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Becoming the best lawyer you can be

At HFW we believe in our entrepreneurial spirit, our creative expertise and our collaborative partnerships. As Trainees and Solicitor Apprentices, this means that you will be encouraged to develop your commercial instincts, challenged to think laterally and relied on to work together with lawyers from across our global network.

You will need to be prepared to work hard, and to throw yourself in to every opportunity. But it's not all one way - in return we will provide you with a supportive environment, and first-class training and development opportunities enabling you to become the best and most rounded lawyer that you can be. When you join the firm you will have a comprehensive induction during which you will learn about the firm and our industry sectors, hear from representatives from our business support functions and you will complete our bespoke IT academy for Trainees. You will also complete the Professional Skills Course (PSC) which is SRA requirement for all Trainees.

You will complete 4 x 6 month seats, including at least one international secondment. During each of your seats you will be supervised by an Associate or Partner and you will gain practical hands-on experience. You might attend a hearing, arbitration or mediation, deal with a ship arrest or casualty or help on the financing aspects of a deal. You will have a mid-seat appraisal and an end of seat appraisal with your supervisor for each of your seats. The appraisal process is designed to build on a culture of continued feedback, and to provide you with an idea of your strengths, weaknesses and goals for the remainder of each seat and going forwards. You will also attend structured training run by our Learning & Development team – in both core litigation and transactional skills, as well as in valuable "soft" skills such as time management, networking and presentation skills.

Our aim with all Trainees is to help you to develop into the best and most rounded lawyer that you can be, so we encourage our Trainees to gain experience in a range of different industries and legal areas, both on transactional and contentious work. Before each seat change you meet with the Graduate Recruitment Team to discuss your seat choices and career aspirations, which we then consider alongside the firm's business requirements.