Since launching our solicitor apprenticeship programme in Birmingham in 2024, we've seen first-hand the impact apprentices can have on our business, our clients and the future of the profession.

What began with a single intake has continued to grow. We expanded the programme into Leeds in 2025 and welcomed our first London cohort in 2026, reflecting our commitment to creating multiple pathways into a legal career and making opportunities available across our national business.

We're proud of the role our solicitor apprentices already play within Shoosmiths. As they develop their legal knowledge, commercial awareness and professional skills, they bring fresh perspectives, curiosity and ambition to the teams they work with.

For us, solicitor apprenticeships aren't simply an alternative route into law. They're an important part of building a future-ready profession that attracts talented individuals from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.

A solicitor apprenticeship combines practical experience with formal study, enabling you to qualify as a solicitor while earning a salary and building valuable workplace experience from day one.

Typically lasting six years, the programme blends on-the-job learning with academic study and preparation for the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). In practice, this means spending 80% of your time (four days a week) working alongside our expert lawyers and 20% studying with our training provider, BPP University.

At Shoosmiths, you'll gain hands-on experience across a range of teams and practice areas. You'll start with an introduction to the business side of law through our business development directorate before rotating through core legal teams including commercial, corporate, litigation, banking & finance and real estate. You'll also explore specialist areas such as intellectual property, construction and employment, with opportunities that may include client secondments.

Alongside your practical experience, your studies will cover the foundations of legal knowledge, including subjects such as contract law, public law and land law, as well as the skills and assessments required for the SQE. You'll build a portfolio of workplace experience throughout the programme, helping to connect your learning directly to the work you're doing every day.

You'll be supported throughout your apprenticeship by a network of people invested in your success, including your line manager, a buddy, a student manager and a dedicated tutor from BPP University.

By the time you qualify, you'll have developed not only the technical expertise needed to succeed as a solicitor, but also the commercial awareness, communication skills and confidence needed to thrive in a modern legal career.

We're proud to work alongside City Century, an award-winning organisation dedicated to increasing awareness of solicitor apprenticeships and supporting aspiring lawyers to explore alternative routes into the profession. Through this partnership, students can access valuable information, insights and virtual work experience opportunities that help bring the profession to life and develop a deeper understanding of what a legal career could look like.

If you’re still exploring your options, take some time to complete the free virtual work experience to get a taste of life as a solicitor apprentice.

The legal profession is evolving rapidly, and so are the skills needed to succeed within it.

We're currently reviewing and redesigning our emerging talent programmes to ensure they continue to reflect the future needs of our clients, our people and the profession.

While applications for our programmes are not currently open, we're excited about the future and look forward to sharing more about the next chapter of our solicitor apprenticeship programme and wider emerging talent opportunities ahead of their launch in Autumn 2027.

To stay up to date with the latest news, events and future opportunities, sign up to our mailing list.

We're also attending a range of school-leaver and solicitor apprenticeship events over the coming months. Visit our careers events page to see where we'll be, learn more and register to attend.