Blake Morgan

Overview

Blake Morgan is a top-100 UK full-service law firm with a strong regional network across Wales, the Thames Valley, London and the south coast. The firm positions itself as people-focused and community-minded, emphasising an open, friendly and supportive working environment and a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and local volunteering. It operates broad sector coverage (eg. real estate, public sector, technology, charities and private client work) and combines national capability with visible strengths in the Thames Valley/Wales market.

• Headquarters: New Kings Court, Tollgate, Chandler's Ford, Eastleigh, Hampshire
• Lawyers: 500 staff
• Partners: 90+
• Trainees: 13 (intake Sept 2025)
• Offices: 6

Values & Culture

Practice Areas

• Real Estate
• Dispute Resolution & Litigation
• Construction & Engineering
• Corporate & M&A
• Employment
• Private Client & Wealth
• Technology & Digital
• Pensions
• Public Law
• Regulatory & Compliance
• Banking & Finance
• Insolvency & Restructuring
• Intellectual Property
• Housing & Social Housing
• Charities & Not-for-Profit
• Financial Services & Regulation

Geographic Focus: The firm’s strength is regional but national in reach: particularly strong in Wales and the Thames Valley / M4 corridor, with offices across Cardiff, London, Manchester, Oxford, Reading and Southampton and notable public sector and social-housing work in Wales. Blake Morgan combines regional client relationships with capability to act for national and specialist sector clients (technology, health and charities).

Training Contract

Training contracts are structured as a series of six-month seats across the firm’s business groups. Seats are allocated to give trainees exposure to a range of work; development is supported with mid-seat and end-of-seat reviews, a Blake Morgan Academy learning platform, mentoring and access to trainee regional partners and career milestone programmes. The firm emphasises increasing responsibility throughout the programme and offers coaching and mentoring support via an internal Coaching Faculty and the Blake Morgan Mentoring Programme.

• Trainee Intake: 13 (intake Sept 2025)
• Application Deadline: 2026-02-15

Seat Options

• Real Estate
• Dispute Resolution & Litigation
• Construction & Engineering
• Banking & Finance
• Private Client & Wealth
• Regulatory & Compliance
• Technology & Digital
• Corporate & M&A
• Pensions
• Financial Services & Regulation

Sponsorship

Funding for qualifications and professional memberships is provided (the firm explicitly lists 'Funding for qualifications and professional memberships' among benefits).

Client Secondments

Trainees have access to secondments, including client and in-house placements (the firm highlights trainees who have spent time on secondment at a large national regulator).

Mentorship

The firm operates a formal Blake Morgan Mentoring Programme, an internal Coaching Faculty, trainee regional partners for support, buddy systems and regular review meetings (mid-seat and end-of-seat). Mentors and coaches are available to support career development and role transition.

Apply on the Blake Morgan website →

Programmes & Schemes

Notable Matters

What Blake Morgan Looks For

Key Competencies

• Commercial awareness
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Attention to detail
• Resilience and adaptability
• Communication skills
• Commercial judgement
• Commitment to the firm’s values and community activity
• Willingness to learn and take responsibility

Evidence Signals

• Relevant legal or sector work experience (including work experience at Blake Morgan or similar firms)
• Pro bono and volunteering involvement
• Commercial or technical internships (especially in technology/Thames Valley or public sector placements)
• Participation in outreach/social mobility programmes (Pathways to Law, PRIME, GROW Mentoring)
• Evidence of commercial thinking and up-to-date knowledge (eg. recent legal developments and market stories)

Benefits & Wellbeing

• Permanent health insurance (for Senior Associates and above)
• 5% employer pension contribution (subject to a minimum 3% employee contribution)
• Relocation assistance
• Life assurance
• Cycle to work scheme
• Performance-related bonus scheme
• Eyecare reimbursed
• Employee assistance programme (EAP)
• 26 days' holiday + buy up to a further 5 days
• A day off for your birthday
• Funding for qualifications and professional memberships
• Enhanced maternity, adoption and paternity pay (after 12 months of service)
• Informal flexible working practices
• Volunteering leave
• Study leave
• Private medical insurance through Bupa
• Healthcare cash plan via Medicash
• Annual discretionary bonus scheme
• Employee retail discounts
• Salary sacrifice options for selected benefits
• Spot Awards and long service awards
• Apprenticeship salary example: £15,000 (selected roles)

Wellbeing

A firm-wide Health & Wellbeing workstream supports mental, physical and financial wellbeing. Initiatives include an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders, Menopause Mentors, wellbeing walks, partnerships with Solent Mind, Wellbeing of Women, Over the Bloody Moon, MHFA England, membership of the Mindful Business Charter and the TVCC Mental Wellbeing Charter.

Awards & Recognition

• Wales Legal Awards – Law Firm of the Year (2022)
• Wales Legal Awards – Real Estate Team of the Year (2022)
• Wales Legal Awards – Private Client Team of the Year (2023)
• Wales Business Awards – Outstanding Workplace Culture (Winner 2026)
• Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers Index – ranked 33rd in 2025/26 (ninth consecutive year in the Top 50)
• Shortlisted – Business Culture Awards (Designing Work for Culture and Performance and Future Workplace Readiness) 2026

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

The firm is a signatory/member of the Race at Work Charter, the Women in Law Pledge, the Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse (EIDA), Legal CORE and is registered as a Disability Confident Committed Employer. The firm is also included in the Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers for consecutive years and has signed the Wellbeing of Women Menopause Workplace Pledge.

• Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Committee
• Together We Can (Disability & Neurodiversity network)
• Ethnicity and Belief workstream
• Family network
• Gender network and Menopause Mentors
• Health & Wellbeing workstream
• LGBTQ+ network
• Social Mobility workstream
• GROW Mentoring partnership
• Race at Work Charter signatory
• Women in Law Pledge signatory
• Disability Confident Committed Employer
• Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse (EIDA) membership
• Legal CORE membership
• Reading Ethical Recruitment Charter membership
• Wellbeing of Women’s Menopause Workplace Pledge

Pro Bono

Blake Morgan operates a pro-bono and volunteering culture with regular fundraising and volunteering activities (legal and wellbeing walks, marathon participation, office charity fundraising, matched fundraising via a Chair’s Charity pot). The firm also runs outreach and social mobility programmes (eg. Growing Ambitions weeks, Pathways involvement, PRIME access activity) to support young people and improve access to the profession.

Innovation

Blake Morgan invests in learning and practical innovation through its Blake Morgan Academy and sector toolkits (eg. start-up support for technology clients). The firm is accredited to deliver the BCS Practitioner Certificate in Data Protection, runs focused clinics for start-ups and integrates digital and data protection expertise into client service. Trainees are exposed to blended learning (70:20:10 approach), e-learning, webinars and practical on‑the‑job technology training.

• Blake Morgan Academy (learning & development platform)
• Start-up toolkit for technology clients
• BCS Practitioner Certificate in Data Protection (firm accredited to deliver)
• Counsel+ client forum and dedicated in-house support offerings

Quick Application Angles

• Reference the firm’s regional strengths (Wales and Thames Valley) and recent real‑market work (for example the Tungsten West fundraising) to show commercial fit with their real estate / corporate capability.
• Demonstrate genuine engagement with the firm’s EDI and community programmes (Growing Ambitions, PRIME, GROW Mentoring) — provide evidence of sustained involvement or impact in similar initiatives.
• Highlight experience (or genuine interest) in public sector, charity or regulatory work if applying to the Cardiff/Wales teams — the firm has deep public‑sector and charity coverage in Wales.
• If applying for technology or data roles, mention the firm’s BCS data protection accreditation and related tech/start-up support to show sector alignment.
• If shortlisted, be prepared to discuss a recent commercial story or technical point from areas the firm lists as key strengths (eg. real estate, construction, commercial litigation or banking & finance) and explain its client impact.