Trowers & Hamlins

Overview

Trowers & Hamlins is an international full-service law firm with deep UK roots and a long heritage dating back to 1777. The firm is particularly strong in real estate and affordable housing work and combines UK regional strength (Birmingham, Exeter, Manchester and London) with a well-established international platform across the Middle East and Asia. Trowers positions itself on collaborative, client‑focused service, investing in innovation (TrowersEvolve) and sector specialisms such as real estate, construction, affordable housing, and public-sector work — its global network membership provides access to lawyers in over 150 cities.

• Headquarters: London, Bunhill Row
• Founded: 1777
• Lawyers: 550+
• Partners: 170+
• Trainees: 25
• Offices: 11

Values & Culture

Practice Areas

• Real Estate
• Corporate & M&A
• Private Client & Wealth
• Dispute Resolution & Litigation
• Construction & Engineering
• Employment
• Pensions
• Commercial Contracts
• Housing & Social Housing
• Banking & Finance
• Tax
• Technology & Digital
• Charities & Not-for-Profit
• Healthcare & Life Sciences
• Infrastructure & Projects
• Energy & Natural Resources
• Education
• International Arbitration
• Private Equity & Venture Capital
• Investment Funds
• Regulatory & Compliance
• Environment & Planning
• Intellectual Property
• Data Protection & Privacy
• Public Law
• Financial Services & Regulation

Geographic Focus: The firm has a strong UK footprint with major offices in London, Birmingham, Exeter and Manchester and a strategic international platform across the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dubai, Oman, Saudi Arabia) and Asia (Malaysia, Singapore) plus dedicated India and Korea desks. Trowers leverages this network to advise domestic and cross-border investors, sovereign wealth, institutional lenders and public sector bodies and positions itself to act on UK-Middle East and UK-Asia transactions and real

Training Contract

Two‑year training contract divided into four six-month seats. Seats are allocated to give exposure to a broad range of commercial departments across the firm; each trainee is assigned a supervisor who provides regular mid-seat and end-of-seat appraisals. The programme includes internal and external training sessions, practical skills workshops and a formal Trainee Solicitors' Committee that represents trainee issues and development needs.

• Starting Salary: 1st year trainee: £50,000 (London); £35,000 (Birmingham, Exeter, Manchester). 2nd year trainee: £54,000 (London); £37,500 (Birmingham, Exeter, Manchester).
• NQ Salary: Newly qualified: £90,000 (London); £66,000 (Birmingham, Exeter, Manchester).
• Trainee Intake: Around 25 trainees per year (split between March and September intakes). The firm also recruits a small number via a direct process.
• Qualification Rate: Above 75% retention rate upon qualification (firm-stated)
• Academic Requirements: Minimum of 128 UCAS points (ABB) from top three A‑Levels or equivalent; a consistently strong predicted or achieved 2:1 degree. The firm accepts non-law graduates and considers mitigating circumstances through contextual recruitment (Rare Recruitment CRS used in early talent selection).
• Application Deadline: 2027-01-04

Seat Options

• Real Estate
• Banking & Finance
• Corporate & M&A
• Commercial Contracts
• Dispute Resolution & Litigation
• Employment
• Pensions
• Energy & Natural Resources
• Environment & Planning
• Construction & Engineering
• Tax
• Private Client & Wealth

Sponsorship

For non-law graduates the firm will sponsor a Post Graduate Diploma in Law (PGDL) and provide a maintenance grant. Current maintenance grants: PGDL - £10,500 if studying in London and £8,500 if studying outside of London. The firm also pays for SQE exams and provides SQE maintenance grants (see SQE support).

SQE Support

The firm sponsors trainees through a comprehensive SQE preparation programme, pays SQE exam fees and provides maintenance grants. Current maintenance grants: SQE - £13,000 if studying in London and £11,000 if studying outside of London.

International Opportunities

Trainees are offered the opportunity to spend six months in one of the firm's Middle East offices (Abu Dhabi, Bahrain or Dubai). The programme is promoted as giving trainees substantial international experience and responsibility; specific selection process details are managed internally by the training/early talent team and teams hosting the secondment.

Client Secondments

0%

Mentorship

All trainees are teamed with a supervisor and trainee buddy arrangements operate during vacation schemes and early seats. The firm runs a mentoring programme for all staff (including trainees and apprentices) pairing junior staff with more senior colleagues. The Trainee Solicitors' Committee (chaired by the Training Principal) offers additional peer and partner engagement.

Apply on the Trowers & Hamlins website →

Programmes & Schemes

Notable Matters

What Trowers & Hamlins Looks For

Key Competencies

• Growth mindset
• Adaptability
• Analytical mindset
• Collaboration skills / team working
• Commercial awareness
• Strong communication skills
• Innovation and curiosity (interest in legal tech)
• Judgement
• Personal responsibility
• Resilience

Evidence Signals

• Paid vacation scheme or training contract experience
• Commercial legal work or paralegal experience
• Pro bono or community engagement (PRIME, Sutton Trust, social mobility initiatives)
• Academic achievement (predicted/achieved 2:1 and ABB at A‑level or equivalent)
• Commercial awareness evidenced through sector-relevant experience (real estate, housing, finance)
• International experience or language skills for Middle East / Asia desks
• Technical/innovation interest (experience with legal tech, automation or data projects)

Benefits & Wellbeing

• Competitive trainee salaries (see training section): Year 1 and Year 2 figures published
• Newly qualified salary bands published
• Attractive discretionary bonus scheme
• GPP Pension Scheme with Aviva (5% employee contribution / 5% employer contribution minimum)
• Private Medical Insurance (after 6 months)
• Family friendly benefits (enhanced pay for Adoption, Maternity, Co-Parent and Shared Parental Leave)
• Flexible / Hybrid working (where job role allows)
• Employee Assistance Programme and access to trained Mental Health First Aiders
• Employee-funded Dental Insurance and Health Cash Plan
• 25 days holiday per year with opportunity to buy/sell annual leave
• Income Protection (after one year's service) and Life Assurance cover
• Interest-free season ticket loan
• Generous staff referral scheme
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Give as you earn charitable contributions
• Mortgage services and will writing service
• SQE and PGDL sponsorship, exam fees paid and maintenance grants (SQE: £13,000 London / £11,000 outside London; PGDL: £10,500 London / £8,500 outside London)

Wellbeing

Employee Assistance Programme, trained Mental Health First Aiders, firm‑wide wellbeing events covering mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing.

Awards & Recognition

• Top marks for Diversity & Inclusion and Mental Health & Wellbeing Initiative Awards at the CILEx National Awards (firm-stated)
• LexisNexis Middle East Legal Awards — Arbitration Team of the Year (2025) (Dubai office)
• Top-tier rankings in Chambers & Partners High Net Worth Guide (2026) (firm news)
• Multiple Tier 1 practice area recognitions in Legal 500 regional rankings

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Firm commitments include using contextual recruitment (Rare Recruitment CRS), founding signatory to the Race Fairness Commitment, Disability Confident commitment, affiliate partnership with Aspiring Solicitors, and multiple social mobility partnerships (PRIME, City Solicitors Horizons, Sutton Trust, Uptree, SMBP). The firm has a Gender Action Plan and a target to reach 42% women in its partnership by the end of 2026.

• TrowersIncludes (ten employee-led ED&I networks aligned to protected characteristics)
• Contextual Recruitment (Rare Recruitment CRS used in Training Contract, Summer Vacation Scheme and Solicitor Apprenticeship applications)
• Mentoring programme for all staff (including trainees and apprentices)
• PRIME partnership (work experience for state/non-traditional backgrounds)
• City Solicitors Horizons participation
• Sutton Trust partnership (annual work experience since 2024)
• Uptree partnership (insight days, workshops, masterclasses)
• Social Mobility Business Partnership (SMBP) partnership
• Aspiring Solicitors affiliate partnership
• 10,000 Black Interns: pledge to employ eight interns per year
• Race Fairness Commitment (founding signatory)
• Disability Confident commitment
• Birmingham Business Pledge signatory
• Care Leaver Covenant (official legal partner)
• Signatory to the Law Society's Pro Bono Charter and partnership with A4ID

Pro Bono

Dedicated pro bono committee (led by Partner Hendrik Puschmann). Signatory to the Law Society's Pro Bono Charter and partner of A4ID (over 90 hours of pro bono advice across seven projects recorded in one year). Provides pro bono support for Care Leaver Covenant (legal toolkit) and funds/contributes to broader access-to-justice initiatives (City of London Law Society Social Welfare Solicitors' Qualification Fund).

Innovation

Innovation is embedded via the Innovation & Legal Technology team and the TrowersEvolve product portfolio. The firm uses AI-assisted document review, document automation, client portals and matter management solutions to increase efficiency and deliver data insights for clients. An AI Governance Group governs responsible AI use; all staff complete mandatory AI training, public AI tools are prohibited for business use and lawyers exercise human oversight on AI outputs.

• TrowersEvolve (client portals, matter management and automation)
• AI-assisted document review for large portfolio analysis
• Client portals and integrated matter management for Octopus and Farnborough Airport
• Document automation and form/portal integrations
• AI Governance Group and mandatory AI training
• Prohibition of public AI tools for business use and policy preventing use of client data to train shared models

Quick Application Angles

• Emphasise interest in the firm’s real estate and affordable housing specialisms—cite relevant sector insight or link practical experience to the firm's landmark housing and regeneration projects.
• Highlight international curiosity and experience (Middle East / Asia) — mention willingness to work cross-office and any language skills for Abu Dhabi/Dubai/Bahrain or Malaysia/Singapore work.
• Demonstrate commercial awareness with a recent Trowers matter (e.g., mid‑market corporate deals or the firm’s work on affordable housing funds) and explain the commercial impact in one paragraph.
• Reference the firm values verbatim (We collaborate; We savour success; We’re not afraid to be human) and give short behavioural examples showing how you live those values in team and client work.
• If you have legal tech or innovation experience, describe a concrete example (automation, document review, data analysis) — the firm invests in TrowersEvolve and values practical innovation.