Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

Overview

Willkie Farr & Gallagher is an international, full-service law firm with a transatlantic platform providing English and US legal advice to market-leading public and private companies, investors and financial-services institutions. The firm reports approximately 1,300 lawyers across 16 offices in six countries and is particularly noted for its strength in transactional work (private equity, capital markets, finance) and high-stakes litigation, investigations and arbitration. Willkie’s London office (founded 1988) has grown rapidly and handles major international transactions and disputes while working closely with colleagues across Europe and the US.

• Headquarters: New York, 787 Seventh Avenue
• Founded: 1888
• Lawyers: 1,300
• Partners: 40+
• Trainees: 8
• Offices: 16

Values & Culture

Practice Areas

• Investment Funds
• Capital Markets
• Competition & Antitrust
• Dispute Resolution & Litigation
• Insurance & Reinsurance
• Banking & Finance
• International Arbitration
• Private Equity & Venture Capital
• Insolvency & Restructuring
• Tax
• Intellectual Property
• Technology & Digital
• Real Estate
• Energy & Natural Resources
• Regulatory & Compliance
• Financial Services & Regulation
• White Collar Crime
• Employment
• Pensions
• Infrastructure & Projects
• Healthcare & Life Sciences

Geographic Focus: Integrated transatlantic platform with particular strength in the United States, the UK (London) and continental Europe (Brussels, Frankfurt, Paris, Milan, Munich, Hamburg). Willkie positions itself to deliver combined US/English law advice on cross-border M&A, private equity, capital markets, finance, investigations and high-value litigation.

Training Contract

The London training contract comprises four six-month seats. Trainees must complete one contentious seat (litigation, competition litigation or international arbitration) and one corporate seat (private equity or corporate insurance); the other two seats are chosen from the firm's practice groups. Seats are in small teams, trainees share an office with their supervisor and receive continuous feedback and structured in-house training plus one-to-one support from trainee development teams.

• Starting Salary: £60,000
• NQ Salary: £180,000
• Trainee Intake: 8
• Qualification Rate: 100% (Willkie retained all trainees in 2026 and all qualifying trainees accepted permanent positions)
• Academic Requirements: Minimum undergraduate degree: 2:1. The firm welcomes applicants from all universities and degree disciplines (law and non-law). Willkie uses Rare's Contextual Recruitment System to embed social mobility measures into recruitment.
• Application Deadline: 2026-12-07

Seat Options

• Asset Management
• Capital Markets
• Competition & Antitrust
• Competition & Antitrust (Competition Litigation)
• Insurance & Reinsurance (Corporate Insurance)
• Banking & Finance
• International Arbitration
• Dispute Resolution & Litigation
• Private Equity & Venture Capital
• Insolvency & Restructuring
• Tax

Sponsorship

Full sponsorship of SQE at the University of Law (course fees paid in full) and a maintenance grant of £20,000 per annum (pro‑rated). The firm instructs future non-law trainees to take the nine-month Postgraduate Diploma in Law before the LLM Legal Practice; the firm references support for these legal studies.

SQE Support

Willkie partners with the University of Law to deliver the LLM Legal Practice which incorporates preparation for SQE 1 & 2 and the SQE Plus. For those who accept a training contract, Willkie pays for the University of Law course fees in full and provides a maintenance grant of £20,000 per annum (pro‑rated). Future trainees who have not studied law in England and Wales will take the nine-month Post

International Opportunities

Willkie currently does not offer international secondments at the trainee level; international secondments are available at the associate level.

Client Secondments

Willkie currently does not offer client secondments at the trainee level; client secondments are offered at associate level.

Mentorship

Each trainee is assigned one partner and two associate mentors annually; mentor pairings rotate each year until associates reach 6PQE. Trainees also have daily supervision from their seat supervisors and one-to-one support from the trainee development and learning teams.

Apply on the Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP website →

Programmes & Schemes

Notable Matters

What Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP Looks For

Key Competencies

• Commercial awareness
• Academic excellence (minimum 2:1 undergraduate degree)
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Resilience and ability to handle responsibility early
• Strong written and verbal communication
• Motivation for a transatlantic, transactional and/or litigation practice
• Adaptability and willingness to learn

Evidence Signals

• Relevant work experience (up to five work placements requested on the application form)
• Commercial internships or vacation schemes
• Mooting or advocacy experience for litigation-focused roles
• Competition authority or competition-law experience for antitrust roles
• Pro bono involvement
• International experience or language skills
• Demonstrable interest in the firm’s practice areas (e.g., private equity, digital assets, data infrastructure)

Benefits & Wellbeing

• Trainee salary Year 1: £60,000
• Trainee salary Year 2: £65,000
• NQ salary: £180,000
• Full SQE course fees covered at the University of Law for accepted trainees
• Maintenance grant for SQE study: £20,000 per annum (pro‑rated)
• PGDL and LLM pathway for non-law graduates (nine-month PGDL then LLM Legal Practice)
• Annual leave: 25 days
• Structured mentoring (partner + two associate mentors for trainees)
• Extensive in-house training and access to external courses
• Recruitment events, networking and social programme
• Travel expenses reimbursed for certain early-career events (e.g., Insight Day)
• Employee Assistance Programme and wellbeing events (firm-wide)
• Access to firm-wide affinity groups and inclusion initiatives

Wellbeing

Employee Assistance Programmes, on-site wellness events and a Wellness Incentive Program. The US benefits package references additional wellbeing supports such as Maven Clinic, fitness allowances and subsidised childcare options; Willkie highlights wellbeing events and programmes firm-wide.

Awards & Recognition

• A-List Firm — The American Lawyer, 2026
• Ranked Among Most Innovative Firms in North America — Financial Times 2025 North America Innovative Lawyers Report
• Ranked Among Best Summer Associate Programs — Vault, 2026
• 2025 Pro Bono Honor Roll — National Women’s Law Center (NWLC)
• 2025 Most Admired Law Firms to Work For — Los Angeles Business Journal
• Named Private Equity and Real Estate Practice Groups of the Year — Law360, 2025
• Ranked Among the Top Law Firms for Investigations — GIR 30, 2025
• Included Among Latin America’s Top International Law firms — Latinvex, 2026
• Legal 500 UK — market leader recognition for Willkie London (2026)
• Chambers UK 2026 — multiple practice and individual rankings
• Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy Conservancy Award — 2026 (pro bono recognition)

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Willkie uses Rare's Contextual Recruitment System to embed social mobility measures into recruitment. The firm is a member of multiple diversity and pro bono alliances (Law Firm Antiracism Alliance, Alliance for Asian American Justice, Lawyers for Racial Justice) and has re-launched a London Working Group to advance inclusion.

• Working Group (London) led by partner Kirsty Maclean
• Affinity groups: LGBTQI+ group, Parents network, Jewish community group, Minority ethnic heritage network
• Women’s Professional Development Committee (WPDC) — London chapter
• Firm-wide Inclusion Committee and Speaker Series
• GROW mentoring partnership (mentoring aspiring lawyers)
• Membership of Law Firm Antiracism Alliance (LFAA)
• Membership of the Alliance for Asian American Justice
• Participation in Lawyers for Racial Justice

Pro Bono

Willkie has a firm-wide pro bono commitment and partners with organisations including Rainbow Migration, IPSEA, Imperial College/Bloomberg Cleantech Accelerator Programme (shortlisted for LawWorks 2021 award), A4ID and the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy matter. The firm appears on the 2025 NWLC Pro Bono Honor Roll; the London office encourages lawyers to introduce new pro bono matters.

Innovation

Willkie invests in sector-specific innovation through its Willkie Digital Works team advising on digital assets, tokenisation and regulatory matters; senior counsel and former regulators play visible roles in policy initiatives such as the Digital Dollar Project. The firm’s capabilities span fintech, data centres and AI-related infrastructure matters. Insider ratings on legal tech are mixed, indicating room for development in some offices while innovation-focused teams receive recognition in market directories.

• Willkie Digital Works (dedicated team advising on digital assets, fintech and crypto regulatory matters)
• Participation in the Digital Dollar Project (DDP) advisory engagement
• Cross-practice digital & tech capability (Data Centers & Digital Infrastructure, AI & Emerging Technologies)

Quick Application Angles

• Highlight fit with a transatlantic platform — reference Willkie’s integrated US/UK/European work and a relevant cross-border matter (e.g., M&A or finance) to show commercial fit.
• Emphasise willingness to take responsibility in small teams — the London programme stresses early responsibility, close supervision and office-based mentoring.
• Mention the firm’s SQE and University of Law partnership and the offered SQE funding/£20,000 maintenance grant if you are applying for a training contract — this signals you understand the firm’s trainee support infrastructure.
• If applying to competition/antitrust or competition litigation, reference specific experience or interest in competition policy (traineeships, study or practical exposure) — Brussels and London have strong EU/UK competition capabilities.
• Use Rare/contextual information where relevant — Willkie uses Rare’s Contextual Recruitment System, so briefly explaining contextual factors or mitigating circumstances in the application can help assessors understand achievements in context.