What are we looking for?
It’s quite simple. We’re looking for people with the skills, attitude and outlook to become our next generation of business lawyers. Whether or not you’ve studied for a law degree (in Scotland, a degree in Scottish Law is essential, but in England, half our trainees have a non-law background), the requirement is exactly the same.
At Pinsent Masons we believe in being as transparent as possible when it comes to our recruitment. Set out below are the key skills and abilities we are looking for in our trainee solicitors - our core competencies. These are derived from our Trainee Capability Framework (which trainees are assessed against during their training contract); so you can be confident that if you are successful in securing a training contract with us, you possess the qualities you will need to be a successful trainee at the firm.
By familiarising yourself with this list you should be able to understand whether becoming a commercial lawyer would suit you as an individual; if you think it would then it's then up to you to demonstrate you possess these qualities in your application to us.
Our core competencies are the defining qualities we’ll be looking for at every stage of the recruitment process – starting with the online application, and culminating with an assessment centre - this includes interviews, written exercises and a group exercise.
The selection process has been designed to ensure that you are given a fair opportunity to demonstrate to us that you have the required skills and behaviours. If you are able to consistently demonstrate a high level of performance in all these areas then your application has every chance of success. You can find advice on making an application, preparing for interview and developing your commercial awareness here.
We also look carefully at each candidate's academic background. Commercial lawyers need a high degree of technical ability to be successful, we feel academic ability is closely linked to this. This is why we have a minimum academic requirement that all trainees are expected to meet:
- 300+ UCAS points from your best three A Levels, or equivalent (excluding General Studies)
- A strong 2:1 degree (in any subject)
- A Commendation or above at Law School (GDL and/or LPC)
Most of our trainee solicitors in fact achieve results in excess of this minimum requirement. If you do not meet the above academic requirements then we are unable to consider your application. However, if you have mitigating circumstances that explain why you have failed to meet our minimum academic requirement then please contact us to discuss this prior to making an application.