Mayer Brown Training Contract Programme

The Mayer Brown EmployAbility Training Contract Programme for students/ graduates with disabilities

About Mayer Brown

With more than 125 partners, 220 associates and 60 trainee solicitors Mayer Brown's London office provides a full service presence working together with its US, European and Asian counterparts to provide clients with complete representation on local and multi-jurisdictional matters alike.

Lawyers at Mayer Brown practise in a wide range of areas including corporate, finance, litigation and dispute resolution, real estate, insurance and reinsurance, pensions and employment, competition and trade, tax, intellectual property, and information technology. Clients include many of the FTSE and Fortune 500 companies from the worlds of banking, insurance, communications, industrials, energy, construction, professional services, media, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and mining.

The London office client base is diverse and includes blue-chip corporates, multinationals, private companies, partnerships, financial institutions and intermediaries. Practice area experience is complemented by an in-depth industry focus in chosen sectors. Furthermore, a key strength of the firm is its capacity to advise companies and businesses across a range of activities, from day to day work to one-off special projects, contentious and non-contentious.

About The Training Contract Programme

Trainees are given high levels of responsibility, case management and client contact from an early stage. The firm also has an extensive support network in place throughout the training contract in the form of senior-level support and continuous appraisals.

For a large international firm, our London office remains a tightly knit team harbouring an open and inclusive culture. You will nevertheless be given significant opportunities to assist on matters which may be multi-disciplinary, cross-border, complex and high-profile in nature, working alongside some award-winning teams and individuals. Our main practice areas in London are corporate, finance, litigation and dispute resolution, real estate, insurance and reinsurance, pensions and employment, competition and trade, tax, intellectual property, and information technology.

As a trainee in London, you will be encouraged to play an active part of a team, dealing with clients on a day-to-day basis on a wide range of business issues. You will undertake four 'seats' during your two year training contract. During each seat you will share a room with either a partner or a senior associate who will be responsible for supervising your work and continuing development throughout your seat.

In 2008, our trainees were able to tailor their training contract from a range of 27 different seats, including our main practice areas in London, client secondments and international secondments (Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, New York, Paris and São Paulo). Shortly before you start your training contract, you will be able to shape the direction of your contract by expressing your preferences for your four seats during your training contract. We regularly review your seat choices with you throughout the training contract, as we realise that your preferences may change with the knowledge and experience you will gain.

Over the course of your training contract, we will take time to ensure that you are aware of the responsibilities of each seat by providing comprehensive training that goes far beyond the requirements of the Professional Skills Course (PSC). Additional training will equip you with skills to understand the international business world, develop client relationships and undertake advanced legal research. You will also benefit from the expertise of professional support lawyers who are responsible for providing briefing sessions on key legal developments and maintain in-house precedent databases.

The Legal Practice Course

Your training programme with Mayer Brown will start long before your training contract begins – on our bespoke Legal Practice Course with Nottingham Law at Kaplan Law School in London, which we ask all of our future trainees to attend. Elements of the course have been designed by our Lawyers in conjunction with Nottingham Law at Kaplan Law School and we are the only UK law firm working with them to offer an US law introductory course.

Our trainees studying the LPC at Kaplan have a great deal of contact with the firm throughout the LPC year, with regular visits to our offices, both professionally in the form of research tasks and presentation projects and socially, for drinks and meetings with our current trainees and partners. We have a wealth of experience at our London office in the form of associates, partners and PSLs and we encourage our LPC students to take full advantage of their knowledge and experience.

To find out more and to make an application to the Mayer Brown Training Contract, please follow this link to the Mayer Brown website.

Should you wish to discuss any aspects of the recruitment process with EmployAbility please contact Justin Penney on 07776 090 508 or email justin.penney@eability.org.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Mayer Brown EmployAbility Work Experience Programmes, please follow this link.