Placements & Secondments THESE LITTLE BEAUTIES ARE SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO GIVE YOU AS MUCH EXPERIENCE AS POSSIBLE.
WHAT ARE THEY?
OK, so you sit next to and shadow a fee earner in one of our commercial departments for a week. This gives you a mentor figure to observe and learn from.
You’ll also be assigned a trainee buddy – these are great; they support you during the week, show you around, introduce you to everyone and generally help you get a feel for the place. Along the way there’ll be presentations, social events and some case studies for you to take part in.
We’re not going to lie, It’s a fairly intensive week so definitely stock up on sleep, water and multivitamins before you start!
HOW CAN I APPLY?
We have one application form for vacation placements and/or training contracts. You can find it here.
WHEN SHOULD I APPLY?
If you’re a law undergraduate apply before 31 December in your second year or if you’re a non-law undergraduate before 31 December in your final year.
WHAT HAPPENS THEN?
We normally get around 300 applications for our 48 one-week vacation placements. Yes, 300.
After the deadline we go through the application forms in detail and select the candidates we’d like to invite to our half day assessment centre. These usually take place in February/March.
If you pass the assessment and are offered a place on the scheme you will need to be available in April and June that year. So keep in mind when booking holidays!
We’ll email you as soon as possible after the assessments to let you know if you have received a place and then ask you for your preferred date and department (if you have one).
VACATION PLACEMENT DATES FOR 2025
Our vacation placement is one week in length and is held in April and June. We will confirm the exact dates around January time.
“The work was interesting and despite not having yet studied commercial law the work provided useful knowledge. It allowed me to put my legal studies into a practical context and confirmed my interest in commercial law.”
IN OUR OPINION SECONDMENTS ARE WHAT CAN HELP YOU MOVE FROM BEING GOOD AT YOUR JOB, TO GREAT AT YOUR JOB.
WHY?
We can all be guilty of being a bit ‘heads down’ in our work. Secondments enable you to see things from the client’s perspective. You get a stronger understanding of their challenges, their goals and how they work. This puts you in a much stronger position when you’re trying to advise them, because you understand their world and can speak their language.
HOW DO THEY WORK?
Secondments mean that you’re still employed by Walker Morris but you’re ‘seconded’ out to a client to work in-house for a limited period of time.
WHAT’S INVOLVED?
Secondments are dependent on client needs but we usually offer 4 for each seat. They’ll typically be at large companies that we advise, where trainees work within in-house legal teams, taking part in all their legal work, providing excellent high level experience.
AM I CAST ASIDE BY WALKER MORRIS LIKE AN OLD FLAME?
No, we work really hard to ensure that you still feel part of the family. During all secondments you maintain close contact with the client partner back and will still be very much part of Walker Morris trainee life – and yes that means attending training sessions, meetings and social events.
Hear from Sarah about their secondment at Drax
Some of our clients
“The work was interesting and despite not having yet studied commercial law the work provided useful knowledge. It allowed me to put my legal studies into a practical context and confirmed my interest in commercial law.”