At Ward Hadaway, we are committed to developing our trainees as tomorrow’s future lawyers and Partners. We’ve made that possible by creating a stimulating, supportive and rewarding environment across all three of our offices. This allows our trainee solicitors to maximise their real potential.
In addition to our top six reasons to begin your legal career with us, here’s what else you should know about our training contract:
During your two-year training contract with us you will have the opportunity to complete four placements (known as seats) of six months each. These will take place within 4 of our core departments which include: Commercial/Corporate, Commercial Dispute Resolution, Employment, Housing and Real Estate. We also occasionally have opportunities available to experience seats in our Private Client department. Your seat choices are extremely important and we work with our trainees to ensure they get a broad experience of the firm, while also catering for your own personal ambitions and areas of interest.
You might also have an opportunity to work with one of our clients on a secondment basis. These are typically with our larger clients as part of their in-house legal team .
The training contract begins with a two-week induction programme to introduce you to the firm, your first team, your fellow trainee solicitors and our systems and processes. This ensures you are fully prepared when you undertake your first seat.
During the induction process you will be assigned a ‘buddy’, who will be a NQ solicitor. As someone who has recently completed their training contract, they will be ideally placed to offer support and guidance and answer any questions you may have. Once in your seat, you will work through a structured programme, perform real work and your mentor will oversee your development over the next six months. All the while, you will be provided with feedback through our regular reviews.
Throughout the two-year training contract you will also receive a multitude of training and the opportunity to attend regular legislation update seminars, as well as soft skills development training.
In addition to offering a competitive salary, we reward our people with a whole range of benefits, some core and some flexible, designed to shape a reward package that’s right for you – now and in the future. Our core benefits include:
- A pension scheme with employer matched contributions of up to 6%
- 25 days holiday and once you’ve been with the firm for 4 years this increases to 26 days, with a further increase once you have 5 years’ service to 27 days and once you reach 10 years’ service holiday increases to 28 days. There is also the option to purchase up to 5 additional days. That’s on top of all the recognised public holidays in the UK.
- Life assurance cover of 4 times salary, with the option to purchase additional cover of up to 10 times salary.
- An Employee Assistance Programme
Everyone’s an individual at Ward Hadaway so as well as our core benefits, we’ve got benefits you can add or remove pretty much as flexibly as you wish:
- Cycle to Work Scheme
- Dental insurance
- Travel insurance
- Critical illness cover
- Health cash plan insurance
- Purchase of home technology in interest free instalments
- Subsidised city centre parking / Annual travel tickets
- A range of discounts at top attractions