Addleshaw Goddard LLP
Overview
Addleshaw Goddard is a large international full-service law firm with a strong UK base and a growing global footprint. The firm advises thousands of clients across industry sectors, has worked in over 100 countries for major international brands and has built a reputation for innovation (multiple FT innovation recognitions) and high-profile client work. It combines regional UK strength (notably Leeds, Manchester and other northern hubs) with a prominent City of London presence and a global office network, and it markets a people‑centred, innovation-led culture where personality and individuality are emphasised alongside technical legal skill.
- Headquarters: London, 41 Lothbury
- Lawyers: 1,500
- Partners: 440+
- Trainees: 70
- Offices: 21
Values & Culture
Practice Areas
- Banking & Finance
- Capital Markets
- Corporate & M&A
- Dispute Resolution & Litigation
- Real Estate
- Construction & Engineering
- Employment
- Energy & Natural Resources
- Technology & Digital
- Healthcare & Life Sciences
- Retail & Consumer
- Transport & Logistics
- Tax
- Insolvency & Restructuring
- Intellectual Property
- Public Law
- Commercial Contracts
- Financial Services & Regulation
- Infrastructure & Projects
- Regulatory & Compliance
- Private Equity & Venture Capital
- Investment Funds
Geographic Focus: Strong UK and Ireland presence with major offices in London, Leeds and Manchester and additional Scottish offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow; international presence across Europe, the Middle East and Asia (including Paris, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Oman). The firm serves clients in over 100 countries and positions itself as a UK-headquartered international firm able to deploy cross-border teams and secondments.
Training Contract
Training contracts run for 24 months. Trainees complete four six‑month seats to gain broad experience across the firm's departments. Seats are allocated in discussion with the Early Careers team; trainees receive departmental and personal development training and are given the opportunity to apply for one seat to be taken as a client secondment or a non‑UK office secondment. Induction includes cohort networking, skills training, team building and social events.
- Starting Salary: Year 1: London £52,000; Leeds & Manchester £33,000; Scotland £29,000. Year 2: London £56,000; Leeds & Manchester £36,000; Scotland £33,000.
- NQ Salary: £100,000
- Trainee Intake: 70
- Qualification Rate: Nearly 80% of trainee solicitors remain at Addleshaw Goddard once qualified.
- Academic Requirements: Minimum degree: 2:1 (the firm will consider 2:2 with mitigating circumstances). The firm has removed its minimum A‑level requirement to widen access and uses contextualised recruitment practices.
- Application Deadline: 2026-01-06
Sponsorship
The firm provides maintenance grants to UK future trainees while studying: currently £15,000 for London, £8,000 for Leeds and Manchester and £7,000 for Scotland. The firm covers fees for the Diploma (the site references cover up to £14,000) and funds SQE/PPC training. Supplementary published figures include a PGDL/Pgdl grant of £10,000 and an SQE grant of £15,000.
SQE Support
Addleshaw Goddard partners with BPP University to provide SQE preparation courses and funds SQE 1 & 2 assessments and preparation. Law conversion (for non‑law graduates) and SQE prep are run with BPP and prep is completed prior to starting qualifying work experience where applicable. Full course funding is provided to those who need to undertake the Law Conversion course and the SQE, and the firm—
International Opportunities
Trainees may apply to complete one seat in a non‑UK office. Non‑UK secondment destinations explicitly listed include Dubai, Oman, Singapore and Paris. The firm also has recent secondments to other UK offices. Chances of a secondment abroad are indicated at c. 10%.
Client Secondments
Trainees can apply to spend a seat on secondment with a client (recent client secondments organised in London, Manchester, Leeds and Edinburgh). Reported chance of client secondment is c. 20%. Typical client secondments are for the duration of one seat (six months) when selected.
Mentorship
Every trainee is provided with a buddy and a mentor on joining; trainees have regular one‑to‑one meetings with the Early Careers team to discuss seat choices and qualification plans. UK-based second seat trainees who self-identify with diversity strands can join an externally run trainee solicitor talent development and mentoring programme. Trainees also have access to the employee assistance programme and Mental Health Champions.
Programmes & Schemes
A virtual Insight Day for students (first year law students or first/second year non-law students in England, first/second year students of any discipline in Scotland or Ireland) offering firm introductions, practical application advice, talks and networking. There are separate Scotland, England and Dublin sessions.
- Duration: 1 day (virtual event)
- Deadline: 2026-02-10
An insight event focused on the intersection of law and technology for aspiring legal innovators, tailored for final year undergraduates or graduates. The event explores placement and early-career opportunities in innovation and tech roles.
Insight Days introducing potential apprentices to life as an apprentice at Addleshaw Goddard, including networking with current apprentices, top tips and application guidance. Separate events for TST and Business Services apprenticeships.
- Duration: 1 day (event)
Paralegal level 3 apprenticeship supporting the Transaction Services Team (TST) and fee-earners across the firm; includes opportunities to experience sub-teams within TST and potential placements in Innovation & Legal Technology or TST in Scotland. Qualification: Paralegal level 3 + Level 4 Cert HE in Legal Services.
- Duration: 24 months
- Deadline: 2027-01-04
Solicitor level 7 apprenticeship delivered with BPP University leading to an LLB (Hons) Law and Legal Practice (with exemptions depending on route). Apprentices are employed from day one, study one day per week and progress to SQE preparation and assessments funded by the firm.
- Duration: 4–6 years (depending on exemptions)
- Deadline: 2027-01-04
Level 3 Bids and Proposal Coordinator apprenticeship supporting the Bids team in preparing client pitches and proposals, researching clients and competitors, and assisting with bid management and document preparation.
- Duration: 24 months
- Deadline: 2026-05-29
Business Administration Level 3 apprenticeship in the centralised support team (The Cube) delivering administrative support to fee-earners, working shifts and learning workflow management tools; progression opportunities across support functions.
- Duration: 24 months
- Deadline: 2026-05-29
Business Administration Level 3 apprenticeship supporting Conflicts, Financial Crime & Sanctions and Internal Audit teams in client onboarding and compliance-related administrative tasks; includes reporting and process support.
- Duration: 24 months
- Deadline: 2026-05-29
Notable Matters
Advised a leading automotive client on a power supply solution when acquiring land for a major new factory. The firm's work produced an alternative approach that avoided an anticipated large energy spend and delivered an estimated c. £110m saving.
Energy & Natural Resources
Delivered a technology-enabled review of lease documentation for Primark's large UK estate (189 stores, 40,000+ lease documents / 28,000,000 words), dramatically accelerating the review process (reported as 70% faster) by combining legal teams with technology solutions.
Real Estate
Devised a novel debt funding structure for UPP's acquisition of 2,000 student rooms that used senior debt as an overlay to an existing income-strip arrangement, enabling the purchase without obtaining consent from income strip funders and unlocking a previously unfundable c. £98m deal.
Banking & Finance
Advised SGN on a pioneering Ofgem bid to enable 100% green hydrogen heating and cooking for homes — a world-first pilot project exploring zero‑carbon hydrogen-powered homes and associated regulatory/implementation work.
Energy & Natural Resources
What Addleshaw Goddard LLP Looks For
Key Competencies
- Attention to detail
- Commercial awareness
- Career motivation for commercial law
- Teamwork and collaboration
- Analytical skills and decision making
- Resilience and adaptability
- Interest in legal technology and innovation
Evidence Signals
- Relevant work experience (placement schemes, internships, paralegal roles or client‑side experience)
- Commercial awareness shown through sector knowledge or commentary on recent deals (e.g., energy, retail, property)
- Participation in innovation/tech activities or demonstrable interest in legal tech
- Pro bono or volunteering activity demonstrating service ethic and community engagement
- Use of contextualised recruitment indicators or lived experience that explains strong performance in context
Benefits & Wellbeing
- Trainee salaries: Year 1 London £52,000; Leeds & Manchester £33,000; Scotland £29,000. Year 2 London £56,000; Leeds & Manchester £36,000; Scotland £33,000.
- Newly qualified salary: £100,000
- Maintenance grants during study: London £15,000; Leeds & Manchester £8,000; Scotland £7,000
- Course/fees funding: covers Diploma (up to £14,000 referenced on firm pages), SQE 1 & 2 and PPC training; published PGDL grant £10,000 and SQE grant £15,000
- Private medical and dental insurance (UK only)
- Employee assistance programme (EAP)
- Health and Wellbeing subsidy (gym membership or wellness apps such as Strava or Headspace)
- Cycle scheme
- Buy and sell holiday scheme (UK only)
- CSR days (volunteering allowance)
- Talent Spotting and AG Excellence award programmes
- Apprentice and graduate salary bands (e.g. Business Services Graduate Year 1: £25,000 - £26,000; Business Services Apprenticeships Year 1: Leeds & Manchester £21,500; London £25,000; Legal Apprenticeships Year 1 £22,000; Year 2 £24,000)
- Annual leave: 25 days
- Annual target hours: 1,000
Wellbeing
Employee assistance programme, Mental Health Champions (50+ trained MHCs), Health & Wellbeing subsidy for gym/wellness apps, founding partner of the Mindful Business Charter and internal wellbeing initiatives.
Awards & Recognition
- Law Firm of the Year - The Lawyer Awards 2024
- Most Digital / Most Digital law firm in Europe - FT Innovative Lawyer Awards 2023
- Top 20 firm in FT Innovative Lawyers: 20 years (2025 recognition)
- The Times Top 50 Employer for Gender Equality
- Named first law firm corporate ambassador for SheCanCode (2025)
- Ranked in FT top 10 law firms for innovation in Europe (multiple years)
- All About Law - Best Training Contract (highly commended)
- Legal Cheek nominations: Best law firm for training; Best law firm for legal tech; Best law firm for international secondments (years as listed on firm pages)
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Target: by September 2027, 28% of trainees will be ethnically diverse. Contextualised recruitment is used for graduate hiring; the firm removed its minimum A‑level requirement. The firm is a signatory to the Aspiring Solicitors SMART Commitment and is a founding partner of the Mindful Business Charter.
- AG Embrace (ethnicity network)
- Open AG (LGBTQ+ network)
- The Ability Forum (disability network)
- Social Mobility Volunteers (social mobility network)
- The Vine (gender network)
- Muslim faith network
- Jewish faith network
- Hindi, Jain and Sikh communities network
- Mental Health Champions (MHC)
- Contextualised Recruitment (RARE partnership)
- Aspiring Solicitors SMART Commitment
- BPP Legal Access Scheme
- Law Scot Foundation partnerships
- Social Mobility Business Compact membership
- City Solicitors Horizons participation
- Talent Tap, Regeneration Brainery and other outreach partnerships
Pro Bono
The firm encourages lawyers to dedicate chargeable hours to pro bono work, has a published Pro Bono strategy and provides CSR days for volunteering. (Specific hours targets are not stated on the firm pages.)
Innovation
Addleshaw Goddard invests significantly in legal technology and innovation. The firm runs a sizeable Innovation & Legal Technology function (headcount referenced at c.70), has developed an internal AI tool and offers placements and career routes into its innovation team. Trainees and apprentices may apply for placements in the Innovation & Legal Technology team, and the firm publicly promotes its legal‑tech strategy and podcasts on the subject.
- Internal AI tool (widespread internal adoption referenced)
- Innovation and Legal Technology team (placement opportunities exist)
- Innovation lead/Innovation Head role managing a large internal legal tech team (70 people referenced)
- Participation in FT Innovative Lawyers reports and awards
Quick Application Angles
- Reference the firm's innovation credentials and internal AI/LegalTech capability (the firm is repeatedly recognised in FT innovation lists) — explain how your interest in legal technology aligns with specific tech-enabled matters (for example Primark property work or internal AI initiatives).
- Highlight commercial awareness tied to a client matter on the firm site (e.g., the UPP funding solution, Primark property review or SGN hydrogen Ofgem bid) and explain what business risk or commercial driver you think was key.
- Show commitment to the firm's access and inclusion priorities: mention contextualised recruitment, social mobility outreach or Aspiring Solicitors SMART Commitment and provide concrete examples of how your background or activities align.
- If applying for apprenticeships or TST roles, mention direct interest in Transaction Services Team (TST) or Innovation & Legal Technology placements and any relevant technical or administrative experience.
- Demonstrate attention to detail and preparation for the firm's process: reference having used practice critical thinking tests and voice interview practice, and ensure your online registration form is free of typographical errors (the firm explicitly flags this).
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