United Kingdom
Skadden’s London office advises on M&A, capital markets, private equity, banking and finance, corporate restructuring, investment management, tax, insurance, government enforcement and white collar crime, international litigation and arbitration, EU competition, financial regulatory, employment, and IP, IT, data protection and cybersecurity.
The firm offers a fully integrated U.K., European and U.S. practice operating from our London base and composed of some of London’s top-ranked lawyers.
Learn more about our capabilities in our London office.
Explore Opportunities
Skadden is one of the largest and most prestigious law firms in the world. We pride ourselves on delivering solutions to the world’s most complex and high-value cases and transactions. We operate globally as tight-knit cross-practice teams and handle work of all kinds. No day here is routine. You will find an eclectic mix of people at Skadden, but all of us share a common thread that binds us as a team: a desire to innovate, excel and deliver extraordinary client service.
Vacation Schemes
Skadden offers training contracts to the students who participate in our vacation placement programme. Our programme provides students with a first-hand experience of working on global transactions with a diverse client base. It also provides insight into the working culture and atmosphere of Skadden.
There are four stages to our graduate recruitment process:
- Online application
- Written exercise
- Interview
- Vacation scheme
Training Contracts
As a trainee at Skadden, you can expect early responsibility, significant client exposure and the opportunity to work on cutting-edge cross-border transactions sooner than you could expect to do so elsewhere.
Our training contract is divided into four six-month seats, in which trainees gain experience in multiple practice areas. Throughout your training contract, a qualified solicitor will mentor you and provide advice and guidance whenever required. Shortly after qualifying, associates attend Skadden’s firm-wide retreat in New York to participate in an intensive four-day program that provides networking, business and legal skills training.
Our Summer Associate Program is geared towards students in three-year J.D. programs in the United States who will be admitted to practice law in the United States. We offer opportunities for students to either spend their entire summer in London or, on a case-by-case basis, split their time with a Skadden U.S. office. Students have the opportunity to experience corporate, securities, and white collar crime work while undertaking a placement in London. However, we do not offer experience in litigation or international arbitration to summer associates.
All summer associates are assigned to active matters and participate in our training programs. Each summer associate also is paired with a partner liaison and an associate or a counsel mentor.
In addition to the work experience our summer associates obtain, we provide a wide range of social activities to allow our summer associates to experience the unique cultural, historical and social setting of our London office and better get to know our attorneys. These events are coupled with informal lunches, dinners and cocktail outings with our attorneys.
Please sign up for an interview in the summer with your school’s career services or apply online.
At Skadden, excellent lawyering goes hand-in-hand with fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive culture. Our Skadden 1L Scholars Program attracts the best and the brightest legal talent, including candidates whose life experiences, demonstrated interests and achievements can help enhance the firm’s commitment to diversity and client service. Available across all our U.S. offices, as well as in London and Toronto, the program provides a meaningful way for Skadden to partner with our clients and alumni on increasing diversity in the legal profession's talent pipeline and to raise the profile of diversity and inclusion as a priority on law school campuses. This paid internship is comprised of law firm, corporate in-house and public interest exposure.
Since the program's inception in 2012, it has always been a goal to offer the ultimate first summer experience with broad exposure, even beyond big law. Our unique program offers 1Ls the ultimate career development opportunity by leveraging the resources and networks that only a global law firm like Skadden can provide. To date, Skadden has welcomed more 380 1L Scholars and nearly half have returned to the firm as associates. In 2024, we hired 47 1L Scholars from more than a dozen top law schools around the country.
What Makes Skadden Unique?
It can be hard to decide where to train. There are numerous strong law firms in London, from small boutiques to global full-service firms, many of which promote themselves in similar ways. What makes Skadden different?
Frequently Asked Questions
We welcome applicants from all universities and degree disciplines. Undergraduate candidates need to have at least reached the penultimate year of their law degree or the final year of a non-law degree in order to apply.
Skadden’s training contracts are exclusively offered to students who participate in our vacations schemes so this is a critical part of our process.
Our vacation scheme is designed to give you the opportunity to network with our people, gain a better insight into the Firm and what it would be like to train here. You will have the opportunity to sit in two departments during the scheme.
We remunerate vacation scheme students £500 per week to assist with expenses.
We do not have a direct training contract route. All training contract positions are filled via vacation schemes.
We look for a consistent record of outstanding academic achievements, including a minimum of a 2:1 (or equivalent) at degree level.
Our application window runs yearly from 1 September to 1 December.
We do not review applications on a rolling basis. All applications are reviewed after the deadline, however we do advise submitting your application sooner rather than later to ensure that you do not miss the deadline.
We take into considerations genuine mitigating circumstances. There is a section on the application form where those can be included.
We do use a contextual recruitment tool when reviewing applications in order to help us better understand candidates’ grades on a holistic level. It also aligns with our commitment to providing an inclusive recruitment process.
Should you require adjustments with regard to any part of our application process, please contact Mathieu Pinto Cardoso, Senior Manager - Graduate Recruitment & Trainee Solicitor Development, via email: mathieu.pintocardoso@skadden.com.
We aim to get back to all candidates, regardless of the outcome, by January.
Our vacation schemes will take place during the following weeks:
- 24 March – 4 April 2025
- 7 April – 17 April 2025
- 9 June – 20 June 2025
- 23 June – 4 July 2025
We run an open day for first year students in Spring. Please contact graduate.recruitment.uk@skadden.com for more information.
We onboard roughly 20 trainees and they start in September of each year.
We offer sponsorship for the PGDL and the SQE which covers course and exam fees in full. We also offer a £20,000 maintenance grant for each course.
First year trainees receive a yearly salary of £58,000. Second year trainees receive a yearly salary of £63,000. Newly qualified associates currently receive a salary of £173,000, plus discretionary year-end bonus.
Skadden also provides its trainee solicitors with a competitive benefits package, including:
- Life insurance
- Lyra – mental health and wellbeing platform
- Mortgage advice
- Dental insurance
- Private GP scheme
- Bupa Healthcare
- Family cover travel insurance
- Cycle scheme
- Gym / fitness allowance
- Season Ticket Loan
Our training contract is divided into four seats, six months each. Trainees can sit in the following practice areas: Antitrust, Banking, Capital Markets, Employment, Financial Institutions Group, Financial Regulations, Incentives, International Litigation and Arbitration, Investment Management Group, IT, IP, Tech and Cybersecurity, M&A, Private Equity, Restructuring and Tax.
In the first year of the training contract, we aim for each trainee to complete at least one seat in the Corporate group (Capital Markets, Financial Institutions Group, M&A, Private Equity).
Trainees can apply for a secondment in our New York, Brussels or Hong Kong offices. International secondments take place in the second year of the training contract.
Skadden’s commitment to pro bono service runs deep and we encourage trainees and attorneys of all levels to get involved with pro bono work. The London office has a rich tradition of pro bono work across a broad spectrum of issues and practice areas, including but not limited to housing, domestic violence, family law, immigration, welfare benefits and public international law.
We have the following affinity networks in the London office:
- AMENA: Asian, Middle Eastern and North African
- BLD: Black Lawyers for Diversity
- Disability and Neurodiversity
- FAM: Parents
- LGBTQ+
- SWAN: Skadden Women Attorney Network
- Social Mobility
Our affinity networks play a key role in our ongoing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts by providing opportunities for peer networking, professional development, workplace inclusion and community building.
We encourage foreign qualified lawyers to apply through our experienced hire portal: https://skadden.allhires.com/
Justice First Skadden Trainee Program
Contact Us
Contact a recruiter if you have a question about the application process or if you are interested in learning more about a specific opportunity.