summer vacation scheme to a limited number of students who are interested in pursuing a career in law. The scheme is very structured and enables successful applicants to gain first-hand experience of life as a trainee solicitor at Wedlake Bell.

The 2025 summer vacation scheme will run from Monday 23 June 2025 – Friday 11 July 2025.

We view our summer vacation scheme as a prolonged interview for training contracts and a significant number of our trainees are recruited directly from our summer vacation scheme.

In each of the three weeks, you will be assigned to a fee earner in one of our core teams and will become actively involved with their caseload. In addition, we will ask you to prepare a presentation as part of a summer student group, you’ll have ownership over the topic and final output. These presentations will be made in your last week to a selection of our lawyers and our current trainees.

Summer vacation scheme students will also be able to meet a variety of people from across the firm and experience the firm’s culture for yourself.

Open day

This year, Wedlake Bell are pleased to offer an open day in December 2024. This is aimed at those who are looking to find out more about a career in law and life at a City firm. Applications are open to first year students and beyond. 

Please complete the short application form on our website to be considered.

Solicitor apprenticeships

Wedlake Bell offer a solcitor apprenticeship programme. Our first solciitor apprentices joined the firm in September 2024. We will be hiring one to two solcitor apprentices to join the firm in September 2025. Further details are available on the Wedlake Bell website. 

Trainees have four seats of six months across the following areas: insolvency, restructuring and recoveries; construction; commercial litigation; commercial property; corporate; employment; IP and commercial; pensions and employee benefits; private client; property litigation and residential property.

As a trainee we encourage you to have direct contact and involvement with clients from an early stage. You will work within highly specialised teams and have a high degree of responsibility. You will be closely supervised by a partner or senior solicitor, and will become involved in high-quality and varied work. We are committed to the training and career development of our lawyers, and many of our trainees continue their careers with the firm, often through to partnership.

Wedlake Bell has an informal, creative and co-operative culture with a balanced approach to life.

Before starting your training contract, you will meet your intake and other future trainees in person at multiple events throughout the year. The firms also provides a pre-joiner programme of events in the build-up to the start of the training contract. Highlights this year included, speed networking and a 'how to prepare for your training contract session'. 

"I've learnt so much during my training contract and had exposure to a variety of very interesting work. Everyone in the firm is friendly and supportive and there are plenty of opportunities to participate in the firm's many social events."

Lizzie Whelan: Lizzie has recently completed her training contract with Wedlake Bell and will be joining the arts and luxury team upon qualification.

Wedlake Bell is pleased to be working with The University of Law to prepare our future trainees for the SQE. In addition to exam preparation, trainees will also complete additional modules to help them prepare for life as a City lawyer. This course will also be a certified LLM qualification. Future trainees will be asked to complete the SQE in advance of joining the firm. 

Wedlake Bell will ask non-law graduates completing the SQE to complete the PGDip (GDL) before beginning their SQE preparation. 

If candidates have already completed the LPC, they will not be required to switch to the SQE route. 

This is a six year route to qualification which combines on-the-job learning with studying for a law degree and the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). If you are considering a career in law, but are unsure about pursuing a university degree, a solicitor apprenticeship could be the route for you.

By the end of the six years, you'll be fully qualified as a solicitor and have avoided student debt. Apprentices will be based in our London office and study one day per week with The University of Law.

Wedlake Bell is pleased to be part of the City Century Solicitor Apprentice initiative, working to raise awareness of the solicitor apprenticeship route.

This programme is aimed at year 13 students and school leavers without a university degree. 

Further information is available on the Wedlake Bell website: solicitor apprenticeship programme – Wedlake Bell

Applications for our 2025 solicitor apprenticeship programme will open on 1 November 2024. The deadline to submit your application is 23:59 on 1 March 2024. The Apprenticeship will begin in September 2024.

To apply, you will need to complete the online application form. You will be asked to include a covering letter as part of the application.

Interviews will be held in person at the Wedlake Bell office in London. These will take place in the Easter holidays. 

At Wedlake Bell we are committed to a culture of fairness and equal opportunities. This culture underpins our recruitment practice and guides the firm’s policy in relation to the development and retention of all those who work at the firm.

We are signatories to the Law Society’s Diversity & Inclusion Charter and we strive to build and maintain a culture that values and gathers strength from difference. We have always emphasised that our firm is a true “meritocracy”, with opportunities accessible to all.

Our equality and diversity committee which includes partners, legal and support staff from across the business meets on a regular basis to review all matters relating to diversity and to help us provide an inclusive and supportive place to work. The committee reports direct to the firm’s board.

SQE (or LPC) fees paid and £7,000 maintenance grant where local authority grant not available.

PGDip (GDL) fees will be paid for future trainees completing the SQE route, who have not already completed or started the PGDip.

Wedlake Bell will be working with The University of Law. 

• Insolvency
• Restructuring & recoveries
• Employment
• Property litigation
• IP & commercial
• Corporate
• Banking
• Commercial property
• Residential property
• Construction
• Private client
• Pensions & employee benefits

• Corporate & Commercial
• General Commercial

• London

• #10000BlackInterns
• Causeway Education
• City University Micro-Placements Programme
• Diversity Access Scheme - Law Society
• Future Frontiers
• Legal Apprenticeships
• London Living Wage
• Rare Recruitment
• Sutton Trust
• Think Forward