Real Estate at Addleshaw Goddard | Career Guide

The Real Estate group at Addleshaw Goddard is known for combining national reach with strong regional offices, particularly in the North of England. The team advises institutional investors, developers, banks and occupiers on a full spectrum of property matters.

Key practice areas you should be familiar with:

• Commercial real estate transactions

• Real estate finance and asset-backed lending

• Development and regeneration projects

• Retail, leisure and hotels advising

• Landlord and Tenant (including large portfolio work)

• Planning, infrastructure and estates restructuring

• Real estate litigation and dispute resolution

The firm frequently works on complex, multi-jurisdictional matters where commercial awareness and project management skills are as important as technical legal knowledge. When preparing for applications or interviews, demonstrate an understanding of how these disciplines interact - eg, how planning risk affects lending terms or project delivery timetables.

Addleshaw Goddard acts for a mixture of national and regional clients: property funds, banks, pension schemes, large retailers and corporate occupiers. Examples of the types of matters you might see as a trainee or junior solicitor include:

• Large portfolio acquisitions and disposals for institutional investors, requiring due diligence, title reviews and lease negotiation.

• Complex real estate financings secured over multiple assets, where drafting security documents and dealing with intercreditor mechanics are core tasks.

• Development joint ventures and conditional contracts, where planning conditions, overage provisions and delivery risk are negotiated.

• Retail and leisure site restructuring and insolvency-led property work for creditors or occupiers.

• Advising on energy transition issues impacting property (eg, rooftop solar leases, EV infrastructure) and mixed-use urban regeneration projects.

A practical way to show knowledge in an application is to refer to one or two recent public matters reported in Legal 500, Chambers or Property Week and explain what legal issues they raise. Use neutral language: say, for example, "A reported development financing illustrates how intercreditor arrangements can affect recovery rights."

Addleshaw Goddard offers structured training for trainees and newly qualified solicitors tailored to commercial practice. If you aim for a training contract, expect a combination of technical training, client-facing exposure and formal seat rotations.

Typical training opportunities and development steps:

1. Seat rotation structure

2. Trainees commonly take seats in corporate, real estate, finance or disputes. Aim to arrange a Real Estate seat that combines transactional and finance exposure.

3. Secondments and client exposure

4. The firm often offers secondments to clients or to other office locations. A lender secondment is especially valuable for real estate finance candidates.

5. Formal training and mentoring

6. Expect technical workshops on property drafting, negotiation tactics and market-standard documents. Mentors and supervisors will set development objectives tied to competency frameworks.

7. Post-qualification progression

8. Real career progression paths include becoming a real estate associate, specialising in development, finance or landlord & tenant, with opportunities to lead deals and manage client relationships.

Actionable strategy: If you secure a training contract, request specific learning outcomes for each seat in writing (eg, "lead on a title report; draft a lender's charge; run a lease negotiation"), and ask for feedback after each matter so you can evidence progression for later interviews or assessments.

Addleshaw Goddard looks for commercial awareness, teamwork, client-focus and technical potential. Use the following practical steps to strengthen your application and interview performance.

• CV and cover letter

• Tailor examples to real estate: highlight any lease negotiations, property transactions, funding-related work or second-hand experience such as property law modules, pro bono housing work, or summer placements with real estate teams.

• Quantify impact where possible: "Assisted on due diligence for a £50m portfolio acquisition, coordinating searches for 20 assets."

• Assessment centre and online tests

• Prepare for situational judgement tests and numerical reasoning. Practice by timing past papers from SHL-style providers and review explanations to understand common traps.

• Interviews (Competency and Technical)

• Use the STAR method to structure examples for competencies: Situation, Task, Action, Result. Prepare three STAR stories covering collaboration, client care and commercial judgment.

• Prepare a short technical example to explain simply - eg, walk an interviewer through the key steps in a commercial lease negotiation or what a standard security package includes in a real estate loan.

• Commercial awareness

• Follow sector publications: Financial Times, Property Week, Estates Gazette and firm press releases. Be ready to link news to legal risk: for instance, how rising interest rates alter lender appetite and loan covenants.

• Networking and informational interviews

• Attend law fairs and target events in cities where Addleshaw Goddard is strong (eg, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham). Prepare specific questions about seat structure and typical transactions rather than generic queries.

Sample preparation task: Draft a one-page briefing on the legal implications of converting office space to residential use in a city centre. That shows practical understanding and can be discussed in interviews.

Specific example answers to prepare:

• Explain how a landlord might protect against early lease termination.

• Describe the key components of a loan security package over commercial property.

• Discuss planning risk and how it influences purchase completion mechanics.

Day-to-day work varies by seat but commonly includes drafting contracts, negotiating heads of terms, reviewing title documents, liaising with surveyors and coordinating completion logistics. Junior lawyers must manage competing deadlines and communicate clearly with clients and other advisers.

What you can expect from the workload and culture:

• Client-focused, deadline-driven matters requiring strong written drafting and time management.

• Coaching culture with partner oversight on key matters and opportunity to take ownership of delegated tasks.

• Regional teams that combine local market knowledge with national resourcing for big transactions.

Practical next steps to prepare now:

• Build technical familiarity: Practice drafting a simple lease clause, a heads of terms document, and a memorandum summarising a title report.

• Use industry resources: Read team pages and recent deals on the firm website, follow Property Week and Estates Gazette, and consult legal resources such as Practical Law, LexisNexis and Westlaw for precedent documents.

• Use career platforms: Maintain a profile and use tools on platforms like YourLegalLadder, Legal Cheek, Chambers Student and LawCareers.Net to track application deadlines, read firm profiles and practise assessment tests.

• Seek feedback: Have a qualified solicitor or mentor review your CV and mock interview answers. Services such as YourLegalLadder also provide mentoring and TC/CV reviews alongside general resources.

Final tip: Demonstrate curiosity about how property law intersects with commercial objectives - show you can explain a legal issue and then say what it means for the client's commercial decision.