Placements provide invaluable experience, allowing you to choose the right firm for you and can even fast track you to a place on the assessment day for a training contract.
Placement
We offer 40 placements of one week each during June. On your placement you will experience a real week in the life of a trainee solicitor which includes real responsibility, working on real case files and attending real client meetings. You will be 'buddied up' with a trainee, who will be able to answer any questions you may have, no matter how big or small. You will also be set a mini project to complete which will help you to get to know the people in your office and across the firm whilst also getting a feel for our culture and values.
What our placement students have to say
I chose to apply for a placement at Shoosmiths as it stood out as a firm who really puts its core values at the heart of the firm. As a regional based firm, it had the friendly feel I was looking for paired with the opportunities of such a quickly-expanding firm.
I sat in the corporate team in the Manchester office for the week, and was given real tasks for clients, including drafting letters and board minutes, as well as carrying out company searches as part of the due diligence. The firm had just moved into their new offices the week before so I had the opportunity to use all the new rooms as well as being invited to the office party on the Wednesday! I also happened to be there the week that the chairman, Peter Duff, came to do the end of year team brief. At the office warming, I was able to speak to Peter about how the firm has grown and where he sees it going in the future. Shoosmiths went the extra mile to make sure we felt as though we were fully integrated into the firm for the week
Everyone was so welcoming; we went for lunch with the current trainees a couple of times during the week and I was introduced to so many people in the firm. Everyone was there to help and I never felt silly asking a question, whether it was to my trainee buddy, Dominique, or a partner in my department.
Past work experience in a similar firm was quite different as the non-hierarchical nature at Shoosmiths made the firm more welcoming, with the focus on working as a team rather than working individually. The experience I have done in other firms has involved spending a day in different departments, whereas being able to spend a week in the corporate team at Shoosmiths gave me the chance to really see what a week in a training contract seat would be like. We were given a mini assignment as well as a presentation to prepare for the end of the week, which meant we had to learn to juggle our own workload with work given to us by the department.
As well as time management, I believe the placement improved my confidence greatly, as I had the chance to speak to so many people, including Peter Duff! I learnt invaluable skills about due diligence in a corporate team and learnt that I am better at presenting than I thought I would be. Although it was a tough and tiring week, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Shoosmiths, and only wish I could have stayed for longer!"
Our graduates have independently reviewed us on RateMyPlacement. Read what they have to say about working at Shoosmiths.