Vacation Schemes

United Kingdom Overview

The majority of Skadden’s training contracts in our London office are offered to our vacation scheme students. Our vacation scheme programme provides students with a first-hand experience of working on “real-life” global transactions with a diverse client base. It also provides insight into the working culture and atmosphere of Skadden. Each student is paired with an associate supervisor and trainee liaison who are tasked with identifying substantive work assignments.

Program Overview

Our vacation scheme students are offered the option to practice in a single area and, in most cases, we are able to accommodate this. However, most vacation-scheme students spend their time in two different practice areas, allowing for greater exposure to our work. Students participate in a series of training workshops and insight sessions focused on current matters, which aids their professional development and provides a first-hand perspective from Skadden lawyers on the broad range of matters we handle.

Students also undertake an extended group-based research task during the first week based on a hypothetical business plan with an international focus.

Social events provide vacation students the opportunity to get to know fellow vacation students and Skadden attorneys on a less formal level. Recent examples include a stadium tour and private dinner at Chelsea Football Club, a table tennis tournament, and a guided tour of London and the houses of Parliament, in additional to a variety of other events across London.

Our two-week placements are offered over Easter break and the summer months. We remunerate vacation scheme students £500 per week to assist with expenses. Undergraduate candidates need to have reached the penultimate year of their law degree or the final year of a non-law degree. In exceptional circumstances, we offer placements to penultimate year non-law students.

Start Your Path

To secure a training contract position at Skadden, we strongly encourage you to pursue a vacation scheme. We look for a record of outstanding academic achievements, including a minimum of a 2:1 at degree level or equivalent and a keen interest in corporate law and/or litigation and international arbitration. We hold vacation placement selection days in January or February for both our Easter and summer vacation schemes.

Please visit our firm representatives at the following campus law fairs in 2019:

Cambridge Law Fair – Thursday 24th October 2019
Kings Law Fair – Wednesday 23rd October 2019
UCL Law Fair – Tuesday 29th October 2019
LSE Law Fair – Tuesday 22nd October 2019
Oxford Law Fair – Saturday 9th November 2019
Manchester Law Fair - Tuesday 8 October 2019
Durham Law Fair – Wednesday 20th November 2019

For more information on the location and timing of the law fairs, please refer to your campus careers service.

The application window opens on Friday, 1 November 2019. The deadline for applications is Sunday, 12 January 2020.

Click here for an online application.